A Natural History of Rape: Biological Bases of Sexual Coercion. - Review - book review

A Natural History of Rape: Biological Bases of Sexual Coercion. Randy Thornhill and Craig T. Palmer. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. 2000. ISBN 0-26220125-9. 251 pp. Hardcover. $28.95. This book created a firestorm of controversy well before its release in March. The authors, Randy Thornhill (a distinguished evolutionary biologist) and Craig Palmer (an anthropologist) use evolutionary biology to explain the causes of rape and to recommend new approaches to its prevention.

They argue strongly that, in contrast to standard social science theory over the past twenty-five years, rape is in large part a biological-based behavior and is motivated, at least in part, by sexual desire. They show why and how rape can best be explained as an adaptation or a byproduct of adaptations passed down in many species through evolution by natural selection. Understanding this, they say, is the best route to prevention of a horrific behavior they would like to see eradicated. See also their article "Why Men Rape" (based on the book) in the January/February 2000 The Sciences, pp. 30-36.

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