Legalizing Pornography: Lower Sex Crime Rates? Study Carried out in Czech Republic Shows Results Similar to Those in Japan and Denmark
ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2010) — Could making pornography legal lead to lower rates of sex crimes? A new study by Milton Diamond, from the University of Hawaii, and colleagues, addresses this controversial question.
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Results from the Czech Republic showed, as seen everywhere else studied (Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sweden, USA), that rape and other sex crimes have not increased following the legalization and wide availability of pornography. In addition, the study found that the incidence of child sex abuse has fallen since 1989, when child pornography became readily accessible -- a phenomenon also seen in Denmark and Japan.
The research results are published online in Springer's journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.
The findings support the theory that potential sexual offenders use child pornography as a substitute for sex crimes against children. While the authors do not approve of the use of real children in the production or distribution of child pornography, they say that artificially produced materials might serve a purpose.
Diamond and team looked at what actually happened to sex-related crimes in the Czech Republic as it transitioned from having a strict ban on sexually explicit materials to a situation where the material was decriminalized. Pornography was strictly prohibited between 1948 and 1989. The ban was lifted with the country's transition to democracy and, by 1990, the availability and ownership of sexually explicit materials rose dramatically. Even the possession of child pornography was not a criminal offense.
The researchers monitored the number of sex-related crimes from Ministry of Interior records -- rape, attempted rape, sexual assault, and child sex abuse in particular -- for 15 years during the ban and 18 years after it was lifted.
Most significantly, they found that the number of reported cases of child sex abuse dropped markedly immediately after the ban on sexually explicit materials was lifted in 1989. In both Denmark and Japan, the situation is similar: Child sex abuse was much lower than it was when availability of child pornography was restricted.
Other results showed that, overall, there was no increase in reported sex-related crimes generally since the legalization of pornography. Interestingly, whereas the number of sex-related crimes fell significantly after 1989, the number of other societal crimes -- murder, assault, and robbery -- rose significantly.
New Studies Suggest On Screen Porn And Violence Reduce Real Rape And Violence
from the more-research-needed dept
I'll be the first to say that this clearly needs to have more research done to support these findings, and there are plenty of questions raised by them, but Slate is reporting on two new bits of research that suggest that online porn reduces rape, and movie violence reduces real violence. The first study looked at the incidents of rape in areas where internet access was prevalent, and found a meaningful drop, even after controlling for "alcohol consumption, police presence, poverty and unemployment rates, population density, and so forth." The report looks at whether it might be other online content, but notes that the internet doesn't impact homicide rates in the same way. In other words, it's only rape that's decreased by internet access. The researcher also notes that it's probably not due to dating sites either, as the effect is most noticeable in those 15 to 19 years old, the least likely to use dating services. The second study finds that crime rates tend to go down following the release of violent movies. Not just following the release, but literally, during the period of night when movies are most popularly shown -- if there's a new violent movie, crime rates tend to drop. This follows throughout the night, and crime rates only pick up again the next morning. The theory here is that if violent criminals are at the theater, they're not out being violent. The reason it lasts well afterwards (the theory goes) is that the violent types are eating popcorn and drinking soda... rather than alcohol, while watching the movie. It's no secret that people have pointed out that these types of activities can often act as a "valve" to release anger, rather than bottle it up until it comes out in a more damaging way. While these two studies are hardly proof (and more research needs to back these findings up), it does suggest that perhaps there's some truth behind those claims.
Study finds online porn may reduce the incidence of rape
Could online porn be responsible for a decrease in rape cases?
A Clemson University study suggests it might.
Todd Kendall, an economics professor at Clemson University, published a study that found "the arrival of the internet was associated with a reduction in rape incidence."
He notes that "association" is not causality, but he does point out that "it is notable that growth in internet usage had no apparent effect on other crimes."
The rate of forcible rape in the past 15 years has declined 30 percent nationwide, according to Bob Dyer in a recent column on Ohio.com. Meanwhile, he reports that "never has pornography been more readily available." Dyer attributes the decrease in rapes at least in part to the increased prevalence of porn.
Are the Effects of Pornography Negligible?
ScienceDaily (Dec. 1, 2009) — A Université de Montréal researcher, funded by the Interdisciplinary Research Center on Family Violence and Violence Against Women, has launched a new study to examine the effects of pornography on men. "We started our research seeking men in their twenties who had never consumed pornography. We couldn't find any," says Simon Louis Lajeunesse, a postdoctoral student and professor at the School of Social Work.
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"The objective of my work is to observe the impact of pornography on the sexuality of men, and how it shapes their perception of men and women," says Lajeunesse. To do so, he has so far recruited and interviewed 20 heterosexual male university students who consume pornography.
"They shared their sexual history starting with their first contact with pornography, which was in early adolescence. Not one subject had a pathological sexuality. In fact, all of their sexual practices were quite conventional," says Lajeunesse.
The research concluded that 90 percent of pornography is consumed on the Internet, while 10 percent comes from video stores. On average, single men watch pornography three times a week for 40 minutes. Those who are in committed relationships watch it on average 1.7 times a week for 20 minutes.
Lajeunesse found most boys seek out pornographic material by the age of 10, when they are most sexually curious. However, they quickly discard what they don't like and find offensive. As adults, they will continue to look for content in tune with their image of sexuality. They also rarely consume pornography as a couple and always choose what they watch.
All test subjects said they supported gender equality and felt victimized by rhetoric demonizing pornography. "Pornography hasn't changed their perception of women or their relationship which they all want as harmonious and fulfilling as possible. Those who could not live out their fantasy in real life with their partner simply set aside the fantasy. The fantasy is broken in the real world and men don't want their partner to look like a porn star," says Lajeunesse.
Lajeunesse refutes the perverse effect often attributed to pornography. "Aggressors don't need pornography to be violent and addicts can be addicted to drugs, alcohol, gaming and asocial cases are pathological. If pornography had the impact that many claim it has, you would just have to show heterosexual films to a homosexual to change his sexual orientation."
Christian AvardPublished: Friday September 22, 2006
An academic has claimed to RAW STORY that a decline in reported rape of 85% in the past 25 years can be tied to an increase in pornography consumption.
In a study for Northwestern University's Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series titled "Porn Up Rape Down," Anthony D'Amato, a Leighton Professor of Law at Northwestern University, argues that the proliferation of pornography has lead to a sharp decline in rape across the United States.
According to a 2005 National Crime Victimization Survey, the national rate of rape decreased from 2.5 to 0.5 for every thousand people over a 30-year span from 1973 to 2003. The explanations offered include less lawlessness associated with crack cocaine, women being taught to avoid unsafe situations, that more potential rapists are already in prison for other crimes, and sex education classes telling boys that "no means no."
But in an interview with RAW STORY, D'Amato argues that these are minor factors and do not explain the decline in rape. "Suppose you distribute free condoms to a country, and you find, five years later, that the birth rate has gone down 85%. Would you say that it's just a cosmic coincidence or would you say that the distribution of condoms caused the drop in the rate of birth? The reasoning is the same for my position on rape: the causation factor is reasonably inferred, " said D'Amato.
In "Porn Up Rape Down," D'Amato compiled data from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. In 2001, the four states with the lowest per capita access to the Internet were Arkansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, and West Virginia. The four with the highest per capita Internet access were Alaska, Colorado, New Jersey, and Washington.
When compared to Disaster Center's figures for forcible rape for the years 1980 and 2000, the four states with the lowest Internet access showed a 53% aggregate per capita increase in rape, while the four states with the highest Internet access showed a 27% decrease in incidence of rape.
"Critics argue that exposure to depictions of violence causes violent behavior," said D'Amato. "They say that rape is just a subcategory of this principle. They couldn't be more mistaken. Exposure to violent movies, TV programs, or video games has NOT produced more social violence. It has produced the opposite. The amount of social violence per capita in the year 1900 when street gangs attacked pedestrians and murders were common far exceeds the incidence of violence today. Sure, there is violent behavior, but when it happens it makes headlines. Back then it happened so often that it wasn't newsworthy."
"It's not a big mystery," says Bruce David, Editorial Director of Hustlermagazine. "It's consistent with all the research data we've seen. In countries where adult material is legal, generally speaking there is a decline in instances of rape and spousal abuse and we have also seen in places where adult material is illegal that the abuse of women can be rampant, like Afghanistan where women are shot in soccer stadiums."
Will Ryder, Director of Hustler's Barely Legal and Britney Rears video line wholeheartedly agrees. "I have always felt this was an absurd claim and that quite the contrary would take place, due to the fact that most who view adult entertainment usually conclude their session with a self-satisfaction reward and are too damn tired to leave the house and rape somebody. The last damn thing he wants to do is go out and hunt somebody down," said Ryder.
D'Amato's interest in the rape-pornography question began in 1970, when he served as a consultant to President Nixon's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography. When the Commission found there was no connection between pornography and violent anti-social behavior, Nixon � according to D'Amato � was furious.
In the 1980s, President Reagan created a similar commission under Attorney General Edwin Meese, who D'Amato said "packed it with people who were on record denouncing pornography." In "Porn Up Rape Down" D'Amato wonders how the social facts could change so drastically in the decade between the Nixon and Reagan reports.
Critics contend that none of D'Amato's conclusions make any sense. "My experience with women across the U.S. is that women now do not report rape," said Gail Dines, associate professor of Sociology and Women's Studies at Wheelock College. "I teach and speak on campuses all over and I know that only 34% of rapes are ever reported and increasingly women are not believed when they tell their stories. I also hear stories that when women do go forward, the college or university will clamp down on women. Or the alleged rapist will get friends to harass her until she drops charges and terrorizes them out of reporting it. This happens everywhere."
Dines also disagreed with the National Victimization Survey conclusion that incidents of rape have decreased by 85%. "It doesn't matter where the statistics come from because women are not reporting. I very rarely meet a woman who has reported a rape. It's by far the exception rather that the rule."
D'Amato believes the most important lesson people should take away from "Porn Up Rape Down" is to question the results of governmental reports. "If people can learn to distrust the findings of governmental commissions, such as the Warren Report, the 9-11 report, or the Meese report on social violence, we would become a more free and democratic nation," said D'Amato. "Our government engineers these reports to shield the perpetrators or to promote the business interests of its cronies and campaign contributors. As I tell my law students, the first thing you need to know about being a lawyer is not to trust the written word."
But critics like Dines suggest that D'Amato � or those who reviewed his study � fail to understand the myriad factors that influence rape. "What causes rape and violence against women is a very complicated issue. No feminist I know would ever say that only pornography is the sole cause of rape. There are multiple causes," said Dines. "To look at the causes of rape you have to look at multiple factors and variables and all I can say is it was reviewed by people who are not aware of the research that's been going on or did not question the nature of debate he was using."
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This pretty much is a slap in the face of anti-porn activists. Many of them claim that pornography leads to rape and child sexual abuse which is just ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteThe thought process is that watching "violent sex acts" such as the ones that they claim are in porn will cause some kind of psychological effect on a man that will cause him to go out and rape someone. Well, I have seen porn from all over the world and Japan has some really messed up stuff that they allow to be shown in their pornography, yet they have a much lower incident rate when it comes to rape, as the studies have shown.
So the only conclusion I can come to is that, while porn is legal in the US, the amount of sexual repression in this country could be part of the reason that there are so many incidents of rape.
The more rules you put in place for anything, the more likely people will commit crimes pertaining to the same .. banning porn is never going to work, it will only worsen things. I hope child porn is banned cause that is still violent according to me. The so called anti-porn lobby is just an election gimmick and it will soon wear off. I only hope other countries where incidents of rape and child abuse are rampant (like India for instance) take a leaf from these studies and do something about it. But then there are fools in a country like India which will take such a ruling as an immoral move and still continue to reap immoral activities against women !! Sad state of affairs in Asian countries as far as I know !!
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