Acquaintance rape: attributions of victim blame by college students and prison inmates as a function of relationship status of victim and assailant.

53 male college students and 37 male prison inmates completed a questionnaire evaluating an hypothetical rape scenario with a male perpetrator and a female victim. The college students assigned equal blame to the victim regardless of whether the assailant was a stranger or an acquaintance, but the inmates assigned more blame to the victim when the assailant was a stranger than an acquaintance. The results may be interpreted as showing a greater awareness of date or acquaintance rape among the college population than among the prison population.