Abstract
D.Litt.et Phil. (Psychology)
With the prevalence of rape in South Africa being the highest in the world, it is
important for there to be a sound understanding of how the rape experience
impacts the individual victim. A majority of rapes in the South African context
are perpetrated by someone known to the victim, making acquaintance rape
the most prevalent of all rape types in this country.
The current understanding of the impact of all types of rape on a victim
predominantly emerges from international studies which for the most part,
considers the presence of traumatic distress in the victim. These studies are
essential to the understanding of the impact of rape, although they are
predominatly obtained through quantitative research. A qualitative
understanding of the lived experience of the victim after her rape enhances
and deepens the already substantive quantitative data regarding rape trauma.
The practical implication is that clinicians can have a better understanding of
the factors that are present in the rape experience and the complex
interaction of those factors with the victim and the resulting rape trauma.
As this study explores the lived experience of acquaintance rape of South
African female rape victims, a qualitative methodology is utilised.
Phenomenology lends itself best to the exploration of lived experience as it
describes the meaning of the lived experience of individuals as that meaning
pertains to a particular phenomenon. In this case the study
phenomenologically explores the lived experience of being raped by an
acquaintance as it applies to two young South African women who were
raped by someone that they know. Through various phases of explication,
the data, which is obtained through interviews with the participants, is
transformed from a holistic description of the lived experience of the
participants into profiles, which are essential descriptions of the raw data, and
then into categories of meaning clusters. These categories are then used to
achieve an extended description of the phenomenon of acquaintance rape as
experienced by the participants of the study.
The phenomenon of being raped by an acquaintance as experienced by the
participants of this study emerge as the following themes: the specific
meaning of being raped by someone that you know to those victims, the life
changes which occur after the rape, the reactions of others, culpability
attributed to the rape incident, the mixed emotional reactions of the victims,
dealing with possible HIV infection, disruptions in interpersonal trust, social
support received or not received regarding the rape and the meaning that is
made of the rape experience. Each of these aspects is relevant when
considered in relation to the existing body of knowledge regarding rape
experiences. Certain aspects are seen to be specific in the South African
context, such as the increased possibility of HIV infection.
Although the small sample size means that the conclusions of the study
cannot be generalised to the greater population of South African acquaintance
rape victims, the observations do give readers a deeper understanding of the
concept that each rape experience is unique and yet at the same time can be
understood when considered in relation to the existing body of knowledge.
It is recommended that future South African studies explore the phenomenon
of acquaintance rape by interviewing more participants, as well as
interviewing them in their mother tongue, as this would allow for an
enhancement of the depth of the descriptions obtained. It is also
recommended that future research takes into account the prevalence of
traumatic experiences in South Africa and explores the impact of previous
traumas on the recovery experience of rape victims.