AN EARLY VIEW CONSIDERED RAPE AS THE PSYCHODYNAMICALLY NORMAL STATE OF AFFAIRS BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN, ASSUMING THAT RAPE FANTASIES IN WOMEN WERE FREQUENT; THUS IT WAS THE VICTIM WHOSE MOTIVES MOST OFTEN CAME UNDER SCRUTINY WHEN SHE BROUGHT A COMPLAINT AGAINST A MAN AS A SEXUAL OFFENDER. A SECOND VIEW, ADVOCATED BY THE PSYCHOTHERAPIST BENJAMIN KARPMAN, HELD THAT RAPISTS AND SEXUAL OFFENDERS IN GENERAL ARE NEUROTICS WHO ACT COMPULSIVELY OUT OF REPRESSED INCESTUOUS AND HOMOSEXUAL LONGINGS. THE VIEW OF RAPE BEHAVIOR BELIEVED MOST CONSISTENT WITH ALL THE DATA, HOWEVER, CONSIDERS IT FROM A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE. RAPE IS CONSIDERED PREDATORY BEHAVIOR MOST TYPICAL IN GROUP SETTINGS OF MALE VIOLENCE WHERE IT OFTEN SERVES THE PURPOSE OF ACQUIRING POWER AND PRESTIGE WITHIN THE PEER GROUP. WHERE SUCH SUBCULTURES OF VIOLENCE SUPPORT THE RAPIST, AS IN NATIONAL, RACIAL, OR CLASS WARFARE, THE RAPIST WILL BE CONSIDERED 'NORMAL,' IN THAT HIS BEHAVIOR IS ACCEPTED AND SUPPORTED BY THE PEER GROUP. IT IS BELIEVED THAT THIS TYPE OF BEHAVIOR DOES NOT FALL UNDER THE CATEGORY OF MENTAL ILLNESS WHEN ONE CONTEMPLATES 'CURING' IT. THE 'EXCEPTIONAL' RAPIST THEN WOULD BE THE LONER FROM A NONVIOLENT MIDDLE-CLASS BACKGROUND WHO DOES NOT HAVE A HISTORY OF GENERAL PREDATORY BEHAVIOR. THESE TYPES ARE CONSIDERED THE NEUROTICS AND PSYCHOTICS. (RCB)