Causal attributions of sexual violence in war and peace

In order to examine people's explanations of the causes of rapes committed in war and peacetime a short questionnaire was designed. 1060 subjects, male and female, participated in the study. Participants were high school students, university students and employees. Significant differences in causal attributions of sexual violence in war and peacetime were found. While in a 'peace situation' subjects report 13 different categories of attributions, this number amounts to 25 in a 'war situation.' Most of the reported attributions of sexual violence in peacetime concentrate around rapists' illness, madness, psychological disturbance or some mild form of a personality disorder. The answers for war situation are less stereotypic, reflecting not only dispositional but also situational attributions. The first three most frequently stated content categories are those that attribute the causes of sexual violence during wartime to anarchy, to specific war circumstances which are a 'good opportunity for violence' and to expressions of extreme emotional states such as anger, hatred and retaliation. Significant gender differences were found on several content categories both in peace and in war situations. In explaining the causes of rape subjects stated more attributions of rape in war than in peacetime. In addition to that, women generally reported more causes of rape in peacetime than men. Lay explanations of rape are discussed in the framework of