HETEROSEXUAL AGGRESSORS VS. ADULTS: PREMARITAL COITUS

The aggressors vs. adults rather rapidly gained experience in premarital coitus. By age fourteen some 40 per cent (fifth rank) had had coitus with companions or with prostitutes; by sixteen, 64 per cent; by eighteen, 84 per cent (fourth rank); and by twenty, 91 per cent (second rank). At the time of interview, the figure was 96 per cent.

In age-specific incidence they also tend to reveal large proportions of individuals having premarital coitus with companions in the various age-periods. They rank fourth (50 per cent) at puberty-15; fifth (84 per cent) at 16-20; second (87 per cent) at 21-25; and fourth again (81 percent) at26^30.

Nearly four fifths had had coitus with prostitutes at some point in their lives, mainly before marriage. A study of the accumulative incidence clearly indicates that this percentage would be substantially higher were it not for the fact that the sample includes many young individuals. Actually, in terms of accumulative incidence, the aggressors vs. adults are one of the most experienced groups: by age sixteen, 21 per cent had paid for coitus (third in rank-order); by eighteen, 54 per cent (second); by twenty, 68 per cent (second); and by twenty-six, 84 per cent (first in rank-order). This history closely parallels that of the aggressors vs. children who always occupy first or second rank. The age-specific incidence figures emphasize the unusual amount of such activity among these aggressors: they rank from first to third in all age-periods from puberty to thirty-five. The proportion of men involved in premarital coitus with prostitutes in any five-year age-period increases from 14 per cent before age sixteen to a phenomenal 90 per cent in age-period 31—35. They are outstripped only by the aggressors vs. children. Thanks partially to the fact that many of them began coitus at an early age, a moderate 23 per cent had their first coitus with a prostitute.

Up to age twenty-five the aggressors vs. adults rank moderately high in frequency of premarital coitus with companions, the frequencies being below those of the prison group and the heterosexual offenders vs. minors, and markedly less than those of offenders vs. adults. The average (median) aggressor vs. adults had premarital coitus 30 to 40 times a year from puberty until he was twenty-five; the equivalent frequencies for the control group are 12 to 20 times a year.

The frequency of premarital coitus with prostitutes was neither high nor low. Before marriage, the average aggressor vs. adults had 14 coital companions, the fifth largest number. The number of premarital partners who were prostitutes is again moderate—11.

As a result of the rather high frequencies mentioned earlier, these aggressors derived fairly large proportions of their total sexual outlet from premarital coitus with companions; they are nearly always in the upper half of any rank-order. The proportion of total outlet so derived begins at 23 per cent in the early teens and increases to 41 per cent by age-period 31—35. The proportion of total outlet from premarital coitus with prostitutes is moderate, never exceeding 17 per cent.

A study of the factors they reported as having substantially impeded their premarital coitus shows that they are similar to the aggressors vs. minors in a lack of moral considerations, as well as in indifference to pregnancy and venereal disease. Fifty-nine per cent, the fourth highest percentage, claimed that they had lacked opportunity for more premarital coitus. A moderate proportion (33 per cent) stated that they did not have more premarital coitus because they were not interested in more. Nine per cent, again a moderate number, were restrained by fear of the opinion of others if they were found out. Whereas the aggressors vs. minors were singularly indifferent about whether their brides were virgins or not, the aggressors vs. adults were more inclined to have definite opinions. Ten per cent, a somewhat small number, strongly desired virgins; 47 per cent were wholly indifferent; but 13 per cent, the largest percentage recorded, wanted experienced brides.

*108\161\2*