Patney post 1: Please give an academic response to post 1 (respond to the issue, not the writer writer style or against, you only have to respond about the issue presented by the writer.
The Steubenville, Ohio rape case has gained a lot of media attention due to the nature of the crime. Two high school football digitally penetrated that 16 year old female at a party, and one of those football players also ejaculated on her and took pictures of her when she was naked which were later passed around the school and the community. Many students and community members made fun of the victim and text evidence of this was presented in court. The victim testified in court as well, mainly about hoe she didn’t remember anything, was under the assumption that she was being taken care of, and how she woke up naked and confused in a basement not sure of what had occurred.The football players were eventually both convicted. One of them received one year in juvenile detention for the digital penetration (considered to be rape in Ohio) and the other received two years in juvenile detention for the digital penetration and the distribution of child pornography (Oppel, 2013). During and after the case, the community provided dangerous responses and reactions, often engaging in victim-blaming and showing disagreement regarding the verdict (Abad-Santos, 2013).
Rape Trauma Syndrome is a psychological reaction and is now a subcategory of PTSD (Walker, 2017). Victims of rape often experience specific symptoms associated with their experience. Rape victims may resort to alcohol / drugs to cope, develop an eating disorder, diminished adequate defense from future acts of violence, social anxiety disorders, self-blame, recurrent and intrusive memories, high avoidance, high arousal, and sexual dysfunction (Walker, 2017. Given that the victim doesn’t remember the events, she may not be likely to have recurrent or intrusive memories of the actual rape, however, she could have this regarding the testimony in court and being re-traumatized. Really, it’s likely that she could exhibit any of these symptoms. Due to the response of the community and public overall, she may be exhibiting self-blame as well. Sexual dysfunction may also be likely since she has knowledge that she was a victim in an unpleasant sexual experience.
As far as community services, it appears that she may benefit from long term rape counseling as described in our text. While emergency rape crisis services are beneficial, they are not able to provide the long term counseling services that may be required (Walker, 2017). I also wonder if Cognitive Behavioral Therapy interventions or even Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing may be effective…what do you guys think? Either way, she will need long term services in order to effectively address the trauma she endured (and may be continuing to endure).
I do believe that the criminal justice system re-traumatized the victim. Showing her the picture of herself, that she had never seen before, on stand in an essentially foreign and uncontrolled environment may have been very traumatic for this victim. The stories note that she, as well as others in the court room, burst in to tears when the picture was viewed. From my readings about this case, it appears that she was repeatedly questioned during testimony on the same things, they attempted to discredit her, and she faced backlash from the public regarding the case overall.
Culture did play a role in this case. In many small towns we often see how the high school football team is the highlight of the community. This was no different for the Steubenville case. Many community members backed the football players because they are the centerpiece of the town. With this, many also victim-blamed / slut-shamed the victim which promotes further humiliation. Many community members felt that the sentencing was too harsh and the boys’ lives may have been ruined. A small minority of others conversely argued that the punishment was far too lenient, however, that was not popular opinion. Being in a small town makes it difficult for the victim to really escape.
References:
Abad-Santos, A. (2013). Everything You Need to Know About Steubenville High’s Football ‘Rape Crew’. The Atlantic. Retrieved from: https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/01/steubenville-high-football-rape-crew/317300/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Oppel, R. (2013). 2 Teenagers Found Guilty in Rape that Social Media Brough to Light. New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/us/teenagers-found-guilty-in-rape-in-steubenville-ohio.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Walker, L. (2017). The Battered Woman Syndrome. New York, NY: Springer Publishing.
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Adam Wilson
post 2: Please give an academic response to post 2 (respond to the issue, not the writer’s writing style or against, you only must respond about the issue presented by the writer.
Mike Tyson was a mega star before the likes of social media. His influence on sports and the sport of boxing still resonates. You can find highlights of Mike Tyson’s career through highlight videos that are consistently floating around the internet. Tyson has made guest appearances on various shows and film, and even had his own Broadway show that was featured on HBO. You hear a lot about Mike Tyson, especially the eccentric crazy behavior but rarely hear about the rape he was convicted of in 1991. During this time Tyson was arguably the biggest stars in the world and certainly one of the richest. This was a man that had gotten accustomed to hearing the word, “yes.” He could buy anything and could do anything. People wouldn’t tell him because a lot of people were scared to, it was Mike Tyson.
He meets a Miss America contestant and invites her to his lavish hotel room. The next day she is in the hospital claiming the heavyweight champ raped her. At the time, she faced a lot of skepticism because people felt that she was after money and publicity. Some questioned her because of Tyson’s status, why would he need to rape anyone, he’s the biggest star in the world and probably had people lining up to sleep with him. Although Tyson had other incidents that depicted an abuser mindset, but hadn’t escalated to this point, that we know of. Now, after hearing the case and seeing his bizarre behavior since getting out, her story is much more believable. He didn’t exhibit such violent behavior during his tenure as heavyweight champ, although his first wife, Vanessa Williams claimed spousal abuse on live television, again, that we know of. Mike went to trial for the rape and his team were all confident he would be exonerated. Again, he’s the biggest star in the world and used to getting what he wants. He didn’t get what he wanted, he got convicted. That part stuck with people and not necessarily the sentence. The sentence was 6 years but was able to get out in 3 (West, 2017). Mike Tyson did 3 years in prison for a rape conviction. For a person that investigated these, that’s hard to fathom. I remember people being so disappointed about not seeing him box for a while and not for an unjust sentence.
Mike Tyson could afford to hire the best attorneys, which are very good at placing doubt in the minds of people. People had misconceived notions of what happened. I remember discussions about this case and people mentioning, “Well what did she think she was going to his room at 2 in the morning for?” As if she brought this on herself. The jury actually had several people that believed Tyson was innocent, only to give in after hours of deliberation. If this were to occur today with a star on the same level as Tyson, it would be on every social media feed in the world and be viewed much more different, in my opinion. People make assumptions that since people are celebrities, everyone must want to sleep with them. Especially athletes, casting an immediate doubt to allegations. Plus, due to the money that comes with high profile athletes, that is always what skeptical people believes to be the underlying motive.
References:
West, E. (2017) The Decision: Mike Tyson’s Rape Trial, 25 Years Later. Indianapolis Monthly. Retrieved from: https://www.indianapolismonthly.com/features/the-decision-mike-tysons-rape-trial-25-years-later/
