NCJ Number
108758
Journal
Journal of Social Psychology Volume: 127 Issue: 4 Dated: (1987) Pages: 375-380
Date Published
1987
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The results of a comparative study of attitudes toward women between rapists and nonsex-related violent offenders confirmed the general hypothesis that the rapist group would show different and more conservative attitudes toward women, especially relating to sexual behavior.
Abstract
The investigation administered the short form of the Attitudes Toward Women Scale to 20 inmates in a California prison convicted of rape, 20 inmates convicted of other violent crimes against persons, and a matched control group of 20 noncriminal persons. The rapist group differed in its attitudes from both groups in five subscale areas: vocational, educational, intellectual roles; freedom and independence; dating, courtship, and etiquette; drinking, swearing, and dirty jokes; and sexual behavior. These attitudes are consistent with the notion that rapists have a need to control women, especially sexually. While the results do not rule out the role of psychopathology in rape etiology, they do support the position that rape is related to sexual stereotyping and conservative attitudes toward women. The analysis revealed a pattern of decreasing liberality from the control group to nonsex-related offender group to the rapist group. There were no significant differences among the three groups regarding marital attitudes. Tables and 17 references.