Male University Students' Attitudes Toward Rape and Rapists

This qualitative study investigated male humanities university students' attitudes and beliefs about rape and rapists. Twenty male social work and psychology students participated in a semi-open interview in which they were asked about their perceptions of rape, rapists, and their own capacity for rape. The results indicated that these students perceived rapists as aggressive, mentally disturbed, impulsive individuals, yet saw rape as a planned act. The findings further indicated that, in contrast to their initially expressed abhorrence of forced sex and rape, 30% of the subjects later admitted that under specific circumstances they would be capable of forcing sexual relations or raping.