I'm looking for information on sex crime statistics in the US in the 1960's to compare against present data.

Question

I have a hypothesis that sex crimes have been on the rise since the end of the sexual revolution in the 60's. Though people argue that sex crimes such as rape are motivated by sadomasochism and bondage, there are legal avenues for this type of sexual activity. If I am correct, data should also show high sex crime rates prior to the 60's.

After getting a few answers, it seems that there has been a shocking increase in sex crimes reported or committed. In the early 1960's, the percentage of Americans raped was roughly 5 * 10 ^ -3%, and in 2006 was nearly 1%. This may be due to an increase in reporting, stricter laws, or an increase in crimes. Though I haven't looked at all the data yet, I predict that there is a rise after 1985 when HIV became common knowledge. This would seem to support a hypothesis that sexual repression leads to increased sex crimes. What do you think? As for sex crimes being power motivated, it certainly isn't always the case or isn't exclusively the case. Date rape, I understand, is more common than violent rape, and sexual role-playing is a legal way of incorporating power dynamics into sex. (This role-playing, at least in part, leads me to believe that if such sex were consented to more frequently, there would be less actual rapes, lending some credence to my hypothesis. Thanks for though

Answer 1

http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm

Here is a good start, showing stats starting in 1960 up to the present.

Answer 2

You have to take into consideration things like:
1) How accurate was the reporting in 1960?
2) Have the laws themselves changed?
3) Has the willingness to prosecute changed?
3) Are more people reporting the crimes now since there’s no longer as much of a ‘stigma’ attached to being a victim of a rape and victims no longer just accept that they were to blame (ie “I dressed sexy, so I was asking for it”)? --By the way, the answer to that is YES

Also, be aware that you can’t just look at the real ‘number’ of rapes, without taking into account the increase in population.

Have the number of rapes reported/prosecuted increased? I’m sure it has. But has the ACTUAL number of rapes increased? That’s a different matter entirely.


EDITED TO ADD THIS AFTER YOU ADDED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

What do I think? I think that your hypothesis that sexual repression leads to increased sex crimes, is completely incorrect. I think the increase is due in *large* part to the things I listed above. But I doubt my opinion is going to change your mind on the subject.

And by the way, studies have consistently shown, that rape is almost always about power and control....even date rape.

Answer 3

You can probably get some statistics from the Department of Justice.

However, there is a flaw in your hypothesis based on bias in offense reporting. In the 1960s, many, especially in law enforcement, had a narrow definition of a sex crime which would have excluded incidents between acquaintances. Likewise, incidents of sex crimes against children were generally unreported. While the sexual revolution made it easier to get consensual sex, it also made discussion of sex easier thereby making it somewhat easier (but still not easy) to report sex crimes. In addition, the general theory on sex offenses is that many sex offenses are about power not sex. As such, the sexual revolution would have little impact on those offenses.

Bottom line -- An increase in reported offenses (or a decrease in reported offenses) does not automatically indicate a similar change in the number of offenses being committed. If you change the likelihood that an offense will be reported, that change might mask a movement in the opposite direction in the number of crimes being committed.

Answer 4

Rape is about power and control, with sex being a secondary concern. It is used more to demean the victim. I think the statistics from 1960 would be totally irrelevant to today. In 1960, very few women even bothered to report being raped for fear of being blamed, and out of shame. If a man forced his wife, even if they had been seperated for years, to have sex, it was not considered rape. Sex crimes against children was not even discussed. Also "sex crimes" is too broad a target, as everything from flashing to full blown rape can be considered a sex crime.

Answer 5

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/crimoff.htm#data