INTERVIEWS WERE CONDUCTED WITH 11 WIVES OF MEN CHARGED WITH FORCIBLE RAPE AND 7 WIVES OF MEN CHARGED WITH INCEST. THE MOST STRIKING DEMOGRAPHIC FINDING WAS THAT THE WOMEN GENERALLY WERE BETTER EDUCATED THAN THEIR MATES. THE WOMEN APPEARED TO DERIVE CONSIDERABLE SATISFACTION FROM THEIR HUSBANDS' SITUATION, PERHAPS BECAUSE THEIR HUSBANDS' OFFENSES PLACED THE WIVES IN THE ROLE OF MARTYR, A ROLE THAT MAY HAVE BEEN INVOLVED ORIGINALLY IN THEIR MARRIAGES TO MEN INFERIOR (IN TERMS OF EDUCATION) TO THEMSELVES. DESPITE OBVIOUS CUES, THE WIVES REPORTED BEING SURPRISED AT THEIR HUSBANDS' OFFENSES. NOT ONE SUBJECT INDICATED THAT HER MARRIAGE HAD SUFFERED AS A CONSEQUENCE OF HER HUSBAND'S BEHAVIOR. WIVES OF INCEST OFFENDERS APPEARED TO HAVE GREATER FEELINGS OF GUILT OR SHAME WITH REGARD TO THEIR HUSBANDS' BEHAVIOR THAN DID WIVES OF RAPISTS, WHOSE EXPRESSIONS OF GUILT OR SHAME, IF PRESENT AT ALL, WERE WELL HIDDEN. IN GENERAL, THE WIVES OF INCEST OFFENDERS EVALUATED THEIR SEXUAL SITUATIONS WITH THEIR HUSBANDS MORE POSITIVELY THAN DID WIVES OF RAPISTS. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT, FOR THIS SAMPLE, RAPE AND INCEST BY HUSBANDS WAS USED BY WIVES TO BUILD POSITIONS OF MORAL AND SOCIAL DOMINANCE. NO TABULAR DATA ARE INCLUDED. A LIST OF REFERENCES IS PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--LKM)