” Furthermore, the use of a weapon is common: for instance, he might put a knife to her throat; that combined with an order to comply heightens the fear sought by the rapist. The power rapist attempts to compensate for his perceived inadequacies, such as lack of power, control, identity, and authority through the act of rape; he strives to create a situation which will counterbalance these shortfalls. Groth explains, “The intent of the offender is to achieve sexual intercourse with his victim as evidence of conquest, and to accomplish this, he resorts to whatever force he finds necessary to overcome his victim’s resistance and to render her helpless” (26). Typically, the power rapist feels insecure about his masculinity or conflicted about his self-perception; hence the assault by way of force and/or fear is a reaffirmation of his identity.Unlike the power rapist, who uses force and fear to perpetrate the act of rape, the anger rapist avoids the utilization of fear and focuses on the actual use of force, rather excessive force, to accomplish his goal. His intention, though not often understood, is not to engage in sexual relations; rather, his aim is to express his anger using sex as the chosen weapon. Groth explains, “The anger rapist typically finds little or no gratification in the rape - - in fact, his subjective reaction to the sexual act itself is frequently one of revulsion and disgust” (15). Just as a knife can cut, causing pain and lasting scars, the rapist sees sexual assault as a way to intentionally inflict the most excessive pain possible upon his victim. When the rapist begins to feel out of control and his anger is erupting, he will attack any female who is available. Two common methods an anger rapist utilizes to gain access to his victim are first, a blitz style, catching the victim completely off guard with a violent, sudden, physically brutal surprise attack or second, a fr...
