Rape: Psychological Perspectives -By Amida Oluwatosin

Rape, an act of sexual intercourse with an individual without his or her consent, through force or the threat of force. In many jurisdictions, the crime of rape has been subsumed under that of sexual assault, which also encompasses acts that fall short of intercourse. Rape was long considered to be caused by unbridled sexual desire, but it is now understood as a pathological assertion of power over a victim. Rape has become a norm in our society where we see different people raping their opposite sex. Our society is now unsafe for our young girls and ladies to live because of the behaviour of our young men. The question is those people that rape, didn’t they know that raping is not good. this is more reason why rape should be looked at it from a psychological perspective.

Rape has been viewed in different ideas but it is necessary to look at it from a psychological perspective. Psychology deals with the study of human and animal behaviour. According to Sigmund Freud who was a Jewish doctor, he uses his experience to explain the three personalities we have. Sigmund Freud identifies three personalities also called the pscho- analysis in humans which is the ID, EGO, and SUPER EGO.

In this model, there are three metaphorical parts to the mind:

ID: The id is also called the pleasure principle. The id operates at an unconscious level and focuses solely on instinctual drives and desires. Two biological instincts make up the id, according to Freud: eros, or the instinct to survive that drives us to engage in life-sustaining activities, and Thanatos, or the death instinct that drives destructive, aggressive, and violent behavior. The id is always dominant in the human mind especially in the mind of a baby and it is the negative part of the human mind. For example, those people that rape Uwa Omozuwa a UNIBEN 100level student didn’t know that raping is not good. the answer is that they know but because of the Id that is dominant in them which makes them rape their opposite sex, that is why we referred to id as the negative part. Another example is that a little girl or boy that knows that his or her parent did not have money to buy sweet but still yet she is crying for sweet, that was the id because the id is very powerful in the human mind. The ability to control the id is what human needs.

Ego: The ego is also called the reality principle. The ego acts as both a conduit for and a check on the id, working to meet the ids needs in a socially appropriate way. It is the most tied to reality and begins to develop in infancy. The ego is like the positive part in human behaviour, the ego reacts to what the id is about to do. the ego is not as powerful as the id. For example, if you wake up in the midnight to read and something tells you that you can read in two hours time and another thing in you is telling you that don’t read now because you can sleep off and wake up in the morning. The ability for the ego to conquered the id is to read when you wake up and read as you planned. But most times in the human mind, the id is always overriding the ego.

Superego: The superego is also called the morality principle. The superego is the portion of the mind in which morality and higher principles reside, encouraging us to act in socially and morally acceptable ways (McLeod, 2013). The super ego is the one that will balance what is between the id and the ego, that is why the super ego is called moral principle. For example, those people that raped Uwa Omozuwa UNIBEN 100level student would have discussed among themselves that they should rape the lady but id would be telling them that they should rape her and the ego would say that they should not rape her, it is super ego that would now balance what is going on between the id and the ego, that it is not good to rape, that a real man does not rape. So it is now left for the ego to win or the id to win. like I said that most times, the id usually override the ego.

Conclusion: Do not follow your ID but follow ur ego and super ego. Have a positive mind as Ego and have moral principle as Super Ego. Thank you
AMIDA OLUWATOSIN STAND AGAINST RAPE

Written by Amida Oluwatosin