All the Cheap Thrill Seekers, Vendors and the Dealers, they Crowded Around Me

The way medicine approaches human suffering has always been determined by the technology available at any given time. Before the Enlightenment aberrations in behavior were ascribed to God, sin, magic, witches, and evil spirits. However, because of the evil people encounter from other human beings, these ascriptions are starting to gain relevance again. Often time, when commenting in a crime, one will hear people say, “I did not think a human being was capable of something so brutal. Gang rape represents a rare but conceptually unique phenomenon. Unlike the vast majority of rapes where a lone male forces himself on a lone female, gang rapes involve multiple offenders in a collective criminal transaction. Moreover, these crimes often occur on college campuses and are committed by groups of male assailants who are well known to the victim. The rapes are often committed by individuals who share a membership to some sort of cohesive formal organization (id est, a fraternity or sports team). Perpetrators often occupy an elevated or privileged status in the university community. The organization in question tend to be known for their partying and objectification of women. Seemingly harmless group interactions can get out of hand. The attacks usually take place in conjunction with coed social events where alcohol or drug use by the victims and offenders almost always seems to be present. In the Spring of 1984, two “gang rape” trials were in progress. One received a great deal of national publicity. Six men were charged with aggravated rape of a woman at Big Dan’s Tavern in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Four were convicted. #RandolphHarris 1 of 21

The other trial received only local attention and sent a different message. Seven college students were tried for third-degree sexual assault of a 17-year-old Michigan State University (MSU) student in a dormitory. After a three-week trial, in the course of which the five defense lawyers each displayed the victim’s jeans and football jersey before the court and asked her why she was not wearing a bra when she went to the midnight dorm party, the students were acquitted. Questioned about the verdict, an MSU senior was quoted in the local paper as saying, “I don’t believe she was raped…I believe they ran a train on her” (Pierson, 1984, p. 1B). A notable similarity between the two trials—and others—was the community support given to the defendants. In New Bedford, over 6,000 citizens gathered outside the City Hall to protest the conviction of out men (Chancer, 1987). In a similar demonstration, when five Kentucky State University students were arrested on charges of raping and sodomizing a fellow student, 200 students held an angry rally in their support. In both instances, the protestors not only defended the men but also attacked the woman, maintaining she should be punished. This pattern of sympathy suggests that such sexual behavior is acceptable for some men. As further evidence tht such behavior is tolerated in some “decent” young men, the character witness for the Michigan State defendants included a minister and a girlfriend who testified that the men were incapable of rape. The defense argument was that the women had consented or had not clearly expressed her objection. #RandolphHarris 2 of 21

Because the defendants in these cases did not deny having sex with the same woman sequentially or simultaneously, the testimony of the character witnesses and community support for the defendants implied that exemplary moral character is consistent with having sex with a young woman in tandem with several buddies. Group sexual assault is considered normal behavior for some groups of young men in our society. However, many want to know, how often it occurs, who does it, to whom, and why. Although considerable attention has been devoted to rape in psychological and sociological literature over the past decade, group rape has rarely been discussed as a distinct phenomenon. While the exiting literature is extremely helpful in understanding the sociocultural context that supports sexual aggression, there may be important differences between single- and multiple-perpetrators of rape, especially in regard to motivation and situational characteristics. Other differences may include offender characteristics and psychological consequences for victims. They primary focus here is on perpetrators rather than victims. To term it “gang rape” when many men have sex with same individual and the men deny coercion, is to prejudice the issue. May of the cases discussed in this series of reports on gang rape were not determined to be rapes in judicial proceedings. Aside from the fact that many rapists and their victims do not recognize the crime that has been committed, difficulties or proving rape charges are compounded when there are multiple perpetrators. #RandolphHarris 3 of 21

Because prosecutions and convictions are so rare, any case in which a woman alleged that her participation in sex with a group of men was involuntary is considered an instance of gang rape for purposes of this discussion. Cases in which we do not know the woman’s view of the incident and there are no allegations of force will be termed “trains,” in the common vernacular of the subcultures in which such sex is practiced. A group is considered here to consist of three or more men. There are two reasons for adopting this criterion. First, although two persons are often considered a group in social psychology, most of the group dynamics relevant to gang rape are not activated unless there are at least three group members. Second, several female college students in my samples reported soliciting sex with two men, preferring it to sex with one man, but none reported voluntarily engaging in or enjoying sexual encounters with more than two men. The mean number of male participants in the cases I have studied is five. Campus gang rapes are emphasized here. That street gangs or motorcycle gangs have sex with a single female ritualistically, for example, as an initiation rite, is known and is typically accounted for by the social deviance of these groups. The group rapes may be a common practice among college students in the basis of the claim that they are normative and of the hypothesis that they are an outgrowth of conventional sex roles. Campus gang rapes are also usually acquaintance rapes, occurring during social get-togethers. #RandolphHarris 4 of 21

Because there have been no systematic attempts to collect data on the incidence and prevalence of gang rapes in particular, estimates of their occurrence must be extrapolated from the rape literature of from anecdotal evidence and media reports. In a study of the national incidence of acquaintance rape among college students, it was found that 15 percent of women (as victims) and 4 percent of the men (as perpetrators) had been involved in forced intercourse. The mean number of rapes reported by these subjects was above two. Five percent of the women who reported having been raped and about 16 percent of the men who reported having raped said that their most serious incident involved more than one offender. Thus, in this sample, nearly 1 percent of the men and women at colleges across the United States of America identified their most serious experience with sexual aggression as involving two or more men and one woman. These data may provide an underestimate of the occurrence of gang rapes because subjects were asked to report the number of men involved in only their single most serious experience. On the other hand, the data my provide an overestimate because cases involving two men are included but do not meet the criterion for gang rape here. Those most likely to rape or be raped, respectively, are men and women 20 to 24 years old; the next most likely group is 16 to 19-year-old. #RandolphHarris 5 of 21

Thus, sexual assault is most commonly committed by college-age men against women of college age. In our study of men convicted of sexual assault, 26 percent of the 646 rapes we identified were perpetrated by three or more men, and 55 percent of the rapist were involved in group rapes. Major of the men convicted were young adults; the mean age of the rapists was 23 and of the victims, 22. Although some researchers contend that the tendency to be sexually aggressive is associated with social deviance and low socioeconomic status (SES), sexual aggression may actually be predicted by conflict between the genders, across class and economic lines. As with other forms of criminal behavior, particularly abuse within relationships (child and spouse abuse), it may be that law SES individuals are more likely to be detected, prosecuted, and convicted than high SES perpetrators. In fact, in parallel to the groupthink phenomenon, membership in a privileged group may protect a perpetrator from doubts about the propriety of one’s behavior, as well as from the perception of criminality by others. Groupthink can explain disastrous decisions by elite groups, such as the decision by Kennedy’s cabinet to invade Cuba. Impressed by each other, members of such high status groups become convinced of the group’s moral superiority, invulnerability, and consensus. Of the 24 documented cases of alleged gang rape by college students in the past ten years that we have researched, 13 were perpetrated by fraternity men, four by groups of basketball players, four by groups of football players, one by lacrosse players, and only two by men unaffiliated with formal organization. #RandolphHarris 6 of 21

Fraternities have houses where they can have unsupervised parties, serve alcohol, and enjoy privacy from nonmembers in their bedrooms and living rooms. College football and basketball players often live in their own dormitory and have motel rooms when on the road (the University of Minnesota basketball players assaulted their victim in a motel). Thus, these groups are mor likely than others on college campuses to have facilities and opportunities for illicit activities. Their living situation may facilitate gang rape, but other evidence suggests that the cohesiveness of these groups is an equally important factor. First, several of the known gang rapes by college athletes and fraternity brothers have take place not in reserved residence but in regular campus housing. Second, other tightly knit groups of men, such as members of a rock band or biker gang, have been implicated in gang rapes. Although only two of the prosecuted campus gang rapes did not involve football or basketball players or fraternity members, a participant in one of these incidents referred to his codefendants as “the other members,” although they did not belong to any known organization. That is, the assault was perpetrated by such a tightly knit group of friends that they saw themselves as “members.” Often, sone of the team members who rape together come from the same hometown and grew up together. Differential association theory is helpful in formulating predictions. This theory postulates that criminal behavior is learned through symbolic interactions within intimate social groups. #RandolphHarris 7 of 21

Which segments of the population of American men aged 16 to 24 are likely to participate in group sexual assaults? The theory suggests that fraternity members and member of athletic teams may participate in group assaults not only because they have the facilities and are already organized, but also because the behavior is learned within these primary groups and is passed down along with other traditions. In some cases, there seems to be a ritualistic aspect to the assaults. Research on campus rape also shows that athletes and fraternity men are more likely to be sexually aggressive individual than other college students. More fraternity men (35 percent) reported having forced intercourse than did members of other organizations, such as student government (9 percent), or men not affiliated with any organization (11 percent). Football and basketball players representing NCAA-affiliated schools were reported to police for sexual assault approximately 38 percent more often than the average male on a campus, as measured by an FBI survey. However, to be objective, these are the same men that are seen as more desirable by the student body because they tend to be more popular, more outgoing, come from families with money and status, have cool cars, nice bodies and tend to be attractive. Nonetheless, men who would not rape alone may become rapists in the company of their sexually aggressive buddies. Of those convicted of group rape in the sample, whom they identified as “followers” rather than instigators, had raped only in groups prior to their conviction. One of the Kentucky States defendants told police that he left the woman alone when he found her partially clothed in his room because she was unwilling to have sex with him. When he returned and found his friends assaulting her, he joined in. #RandolphHarris 8 of 21

However, keep in mind that college aged men are also raped on campus. A total of 6.8 percent of undergraduate men and 2.5 percent of male graduate students reported nonconsensual sexual contact. In fact, college increases the risk of sexual assault for men. Male college students are 78 percent more likely to experience sexual assault than non-students between the ages of 18-24. Rape of men by other men is a widely neglected yet increasingly recognized form of sexual assault. Information on same-sex rape involving men is frequently absent in campus rape education and prevention programming because the general public and popular culture have traditionally viewed rape in a context of violence against women. Available medical and psychological literature indicates the need for expanded prevention, treatment, and research dealing with men who rape other men. A male University of Michigan student claims he was sexually assaulted after he was unknowingly slipped a “benzo” date-rape drug at a party. The victim told campus police he could hardly remember what happened the night of April 11, 2018, when he and his friends were walking and got chatted up by two college-age men around 10 p.m. The pair invited the group to a house party on Fletcher Street in Ann Arbor, where the student was given a soft drink mixed with alcohol. He woke up the next day with a foggy memory—and injuries consistent with being raped. The victim tested positive for benzodiazepine, and apparently been raped by two men. Some of these men who molest boys and rape men are serial offenders, but police often times are unwilling to do anything about it. So they go on to victimize several boys or men and that is dangerous because they could do ree af diseases or viruses. A lot of times, you will not even know the male same sex rapist is gay. You think you are just hanging out with a regular guy, not someone who plans to rape you. #RandolphHarris 9 of 21

How can one reassure one that what is happening to them is neither frightening, nor evil, nor sad, nor a denial of what one believes about growth and being, nor a waste of life and energy? It just has to be—it is another life experience. One feels sures that one suffers least of all, being in the midst of it all—being granted a kind of understanding and faith in, even an enthusiasm for death. The formular for living with the idea comes with it. It surprises some individuals that the news is so distressing to others…but one may be deeply touched that it matters so much to others. People often share the misfortunes of life, and sometimes their cheerful countenance is false. Physical attacks may not just be due to inexperience, but may also come out of some maladjustment in one’s own life, but it also may be a manifestation of the suffering of humanity in our time. Being people to it (the tensions and distress of people generally) and being the kind of person in whom emotional disturbance results in physical disorder, one may be sexually assault, though it is not only the individual. Not knowing what would be require of one in the endurance of pain, in making the transition to another kind of existence, or in combatting date rape, an individual may share the news because he or she needs the moral support of those who can give it. Following these feelings may be the right thing to do. If one had died, or if instead a miracle prolonged one’s life until another time, the experience is so rich and basic that one never regrets sharing it. The benefits to all concerned are beneficial. #RandolphHarris 10 of 21

Some may wish there were time to write all of the feelings, ideas, and reactions of other that accompany, or rather follow the “death sentence.” With those who are open, it is only necessary to acknowledge the imminence of death one feels after being raped. This may lead individuals to shed a few tears together over the sorrow of being violated. With others it is necessary to help them to accept the fact that each is vulnerable. With those who cannot accept this vulnerability, they may not take caution to protect themselves. However, they are lucky to have someone care for them after the attack. Some people are all alone and just gradually disappear and become quite eager for departure. It can be one of the saddest experiences. But remember to enjoy the days of leisure and creativity. The sensitivity pays off—sensitivity to what is right, what is true, what is good. At the same time, one is almost in agony because one is equally sensitive to what is ugly, false, superficial, disconnected, irrelevant, wasteful of human life and energy. Most people find they can only endure the reality of what has happened to them in small doses. The problem is not how to accept being assault but how to accept life! In relation to the study of consciousness you must remember what you know about sleep and waking state, the different levels in waking state, and the connection of high centers with higher states of consciousness. You must remember that your aim is to produce higher states of consciousness in yourself and to establish connection with higher centers. #RandolphHarris 11 of 21

You must understand that higher center have many unknown functions which cannot be described in ordinary language. They have much more power, and a deeper penetration into the laws of nature. You must remember that many problems insoluble for our ordinary mind can become soluble for higher centers. And you must always return to the idea of permanent “I” and realize how far you are from it and how many efforts and sacrifices are necessary in order to reach it. In the work on consciousness you must understand first of all, that this work is entirely practical. Theoretical study will not help. Second, you must understand that the work on consciousness can give results only when it becomes permanent or as near to permanent as possible. Spasmodic, accidental, interrupted work cannot give results. So try to find how you can make your work on consciousness continuous. Your mind must guide you in the beginning, constantly reminding you of the necessity for remembering yourself, and helping you to catch the moments of not remembering. However, realize that mind can only prepare you for this work and only guide you for a certain distance. You can go further in the work on consciousness only with the help of will and emotion. Remember also, that consciousness can be measure by the length of periods of consciousness and by the frequency these periods. #RandolphHarris 12 of 21

Efforts to create consciousness in oneself feel almost hopeless in the beginning. However, very soon they will begin to give results. You will notice these results by observing moments of consciousness appearing by themselves without any effort on your part. In reality, they are the results of previous efforts. Since thought, or “belief,” originates either from the God of Truth or the father of lies (John 8.44), there is but one basic principle for testing the source of all doctrines and philosophical beliefs held by believers or doctrines and philosophical beliefs held by believers or unbelievers, id est, the test of the revealed Word of God. All genuine “truth” is in harmony with the only channel of revealed truth in the World—the written Word of God. On the other hand, all teachings originating from deceiving spirits: Weaken the authority from the Scriptures; distort the teaching in the Scriptures; add to the Scriptures the thoughts of men; or put the Scriptures entirely aside. The ultimate object of the forces of falsehood is to hide, distort, misuse, or put aside the revelation of God concerning the cross of Calvary, where Satan was overthrown by the God-Man and where freedom was obtained for all his captives. The test of all religious beliefs therefore is: Its harmony with the written Scriptures in its fully body of truth. Its attitude toward the cross and sin. Be careful of demon doctrines. Countless concepts and beliefs which are opposed to the truth of God are injected into the minds of “Christians” by teaching spirits, rendering them ineffective in the warfare with sin and Satan and subject to the power of evil spirits. #RandolphHarris 13 of 21

All new insights and systems of belief should therefore be tested by the truth of God revealed in the Scripture, not merely by texts or portions of the Word but by the principles of truth revealed in the Word. Since Satan will endorse his teachings by “signs and wonders” (Matt. 24.24; 2 Thess. 2.9; Rev 13.13), “fire from Heaven” and other supernatural “signs” are no proof of a teaching being God; nor is a “beautiful life” to be the infallible test, for even Satan’ ministers can be “ministers of righteousness” (2 Cor. 11.13-15). One of these difficulties is that the manner of a patient classified as “regressed” seems without fail to give us the impression that one is utterly and irrevocably different from ordinary human beings—a feeling, incidentally, that sociologists are familiar with from the studies of castes and social classes. This view is associated with the lay-psychiatric assumption that an appropriate level of animation and situational orientation is the natural human state, and that a catatonic-like stillness must be caused by something specific, or at least constitute something specific that must be explained. Thus when a patient “comes out of it,” as one usually does, there is really no very satisfactory way to integrate our present image of one with the past one. Nor can we explain how it is possible for some patients who seem quite out of contact suddenly to give someone a too-knowing wink or express a feeling that is a little too meaningful to e discounted. These discrepancies might be handled sociologically by assuming that the patient had never “gone into” anything in the first place, and that, therefore, there was nothing for one to come out of. #RandolphHarris 14 of 21

It might be claimed that once an individual releases oneself from respect for social gatherings, for whichever of the multitude of possible reasons, then immobility (or, for that matter, motor excitement) becomes a convenient stance, and that what really needs explaining is our normative level of appropriate animation—even though there are only rare exceptions to its maintenance. Of course we need to know what it is that places an individual outside the claims of a gathering, and certainly such alienation is sometimes a symptom of a deep disturbance in the personality; but our attitudes to the situational proprieties that we ourselves religiously sustain makes us bad students of impropriety. We can agree with the lay-psychiatric approach that the human personality has an organic base and ordinarily cannot be expected to undergo fundamental change very quickly, but then we must look elsewhere for an explanation of sudden changes in the patient’s “condition.” And when we do look elsewhere we find that what can and does change utterly and at a moment’s notice is the propriety of one’s situational conduct and one’s choice of strategies for expressing one’s relation to those about one. Both the latter changes may, of course, come solely, but every normal human being has the capacity at a moment’s notice to dynamite the proprieties in a situation. #RandolphHarris 15 of 21

Gin and vermouth: some prefer them straight, while others only drink them mixed, id est, a martini. We have seen examples of both types of preferences. In election to the Football Hall of Fame, some would be happy with either Elway or Marino, but not both, while in cricket others find only the martini combination of Boycott and Gavaskar palatable. Is the budget approval process all that different? How can it be improved? One suggestion is to give the president the power of a line-item veto. “We ask the Congress, once again: Give us the same tool that 43 governors have, a line-item veto, so we can carve out the boondoggles and pork—those items that would never survive on their one.” Ronald Reagan, State of the Union Address, January 27, 1987. Yet, it is possible that this may be a tool the president is better off without. How could this be? One reason is that without a line-item veto, the president is committed to taking what the Congress gives him; he cannot modify it piecemeal to better suit his preferences. Consequently, compromises made in Congress will be honored without fear that the president will pick and choose what segments to keep. Once Congress predicts they will lose all the parts that would not survive on their own, the process of agreeing on a budget will become much more contentious, and a consensus compromise may not be found. Congress may be much less willing to serve the president a martini if her can remix it before presenting it to the nation. #RandolphHarris 16 of 21

Thus a president with a line-item veto might end up with less power, simply because the Congress is less willing (or able) to put proposals on his desk. A simple example helps illustrate the point. President Reagan, the Republican part did not control the Congress. The Democrats’ approval had to be bought. The budget offered to the Democrats a package of social programs that made the defense spending tolerable. The willingness of the Democrats to approve the budget was contingent on the complete package. If they thought that Reagan could use a line-item veto to cut the social programs (in the name of pork), they would be unwell to give him the Star Wars funds. The debate about the effectiveness of the line-item veto for reducing deficits is best settled by looking at the experience at the state level. Columbia University economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin has examined the historical evidence: Gubernatorial veto power is quite old. The President of the Confederacy had (but did not exercise) item veto power during the Civil War and 28 states (out of a total of 45) adopted a line item veto between 1860 and 1900. By 1930, 41 of the 48 states had a provision for line item veto power. The governors of Iowa and West Virginia acquired line item veto power in 1969. And yet, after looking at all these cases, Professor Holtz-Eakin was unable to see any reduction in the budget deficits of states who governor had the line-item veto. #RandolphHarris 17 of 21

It is clear that the domino-wave of revolutions that swept Eastern Europe in 1989 was a consequence of three convergent forces: the long-term failure of socialism to deliver the economic wealth it promised; the announcement by the Soviet Union that it would no longer prop up communist governments with the treat of military intervention; and the avalanche of information that poured into communist countries despite all the efforts of their censors—information carried by the new means of communication. During the quarter-century dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu, Romania imposed the harshest censorship of any communist regime in Eastern Europe, controlling everything that appeared in the press and especially on television. Ceausescu himself was a television fan, and especially liked episodes of Kojak, the American cop-show starting Telly Savalas. However, for all his viewing, Ceausescu failed to understand the World media revolution and paid with his life on Christmas Day, 1989. Had Ceausescu studied the role of the new global media system, for example, in the overthrow of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines, he would have known that control of the domestic media is no longer enough to keep a people in ignorance, and that domestic political events are increasingly played out on a global stage. “What happened in the Philippines,” said Professor William Adams, a media expert at George Washington University, “was an epic step toward a new kind of revolution—a revolution via the media and via symbols.” #RandolphHarris 18 of 21

Because of historically close connections between the Philippines and the United States of America and the continuing presence of U.S.A. military bases there, Marcos and his main political opposition courted U.S.A. support. Both sought out foreign journalists to tell their story. As opposition mounted, Marcos reluctantly agreed to hold an election in 1986. The ensuing campaign was given saturation coverage by the American TV cameras, drawn by the drama of Cory Aquino, widow of an assassinated hero, confronting the corrupt old dictator. At first President Reagan supported Marcos. However, as the U.S.A. TV coverage continued, Americas saw the middle-class peaceful demonstrators opposed by Marcos goons, and Reagan’s position began to shift. It did not look good to be allied with this nasty little man on TV. Reagan sent an official team to Manila to monitor the elections for corruption and fraud. Led by Senator Richard Lugar, the team found ample evidence of both and disclosed its conclusions to television audiences even before reporting back officially to the President. Its reports further hurt the Marcos campaign, and what Americans saw on their TV screens instantly seeped back into the Philippines. The TV coverage also influenced the White House, which ultimately backed an anti-Marcos military faction, and with that, the combination of force and information squeezed Marcos out of the office. In the end, faces with the inevitable, Marcos feld the country and was permitted to settle in Hawaii. #RandolphHarris 19 of 21

If he had been one of the twentieth century’s great tyrants, he would have kicked out the media and opened up with machine guns. Yet the reverse might well have been true for Ceausescu. Had he allowed the media in and not opened up with machine guns, he might conceivably have survived. The initial overthrow of communists regimes in other Eastern European countries in the dramatic winter of 1989 was peaceful. Only in Romania did the machine guns stutter. One of the dictator’s last acts was to order the massacre of protestors in the city of Timisoara. As Romanians swarmed into the streets of Bucharest after that, fighting broke out between the military and Ceausescu’s feared security forces, the Securitate. The strife continued for days, the Securitate battling on even after Ceausescu and his wife were given a drumhead trial and shot by a firing squad. By now the revolution was centered in Studio 4 of “Free Romanian Television.” Even as snipers and commandos tried to retake the studio from them, leaders of the revolution, in control of their airwaves, played and replayed pictures of the corpses of the dictator and his wife. Only after that did the bloodshed cease. His dictatorship has been replaced by a “videocracy.” Following the overthrow of communist regimes all across Eastern Europe, the Financial Times exulted: “The medium which George Orwell saw as the tool of enslavement has proved the liberator; not even a Ceausescu could blindfold his people.” #RandolphHarris 20 of 21

Yet overfocusing on television, many observers miss the larger story. For it is not just television that is revolutionary, but the combined interplay of many different technologies. Millions of computer, mobile phones, fax machines, printers and copying machines, DVD players, DVDs, VCRs, videocassettes, advanced telephones, along with cable and satellite technologies, now interact with one another and cannot be understood in isolation. Television is only a part of this much larger system, which links up at points with the intelligent electronic networks that business and finance use to exchange computerized data. This new overarching media system is a cause of (and a reaction to) the rise of the new, knowledge-based economy, and it represents a quantum jump in the way the human race uses symbols and images. No part of this vast web is entirely cut off from the rest. And that, in turn, is what makes it potentially subversive—not just for the remaining Ceausecus of the World but for all power-holders. The new media system is a powershift accelerator. Along with the media system powershift is the changing power balance between the emerging superpower China and the old developed economies of the West: mainly the USA, Europe, and Japan. People complain that China is taking over the World, however, the United States of America is speeding up this powershift by borrowing money from China, outsourcing jobs not only to China, but also other countries, which allows them to gain access to our financial, medical, and economic information. A radically changing economic environment requires new government policies and business strategies, but is the United States of America willing to put America first? #RandolphHarris 21 of 21