Gender differences in police officers attitudes towards rape results of anexploratory study

Attitudes towards women in general, rape and aggressive sexual behaviour we re measured in a sample of police officers (N = 50) and compared with a sam ple of students (N = 50). Results indicated no differences in attitudes bet ween the students and the police. There were however a number of gender dif ferences with women expressing more liberal views towards women than men wh ilst men holding more strongly to rape myths than women. Results are discus sed in terms of progress in the police's handling of rape victims, given ne arly a decade of attempts to improve services. Attitudinal positions were l inked to aspects of gender and occupational socialisation. Implications for police practice are also highlighted.