Attitude Towards Rape- A Comparative Study

Abstract

Rape is one of the most commonly occurring crimes in the country. It involves sexual activity with the victim without seeking their consent, and most often includes the use of deception or force. Attitudes towards rape are the beliefs and a certain way of thinking regarding rape as a theme. This study aimed at understanding the attitudes towards rape of individuals belonging to different age groups. The hypothesis was that the older generation would have a rather negative attitude towards rape as compared to the younger generation. A sample of 81 participants was taken out of which 41 belonged to the younger generation (between 18-25 years) and 40 belonged to the older generation (between 45-52 years). For this study, the Attitude towards Rape Victim Scale (developed by C. Ward) was taken. For analysis of the data, mean, standard deviation and t-test were used. The findings of the research show that the older generation has a more negative attitude towards rape against women as compared to the younger generation.