THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL GROUPS ARE CONSIDERED IN AN EFFORT TO EXPLAIN THE OCCURRENCE OF RAPE. SPECIFIC TOPICS INCLUDE EMILE DURKHEIM'S THEORY OF CRIME AS NORMAL OR A NATURAL FEATURE OF SOCIAL LIFE, ANOMIE THEORY, DIFFERENTIAL OPPORTUNITY, DELINQUENT SUBCULTURE, SUBCULTURE OF VIOLENCE, RAPE AS UTILITARIAN BEHAVIOR, ROLE THEORY, AND SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY. AN EXAMINATION OF RAPE AND AMERICAN SOCIETY TREATS THE ISSUES OF VIOLENCE, SEXUAL EXPLOITATION, AND RAPE AS NORMATIVE BEHAVIOR, AND SURVEYS ATTITUDES TOWARD RAPE, SOCIOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS OF IDENTIFIED RAPE OFFENDERS AND OFFENSES ARE REVIEWED IN TERMS OF SAMPLING BIAS AND LACK OF CONTROLS IN THE STUDY OF RAPE; SOCIAL STATUS, RACE, RELIGION, AND PORNOGRAPHY RELATIVE TO KNOWN RAPISTS; TEMPORAL PATTERNING, SPATIAL PATTERNING, AND VICTIM-OFFENDER RELATIONS IN KNOWN RAPES; GROUP RAPES; CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES ON RAPE; AND SOCIAL CONTROL OF RAPE. THE AVAILABLE EVIDENCE INDICATES THAT RAPE IS COMMITTED BY MEN FROM LOWER STATUS SEGMENTS OF THE POPULATION, AT TIMES OF MAXIMUM SOCIAL INTERACTION, IN WHATEVER PLACES MEN MEET WOMEN, AND AGAINST ANY WOMEN WHO ARE AVAILABLE. THE ERADICATION OF RAPE WOULD REQUIRE RADICAL CHANGES IN THE CLASS STRUCTURE OF SOCIETY, THE SOCIAL AND SPATIAL MOBILITY OF INDIVIDUALS, AND THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY. AN IMPORTANT DIRECTION FOR FUTURE RESEARCH IS EVALUATION OF THE RELATIVE MERIT OF VARIOUS STRATEGIES DESIGNED TO REDUCE THE FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY OF INJURIES RESULTING FROM ACTS OF VIOLENCE. A TABLE ILLUSTRATING SUCH COUNTERMEASURES IS PROVIDED, ALONG WITH A LIST OF REFERENCES. (DAS)