Correlation Between Sexual Images Online and Rape
Official figures show a plunge in the number of attempted and completed rapes per capita in the United States since the 1970s. So, our country has become a safer place for women. Is it more police? No. More self-defense classes for women? No. More rapists already in prison? No. What then? More sexually explicit images online? Yes, Internet pornography just may deserve the credit.
A Northwestern University Law Professor, Anthony D'Amato, published a paper this year titled "Porn Up, Rape Down" and offers the numbers to make his case (based on the National Crime Victimization Survey). The incidence of rape has declined by 85 percent in the last 25 years. And though the Nixon and Reagan Commissions tried to show that exposure to sexually explicit materials generated social violence, the reverse may be true.
Men have probably always sought out sexual images. The delivery forms have varied: theatre movies, magazines, videos, and eventually DVDs. But as D'Amato characterizes it, "a seismic change" occurred in the early 1980s. Sexual images became available on the Internet.
Nationwide trends offer interesting data, but when D'Amato analyzed the states, the results were fascinating. In 2001, the states with the lowest per capita access to the Internet were: Arkansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, and West Virginia. The states with the highest per capita access to the Internet were: Alaska, Colorado, New Jersey, and Washington.
He then looked at the police reports for forcible rape for the years 1980 and 2000. While the nationwide incidence of rape was showing a drastic decline, the four states with the least access to the Internet showed an increase in rape during the same time period.
D'Amato then compiled the statistics for the four states with the most access to the Internet. Three of the four states showed a decline (with New Jersey showing an almost 50% decline!). Alaska was the exception, and D'Amato noted that it had the lowest population (about one-tenth of the other states). So, D'Amato combined the populations of the four states with the highest Internet access and the four with the lowest Internet access. He found the high Internet access states had a decrease in rape of 27%. And, the low access states had an increase of 53% in rape.
Professor D'Amato suggests there are two predominant reasons why an increase in the availability of pornography has led to a reduction in rape. First, sexually explicit images provide an easy avenue for the sexually desirous to "get it out of their system." Second, he describes the "Victorian effect." This dates back to the Victorian era where people covered up their bodies with much clothing, generating a greater mystery as to what they looked like naked. D'Amato suggests that the free availability of pornography since the 1970s and the recent barrage of Internet pornography may have de-mystified sex.
I do not know if these are the precise reasons for such a dramatic drop in rape, but this is a very strong correlation. The idea that a social ill such as rape could be close to "cured" (a tribute easily made to a drug that eradicated 85% of a disease) by making sexual images so democratically available is a delight to me. While I personally find some pornography "artless," if it helps a rapist "get it out of his system," I couldn't be happier.
Related Topics: Cyber Straying: Is Online Sex Cheating?, How to Protect Yourself Against Crime
Technorati Tags: Internet Pornography, decline in rape, sexual crimes, sexual health
A Northwestern University Law Professor, Anthony D'Amato, published a paper this year titled "Porn Up, Rape Down" and offers the numbers to make his case (based on the National Crime Victimization Survey). The incidence of rape has declined by 85 percent in the last 25 years. And though the Nixon and Reagan Commissions tried to show that exposure to sexually explicit materials generated social violence, the reverse may be true.
Men have probably always sought out sexual images. The delivery forms have varied: theatre movies, magazines, videos, and eventually DVDs. But as D'Amato characterizes it, "a seismic change" occurred in the early 1980s. Sexual images became available on the Internet.
Nationwide trends offer interesting data, but when D'Amato analyzed the states, the results were fascinating. In 2001, the states with the lowest per capita access to the Internet were: Arkansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, and West Virginia. The states with the highest per capita access to the Internet were: Alaska, Colorado, New Jersey, and Washington.
He then looked at the police reports for forcible rape for the years 1980 and 2000. While the nationwide incidence of rape was showing a drastic decline, the four states with the least access to the Internet showed an increase in rape during the same time period.
D'Amato then compiled the statistics for the four states with the most access to the Internet. Three of the four states showed a decline (with New Jersey showing an almost 50% decline!). Alaska was the exception, and D'Amato noted that it had the lowest population (about one-tenth of the other states). So, D'Amato combined the populations of the four states with the highest Internet access and the four with the lowest Internet access. He found the high Internet access states had a decrease in rape of 27%. And, the low access states had an increase of 53% in rape.
Professor D'Amato suggests there are two predominant reasons why an increase in the availability of pornography has led to a reduction in rape. First, sexually explicit images provide an easy avenue for the sexually desirous to "get it out of their system." Second, he describes the "Victorian effect." This dates back to the Victorian era where people covered up their bodies with much clothing, generating a greater mystery as to what they looked like naked. D'Amato suggests that the free availability of pornography since the 1970s and the recent barrage of Internet pornography may have de-mystified sex.
I do not know if these are the precise reasons for such a dramatic drop in rape, but this is a very strong correlation. The idea that a social ill such as rape could be close to "cured" (a tribute easily made to a drug that eradicated 85% of a disease) by making sexual images so democratically available is a delight to me. While I personally find some pornography "artless," if it helps a rapist "get it out of his system," I couldn't be happier.
Related Topics: Cyber Straying: Is Online Sex Cheating?, How to Protect Yourself Against Crime
Technorati Tags: Internet Pornography, decline in rape, sexual crimes, sexual health
16 Comments:
I am a strong supporter for sexual expression. However, the study "Porn up, Rape Down" is little more than hogwash, I believe. There are many factors that must be considered when determining the actual level of rape occurence:
1) how many rapes are actually reported
2) how a person defines rape; there is much debate amongst feminist as to whether sexual coercion is indeed a form of rape. Most believe that it is. However, if a woman does consent, regardless of the circumstances, it is not considered rape legally.
3) cover-ups by police organizations. This often takes place in the form of convincing a victim that she really wasn't raped and even destroying evidence.
There are far too many variables to consider. This study proves absolutely nothing.
As a firm believer in the old addage; "Figures don't lie,but liars figure.", I can't help but look at this report with skepticisim.
I do, however, have to agree with Professor D'Amato when he states:" if it helps a rapist "get it out of his system," I couldn't be happier.
It just seems to make sense to me that if a potential rapist has easy acess to sexually explicit materials in the privacy of his,(*or her), home there would be a greater chance that the potential rapist would find "sexual relief" there, rather than taking the considerable risks of actually acting on their impulses.
(*yes, I said Her and this supports Faith's first point.)
I am sure that Professor D'Amato took into account many of the possible variables, however, it would be impossible to cover them all.
rape is a crime of violence it has nothing to do with sex
Ditto Auntie1900. Rape is about violence, about wanting to hurt someone, and about psychological issues like power and control, or acting out rage or vengeance. And what about child predators who whet their appetites with illegal kiddie porn, supporting a black market for children to be enslaved or exploited for it? And what about the many many women who are kidnapped and forced into the sex trade, or are otherwise made nonconsenting participants in the production of porn?
And also, is pornography really necessary in order for men to obtain "sexual relief?" Thank you.
Perhaps it deserves further study -- but this proves nothing. If they could show that sex offenders were less likely to reoffend if they had access to internet pornography, maybe I'd believe there might be some truth to it. As it is, he is ASSUMING that a drop in rapes is because people are viewing on-line porn. Do we know the percentage of the internet users actually accessing the porn? Are those 4 states the ones with the most porn users? Are the bottom 4 the ones with the least number of users accessing porn? And what makes us think that others in those states aren't accessing porn via more traditional methods (adult videos and theaters, pay per view, magazines, etc.)? This "study" is so flawed that I can't believe WebMD would even reference it.
Aside from that rape is about power not sex. Many rapists actually have girlfriends and wives. They have access to sex, yet still choose to victimize other women. Additionally, it is generally agreed that exposure to pornography desensitizes you to it. At first, even the tame stuff is exiciting -- but eventually, you get bored and move on to checking out different kinds of porn -- which in many cases means more violent pornography. Many pedophiles admit that they started out just looking at porn, but became so aroused by it that just looking wasn't enough after a while. While most men can look at pornography and use it as a "release" -- those who have the potential to become sex offenders most likely find that pornography increases those urges rather than satisfies them. I don't think pornography makes the average guy a sex predator -- but for those who have the psychological makeup to become one -- it can put them over the edge, in my (non-expert) opinion.
As a rape survivor myself, I am definitely skeptical about this study. I find it impossible to believe that because a person does or does not have access to the internet, it could change that person's urge to commit sexual violence. I also live in one of the states where the incidence of rape has allegedly increased by 53%. I don't believe that, either. I believe that maybe more rapes are being reported, but can't make myself believe that just because there is an endless supply of internet porn, rape is happening less. Just my opinion, though.
Hi, I have now read a couple of articles that you have written, and I find that you are badly informed and misguided.
You may have many qualifications, but I really don't think that you have a clear understanding of the issues involved to be so opinionated about this subject.
In the first article that I read, you claimed that 'sex addiction' did not exist, and now you are proclaiming that freely available pornography is reducing the number of rapes that occur? This is frankly incredulous...
Are you deliberately trying to provoke people?
I think that when somebody talks in this manner about something as serious as pornography, then that person probably has some kind of self-interest in promoting it. I think that perhaps you have something to gain in promoting pornography (while mascerading as a professional!). Either that you like it a little bit too much yourself, or that somebody close to you will gain financially from your promotion of it.
I hope that in the future you will be more thoughtful about what you publish, bearing in mind the seriousness of the topics.
thanks,
somebody who struggles to keep away from Pornography, and now sees the real danger that it poses to himself and for relationships with people in his life.
Yea Porn! Yea Porn! Yea, Yea Porn! I've been enjoying internet porn for years, and I haven't raped anyone since my first internet connection. I never raped anyone before, either...but then, I had Playboy and a VCR. I always new that Ted Bundy's cowardly attempt to blame his sociopathy on the porn magazines he found as an adolescent was a crock.
What I am hearing is that the increased availability of porn on the internet may be sublimating sexual tension, which may have some influence on the reduction in the rape rate.
How courageous of you to offer such a post. Honestly, I am not so sure if I buy that particlar statistic, but I think it is important that we understand what is going on to reduce the incidents of rape, and that we be able to discuss different possibilities.
I do think that men are growing up differently, that the increased availability of those "sexual images," along with the affect of media images on social consciousness, has a lot to do with how boys learn about the birds and the bees. We are, most certainly, a long way from the Leave It To Beaver of my youth.
I am not afraid of the availability of images. The images have been there throughout history. I think it is very interesting that getting those images on the internet has driven the refinement of internet technology. As I understand it, the first versions of secure online payment systems were developed by the porn sites.
In any event, the "imagery" is everywhere now, and it is changing how we see the world. I personally have never seen so many womens tummys, as the last several years. Talk about an imagery overload. Whew.
This article is unbelievably irresponsible and seems agenda driven. I am suprised to see it written by a professional and in print on WebMD.
Both the original article, and the overwhelming majority of comments on it, are _classic_ examples of the fallacies we are warned against by such classic works as "How to Lie with Statistics" and that _great_ modern work, "The Fallacy Files" at http://www.fallacyfiles.org/eitheror.html
As with child rape, some one is still raping these children for internet porn! Just because guys watch it from their bedrooms, as a type of non-involvement, doesn't mean the crime is down. There are folks doing the sexual crimes to the children on tape to publish for the internet. It may be a different country, so the man thinks he is making his streets safer. It teaches the predators to keep their filth hidden, but not repressed.
If you take Logic 101 as a freshman in college, the first thing they teach you is the fallacy of "Post hoc, ergo propter hoc." That is, just because two things happened at the same time, it is wrong to assume that one caused the other. It's great that rapes are down. But to try to correlate that to the increase in internet porn seems like an awfully big leap.
yeah well if you ever took a class on research design, maybe you can speak... however here in the research world you have to debunk research with more research, not with "stupid questions", why don't you get off your butt and conduct some good research to show him he is wrong.
The article is truely flawed. As the pornography become more readily available on the internet, so is meeting people for sex. Have you not heard of adult finder? They are on the rise. These adults who viewed porn are actually also engaged in sex through online services. The reason rape on the decrease may be the increased in harmful sexual activities being disguised as mutual sex intercourse through adult dating for sex. How do you know some of these rapists are not involved in these multi-sexual activities (semi-rape their partners and disguised as mutual sex activities)? This so called "Ph.D." prof should go back to real research and get his/her data properly interpreted. Correlation study is just like saying there is a relationship between the number of people picking their noses and the number of fewer showers they have. Full of craps! Man, I just wonder how some people get their Ph.D. What is happening to real Science now a day?
I'd like to start with: "Correlation" being the definitive word in the entirety of this argument. A correlation is by no means proof. Those of you spitting out fancy words about post hoc should review you're own credentials and realize that this isn't a study with which to draw and sort of valid conclusion. And, aside from a few minor suggestions, it actually makes no claim that internet porn was indeed the cure. It hints that it may have been, but for you savvy post hoc'ers out there, you should realize that this is the kind of article that brings forth a discussion. I've known rape victims, and I've watched porn. I've always been interested in the correlation, knowing that others are taking it into consideration is notably the first step in trying to figure out how to save the pretty young lasses from the beastly men out there. It's undeniable that there is no cure for rape - that we can unearth currently. But, this is where it all starts. I think what you people are missing with this, is that they are excited about some kind of link to a way to bring down the wicked so to speak. It's like the idea of homeopathy - give them a shot to clean out the system. There are all sorts of issues surrounding porn, and rape, and truly limitless variables, but you have to understand that they are trying to find a solution in the best way possible - isolating the factors that stand out, and working from there. If you try to bring in every single variable known to man in every single study, you'll never, ever, achieve anything! You'll run yourself in a mental circle of limitless pain and suffering. You have to build a box, then expand the box. Seek to disprove, not to prove. Some lead with "prove this" and "doesn't prove that." Well, you haven't "proven" anything either. Try to find a way around what they are saying, not throwing stuff out like "post hoc" this and "post hoc" that without knowing what you're talking about!
That being said:
Faith - I understand your argument about reported rape. There are many women out there who are terrified to report they've been raped. Many women who try to report a rape, but because of (as you mentioned) conspiracy with crooked cops or twisted people - nothing is achieved. I understand this entirely, I've worked with one of my best friends who endured this. I watched her suffer. But, as you've demonstrated, you've "proven" nothing by your argument either. What you've done is define more variables that need to be isolated into their own box. And then expanded to the greater good. Do you think it's actually possible to seriously factor in corruption of power into an internet porn study? No, it's not. The corruption of police and authority is an entirely separate box. To be comparable they must be understood in their own right. They aren't understood, because if they were, we'd not have the likes of Bush anywhere near Presidentiality.
For others:
I suggest picking up a Penthouse from time to time. I read an article in there outlining Russian sex trade in a small city. It's absolute madness. What is happening out there, is a clear indication of what humanity is capable of: Filth, oppression, selfishness. Out there, they have to accept that their 14 year old daughter is caught up in a gang organization partially controlled by the police, being drugged at all times of the day, and forced to have sex with men. This is their reality. All over the world children are being tormented by sexual deviants; men locking their daughters in a basement and fathering children; sodomy, forced entry, pain. The world is full of pain. Suffering, hate, envy, jealousy, and pain. And here you are, screaming at a potential: We may have a solution guys! But, you better lose your mind - add to the pain. Why not, instead of being paranoid about the data, don't you go out and do some research? If you've lived it, make a stand? Help find a solution instead of wallow in your own self pity? Don't you realize that this is everywhere, happening to countless people? Are you, then, not as selfish as a rapist by not helping out? Do you think you've achieved something by saddling up to your computer hollering about proof? A sad reality is that there is no such thing as proof, so why aren't you out trying to understand all the complexities of the circumstance to provide solutions?
As an note:
Pornography, as Dr.Ruth on a video post puts it, is very clearly defined by "NO KIDS." What this says to me, is that WebMD is not supporting authority that would benefit the porn industry. What people tend to ignore is the amatuer exchange of pornography. Some people - men and women both - enjoy watching other people have sex. There's no problem with legitimate pornography. There is a problem with filmed rape and child pornography. There is a problem with fathers raping their daughters. There is a problem with the fast food boss gone bitter. These are issues, indeed. But, it's a consequence of societies demands in far too many ways. Give me more! GIVE ME MORE! I NEED THIS NOW! Well then, here you go. We'll serve you up a plate of tax, oppression, rape, and murder. This is what you asked for. People are meant to band together in small groups, to fend for themselves. You mash 2 million people into one place and expect utopia? Good look. Everyone has one interest - themselves. The next, their closest. After that, it's free game. "F*ck the rest."
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