do you think the boys that are raped grow up to be rapers themselves?

Answer 1

I'm not sure whether you mean straight rape or sexual abuse (which could be considered rape, except the child doesn't know to fight or simply chooses not to).

Both situations can really stunt someone's emotional maturity and growth, due to the horrific violation that has occurred.

Boys who are raped or sexually abused respond in different ways, depending on who did the abuse, how often the abuse occurred, how extensive the abuse was, and the personality of the boy.

[Here I am assuming the boy was raped by a man, not a woman. With a woman rapist, the victim would respond more as a case of sexual abuse rather than rape.]

Being literally raped (i.e., the victim fights but fails to escape) impacts the three typical forms of interaction described by psychologist Karen Horney: Moving towards, moving away from, or placating.

Out of self-protection, if there is no adult to help steer the child correctly and provide a safe haven, a victim would either move aggressive towards other kids (i.e., potentially become a rapist as well), withdraw from relationships and become passive, or try to please other people incessantly and stay in their good graces.

The potential rapists ("move towards") are aggressive, hate feeling out of control and powerless, and want to assert their power over others before others assert power over them. They now feel they can trust no one. If they don't dominate, they are at risk. (The withdrawers and the placaters choose different strategies to avoid future hurt.)

All three are strategies meant to avoid future violence against oneself -- but they all cause a host of difficulties that must be dealt with.

Sexual abuse victims have similar reactions but I think less extreme ones because of the nature of the crime. The child was either ambivalent towards the violation or they enjoyed it at some level even as they despised and hated it. (This is why many of them have sexual issues later -- because good feelings about sex are now tied to feelings of violation, abuse, mistrust, being dominated, etc.)

As far as child abusers go, many abusers reveal when caught that they were themselves abused as children. [One of the reasons for this is because the sense of personal boundaries was destroyed by the abuse, so they no longer have a good sense of where "the line is" between themselves and others. They tend to violate others just as they were violated.]

Child sexual abuse is known to contribute to (again, depending on the victim and the nature of the crime) addictions, workaholism, aimlessness, self-loathing, inability to forge healthy intimate relationships with members of either sex, rebellion against authority figures depending on who the abuser was, trust issues, and so forth.

Answer 2

No, I don't believe that. But if a boy should have to go through that type of ordeal they need to know that it wasn't their fault and with the proper professional help they can grow up to be normal men and not have those urges to rape.

Answer 3

I have not known many, but the few that I have met who were raped, were usually terrified of women. However, I don't know the statistics, but I will be that the circle does perpetuate itself.