IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED THAT THE PERCEPTIONS OR ATTITUDES OF PEOPLE TOWARD RAPE ARE IMPORTANT FOR UNDERSTANDING NOT ONLY THEIR REACTIONS TO THE ACT ITSELF BUT ALSO THEIR BEHAVIORS CONCERNING THE VICTIM OR OFFENDER. ALTHOUGH ATTITUDES TOWARD RAPE HAVE BEEN REGARDED AS IMPORTANT, FEW DATA HAVE BEEN COLLECTED REGARDING THESE ATTITUDES. THIS STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO EXAMINE THE DIMENSIONS OF RAPE ATTITUDES; EXPLORE THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PERCEPTIONS OF RAPE AND BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS OF RAPISTS, POLICE, CRISIS COUNSELORS, AND CITIZENS; AND DETERMINE HOW THESE GROUPS DIFFER WITH REGARD TO RAPE ATTITUDES. SURVEY INSTRUMENTS INCLUDED THE ATTITUDES TOWARD RAPE QUESTIONNAIRE (DEVELOPED ESPECIALLY FOR THIS STUDY), THE RAPE KNOWLEDGE TEST, THE ATTITUDES TOWARD WOMEN SCALE, AND THE PERSONAL DATA SHEET, ALL OF WHICH ARE DESCRIBED BUT NOT REPRODUCED. DATA COLLECTED FROM 1,448 SUBJECTS SHOWED THAT THE RESPONDENT GROUPS WERE SIMILAR IN THEIR STRUCTURES OF RAPE ATTITUDES. SEX, RACE, AND MARITAL STATUS WERE IDENTIFIED AS THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS FOR PREDICTING RAPE ATTITUDES; WITHIN THE RESPONDENT GROUPS, OTHER CHARACTERISTICS WERE FOUND TO BE IMPORTANT. HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WERE ALSO FOUND AMONG THE GROUPS IN THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF RAPE. THE COUNSELORS DIFFERED FROM THE POLICE, CITIZENS, AND RAPISTS IN THEIR VIEWS OF RAPE, WHILE CITIZENS AND POLICE WERE MOST SIMILAR. NO DIFFERENCES WERE FOUND BETWEEN THE POLICE AND RAPISTS ON HALF OF THE ATTITUDINAL DIMENSIONS. IMPLICATIONS OF THE RESULTS AND POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS OF THE ATTITUDES TOWARD RAPE QUESTIONNAIRE ARE DISCUSSED, AND DETAILS REGARDING MEASURES AND METHODOLOGY ARE PROVIDED. TABULAR DATA ARE ALSO INCLUDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--KBL)