Perception of girls’ and their mothers’ on rape: A psychological perspective

Pages: 496-499
Nehashree Srivastava and Reetika Pal (Department of Psychology, National P.G College, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh)

The purpose of this study is to explore the perception of girls’ and their mothers’ on rape. Rape is considered as an act of sexual violence in which the mental and physical well-being of an individual and her family is seen to be shattered. According to National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) rape is the fourth most common crime in India and the number seems to rise with each passing day. The increasing rape cases calls for obtaining a view of peoples in the society especially that of mothers’ and their daughters’. Also such events create a fear of the parents and negative influence which leads to overprotection of girls’ by their parents. What mark does these incident make on the psychology of mothers and their daughters’? What support do they expect from other members of the society, government or from police? What views do they hold against rape are important issues that should be found out etc.. The sample consisting of 40 adolescent girls’ (mean age =16.8) and their mothers’ (mean age= 42.2) with middle socio-economic status, selected from Lucknow city. A semi-structured interview questionnaire was prepared with expert advice and content analysis method was applied. The result reveals that mental illness of men, parenting, internet, westernisation of Indian culture etc. are the major cause of rape and various interventions like self- defence training, awareness campaigns through schools, media etc. are suggested by the subjects.