Report of the Surgeon General's Workshop on

PORNOGRAPHY and PUBLIC HEALTH

June 22-24, 1986
Arlington, Virginia

Prepared by:

Edward P. Mulvey, PhD
Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic
University of Pittsburgh

Jeffrey L. Haugaard, MA
Department of Psychology
University of Virginia

For Release to the Public on Monday, August 4, 1986
   ' by the Office of the Surgeon General
       U. S. Public Health Service
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
         Washington, D.C.


Tables of Contents
--

Letter of Transmittal                                      i

Final Printed Program

List of Participants

Overview

ii


vi


1

Basic Research Problems

5

Consensus Statements

13

Future Research Agenda                                 39

Prevention and Intervention                                47

Summary                                             56

References                                          58

Background Papers
(ln the order they were discussed in the program)

67

"Psychological Research and Public Policy: Taking a Long, Hard Look
   Before We Leap"

Donn Byrne and Kathryn Kelley

"Effects of Prolonged Consumption of Pornography"
    Dolf Zillman

"Do Sexually Violent Media Indirectly Contribute to Antisocial Behavior?"
    Neil WI. Malamuth

"Effects on Juveniles of Being Used for Prostitution and Pornography"
   Mimi Halper Silbert

"Techniques Designed to Mitigate the Impact of Mass Media Sexual
   Violence on Adolescents and Adults"
    Edward Donnerstein


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 8a HUMAN SERVICES

The Surgeon General of the
Public Health Service
Washington DC 20201

The Hon. Edwin Meese, III
Attorney General
U:S. Department of Justice
Constitution Avenue and 10th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20530

August 1,1986

Dear Mr. Attorney General:

I am pleased to transmit to you the report of the "Surgeon General's Workshop on
Pornography and Public Health," which was held in Arlington, Virginia, on June 22-24.
The Workshop and this report are in respose to a request from the Chair, Mr. Henry E.
Hudson, and the Members of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography that the
U.S. Public Health Service provide information to the Commission on the possible effects
pornography may have upon public health. I hope the enclosed report is helpful to the
work of your Department.

May I add that we were extremely fortunate to have had participants at the Workshop,
each of whom demonstrated throughout the intensive day and evening sessions an
extraordinary degree of interest, knowledge, and collegiatity. They deserve great credit
and the sincere thanks of their government. In addition, a great many persons from both
our Departments contributed to the planning and the ultimate success of this Workshop;
however, I would like to give special acknowledgment to the following:

Jo AM Gasper, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs, OASH
Saleem Shah, PhD, Chief of the Antisocial and Violent Behaviore Branch, National
   Institute of Mental Health, ADAMHA;
David Heppel, MD, Chief, Child/Adolescent Primary Care Services Branch, Division
   of Maternal and Child Health, HRSA;
Theodore 0. Cron, Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Health and the
   Surgeon General, OASH;

Stephanie J. Stein, Special Assistant to the Surgeon General, OASH;
Jacqueline Friedewalde, proprietor of Conference Management Associates.

If the U.S. Public Health can be of any further assistance to the work of the Department
of Justice in this or other matters, please let me know.

Sincerely yours,

C. Everett Koop, MD, DSc
Surgeon General

Enclosure


ii

SURGEON .GENERAL'S WORKSHOP
  JUNE 22;23, 24, .1986
  ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA


Tire Surgeon General's Workshop
on Pomographg and Public Health

June 22-23-24. 1986
Stoufk Co~~cowsc Hotel
Ad.ington. Virginia

AGENDA

Workshop Chairprron: AJbato Scmno. MD
          Director. Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic
          Professor. Child Psychology, Univenity of Pcnns+%ia

Sunday, June 22, 1986

3:oo PM    REGISTRATION (Plaza level)
6:OO PM   RECEpllON. Cub bar (Dewey I. Plaza level)
730 PM   DIMIER (Dewey 1. Plaza Iwet)
    o ???*??? ?*? ??????? ?? ??? ???????*???
      C. Evcrert Koop. MD
      surgeon General

US Public Health Service

* .`Psychologial Research and public Policy: Taking a Long. HuL Look
  Before we Lap"
   Aurhorr:   Don Byrne. PhD
        Professor & Chairman. Depanmenr of Psychology
        State University of New York at Albany
         Kachryn Kellcy. PhD
        Associarc Professor. Dcpvrmenc of Psychology
        Strw Univenity of New York II Albany
  Drmrumr: Jon It. Come. PbD
          Assistam Professor

School of Social Service Administtarion
Universiry of Chicago

Monday, June 23, 1986

7-30 AM   BREAKFAST (Dewy I. Plaza level)
      . "Rc&"
      Henry Hudson
        Charmtan
      Attorney General's Commission on Pornography


Mondav , June 23, 1986, tcont'd)

9+Q AM

10 30 AM
IO:45 AM

12.15 PM
1:30 PM

3:oo PM
3:15 PM

4.45 PM
6.30 PM

OPENING PLENARY SESSION i.Jamcs Room. Lobby Icvcl)
o "Effects of Prolonged Consumption of Pornography"
   Anhr    Dolf tillman. PhD. Professor
          Institute for Communications Research. Indram Umv
   DNCYIIPA~.  Alben Bandun. PhD
        Davrd Starr Jordan Professor of Socral Scicncc u-r
          Psychology
        Stanford University
COFFEE BREAK

RECONVENE PLENARY SESSION (James Room. Lobby Level)
o "Do ScnsaUy Violent Media Lodirectly Conuibure IO Antisocial
  Behavior?"
   An1bor.    Neil M Malarnurh. PhD
          Chairman. Commurucarions Srudrcs
        Univcrrrry of Cahfornia at Los Angeles
   Dmur~m~. Carol Nadclson. MD
        Professor & Vice Chainnan. Dcpartmem of Psychiatry
        Tufts University School of Medicine
        New England Medical Ccnrer
LUNCH (Dewey 1. Plaza kwl)
RECOhwNE PLENARY SESSION (James Room. Lbby level)
o "EfTccrs on Juvenile of Being Used for Prosrirution and Pomognphy"
   AUlk~:    Mimi H. Silbcn. PhD
          President & Chief Executive Officer
        D&nccy Strm Foundation
   Drrcnssant   Robcn W. D&her. MD
          Professor of Pediatrics
          Director. Division of Adoksccnr Medicrnc
        Univeniry of Washington School of Medicine
COFFEE BREAK

RECONVEY PLENARY SESSION (lames Room. Lobby Icvcl)

. "Techniques Dcsigacd to Mitigate the Lsnpacr of Mass Media Sexual
  Violence oo ~ddacaws and AduJu"
   Andor:    Edward Donnemein. PhD
         Professor: Center for Communications Research
        Depanmcnc of Communications Arts
        University of Wisconsin at Madison
   Dircnuaa~c Gnc G. Abel. MD
        Professor of Psychiatry
        Emory Univcrsiry School of Medicine
ADJOURN AFTERNOON SESSIONS
DINNER (Dewey 1. Plaza kvel)
o "FBI Rma& and Violent Criminal Behavior"
Robcn Resslcr. Supervisory Special Agent
National Center for the Analysis of Violcnr Crime
FBI Academy


Mondav. lune 23. 1986. ~orr~.d,~

8:oo PM   RECONVENE PLENARY SESSION uama Room. Lobby Icvel)
       o "00 Showing Sea to Childrrn: Video ad Remacka"
      Bndly Greenberg. PhD
      Chairman. Department of Telecommunicatrlons
      Michigan Sure Univcraicy

Tuesday, June 24, 1986

7:30 AM   BREAKFAST (Dewy 1. Plaar level)

8:30 AM    CONVEM IN TWO CONCURRENT CONSENSUS SESSIONS
      Participanta will be assigned to one of the following scsaiooa:
     o Cemcom S&on I (Room 104. Finr floor)
      "E&co d porwlnpby on childrco ad Youtag Addo"
          F-  Joyce N. Thomas, RN. MPH
                D&rot. Division of Child Pmceccion
             Clddsen'r Hospinl Na&mal Medical Center
     o CanaawSeaakII(Roomz0(.%condfIoor)
        "Ncr Paibilitia for Prcven&o and Trmcomu"
         Fsrdhror GrolHamnan. RN. DNSc
              Profasor. Boston College
             S&cd of Nuning

IO:00 AM    COFFEE BREAK

IO:15 AM   RECONf'ENE CONSENSUS SESSIONS I AND II

11:OO AM   CONVENE IN CONSENSUS SESSION III (lames Room. Lobby level)
     o The Raadt Agenda la the Future"
          Fditaror:  Mumy A. Srnua. PhD
              Director. Family Rcacarch I&oratory
             Univcniry of New Hampshire

12:1> PM   LUNCH (Dewey I. PIaaa kvel)

I:15 PM    RECONVENE IN PLENARY SESSION-WORKSHOP SUMMATION
     o placnndoatorbcsargeoO~Rcsulofmm~kpioarI.
        *? O

      o ????????*??????????

  2.30 PM   WORKSHOP IS ADJOURNED

AUpitmq ICSS,O~, d be recordrd.


vi

List of Participants
-a

Gene G. Abel, MD
Professor of Psychiatry
Emory University School of Medicine
Atlanta, Georgia

Jeffrey J. Haugaard, MA
Research Assistant in Clinical Psychology
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia

Albert Bandura, PhD
Professor of Social Science in Psychology         Kathryn Kelley, PhD

Stanford University                   Associate Professor of Psychology

Stanford, California                   State University of New York
                             Albany, New York

Ann W. Burgess, RN, DNSc
Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

C. Everett Koop, MD, DSc
Surgeon General, U.S. Public Health Service
Washington, D.C.

Donn Byrne, PhD
Professor and Chair, Department of

Psychology

State University of New York
Albany, New York

Neil M. Malamuth, PhD
Chair, Communications Studies
University of California
Los Angeles, California

Jon Conte, PhD

Edward P. Mulvey, PhD
Assistant Professor of Child Psychiatry,

Assistant Professor, School of Social Service
  Administration, University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

  Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Jessica Henderson Daniel, PhD
Supervising Staff Psychologist, Judge Baker
  Guidance Center, Children's Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts

Carol Nadelson, MD
Professor and Vice Chair, Department of
  Psychiatry, Tufts University School of
  Medicine, New England Medical Center
Boston, Massachusetts

William Daniel, Jr., MD
Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics
Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics and Chief
   of Adolescent
   of Adolescent Medicine
University of Alabama scnooi 01
University of Alabama School of Medicine
Montgo
Montgomery, Alabama

Albert Serrano, MD
Professor of Child Psychiatry and Director,
  Philadelphia Child Guidance Center
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Robert W. Deisher, MD
Professor of Pediatrics and Director of
   Adolescent Medicine
University of Washington School of Medicine
Seattle, Washington

Edward Donnerstein, PhD
Professor, Center for Communications
  Research, University of Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin

Bradley Greenberg, PhD
Chair, Department of Telecommunications
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan

Mimi Halper Silbert, PhD
President and Chief Executive Officer
Delancey Street Foundation
San Francisco, California

Murray A. Straus, PhD
Director, Family Research Laboratory
University of New Hampshire
Durham, New Hampshire

Joyce N. Thomas, RN, MPH
Director, Division of Child Protection
Children's Hospital NatL Medical Center
Washington, D.C.

Carol Hartman, RN, DNSc
Professor, Boston College School of Nursing
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

Dolf Zillman, PhD
Professor, Institute for Communications
  Research, Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana


OVERVIEW

Purpose of the Report

From certain perspectives, the question of restraining the availability and use of
pornography is a relatively straightforward issue. For the active moralist, for
example, it is an instance in which the government should fulfill its obligation to
provide a healthy public atmosphere for the development of its citizens. For the
ardent feminist, government restrictions can combat a system that promotes the
active subjugation of women and the fostering of the public perception that women
actually desire subjugation. For the avid civil libertarian, restrictions in this area
should be resisted as dangerous indicators of a government's capacity to control infor-
mation and thus undercut our basic freedoms.  Although the particulars of govern-
mental action are not resolved by any of these general positions, the limits of
acceptable action are clearly set by them.

   This report does not attempt to side with, reconcile, or even comment upon the
general positions that can be taken on restricting pornography. The aim is much more
modest.  This report summarizes the consensus of a group of social scientists and
mental health professionals regarding the nature and extent of evidence about the
effects of pornography, especially the effects on children and adolescents. The pur-
pose of this assessment is not to prescribe public policy. To assume that social
science or clinical practice offers such dispositive wisdom would be to greatly over-
estimate both the scope and accuracy of professional knowledge.  Public policy
decisions are better decided by the balancing of tensions engaged in by judges,
legislators, and social critics.

   An examination like the present one informs those more central to the policy
process about the views of a group of social scientists regarding what is known in an
area and what yet needs to be known in order to make more defmitive statements. In
performing this function, social scientists help to clarify the evidence that supports or
refutes arguments for certain courses of social action. Expert commentary on the
validity of assumptions of fact or the adequacy of theory is valuable to the policy
formation process because it highlights the line between accepted-social science evi-
dence and values or morality. Ideally, it can thus force discussion of these latter
issues to be done more openly.


2

Previous Investigations Into the Effects of Pornography

The Surgeon General's workshop that generated this report was not the first govem-
mentally sponsored effort to examine the question of the social effects of pomog-
raphy. In the late 1960's, the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography was formed,
and after funding much research and holding many hearings, released its report in
1970. Its findings were basically summarized in its introduction: "Empirical research
designed to clarify the issue has found no reliable evidence that exposure to sexually
explicit materials plays a significant role in the causation of delinquent or criminal
sexual behavior among youth or adults." The report was criticized by both Commis-
sion members (Cline, 1970) and others (see Krafka, 1985) for flaws in the design of
some commissioned research, misinterpretations of some of the research, limitations
of the scope of much of the research done. Despite critisisms, however, the general
conclusion of the Commission-that pornography has no marked so&l effects-has
continued to be the generally accepted and often cited wisdom in this area.

  In response to a growing concern over child pornography in particular, both
houses of Congress held hearings into the issue of child pornography in 1977. During
these hearings, witnesses estimated that between 300,000 and 600,000 children were
involved in the production of pornography and that more than 260 child pornography
publications were being produced (Pierce, 1984). Subsequent to these hearings, the
federal government and nearly all state governments enacted laws against the pro-
duction, distribution, and possession of child pornography.

  In 1979, the British government sponsored the Committee on Obscenitp and
Film Censorship. The conclusions of this Committee, based in large part on a research
review by Yaffe and Nelson (1979) were similar to those of the 1970 United States
Commission on obscenity and Pornography. Like its predecessor, however, this com-
mittee report was also criticized for its failure to include what were considered
relevant research studies (Court, 1980).

  The Canadian government convened the Special Committee on Pornography and
Prostitution, which delivered its report in 1985.  The Committee found that while
individual research projects had shown some of the effects of pornography, as a whole,
the research was contradictory and inconclusive, and could not be relied upon as a
guide for policy formation.

  The United States Attorney General's Commission on Pornography was formed
in 1985 in response to a number of concerns: (a) continuing criticism of the fmdings of
previous commissions; fb) recent technological advances and changes in social
standards that had allowed both youth and adults easier access to pornography; (c)
recent research (e.g., Malamuth & Spinner, 1980; Smith, 1976) indicating that the


3

content of both "hardcore" and traditional "softcore" pornography had changed in the
1970's and 1980% to include considerably more sexually violent material; and (d)
preliminary research suggesting that these new forms of pornography had different
effects on viewers' attitudes and behaviors than the pornography studied earlier.
These developments called for a reassessment of the possible impact of the changes in
the content and patterns of use.  Moreover, a new research approach had emerged,
emphasizing that the message communicated by the pornography might have at least
as much effect as the explicitness of the sexual content, and an evaluation of new
findings thus seemed in order.

   The mandate of the Commission was in part to "determine the nature, extent,
and impact on society of pornography in the United States, and to make specific
recommendations to the Attorney General concerning more effective ways in which
the spread of pornography could be contained, consistent with constitutional guar-
an tees." Although no new research was funded by this Commission, it did undertake
public hearings in which current research was explained and information about the
current manufacture and distribution of pornography was gathered. Numerous wit-
nesses who viewed themselves as victims of pornography also testified.

   The Surgeon General of the United States was asked to testify before the
Attorney General's Commission, and subsequently agreed to provide the Attorney
General with a report summarizing the evidence that was available from the scientific
community regarding the effects of pornography on public health. In order to provide
this information, the Surgeon General's Workshop on Pornography was convened, con-
sisting of 20 members from the communications, medical, mental health, and social
science fields. The goal of the Workshop was to provide the Surgeon General and the
U.S Public Health Service, as well as the Attorney General's Commission, with infor-
mation regarding three general questions: (1) what is known, with a reasonable degree
of certainty, about the effects of pornography on the mental and physical health of
those in the United States, especially on children and young people; (2) what additional
effects are justifiably suspected and how these posited effects could be verified or
refuted ; and (3) what actions could be taken by those in the medical, mental health,
and public health fields in order to combat any negative effects of pornography.

   Papers were prepared by five experts who had either conducted research into
the effect of pornography or were familiar with the effects on youth who had par-
ticipated in the production of pornography. These papers and discussant reactions to
the papers served as focal points for the first part of the Workshop. Three consensus
sessions were then held: one to summarize current knowledge about the effects of por-
nography on children and adolescents, a second to suggest prevention and intervention
measures for those who might be or have been affected by pornography (either as con-


4

sumers or as participants in its production), and the third to outline a course of future

research.

   This report captures the essence of the discussions held during the two days of
the Surgeon General's Workshop on Pornography. A general discussion of the process
of research in this area is presented first. Then, the conclusions of the Workshop
participants regarding the effects of pornography are presented, as well as the evi-
dence upon which these conclusions were based.  FinalIy, recommmendations for
prevention and treatment and for future research are given.


5

BASIC RESEARCH PROBLEMS

The Underlying Issues

Designing and executing research to isolate the unique effects that exposure to
pornography may have on children and adolescents is a formidable task because of the
methodological and ethical barriers inherent in doing such investigations. Exposure to
pornography is only one of many interdependent factors potentially affecting a child,
and attempting to isolate its unique effects forces the researcher to oversimplify the
complex process of development. Moreover, conducting investigations regarding ex-
posure to pornography while protecting subjects from potential harm creates a number
of vexing ethical dilemmas. Given these constraints, it is not too surprising that the
amount of directly relevant information that can be gathered from the social sciences
regarding this question is limited.

  It is important to note first that the effect on children of any particular influ-
ence like exposure to pornography is the result of many interacting factors. Most
obviously, the effects of exposure are likely to differ depending on the age of the
child. Because of new cognitive and social skills that develop as a child matures, the
effect that an experience with pornography has at one age does not always correspond
to the effect that it has at another. In addition, recently it has become clear that
there is considerable variation between children in their proclivities for certain
activities or susceptibility to particular influences.  Children bring dispositional
tendencies and early learning patterns into any interaction with the environment, and
these may also produce wide variation in the impact that any particular influence or
incident has on the child.  Finally, exposure to pornography does not occur in a

vacuum. Like any other factors that might influence child development, exposure to
pornography is unlikely to exert an infIuence totally distinct from the setting and
social context in which it is experienced.  For example, a short exposure and
subsequent discussion with a parent about the factual accuracy or value message of
the material would in all likelihood have a quite different effect than repeated
solitary exposure. How to test systematically the effects of exposure to pornography
in the face of this myriad of potential influences is obviously quite a methodological
challenge.


6

   Even if one is willing to chip away systematically at these multiple interactions
through circumscrtbed investigations, however, there are ethical constraints that
inevitably limit the types of research designs that can be used. Because the exact
short term effects on children of exposure to pornography are unknown, and because
exposing youth to pornography for experimental purposes could conceivably produce
actual ill effects, this tactic violates a basic moral sense of the limits of acceptable
social scientific practice. The researcher, therefore, is caught in a Catch-22 situa-
tion. It is impossible to know exactly what effects different types of materials might
have on children without investigating the phenomenon systematically, but it is impos-
sible to do the investigations as long as adverse effects are hypothesized. Moreover,
showing an effect would guarantee that future investigations would be even further
restricted, since there would then be proof of the risk.

   Aside from the simple fact that showing pornography to children is a morally
distasteful and at present an ethically unsupportable manipulation, the lack of clear
knowledge or theory regarding expected long term outcomes of such exposure also
presents an ethical difficulty. Even if it could be demonstrated that negative short-
term effects could be controlled by debriefing, it would still be important to be able
to assert that long term effects of a child's involvement in such research would be
negligible. Because of the possible multiple interactions between exposure to pornog-
raphy and other contextual and dispositional variables, however, it is impossible to
predict what the ultimate effects of such exposure might be for a youth taking part in
such research.  Without adequate theory to guide an assessment of the risks of this
research for children, investigators are unable to present a balanced (even if only
theoretical) argument regarding methods to protect against ill effects. In the end, the
individual risk factors predis- posing children to various influences are too unclear, the
potential negative outcomes are too diffuse, and the theory too sparse to protect
children taking part in the direct research that would need to be done.

   Because of these ethical constraints, we are unable to scientifically test many
of the propositions related to the effects of pornography on children. Thus, the field
of available data upon which any general conclusions can be based is bound to be of
questionable scientific rigor. Instead of examining direct tests of hypotheses, we must
extrapolate and speculate regarding the effects of pornography on children and ado-
lescents from related research.  There are three basic types of investigations-
clinical, laboratory, and correlational-that are relevant in this effort, and each one
has its advantages and limitations. It is useful to be aware of the qualities of each
approach while considering the applicability of their findings to children and ado-
lescen ts.


Clinical Studies

One source of information about the effects of pornography on children and adoles-
cents are clinical studies involving youth who have come to the attention of juvenile
justice or mental health agencies. These reports are valuable because they provide a
glimpse at the casualties of youthful exposure to harmful influences. Unlike statisti-
cal analyses of patterns within large groups of subjects,: clinical studies frame
problems in human terms. Devastating subjective experiences do not become diluted
by numbers representing differences between group averages.
   The rich texture of clinical data is valuable for the development of theory,
especially in an area Iike pornography where ethical considerations prohibit empirical
investigations with larger, more representative samples. Clinical studies highlight
relevant issues to be considered in any theoretical formulation and pose potential
hypotheses regarding the mechanisms behind certain observed effects. Clinical ac-
counts provide direction for more controlled investigations and promote theory that is
linked to the subjective experiences of the practitioners and the youth involved.
   Clinical studies are limited in value, however, when testing hypotheses and
theories. Their greatest general limitation is the inability to isolate the specific
effects of the variable being considered (such as exposure to pornography) from other
potentially influential variables. Using clinical data alone, it is impossible to attribute
a particular amount of an observed effect to a variable in question. For that matter, it
is impossible to conclusively attribute any effect to a specific variable. In order to
make such causal statements, it is necessary to compare the effects seen in a clinical
sample with those seen in an appropriately matched control group. This cannot be ac-
complished through the use of clinical samples alone.
  Clinical studies have another problem resulting from their focus only on youth
with identified problems. The effects of the circumstances that form the basis for the
identification (e.g., sexual abuse) cannot be separated accurately from the effects of
the discovery of those circumstances. For instance, it is impossible to tell with any
rigor how much of the distress shown by a child in therapy results from actual parti-
cipation in pornography and how much is precipitated by the reactions of others such
as parents, friends, and teachers to the discovery of the child's involvement. For
example, Burgess, Hartman, MacCausland and Powers (1984) found that behavioral
problems of some children involved in sex and pornography rings increased after their
participation was discovered. The identification process itself provides an influence
on behavior that is very difficult to gauge.

Perhaps the most subtle problem with clinical reports is the inevitable tendency


8

for individuals who report on clinical phenomenon to interpret and report their obser-
vations in a way that supports their beliefs about the phenomenon in question. Those
writing clinical reports have beliefs that necessarily influence the general approach
taken to the subject matter, the types of questions asked, and the interpretations of
the results. The lack of a broadly accepted method in this area is both a strength and

a weakness. It allows for insightful and broad analyses and condones bias at the same
time, often resulting in contradictory findings and conclusions that produce more
careful debate than resolution. Clinical reports thus often illustrate, but rarely
irrefutably substantiate, different perspectives on a question.

   All of these concerns make it troublesome to rely soley upon clinical reports to
gain a clear picture. of the potential problems connected with exposure to or involve-
ment in pornography for children and adolescents in generaL Children who have run
away from home and are encouraged to produce pornography by being shown porno-
graphic pictures do not necessarily represent all children, and their reactions to being
shown pornography do not necessarily represent the inevitable response of children to

exposure. Similarly, the effects on delinquent youth of viewing pornography do not
necessarily mirror those of nondelinquent youth.  The reactions of these select
samples to participation in or exposure to pornography may differ significantly from
those of children from less troubled backgrounds.

   It is important, therefore, to remember the values and limits of clinical re-
search as the literature in this area is reviewed.  Rather than interpreting clinical
accounts as proof, we should instead view them as rich reminders of how devastating
certain influences can be to victimized children. In addition, they can clearly point
toward the issues that must be addressed more rigorously and make us feel why it is so
important to pursue those investigations.

Laboratory Studies

Laboratory research provides another source of potentially valuable information about
the effects of exposure to pornography.  Using controlled settings and consistent
materials, this type of research can systematically test for individual differences
produced by altering either the types of pornographic materials seen or the conditions
under which they are seen. The attraction of this approach is that it is "scientific" in
the sense that hypotheses can be directly tested and findings can be amassed to
support global theories. The drawback of such an approach is its inherent artificiality;
phenomena in the lab are not always what they may be in the real world.


9

   The advantages of this approach for increasing our understanding of the effects
of exposure to pornography are considerable.  First, it allows for control over the
types and amount of materials seen.  As a result, the effects of sexually explicit
materials can be compared to the effects of sexually violent materials or the effects
of singIe exposures can be compared to those obtained with repeated exposures.
Second, this approach allows for control over possible extraneous variables that might
affect the results, allowing heightened confidence that any observed differences were
caused by the factors that were manipulated.  For instance, individuals can be ran-
domly assigned to different conditions of exposure to control for self-selection
factors, or anger levels can be manipulated before testings for the display of an out-
come behavior of interest. Third, it promotes the systematic construction of theory
regarding the mechanisms by which any effects resulting from exposure occur. Results
from one series of experiments can be further refined in later studies until a clearer
picture.emerges. Laboratory aggression against women in these studies, for example,
has been shown to be affected by the content of sexually violent materials, thus pro-
moting a theory of a synergistic effect between the presentation of violence and sex
in promoting targeted aggression against women.

   There are also many limitations of laboratory approaches applied to studies of
exposure to pornography. First, as mentioned earlier, there is the nagging question of
whether the results obtained in the hb actually reflect the world as it is outside of the
lab. The vast majority of lab studies in this area use college students as subjects,
create manipulations that are usually contrived and less complex than the influences
occurring in real life, and produce effects that are only analogues of the actual behav-
iors of interest. Regarding pornography, the concern about the applicability to the
everday world centers on whether the attitudes and behaviors of college students
regarding sex are adequately representative of the general population, whether the
types and patterns of exposure in the lab are comparable to regular or sporadic por-
nography use, and whether the short term effects produced can be interpreted as hav-
ing any substantial relationship to behavior patterns outside the lab. There is a
particular related concern that those individuals who volunteer for laboratory studies
(especially those studies involving penile tumescence measures) may not be represen-
tative of the general pool of potential subjects, possibly being more sexually liberal
and having more varied sexual experiences (e.g., Malamuth & Check, 1983).

   Second, laboratory studies operate primarily from a hypothesis testing model.
In this approach, demonstration of differences between groups exposed to different
treatments is taken as evidence that the manipulation has been sufficiently powerful
to rule out the possibility that the observed group differences were produced merely


by chance. A lack of differences is taken to mean that the manipulation did not have
an effect substantially greater than what might have resulted from random fluctua-
tions, but it does not necessarily rule out the possibility that there might be an effect
under slightly different circumstances.  Thus, this model for experimentation nearly
guarantees that only significant results wiIl be reported in the literature, since "no
effect" is an inconclusive statement.  As a result, it is difficult to know how many
studies were done that were unable to produce any observed result. `Ihis generally
unavailable information is important because the presence of a large number of these
unreported results may indicate that the regularity and strength of a particular effect
is really rather low even though it has been reported to have occurred under controlled
conditions (Rosenthal, 1978). This drawback makes it impossible to merely compare
the number of published studies showing a particular effect and those not showing the
effect, when assessing whether the effect exists.

   In a related vein, it is difficult to judge whether the strength of an effect that
will produce statistically significant group differences in a controlled study reflects a
difference that is of significant magnitude in the real world A difference of 2.5 on a
`I-point rating scale completed by a large number of college students, for instance,
may produce a highly statistically significant effect in a controlled study. Whether
this difference really translates into an attitude difference of noticeable proportions
in the real world, however, is another question.  In short, lab studies offer the
opportunity to contruct theory but can only rarely test how well that theory goes
beyond the controlled setting of the lab.

Correlational Studies

   The third type of social scientific evidence commonly considered when at-
tempting to assess the effects of pornography is that examining relationships between
or changes in social indicators. This strategy usually involves examining the correl-
ation between two indicators under different conditions (e.g., the incidence of rape
and the distribution of sexually oriented magazines in different states) or changes in
the frequency or magnitude of an indicator over a given time period (e.g., changes in
rape rates after a loosening of the restrictions on pornography). Examinations of
social indicators are particularly useful for generating hypotheses about how people
might be acting or for predicting how a social system might operate.

   Because of their general nature, investigations using these designs are open to
several problems.  The major problem is their limited capacity to control for the
numerous variables that may be contributing to any observed correlation or shift. For


11

example, a shift in demographic composition or reporting practices over time can af-
fect the relationships seen in aggregate population data, or other unmeasured vari-
ables can be mediating a relationship between the two variables being examined.
These influences may cause the change in one variable to be mistakenly attributed to
a second variable. Researchers attempt to guard against these influences by examining
changes in other variables that might be logical causes of the observed changes, but it
is always an open question whether enough of these extraneous factors have been con-
sidered or if the Researcher has examined the right ones.  Somewhat like clinical
studies, correlational research offers us a glimpse of the real world, but at an
aggregate level that is highly dependent upon the measures chosen.
   Studies of this sort also come under considerable criticism regarding the ac-
curacy with which the social indicators chosen actually reflect the particular theo-
retical notion in question. Variables are usually taken from existing data bases and
are assumed to be reasonable proxies for more abstract notions.  The number of
"adults only" movie theaters in an area, for examph, might be used as an indicator of
a community's acceptance of pornography, or salary differential between sexes might
be used as an indicator of the status of women.  How well these measures actually
capture the concept under consideration, however, is often debatable, and there is
often the real possibility that different results would have been obtained using
different indicators.

   Finally, interpretation problems arise with studies of social indicators. It is
often difficult to keep in mind that associations seen in aggregate data may or may
not reflect processes operating within or among individuals. For example, although
the availability of sexually explicit materials may be correlated with the incidence of
rape in particular areas (Baron & Straus, 1984), this association does not mean that the
same individuals are accounting for both rates.  This observed relationship could be
present even if two totally nonoverkpping groups of individuals were accounting for
each indicator. As a result, investigations of this sort that rely on aggregate data
provide no conclusive information about the extent of the relationship of the variables
of interest in the individuals who compose the groups examined.

   In the end, the best that can be offered are demonstrations of an observed
correlation, but no real information about whether the results indicate a causal
relationship. Because of the open-ended nature of the arguments that can usually be
raised against any observed correlation, studies of this sort are usually viewed as
adjunct sources of support for particular arguments or as indicators of potentially
fruitful places to begin more controlled studies.


12

Summary

   Given the problems with each of these approaches to research, one might be
left with the impression that all social science data is flawed to the point of being
unconvincing to the discerning reader. This interpretation, however, would be overly
harsh. Instead, what should be taken from this critical review is the simple idea that
no one study or set of findings using only one method should be taken as definitive.
While certain questions are best suited to particular forms of investigation, one piece
of evidence standing alone or without considerable theoretical support should be
viewed with skepticism.

   When more than one approach is used to investigate the same specific question
or hypothesis and consistent findii emerge, however, it is evident that something
has been found that warrants consideration by policymakers and researchers alike.
There are ways that each method outlined above compensates for the inadequacies of
the other methods and consistent findings therefore argue for little likelihood that the
particular approach taken has skewed the results in a particular way. Each of the
above methods has been used in examining the effects of pornography, and an
assessment of what this evidence ultimately says requires a careful weighing of the
methods used and the consistency of fmdings across different methods. There are
some statements that can be made with scientific confidence because they are validly
demonstrated and/or theoretically sound.


13

CONSENSUS STATEMENTS

Introduction

Workshop participants were given the charge of reaching some consensus regarding the
effects of pornography on the public health of citizens, expecially children and

adolescents. The list of consensus statements that emerged was intended to provide a
reasoned, rather than a partisan, summary of what social science can say with con-
fidence about the effects of pornography. Each of the five consensus statements that
follows relates to a circumscribed effect of pornography that is supported by directly
relevant social science data and is tenable in light of demonstrated theory in related
areas of inquiry.

   There have been many claims other than those listed here regarding the effects
of various forms of pornography.  What are listed here are conclusions that have, in
the opinion of the participants, been demonstrated with a required degree of social
science accuracy. This is not to say that other purported effects of pornography have
been examined and found to be false. Presently, however, the state of the evidence in
this area appears to substantiate only the following limited conclusions.

Consensus Statements

Children and adolescents who participate
in the production of pornography
expkknce adverse, enduring effects.

Involvement of children in the production of pornography is a form of sexual
exploitation, victimizing vulnerable children and leaving them with the aftermath of

this involvement.  Sexual exploitation has been linked to a variety of adverse
emotional, behavioral, and somatic consequences in children as well as adults who
were exploited as children. Incidents of sexual exploitation are not easily put aside by
a child, but instead appear to re-emerge as a variety of difficulties (for a review, see
Finkelhor & Browne, 1986).


14

   Several aspects of the process of sexual exploitation are theorized to be im-
portant contributors to the emergence of adverse effects. Finkelhor and Browne
(1985) have theorized that these effects can be caused by several factors: traumatic
sexualization, betrayal, powerlessness, and stigmatization. Traumatic sexualization is
a result of the child being involved in, and rewarded for, developmentally inappro-
priate sexual behavior. This can produce an obsession with or adversion to sexuality,
and may be seen behaviorally in childhood and/or adulthood as a preoccupation with
sexual activity, sexual dysfunction, or phobic reactions to intimacy. Betrayal results
from the child being manipulated by a trusted adult. Effects can be depression, de-
pendency, mistrust, and hostility, and behavioral consequences can include isolation,
vulnerability to other abuse, and conduct problems.  Powerlessness results from a
sense of vulnerability felt because of repeated invasion of the child's body and the
inability of the child to stop the abuse. Effects include anxiety, fear, self-perception
as a victim, and identification with the abuser.  Behavioral consequences include
somatic difficulties, sleep disturbances, school phobias, and delinquency.  Finally,
stigmatization can occur as a result of the child blaming his or herself for the abuse or
being blamed for the sexual activity by the abuser, the child's family, or others.
Effects of this process are thought to be guilt and lowered self-esteem. Possible
behavioral consequences include isolation, drug use, criminal activity and self-
destructive behavior.

  Involvement with pornography does seem to have a place in the dynamics of
sexually exploiting children. Pornography has been used by adults to teach children
how to perform sexual acts and to legitimize the children's participation by showing
pictures of other children who are "enjoying" the activity. In some cases involvement
in the production of pornography has led to other sexual activity; in others, pornog-
raphy involvement has followed sexual activity.

  Since most children and adolescents involved with pornography are also
involved in prostitution or other sexual activity with adults (Burgess et al., 19841, and
since many come from homes where they experienced neglect and abuse (Silbert &
Pines, 1984), the specific effects of involvement with pornography cannot be isolated
cleanly. Involvement with pornography is one of many influences operating in the
lives of these youth, and discussion of the effects of participation in the production of
pornography must be understood in terms of the combined effect of this influence with
previous negative life experiences.  There is no reason to believe, however, that
involvement with pornography is less traumatizing than other forms of sexual
exploitation of children. There is even some suggestion that it may produce a unique
form of trauma since the child knows that there is a permanent record of his or her
participation.


   Evidence about the role and effects of pornography in sexually exploiting
children necessarily comes exclusively from clinical studies.  Burgess et al. (1984)
completed extensive interviews with 62 children referred by law enforcement agencies
when their participation in sex and pornography rings was discovered. Although one of
the most extensive investigations of its kind, the authors noted several possible
limitations to the generalizability of the results of the interviews to all children
involved in such activity. Most notably, the sample might not have been representa-
tive of all such children since only those referred by law enforcement agencies were
interviewed and 14 children who could have participated were not permitted by their
parents to do so.  Also, the children's emotional and behavioral patterns may not
reflect those found in children whose participation had not been disclosed.
   Difficulties reported by the children as occurring during their association with
the sex rings included somatic complaints, sleep disturbances, withdrawal from peer
and adult contact, and acting-out behaviors.  Disclosure of the children's involvement
in the rings produced new symptoms in 49 of the children and caused the exacerbation
and solidification of existing symptoms in many others. Data analysis indicated that
those involved in a sex ring for more than one year and those involved in the produc-
tion of pornography (34 children) were more likely to exhibit more severe symptomol-
ogy. Unfortunately, the specific contribution that each of these two conditions made
to the symptomology is unclear.
   From structured interviews with hundreds of children, adolescents, and young
adults, Silbert (1986) compiled a list of symptoms exhibited by those involved with
pornography. Those involved with pornography at the time of the interview were seen
as uncommunicative, withdrawn, inattentive, and fearfuL Long-term consequences of
those who had been involved earlier were characterized by the internalization of those
behaviors. That is, the adolescent personalities of previously involved youth were best
characterized as withdrawn, anxious, and paranoid. Only five of the subjects inter-
viewed had previously disclosed their involvement with pornography. For the two
whose disclosure met' with support by those in their environment, a time of initial
heightened turmoil was followed by a more healthy resolution. For the others who
were met with disbelief or punitive reactions, the disclosure meant an exacerbation of
their negative reactions.
   In a contradictory report, Inciardi (1984) interviewed nine girls between the
ages of 8 and 12 who were involved in prostitution and pornography and found few
overt signs of disorder. All of the girls had been introduced into the sexual activity by
parental figures, all of whom were already involved in prostitution or pornography.
None of the girls' activities had been disclosed to law enforcement or social service


16

agencies, and their involvement in sexual activity was ongoing. Four of the girls re-
ported that they did not use drugs, and Inciardi stated that the others' drug use did not
seem to be directly related to their sexual activities.

   While these findings are counter to the previously cited investigations and the
more generally accepted notion of the grave impact of such activities on children,
several aspects of the group of girls interviewed must be considered as possible fac-
tors producing these results. First, the sample was small and not `necessarily repre-
sentative of all girls in similar circumstances.  The girls' parents encouraged their
sexual activity and the appearance of the activity as more normal may have mitigated
the effects reported by other children. Second, the girls were still quite young. As
Inciardi noted, these girls had the same trouble expressing affect as do other children
their age, and this limitation may have produced an underreporting of symptoms in the
short interview used.  Moreover, many effects of sexual exploitation may not appear
until the occurrence of significant life events involving sexuality or intimacy (Gelinas,
1983).  `The lack of current symptoms, therefore, does not preclude later problems
around dating, intimate relationships, or childbearing. Finally, the sexual activity had
not been disclosed. Recalling that symptoms can increase in severity after disclosure
(Burgess et al., 19841, there is the possibility that these girls may have presented (or
may yet present) a different clinical picture after the possibly traumatic experience
of disclosure.

   Although it is impossible to isolate the effects of participation in the
production of pornography from the effects of the other forms of sexual exploitation
that are often experienced by those involved in pornography, clinical evidence
indicates almost unequivocally that the effects of such involvement are adverse and
enduring. Whether or not we can generalize from the reported effects to all those
involved in the production of pornography has not been shown, yet it is clear that
harmful effects are experienced by many.  While some evidence is available of minor
effects when participation is encouraged by parental figures, this evidence is not
overwhelming. In the end, it is fair to conclude that pornography plays a clear role in
the sexual exploitation of children, and that this exploitation produces damaged
children and adults.


17

Prolonged use of pornography
inereasas belie&
that less common sexual practices

are more common.

The basis for this conclusion comes mainly from the work of Zillmann and Bryant
(1982) and the application of recent theoretically relevant findings from cognitive
psychology research. The theme of this conclusion is that repeated exposure to por-
nography is likely to alter one's estimates of the frequency of people engaging in
behaviors similar to those depicted. While there is only one direct experimental test
of this premise, these results match other studies of human judgment processes using
materials other than pornography as content. The research study can thus be seen as a
demonstration that an observed, theoretically sound psychological mechanism appears
to be operating when individuals are repeatedly exposed to pornography.

   Zillmann and Bryant (1982) exposed a group of male and female undergraduates
to varying amounts of pornographic ftims.  `The massive exposure group watched six
different eight-minute sexually explicit films during each of six weekly sessions, the
intermediate exposure group watched three erotic and three nonerotic films, and the
no exposure group watched six nonerotic films. All of the erotic films contained only
consenting heterosexual activities of fellatio, cunnilingus, coition, and anal inter-

course.

   Three weeks after the end of the film presentations the subjects completed
several questionnaires, one of which asked them to estimate the percentages of adults
in the United States that engaged in various common and uncommon sexual practices.
Those in the intermediate and massive exposure groups, compared to the no exposure
and no prior treatment groups, estimated that significantly higher numbers of adults
engaged in fellatio, cunnilingus, and anal intercourse.  Comparison with data from
broadly based sexual surveys indicated that the estimates of the intermediate and
massive exposure groups were actually more accurate than the no exposure and no
prior treatment groups, which underestimated the prevalence of these behaviors. Of
particular interest was the additional finding that estimates of the prevalence of
group sex, sadomasochism, and bestiality were higher for the massively exposed group
than the other groups, even though none of the pornographic material to which they
were exposed included these types of activities. Those in the massive exposure groups
significantly overestimated the reported prevalence of these activities.


18

   This study indicated that those viewing intermediate or massive amounts of
more commonly accepted pornography over a six-week period believed that these
forms of sexual behavior occur more frequently in the general population than those
with no exposure to pornography during the same time. Also, those who viewed more
massive amounts of pornography believed that less common forms of sexual behavior
which were not included in the materials seen also occur more frequently. In short,
the perceptions of the subjects regarding the prevalence of sexual practices were
affected by the amount of pornography that they viewed. However, the implications
of this change in perception toward attitudes of tolerance for the material or the less
common sexual practices were not and have not been investigated.
   This single study would not be as convicing if its results were not so predictable
in light of other research. Recent work in cognitive psychology has consistently found
a set of processes that appear to drive human judgment under conditions of uncertain-
ty (see Kahneman, Slavic & Tversky, 1982). When confronted with problems requiring
estimates of the likelihood of an event occurring, people appear to perform a selective
search of the outcomes of representative situations that they have encountered, and
rely heavily on their recollection of the outcome of the most cognitively available
incidents for representations. The availability of these cognitive reference points is
influenced by the recency of a person's contact with the given material or the dra-
matic salience of the materiaL

   Since pornography is a primary means by which many people (especially
children and adolescents) learn about the sexual behavior of couples, and since there is
seldom any corrective, more accurate information available, it is easy to see how this
material can affect perceptions about how common certain behaviors are. Exposure
could logically provide a heuristic of couple's sexual behavior in which less common
acts are regular occurrences. Moreover, regular exposure could help to make these
representations highly available as reference points. While more research is obviously
required to gain a full picture of how repeated exposure to pornography affects
perceptions, it presently appears that exposure to this content material operates in a
way consistent with what would be expected.


19

Pomogmphy that portrays serual aggmsion
as pleasnrable for the victim
incm the acceptance of fhe use of coercion
in SexnaI rehtions

This statement is based on experimental findings, the fact that these findings are
congruent with theoretical notions of attitude formation, and clinical reports from
samples of sex offenders. None of the available data sources taken alone are suffi-
cient to posit an effect of violent pornography of a particular type on attitudes.
Taken together, however, there appears to be a convincingly clear picture of attitudes
toward the acceptability of sexual coercion being substantially altered by exposure to
particular types of violent pornography.

   Since the 1970 Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, a number of re-
searchers have explored the possibility of distinct effects related to exposure to vio-
lent pornography. These studies have been undertaken primarily because of the per-
ceived increase in the availability of violent sexual materials (MaIamuth & Spinner,
1980; Dietz & Evans, 1982) and the fact that the Commission only tangentially con-
sidered the possibility that these materials could exert an influence unique from erotic
pornography.  As part of this line of laboratory studies, attitudes have been investi-
gated as possible factors potentially increasing or decreasing any behavioral effects
produced by exposure to violent sexual materials. Attitudes in these studies have been
measured using a variety of paper and pencil scales, with measures of the same type
also used to gauge the individual's pre-existing, self-assessed "proclivity" toward
rape. These investigations have been and continue to be classical, social psychological
laboratory studies, almost exclusively using undergraduates as subjects and question-
naires or simulated tasks as outcome measures.

   Two studies using this approach (Malamuth, Haber & Feshbach, 1980; Malamuth
& Check, 1980) have shown that exposure to pornographic rape scenes in which the as-
sault resulted in the female victim's sexual arousal altered males' assessments of a
later rape depiction. These studies compared the effects of materials in which the
victim was aroused by the attack, the victim abhorred the attack, or two people were
involved in a mutually consenting act. Those viewing a scene in which the victim was
aroused by the attack saw the victim of the later rape depiction as having suffered
less.


20

   Another study (Malamuth, Reisen h Spinner, 1979) failed to show similar ef-
fects regarding a later rape depiction, however. In this study, exposure to aggressive
pornography films showed no effects on an immediate assessment of an interview with
a rape victim or on attitude survey responses regarding the seriousness of rape ob-
tained three weeks later.  What is striking about this study, however, is that the
materials used did not show the victim becoming aroused by the attack, but were in-
stead merely pictures of sadomasochism and rape.  Unwittingly, these researchers
provided verification of one of the conditions of, the other studies, testing for the
presence of an effect using violent materials without depictions of victim arousaL
The fact that there were no effects thus lends credence to the supposition that the
portrayal of victim enjoyment or repulsion is an important determinant of any attitude
effects produced by violent pornographic materials.

   Another investigation using a slighly different methodology provides confirming
evidence. Malamuth and Check (1981) compared three groups of male and female un-
dergraduates regarding changes in their acceptance of rape myths (e.g., that women
actually want to be attacked) and their attitudes toward the acceptability of violence
in sexual relations (as measured using three scales developed by Burt, 1980) as the
result of their exposure to violent sexual materials. Under the guise of examining the
movie rating process, these researchers had one group of students see two movies
showing a favorable victim response to rape and another group see two neutral movies
without violent sexual content. Both groups saw the movies in a theater as part of a
regularly scheduled film series rather than being exposed to them in a laboratory
setting.  Males, but not females, showed significantly higher acceptance of inter
personal violence and an increase in rape myths when tested several days later as part
of an apparently unrelated general attitude survey given in class.

   An interesting and important secondary finding of this study was that the
greater proportion of the shift in attitudes in the group that was exposed to the
materials showing the aroused victim was produced by individuals who reported a
higher likelihood to rape. These resarchers asked subjects to indicate the likelihood
that they would rape a woman if it could be guaranteed that they would not be
caught. This "likelihood to rape" (LR) scale had been used in previous research and
shown to have adequate validity for distinguishing individuals with pre-existing
favorable attitudes toward violent sexuality (see Malamuth, 1984, for a discussion of
the development of this scale). Subjects scoring high on this scale were more likely to
show attitude changes as the result of exposure to materials in which the victim
showed arousal.

    Whether the victim becomes aroused as the result of a violent sexual attack has
also been shown to be a significant factor related to the arousal patterns of males.


As might be expected, nonrapists have shown higher arousal (as measured by penile
tumescence) to depictions of consenting sex than rape. Convicted rapists, meanwhile,
have shown high and about equal arousal to depictions of consenting sex and depictions
of rape. However, rapists have also shown higher arousal to rape depictions that con-
tained greater aggression than to rape depictions with less aggression (Abel, Barlow,
Blanchard & Guild, 1977; Abel, Blanchard, Becker & Djenderedjian, 1978; Barbaree,
Marshall & Lanthier, 1979; Abel, Becker 13 Skinner, 1980; Quinsey, Chaplin h Varney,
1981; Quinsey, Chaplin & Upfold, 1984).
   An interesting further finding of this line of research is that the sexual arousal
of nonrapists to rape depictions can be inhibited by previous exposure to depictions
that clearly emphasize the victim's suffering and repulsion (Malmuth h Check, 1980;
Malamuth, Heim & Feshbach, 1980). When nonrapists were presented with depictions
that differed on the victim's reaction, their self reported arousal and arousal measured
by penile tumescence to later rape depictions differed significantly. Those who orig-
inally viewed the repulsed victim showed lower arousal than those who viewed the
aroused victim.
   It is also worth noting that, judging from clinical reports, the perception of the
victim as having been willing or eventually sexually aroused by their assault appears to
be a common theme among sex offenders regarding incidents of sexual assault which
they committed. Gager and Shurr (1976) and Clark and Lewis (1977) have reported
that many rapists have justifications or excuses for their actions, and are often able to
portray their actions as understandable in light of the situations in which they found
themselves. Investigating this justification process further, Scully and Marolla (1984)
interviewed 114 convicted, incarcerated rapists and found that a sizable proportion
maintained that the victim enjoyed being raped, even in cases where considerable doc-
umented harm to the victim could be found. Obviously, these reports must be inter-
preted with a great deal of caution, especially given the retrospective, qualitative
research designs used. Whether the theme of victim arousal is an indicator of a pos-
sibly socially acceptable post-hoc justification or an attitudinal precursor to action
cannot be determined. These reports are worth noting here only because they show the
consistency with which the theme of victim arousal arises as a key factor qualifying
the vicious nature of sexual assault.
  Finally, it is important to emphasize that the findings regarding the salience of
victim arousal for sexual arousal and the demonstrated effect of this factor in altering
attitudes toward rape corresponds to psychological theory. Relying on theories of
judgmental processes (Higgins, Rholes & Jones, 1977; Wyer & Sroll, 1981; Kahneman,
Slavic EC Tversky, 19821, it is possible to see how perceptions of victim's reactions


22

could become highly influential in the formation of thinking patterns about the
acceptability of sexual coercion.  Presentation of sexual violence as a precipitant of
victim arousal could either serve as the groundwork for a reorientation of sexual
attitudes or as a reference belief that becomes influential in certain situations.

  `Ihe first potential process of attitude reorientation is rather straightforward.
Depictions of sexually coercive scenes have the capacity to be arousing to a variety of
individuals, but this arousal sequence can be inhibited in many by the perception that
such incidents are really more harmful than sexually arousing to the victim. The
perceived outcome of any social action is a powerful factor in determining whether an
individual might consider himself likely to engage in that behavior.  As a result,
portrayal of sexual coercion as producing positive outcomes (in the form of sexual
satisfaction for both parties) could negate possible inhibitory influences and instead
produce a powerful conditioned pairing of sexual aggressive content and sexual
arousal Once this pattern of arousal has been established repeatedly, it is likely that
an individual wlV alter the inhibitory attitudes to justify the existence of the link
between his own perceived behavior (his arousal) and his processing of sexually violent
materiaL In short, he will begin to believe that women actually get enjoyment out of
sexual victimization because it is consistent with his own newly acquired arousal

patterns,

  A second possibility is that the portrayal of victims becoming aroused as the
result of sexually violent coercion serves as a reference point that is easily accessed
when situations similar to the ones portrayed are depicted or occur. In this formu-
lation, an individual uses this general rule about victim reaction as an economical way
of assessing the likely outcome of a situation in which there are several possibilities of
uncertain probability. The scenes of sexual victims receiving pleasure may serve as an
available orientation point when judging sexually coercive situations. Regardless of
the factual or logical accuracy, what has been seen can become something to be
weighed in any formulation of the likely outcome of future events. This easily
accessible piece of memory could thus become influential in the expression of
attitudes about these situations.

   The line of research on attitude change regarding the acceptability of sexual
coercion is a convincing one when place in its theoretical context. It is important to
remain aware, however, that the observed attitude changes are generally restricted to
exposure using depictions of sexually violent incidents in which the victim becomes
aroused as a result of the attack. Attitude changes from exposure to violence or
sexually elrplicit behavior alone are not consistently observed. In addition, the effects
of such materials on women's attitudes is relatively unexplored, and the few studies


23

that do exist (e.g., Krafka, 1985) seem to point toward potentially different patterns
of effects.

   For reasons mentioned earlier, the effects of exposure to these materials on
the attitudes of children and adolescents is an empirically open question. It is
certainly reasonable to speculate, however, that the results of such exposure on less
socially mature individuals with less real world experience to counteract any influ-
ences of this material would be equally (or more) powerful than those seen in college
students. Attitude formation in childhood is a matter of exploration and "trying on" of
potential world views. Being exposed to one in which sexual coercion produces posi-
tive results could likely influence adoption of attitudes condoning the use of sexual
force as a reasonable alternative in intimate relationships.

Acceptance of coercive sexuality
appears to be reIated
to sexual aggredon

`Ihis conchsion is based on primarily correlational (but some laboratory based and
longitudinal) evidence of a link between attitudes indicating an acceptance of sexual
coercion and the presence of sexually aggressive behavior patterns. `Ihe association
between attitudes and behavior in this area is one of the most difficult to comment
upon conclusively from social science evidence, but it is obviously a lynchpin of
informed policy regarding the effects of exposure to pornography. At the present
time, it appears that there is evidence that attitudes indicating acceptance of coer-
cive sexuality are, along with a number of other variables, related to sexually ag-
gressive behavior. While there is the possibility that these attitudes are causally
related to the development of this behavior, it cannot be said presently that these
attitudes are causally related to this behavior. Moreover, it is not clear that exposure
to pornography is the most significant factor in the development of these attitudes. A
review of the types of available evidence on this question should illustrate why this is
a question that requires such cautious interpretation.

   There are a limited number of ways that one can examine the relationship of
certain attitudes to certain behaviors. First, people who have demonstrated a certain
behavior can be assessed regarding their attitudes relative to other individuals who
have not demonstrated the behavior. In the case of attitudes and behavior regarding


24

sexual aggression, this has mainly meant comparing the attitudes of rapists to those of
nonrapists.  An alternative strategy along this line has been to compare the attitudes
of those who report having engaged in sexually coercive behavior to those who report
no such involvement, regardless of whether such involvement resulted in an arrest. A
second approach is to test whether these attitudes are related to specific expressions
of aggression toward women in a controlled, Laboratory setting. Third, and ideally,
one can look at the development of attitudes and behaviors related to sexual aggres-
sion in the same individuals over time. In this way, the question otwhether attitudes
precede and/or help predict sexually aggressive behavior can be addressed.

   The largest amount of information about the relationship of sexually coercive
attitudes to sexually aggressive behavior has been collected using the first strategy;
that of comparing the attitudes of groups with reported or demonstrated differences
in behavior. As alluded to earlier, considerable clinical evidence exists that convicted
rapists express beliefs that women are at least partially responsible for being raped or
that a large number of women actually enjoy the experience (Gebhard, Gagnon, Pom-
eroy & Christensen, 1965; Gager & Schurr, 1976; Clark & Lewis, 1977; Wolf & Baker,
1980; Scully & Marolla, 1984). This difference is apparently not totally consistent,
however, with some investigators reporting that rapists in their samples expressed
views that were different from, but not dramatically at odds with, those expressed by
convicted felons or members of the general population (Feild, 1978; Burt, 1978).

   This lack of congruence of the above findings can probably be attributed to the
different methodologies used in these investigations (qualitative analyses of interviews
in the first set versus differences on questionnaires in the second set) and the effect
of sample bias concerning the characteristics of incarcerated rapists. There is little
reason to think that arrest for a sexual offense necessarily implies the presence of a
homogeneous set of attitudes, and it is equally likely that such status implies a set of
other social and personality characteristics (Koss & Leonard, 1984). Moreover, given
the underreporting of sexual coercion, it is likely that any sample of normal subjects
would be likely to contain a number of individuals who had engaged in some sexual
aggression.  As a result, differences in attitudes about the acceptability of sexual
coercion could be masked in any examination of groups drawn with arrest as the pri-
mary selection criterion.

   Other researchers, therefore, have looked at the relationship of attitudes about
the acceptability of sexual coercion to self reported sexual aggression. Generally,
these studies have administered scales assessing attitudes regarding rape myths or


25

sexual coercion to males (usually college students) and related these scores to either
self reported likelihood to rape or self reported involvement in sexual aggression. A
series of investigations (Malamuth, Haber & Feshbach, 1980; Malamuth, 1981; Tieger,
1981; Briere & Malamuth, 1983,) have shown a consistent relationship between a sub-
ject's attitudes toward the acceptability of the use of coercion in sexual relationships
and the self reported likelihood to commit rape.  These studies have thus demon-
strated that the measures used to assess attitudes regarding acceptance of sexual
coercion appear to have some validity when compared to another measure of an indi-
vidual's overall view of the acceptability of sexual coercion.

   Of more direct interest, however, are studies that have shown a relationship
between' attitudes about the acceptability of sexual coercion and self reported
behavior regarding involvement in sexual aggression. For example, Koss, Leonard,
Bee&y & Oros (1985) found that attitudes toward sexual coercion and demographics
provided a statistically significant model that predicted group membership between
subjects classified as sexually assaultive, sexually abusive, sexually coercive, and
sexually nonaggressive based on a sexual experiences survey. Similarly, Mosher &
Anderson (1986) found significant correlations between components of a scale meas-
uring what they termed a "macho" personality orientation (e.g., seeing danger as
exciting or woman as submissive) and self reported activities of the use of force in
sexual relations. Finally, in an elaborate test of several possible precursors to sexual
aggression, Malamuth (1986) has shown that attitudes toward the acceptability of
interpersonal violence toward women, hostility, and dominance interact with arousal
variables and sexual experience variables to predict a subject's self reported sexual
aggressiveness. Each measure alone did an unimpressive job of predicting the self
reported activity, but a statistically significant model was constructed using the
variables in an interactive fashion.  Given the consistency of the results in these
studies, it see'ms that favorable attitudes toward the use of sexual coercion are
related to self reported likelihood of engaging in or having engaged in sexually
aggressive behavior. As mentioned earlier, however, an unresolved issue is whether
these attitudes led to different behavior patterns or whether the attitudes were
adopted after the subject's behavior patterns were already established.

   Another bit of evidence that bears on the relationship of attitudes and behavior
regarding sexual aggression comes from laboratory studies that have examined the be-
havioral effects of exposure to sexually violent materials. Malamuth (1983) admin-
istered both the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale and the Attitude toward Interpersonal
Violence Scale (Burt, 1978) and measured the sexual arousal to a rape depiction in a
group of 42 male undergraduates. He later tested the aggressive behavior of these


26

males (using an aversive noise task) toward a female confederate as part of an inde-
pendent experiment ostensibly related to ESP transmission. In the later phase of the
experiment, subjects were angered deliberately by the confederate in order to pre-
cipitate aggression. Structural modeling of the results showed that a model predicting
separate contributions for both arousal and attitudes best reflected the regularities
seen in the data. Taken together, arousal and attitude scores accounted for 43% of
the variance in the aggression measure. Malamuth and Check 0982) report that these
results have been replicated and that a General Attitude toward Violence scale did not
contribute significantly to the overall solution, leading these investigators to posit
that attitudes specific to the use of coercion with women accounts for the observed
Iaboratory aggression.

   Another study that has shown an association between attitudes about the ac-
ceptability of violence toward women and the expression of aggressive behavior in a
laboratory has been done by Donnerstein (reported in Malamuth & Donnerstein, 1984).
In this investigation, male undergraduates were a.1 either angered or treated in a
neutral manner by a female accomplice, b.) exposed to either erotic, aggressive, or
sexually violent films, c.) tested for their attitudes regarding their willingness to use
force in sexual relations, their willingness to commit rape if they would not get
caught, and their acceptance of mpe myths (using the Bape Myth Acceptance scale),
and d.) finally given the opportunity to aggress against the female confederate in a
laboratory task involving the administration of shock to promote learning. Both atti-
tudes and aggressive behavior were shown to be most affected by the exposure to the
sexually violent film, less affected by the aggressive film, and least affected by the
solely erotic film. This investigation demonstrated that similar effects for attitudes
and behavior appear to occur from exposure to films of a sexual and violent nature.

   Up to this point, evidence has been presented that attitudes about the accept-
ability of sexual coercion appear to be rather prevalant in individuals who have either
been convicted of rape or admit to incidents of sexual aggression, and that these
attitudes appear to be positively related to statements about the likelihood of engag-
ing in rape and the expression of aggressive behavior toward women in a laboratory
setting. What is missing from this picture is clear evidence that these attitudes cause
the behaviors of interest. In order to be confident that attitudes are precursors rather
than results of sexually aggressive behaviors, we would have to see the development of
these attitudes precede the expression of these behaviors in the same individuals.

  Longitudinal research on this issue is sparse, however, and offers little in the
way of clarification of this critical issue. In a study done by Alder (19851, attitudes
legitimizing sexual agression toward women were found to be one of three factors


27

(including presence of sexually aggressive friends and service in Vietnam) that
significantly predicted self reported sexual aggression. These data were taken from a
longitudinal study of 239 randomly sampled youth in one county in the Pacific
Northwest, but the data linking attitudes and self reported aggression were all taken
at the last sampling time when the subjects were 31 years old. Although this study is
from a longitudinal investigation, the results regarding the relationship of attitudes
and behavior are contemporaneous. As a result, it must be stated that these findings
only show that attitudes and behavior tend to coexist; a verification of earlier
research but not a causal finding.

   The only study that appears to have been able to actually assess the relation-
ship of attitudes and naturalistic sexual aggression over time is that of Ageton
(1983).  Using several hundred youth from the National Youth Survey of self reported
delinquency, Ageton isolated a sample of males who reported incidents of sexual ag-
gression and analyzed responses to particular questions-regarding sexual attitudes and
behavior over the five year time frame of data collection. In these analyses, in-
volvement in a delinquent peer group appeared consistently as the most powerful
factor related to reported sexual aggression.  In one analysis in which previous
attitudes, behaviors, and reported group involvement were tested for their ability to
discriminate later sexually assaultive behavior, attitudes toward rape and acceptance
of interpersonal violence toward women did emerge as a statistically significant addi-
tion to the discriminant function.  In other words, presence of these attitudes did
appear somewhat related to the expression of sexually aggressive behavior two years
later.

   It is important to note,however, how marginally distinctive the contribution of
this attitude factor really was. Involvement with delinquent peers alone was able to
account for 76% of the variance in the self reported later sexual aggression, and
inclusion of the three other factors (of which attitudes was one) accounted for an
additional 1% of the variance. As Ageton (1983, p.119) was forced to conclude...

"The idea that sexual-assault offenders are influenced strongly by stereotypic
views of rape and sexual assault, traditional sex-role attitudes, and liberal
beliefs about the use of violence was not borne out in these analyses. None of
these variables consistently differentiated the offenders and the nonoffenders in
the annual comparisons. Furthermore, in the initial discriminant analyses, only
the measure of rape attitudes contributed to the separation of the groups.
Clearly it is not a critical factor, however, since its absence in the discriminant
analysis involving just delinquency variables had little effect on the accuracy of


28

the classification.  Although we do not deny that the constellation of beliefs
about male and female roles, behavior, and sexuality may influence sexual acts,
the data do not indicate that such attitudes play a major role in predicting sexual
assault."

In the end, the clarity of the causal Iink between pre-existing attitudes and later
sexual aggression has yet to be demonstrated.

   The fact that this direct link has not yet been demonstrated can be seen as at
least partially the result of the difficulty isolating the effects of attitudes clearly in
any longitudinal or cross-sectional research design. In the Ageton study, for example,
it is very difficult to determine where the effect for peer association ends and the one
for attitude begins. Attitudes are obviously related to one's choice of friends inan
intricate fashion, and disentangling these two constructs is difficult within one study.
There is some longitudinal evidence from related areas that attitudes can be impor-
tant interactive variables combining with identification with television characters in
producing pee-elated aggression in children (e.g., Huesmann, Eron, Klein, Brice, &
Fischer, 1983) or with personality and behavioral characteristics in producing anti-
social behavior in adolescents (e.g., Jessor h Jessor, 1977). However, in these cases,
as in the case of the effects of pornography, the independent effect of attitudes has
not been shown to be large or direct.

   Although there is an association between acceptance of coercive sexuality and
sexual aggression, the difficulty comes when we attempt to assign a strict causal
interpretation to this association.  From one perspective, it is quite logical that
favorable attitudes toward sexual coercion should be more prevalant in individuals
judged to be more sexually aggressive if we expect one's attitudes to be consistent
with one's behavior.  At present, however, it cannot be stated conclusively that
attitudes favorable to sexual coercion produce sexual aggressiveness.  These two
appear together, and the exact mechanisms of causation and strength of relationship
between them has yet to be determined.

hlabomto?ystlldks
fnw short term effe!cts,
fzxpoeetoviolent~
incream punitive behavior toward women

An increase in aggressive behavior toward women has been proposed often as one like-


29

ly effect of exposure to pornography, but there does not seem to be sufficient sci-
entific support for a generalized statement regarding the presence of this effect.
There is no paucity of hypotheses about how exposure to pornogmphy and aggression
against women may be related. For example, men predisposed to aggression who are
aroused by pornography may translate this increased arousal into targeted aggression;
attitudes or restraints toward aggression might be changed in pornography viewers,
increasing the chance that they would act aggressively; or, certain behaviors of the
film victims (e.g., saying "no") might take on cue properties for aggression, promoting
aggressive behavior in men toward women who display these behaviors. The limited
statement above, however, reflects the circumscribed links between exposure to por-
nography and aggression toward women that have been scientifically demonstrated.
   Testing for this effect in a natural setting is clearly impossible. It would be
unethical to expose persons to pornography and then observe their level of aggression
toward those encountered outside of the laboratory. A series of investigations have
been done in the laboratory, however, that examined this effect in analogue situa-
tions. The first experiments found that sexually aggressive films caused more punitive
behavior than sexual nonaggressive films.  Further investigations indicated that the
outcome depicted in the sexually aggressive films created different levels of punitive
behavior. In order to tease apart the effects that the aggressive and sexual themes of
the films had, investigations into the effects of nonsexual aggressive films were then
pursued.

   Aggression in recent laboratory studies is usually represented by the "Buss
paradigm" (Burs, 1961). Subjects am told that they and a second subject (actually a
confederate of the experimenter) will be involved in a learning experiment. After
exposure to the pornographic material, the subject is instructed to choose and
administer one of several possible levels of shock or aversive noise when the con-
federate (who is out of the sight of the subject) makes an incorrect answer. Higher
levels of shock are taken to represent higher levels of punitiveness or aggressiveness.
In some experiments, the confederate angers the subject before exposure to the por-
nogmphy by the reacting derisively to an opinion expressed by the subject.

   This pamdigm as an analogue for aggression outside of the labomtory has been
criticized on several grounds. Ihe most general criticism has been that the lab task is
not an appropriate representation of aggression. However, there has been some (albeit
circuitous) evidence for behavior in the Buss paradigm as an adequate analogue of
sexual aggression: Subjects who report higher levels of sexually coercive behaviors
also score higher on scales designed to measure beliefs in rape myths and acceptance
of sexually coercive behavior (e.g., Briere & Malamuth, 1983; Tieger, 19811, and sub-
jects scoring higher on these scales have provided higher levels of shock In the Buss


30

pamdigm (Malamuth, 1983). These results indicate that there may be a link between
aggression on the Buss paradigm and reported likelihood to act in a sexually coercive

manner.  How well this lab task and actual aggression, rather than attitudes, are
related is still an open question.

   Two other criticisms regarding this design are common to many lab studies.
The first is that the subjects provide shocks because they believe that the experi-
menter wants them to do so.  The assumed effect of this belief is that the subjects
appear more aggressive in the laboratory than they are outside. A final criticism is
that the responses allowed the subject are more limited than, and not representative
of, those that are available outside of the labomtory. Some experimenters allow other
responses (such as rewarding the other person), yet even then the subject's choices are
unrealistically constrained. While these two criticisms may be valid when genemlizing
from behavior within to that outside .of the laboratory, they do not appear to account
for differences between groups within the laboratory (see Kmfka, 1985, for a more
detailed critique).

   Several studies have used this general approach to aggression research to
examine the effects of sexualXy aggressive fiIms, nonsexual aggressive films, and
sexual nonaggressive films on laboratory behavior.  In the first of two experiments,
Donnerstein and Berkowitz (1981) first had a male or female confedemte anger a male
undergraduate, and then showed these subjects a film of either a neutral talk show, an
erotic nonaggressive scene, a sexually aggressive scene in which the female finally
enjoys being aggressed against, or the same sexually aggressive scene with the woman
continuing to abhor the aggression she experiences. Immediately after the films, the
subjects administered shocks or rewards to the confederate who had angered them
earlier.

   The amount of punitive behavior exhibited by those paired with a male con-
federate did not change significantly regardless of the type of film seen. Those paired
with a female confederate, however, provided more punishment after viewing either
of the sexually aggressive films compared to the erotic or the neutral film, even
though the erotic and sexuatiy aggressive films were equally arousing. There was no
difference in punitive levels between those viewing the erotic film and the neutral
film. The results paralleled an earlier study by Donnerstein (1980).

   This experiment showed that punitive behavior is increased in angered subjects
after watching sexually aggressive films.  `The authors concluded that it was the
modeling effects of the association of the female confederate with the female victim
in the film, rather than heightened arousal, that caused aggression against the female
and not the male confederate. This conclusion is strengthened by an earlier study by
Donnerstein and Hallam (1978) in which nonsexual violent films that consisted of male


31

to male violence caused more punitive behavior toward male than female confeder-
ates. The authors also concluded that the aggression depicted in the film lowered the
subjects' inhibitions against aggressive responses. Since the erotic nonaggressive film
did not show the aggression toward a female, it did not lower inhibitions and therefore
did not increase punitive responses after viewing.

  The finding of no difference in punitive behavior for the different types of sex-
ually aggressive films did not seem logical to these investigators. Previous attitude
research (see Malamuth, 1984) had shown a differential effect for depictions in which
the victim was aroused versus those in which the victim was not aroused, and it
seemed that this factor might also be influential in experiments with punitive behavior
as an outcome.  A second study was thus undertaken to explore this possibility
further. The procedures were the same as in the first experiment, except that all of
the confederates in this experiment were female and only half of the subjects were
angered. This allowed for a test of the intemction between the anger manipulation
and the type of film seen. As before, the neutral and erotic films were followed by
similar levels of punishment. Those previously angered provided significantly higher
punishment following both sexually aggressive films, while those not previously ang-
ered provided significantly higher punishment only to the sexually aggressive film in
which the woman portrayed a positive outcome.

  However, this experiment also showed that the outcome of the sexually aggres-
sive films (i.e., whether the victim is aroused) interacts with the emotional state of
the viewer in the production of punitive behavior. For angered subjects, both sexually
violent films had the same (increased) effect on punitive behavior. For the non-
angered subjects, only the film with the aroused subject resulted in higher punitive
behavior. The authors concluded that all those watching the sexually aggressive film
with the aroused victim had their inhibitions lowered by seeing the males' sexually
aggressive behavior in the fiim eventually result in a positive outcome for both the
attacker and the victim. The aggression of those watching the aggressive film with
the repulsed victim, however, was affected by their previous angering. Those who
were previously angered were predisposed to hurt timeone and consequently reacted
to the pain cues of the victim with heightened aggression; those who had not been
angered did not react to the pain cues of the victim, nor were they less inhibited since
the outcome of the film indicated a negative outcome of the male's aggression. An
untested implication of this conclusion may be that those who fiid the negative
outcome of these films (i.e., a victim's pain) to be pleasurable would be more
aggressive following the film.

  In two later studies, Donnerstein (1983,1984) investigated the unique effects of
the aggressive and sexual components of sexually aggressive films using a nonsexual
aggressive film, a sexually aggressive film, an erotic nonaggressive film, and a neu-


32

tral film. As had been shown earlier, with male confederates, the type of film did not
affect the intensity of the shocks that previously angered male undergraduates deliv-
ered. The levels of shock intensity delivered to the female confederates were similar
following the neutral and nonagressive erotic films, were significantly higher following
the nonsexual aggressive film, and were highest following the sexually aggressive film.
The study shed light on the role of arousal in producing laboratory aggression. The
nonsexual aggressive film was less arousing than either of the sexual films, but pro-
duced aggressive behavior. The highest level of aggressive behavior, however, was
produced by the sexually aggressive film.  Arousal, therefore, did not appear to be a
necessary condition for the production of aggression, but when paired with exposure to
aggression (as in the sexually aggressive film), the arousal appeared to add signficantly
to the level of lab aggression produced.

  As a group, these studies consistently indicate a relationship between type of
film and the intensity of shocks delivered immediately after the film is viewed. Films
that contain aggression or sexual aggression are associated with higher levels of shock
to a confederate of the same sex as the person aggressed against in the film. These
results consistently show that nonaggressive sexual films are associated with similar
levels of shock as nonsexual-nonaggressive neutral films.

   It should be noted, however, that the fiidings about sexual nonaggressive films
in these studies are not consistent with earlier studies where previously angered
subjects reacted punitively foIlowing sexually explict, nonaggressive films (e.g.,
Meyer, 1972; Jaffe, Malalmuth, Feingold h Feshbach, 1974; Donnerstein & Barrett,
1978; Donnerstein & Hallam, 1978). Donnerstein and Hallam (1978), however, found
that male subjects rated erotic fflms chased for their nonaggressive content as 2.5 on
a S-point aggression scale. This suggested that the subjugation of the women in the
film may have been interpreted as aggression, facilitating later aggression from the
subjects. It may be, then, that the perceived aggressive content of the nonaggressive
erotic films was varied across these studies, thus producing contradictory results.

   Other studies have investigated the effects of variables that might mitigate the
effects that sexually aggressive fllms have on punitive behavior, and the length of the
effects that sexually aggressive films may have on punitive behavior.  Malamuth
(1978), for example, had male undergraduates read passages containing either aggres-
sive pornography, nonaggressive pornography, or neutral stimuli. After being angered
by a female confederate, subjects were given the chance to aggress against her using
electric shocks.  Before delivering the shocks, half of the subjects read a passage
designed to make them more self-conscious about delivering the shocks (an inhibiting
communication), while the other half read a passage suggesting that it was permissible
to give as strong shocks as they wished (a disinhbitlng communication). Shock inten-
sities delivered were similar for all males who read the inhibiting communication,


33

regardless of the pornographic passage read.  More intense shocks were given fol-
lowing the aggressive than the nonagressive pornography in the group who read the
disinhibiting communication. In contrast to other studies, however, the levels of shock
intensity given after the neutral film were between those of the two pornographic
films, and were not significantly different from either. Malamuth offered no explana-
tion for this conflicting result, but did state that the results indicated that internal
states or external situational variables can have a significant effect on behavior
following exposure to pornography.

   One important influence may be previous exposure to pornography. As part of
a larger project, Zillmann and Bryant (1984) assigned male and female undergraduates
to see varying amounts of nonaggressive pornography one day a week for six weeks.
At the end of the exposure period, members of each group saw one 8 minute film of
either nonagggressive sexually explicit material, sadomasochistic material, bestiality,
or were included as a no-exposure control subject.  Subjects were then allowed the
opportunity to inflict pain via a blood pressure check, upon a confederate who had just
inflicted pain upon them in the same way. Those watching the sadomasochistic and
bestiality material inflicted more pain than those watching the erotic matrial, who
inflicted more pain than those in the no-exposure control group. However, for those
with the massive previous exposure to nonaggressive pornography there was no differ
ence in aggression across the four final stimulus conditions. It appeared that the prior
exposure mitigated the effects of viewing the fiial films.
   Malamuth and Ceniti (1986) investigated the length of these behavioral effects.
They exposed male undergraduates to either sexually aggressive pornography, nonag-
gressive pornography, or a control condition of no exposure. Each of the exposure
subjects saw two full-length films each week for three weeks, and were then given two
book chapters portraying sexual activity to read during the fourth week. One week
after the exposure period the subjects were involved in an ostensibly separate experi-
ment purporting to measure the effects of punishment on an ESP task. The results
indicated that there were no significant differences in punitive behavior related to
type of film exposure.

   These findings may indicate that the behavioral effects found by Donnerstein
following sexually aggressive films do not last for a week. However, study differences
regarding type of learning task presented to induce aggressive behavior may aIso ex-
plain the differences in results.  While Donnerstein's experiments involved the
confederate learning material independently of the subject, Malamuth and Ceniti had
the subject "send" the message to the confederate. A lack of punitive behavior on the
part of the subject may have been at least partially influenced by doubt that he had
been successful in his part of the task. Also, Malamuth and Ceniti did not question the


34

no exposure control group about any sexually aggressive or erotic films that they saw
on their own during the exposure phase of the experiment, and the overall film viewing
of the three groups may have actually been quite similar even though the experimental
exposure conditions were different.  Because of these differences, it is difficult to
draw conclusions about the length of any effect on behavior produced by these experi-
mental manipulations. At present, it is known that these effects can be produced in
the lab, but how long they last is still in question.

   In summary, published studies have consistently indicated that punitive behav-
ior can be produced within the confines of the laboratory by the viewing of sexually
aggressive and aggressive films.  This observed pattern of results fits well with
previously tested psychological theory concerning the effects of modeling, with
heightened aggressive behavior seen foLIowing the modeling of such behavior in films.
The more closely the confederate in the experiment is aligned with the victim in the
aggressive film, the more aggressive the behavior toward the confederate is. Of equal
interest is the fact that arousal also appears to be an influential element in producing
this behavior, having both a separate and combined influence with modeling. Sexual
aggressive films produce more aggression than do less arousing nonsexual aggressive
films. In addition, previously angered subjects (i.e., more aroused) show more aggres-
sive behavior than nonangered subjects.

   Several questions about the widespread nature of this phenomenon remain. For
example, the relative effects of modeling and arousal across individuals has yet to be
explored.  Also, the duration of these effects for producing aggressive behavior is
unknown and it is important to remember that only immediate effects have been

shown.  Similarly, the effects on behavior outside of the laboratory, where behavioral
choices are much more varied and where there are additional inhibiting and facili-
tating factors on behavior, are unknown. '

   On one hand, these data could be viewed with concern, since they show changes
from LittIe exposure; after one exposure to a sexualry violent film, men are more
aggressive to women.  On the other hand, there is no evidence that those viewing
sexually aggressive films under more normal circumstances have become more aggres-
sive immediately after the films are viewed. Reports of this causal relationship being
a noticeable one in the real world have not emerged consistently (Byrne & Kelly,
1984). In sum, these experiments should heighten concern that aggressive behavior
toward women may be increased by viewing aggressive and sexually aggressive films,
but presently this effect has only been seen in controlled and potentially artificial
laboratory settings.


35

Summary of Consensus Statements

The preceding statements reflect what the Workshop participants believe can con-
fidently be said regarding the effects of pornography. Pornography has been consis-
tently linked to changes in some perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors. These links,
however, are circumscribed, few in number, and generally laboratory-based. To say
that this means that any observed effects are artifactual, however, would be an error.
Pornography does have effects; it is just not yet known how widespread or powerful
they really are. `There is a clear lack of extensive knowledge or unifying theory, and
global statements about the effect of exposure to pornography have not yet been
substantiated. Currently we have bits of knowledge about the effects of pornography;
future research is required to unite these bits into a more comprehensive statement.
   While convincing evidence exists about the effects of pornography on
perceptions, attitudes, and behavior, it is important to remember that the rela-
tionships between measured perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors themselves are un-
clear. They are not necessarily linked in a straight causal pathway. For instance,
while it is a common belief that attitude changes lead to behavioral changes, research
has consistently shown otherwise.  Behaviors are as likely to influence attitudes as
attitudes are to influence behavior. As a consequence, conclusive statements about
the extent to which attitude or perceptual changes brought about by pornography are
ever reflected in changed behavior are not currently possible. This absence of clear
information does not argue for dismissa of the hypotheses that perceptions about the
frequency of uncommon acts influences attitudes or that attitudes toward sexual
coercion promote sexually coercive behavior; it only argues that there is not a clear
causal link yet demonstrated. Indeed, the evidence of the coexistence of the very
attitudes that are shown to be affected by sexually violent pornography and self-
reported or verified sexual aggression is an association that warrants concern and
continued investigation.

   There is substantiation for the basic concern that sexually violent material has
more consistent and marked effects than nonviolent erotic pornography. Attitudes
condoning sexual coercion have been fostered by materials combining sex and vio-
lence, particularly those in which sexual assault eventually produces arousal in the
victim. Increases in punitive behavior toward women in a laboratory setting have also


36

been observed after exposure to sexually violent materiaL Although the findings re-
garding the unique effects contributed by the violent and the erotic material have not
been fully elaborated, their combination has repeatedly brought about attitudes and
behaviors which are considered to be antithetical to the aspirations of our society.

   There is clear evidence that youth involved in the production of pornography
are adversely affected by their participation.  It is unreasonable and contrary to
reported experience to think that such sexual victimization will not leave its mark on
these children as they attempt to forge a social image of themselves. Programs to
stop the production of child pornography and to intervene with the children involved in
its production are clearly needed to forestall these consequences.

Summary of Effects on Children

As has been noted throughout this report, because of ethical concerns it is impossible
to directly test for effects of pornography on children and adolescents. As a result,
research on effects of exposure has been done almost exclusively on college students
in late adolescence. Estimating the extent to which these effects can be generalized
to children and young adolescents is a complex process, requiring interpretation and
integration of knowledge regarding child development. This task is beyond the scope
of this section, but a few caveats could be helpfuL

   As children mature they develop new cognitive and emotional skills, and their
interests shift. As a result of these changes in basic understanding and orientations,
the message that an 8- or 12- or 16year+ld would get from a certain pornographic
movie may be quite different from that of an 18year+ld. In addition, relationships to
family and peers undergo considerable change in the ten years between 8 and 18,
meaning that the mediating factors on any effects will also shift during this develop-
mental period. Finally, there is the likelihood of a "cohort effect" interacting with
normal patterns of development.  Growing up in the 80'9 is different than growing up
in the 60'3, and so&historical changes can affect the rates of many things from
juvenile crime to views of interpersonal relationships.

   These simultaneously changing factors make it extremely difficult to predict
the exact effects of particular influences on children. Reasonable prediction can
really only be done regarding influences that would be so powerful as to exert marked
negative or positive effects in spite of shifts in other influences. Repeated physical


37

abuse of a child, for example, could clearly be stated to produce significant negative
effects regardless of shifts in other factors in the child's life. It is likely, however,
that exposure to pornography is in that vast grey area of influences that will probably
not be shown to act so strongly as to be consistently harmful independent of changes
in the child and the social situation.

   There are certain changes in the child, however, that are rather predictable and
probably important in mediating the effects of exposure to pornography.  Many
developmental psychologists believe that around the age of 12 or 13, children aquire
many of the basic thinking processes that they will use, with refinements brought
about through experience, throughout the rest of their lives (e.g., Colby, Kohlberg,
Gibbs & Leiberman, 1983). Usually by this age, children are able to understand social
causation and the i&a of reciprocity in interpersonal and social relationships. If this
is the case, one might expect that the effects of pornography 6n those 12 years or
older would be generally similar in quality to those seen in 18yearolds.

   A host of other factors, however, could magnify or reduce these effects. For
example, it is possible that the effects could be magnified in those who are 12 years
old since they do not have the number of life experiences against which they can
compare the contents of pornography in order to determine its accuracy. On the other
hand, young adolescents may not be as interested in the sexual activity of the por-
nography as older adolescents, and their resulting lowered attention may reduce the
effects of viewing the pornography. Unfortunately, the exact direction or magnitude
of differences resulting from factors such as these between young and old adolescents
is largely a matter of speculation.  What does seem worthwhile speculating further
upon and investigating, however, is the general question of the effects of cognitive
level and an adolescent's attributional framework regarding social relationships as
mediators that increase or decrease susceptibility to pornography exposure.

   Speculating about the effects on children less than 12 years of age is even more
of a problem. Younger children think in a qualitatively different manner from those
on whom research regarding the effects of pornography are done. In addition, the
focus of interest may be quite different in those who have not completed the emotion-
al and physical changes that accompany puberty. The fear of some ls that the sexual
and emotional patterns to be followed by these children when they are grown will be
"imprinted" on them by seeing pornography at a younger age. Others believe that
young children are less affected since they do not have the cognitive or emotional
capacities needed to comprehend the messages of much pornographic materiaL Again,
though, we really do not know which of these statements is more accurate, and each
of them may be accurate for specific individual children.


38

   A final factor that makes extrapolation of these results to children troublesome
is that the susceptibility of children to a variety of influences has been shown to vary
widely.  Children bring individual temperments and adaptive skills to situations, and
the predictability of how particular influences will affect a child is lower than we
might expect.  Children are amazingly resilient to a number of influences, and the
exact causes of this resilience are not clear (Kagan, 1985).

   In the end, then, it ia really rather difficult to say much definitive about the
possible effects of exposure to pornography on children. The direct research is not
present, and probably never will be. `There are reasons to believe that the effects seen
in older adolescents would probably generalize to younger adolescents as well, but we
know little about the possible mediators of these effects that may be different in
younger adolescents. Finally; effects on younger children are very difficult to
determine, given their malleable and adaptive natures.


39

FUTURE RESEARCH AGENDA

As indicated by the previous statements, social science has provided conclusive
evidence about only a few of the possible effects of pornography on children,
adolescents, and adults.  Much remains unknown. If researchers are to make a
substantial contribution to future policy decisions in this area, exploratory applied
studies about the effects of pornography in everyday life and laboratory studies
clarifying the theoretical mechanisms related to exposure must be done.
   The fact that much still needs to be done in this area is not too suprising. For
one thing, research into the effects of pornography has occurred primarily over only
the past 15 years. Several questions, such as the effects of prolonged exposure or the
effects of sexually violent materials, have only very recently been investigated. In
addition, numerous related studies, rather than any one diapositive study, must be
pursued.  Many questions in this area cannot be addressed directly because of ethical
constraints, and investigations of a somewhat tangential nature must be done instead.
Converging evidence from many tangential studies using different methodologies must
then be related before conclusive statements can be made confidently.
   Delineating which studies should be undertaken was the task of a second con-
sensus session of the Workshop, and a far-reaching agenda for future research was
devised.  Time constraints prohibited the development of specific research designs,
but selected areas that require more investigation were isolated. It is hoped that
researchers will use this formulation of needed research as a set of general guideposts
in designing specific research questions and approaches.
   The agenda laid out here requires both field and laboratory studies, and there is
considerable advantage to pursuing questions in this area using both strategies simul-
taneously. Certain leads that have come from laboratory investigations (e.g., the dis-
tinct effects of violent sexual material) now need to be examined in more realistic
settings. Conversely, certain real world phenomenon of interest (e.g., habituation to
exposure) must be fleshed out theoretically by systematic laboratory investigations.
Overall, this area of inquiry is in an ideal position to advance if methods are tailored
to existing questions rather than vice versa and an active exchange is fostered be-
tween laboratory and field researchers.


   The extent to which any of this research agenda can be accomplished will
depend on the willingness of private foundations and various government agencies to
provide funding.  A number of the proposed investigations (particularly longitudinal
studies and those that require large numbers of paid subjects) could be quite
expensive.  Given the clear need for more information on this topic, however, the
amount of funding provided for research will reflect the priority that society places on
addressing the effects of pornography.

Definitional Issues

The term pornography has been used in so many ways that its meaning has become
increasingly ambiguous.  Researchers and policy makers alike may be thinking of a
wide range of materials when trying to speak in common terms regarding pornog-
raphy. The inevitable confusion resulting from these differing interpretations hampers
the design and interpretation of social science research as well as the application of
knowledge to policy.

   More descriptive studies regarding the existing types and prevalance of certain
materials and s&vey research regarding people's implicit categorizations.of pomog-
raphy are needed. This information is central to the development of a usable typology
of pornographic materials to guide research and discussion.  Standard descriptive
terms for the various types of pornography that take into account the levels of sexual
explicitness, violence, and types of participants would be a starting place in this
effort. A subsequent, more involved approach would be to develop dimensions or axes
along which different types of materials could be characterized in a multivariate
fashion.  Regardless of the exact form such a typology takes, however, it is essential
that it both reflects the range of materials found in the marketplace and has theo-
retical relevance to social scientists and policy specialists.

   Clear definitional boundaries are particularly needed across the range of sexual
activities between completely mutually consenting sexual activity and rape. `Ihe fact
that depictions of rape seem to have particularly powerful effects in controlled
research studies and the problems with estimating the incidence of rape both highlight
the need to focus on this content area in efforts at definition. Questions such as the
extent to which certain activities (e.g., expecting sex as part of an unequal status
relationship) fit the defmition of coercion need to be discussed and debated.


41

Production, Distribution, and Consumption of Pornography

More accurate information regarding the production, distribution, and consumption of
pornography is needed to focus research onto topics of real world relevance and to
target prevention and intervention programs.  Currently, information regarding the
amount of various types of pornography being produced and used is sparse and often
contradictory. Widely varying estimates can be found about the amount of production,
the numbers of children and adults involved in production, and the number of consum-

ers. Patterns of use are not any clearer, and accurate information about the extent to
which certain types of pornography are used by different groups of children, adoles-
cents, and adults is needed.

   Information regarding typical consumption patterns of children, adolescents,
and adulta is particularly critical to hrture theoretical and applied research. Of most
concern are the effects resulting from long term, repeated exposure occurring in
contexts that promote unfavorable reactions in children, adolescents, or adults.
Knowing how much is too much or what conditions are critical to changes in attitudes
or behavior are questions that cannot be posed meaningfully until the parameters of
current patterns of use are clarified.  Descriptive studies in this area should provide
information about the most popular type of pornography among different age groups,
the reasons for its popularity, the amount that it and other forms of pornography
are viewed, and the environment and context in which it is viewed.

Developmental Patterns

Research has indicated that individuals have different patterns of reaction to sexual
and aggressive material. Abel and his colleagues, for instance, have shown that
rapists are aroused by aggressive material more often than nonrapists, and that
pedophiles are aroused by sexual material involving children. Exactly how these
arousal patterns develop, however, is still rather unclear. We are unaware of, and
need to know more about, the timing and mechanism of this area of development.


42

   There needs to be careful longitudinal research on the role of early develop-
ment and of later experience in the shaping and changing of these patterns. There is
little doubt that pornography has different effects on different people and that a
majority of sex offenders make regular use of these materials. The next problem to
address is the one regarding how these patterns of use and sexual arousal are inter-
twined in the developmental process.

   Related to these developmental questions are other important questions about
propensity to commit sexual aggression and the role of pornography in activating that
propensity. Malamuth, Check, and Briere (1986), for example, found that some college
students' arousal to scenes of aggression was similar to the arousal observed in rapists,
but these students did not report engaging in any sexually coercive behavior. If
arousal patterns develop early and if certain patterns would seem to place an
individual at risk for being sexually coercive, it is important to also explore the
reasons why some individuals who would seem to be at risk do not exhibit sexually
coercive behavior.  The way that sex education can affect development and sexual
expression should be investigated as part of this effort. This information would have
direct applicability to the prevention and treatment of sexually coercive behavior as
well as theoretical relevance to the understanding of the mitigation of arousal.

   Increased general theoretical work on the link betwen sexual and aggressive
behavior would also be of value in providing a larger framework for these focused
studies. Several theories have been proposed that link sexual and aggressive behavior
(e.g., Barclay, 1971). Questions remain, however, about whether aggression enhances
sexual desire or sexual arousal in anyone, everyone, or some paticular set of people. A
clearer understanding of any Iink between these two general energies or behaviors
would provide a structure that could facilitate the interpretation of specific findings
about effects of exposure to sexually aggressive materials and arousal patterns.

Stability of Observed Changes

Further laboratory research is warranted to replicate and extend the existing lines of
investigation on the effects of pornography on perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors.
Replication of previous studies would add credence to (or call into question) earlier
findings and clarify the potential for generalizing from these results. Most directly,
inclusion of subjects from segments of the population that have not been closely ex-
amined (e.g., women, nonstudents of college age, those older and younger than college


43

age) in replication studies would be important steps in determining how far we can
extend the findings of earlier research.

   Also, the duration of behavioral and attitudinal changes seen in the laboratory
needs to be more clearly determined.  Almost all of the investigations done to date
have been concerned with immediate changes, and the susceptibility of any of these
changes to mitigating life influences over time is still basically unknown. Although
presenting many ethically thorny issues, this question is central to knowing how much
significance should be given to the series of present findings. If these effects appear
to be rather stable, the issue of the effects of pornography takes on increased social
importance; the effects become more that just the short-term results of a clever
research design manipulation.

   The effects of nonviolent sexually explicit pornography is another question that
laboratory studies should continue to investigate.  While the behavioral effects
immediately following sexually violent pornography have been consistent, those
following nonviolent sexual films have not been consistent. Further investigation in
this area could contribute to the development of theory about the aspects of the
pornographic presentation or viewing context that interact to produce harmful
effects.

Habituation

Research by Zillmann and others has indicated that those who watch pornography on a
regular basis in a laboratory setting eventually become less aroused when they see it;
they become "habituated" to the pornography.  This habituation, however, appears to
be limited to only the type of pornography that they have been watching. Subjects'
arousal returns to earlier levels when they watch a new type of pornography.

  This phenomenon has been investigated in only a few studies, but it should be
analyzed further because of its potential importance for our understanding of long
term use of pornography. It is possible that this mechanism is an important aspect of
a process by which certain individuals become interested in more deviant forms of
pornography. If regular users do tire of particular types of pornography, they may be
more inclined to seek out more uncommon pornography in order to maintain enjoyable
levels of arousaL One of the implications of this hypothesized process could therefore
be that the ready availability of pornography could habituate users on a grand scale,
contributing to an increasing spiral in the deviance portrayed in new pornographic ma-


44

terials. On the other hand, habitutation may make many individuals use pornography
selectively or not use pornography extensively because of the awareness that its
effects are short-lived. More deviant forms of pornography may just not be that in-
trinsically arousing and patterns of use may be altered to accomodate to the phenom-
enon of habituation.  Regular users may seek intermittent exposure to the same type
of material in order to achieve acceptable arousal.

   Presently, we do not know how habituation works to promote different patterns
of preference or use. In order to gain a fuller picture, more laboratory studies of the
limits and mechanisms of habituation in different populations will have to be
conducted. At the same time, it will be important to conduct field-based research of
extensive users, focusing on how habituation affects selection of different types of
pornography and the schedule of exposure.

Documentation of Natural Changes

Researchers should also attempt to capitalize on naturally occurring changes in
viewing patterns or availability of pornography to assess simultaneous changes in
potentially linked phenomena such as sexual assault or attitudes. Retrospective cor-
relational studies of social indicators that have been done in this area are generally
marred by their inability to rule out the possibility of mediating factors being
responsible for observed associations.  Examination of changes in the frequency of
events in a small region over a time period during which the availability of por-
nography clearly increased at aparticular point would make a stronger test of any
association. For example, examination of behavior or attitude changes corresponding
to the availability of cable television carrying pornographic movies would give more
exact information than is presently available.

   These studies could possibly use a variety of quasi-experimental methodologies,
such as interrupted time series analyses or repeated observations of selected groups.
What must be done in every case, however, is to anticipate a change in order to gain
adequate baseline data before the level of avaiIability increases or decreases. Such
foresight and planning is necessary to add to the presently limited set of correlational
studies on social indicators.


4s

Attitude Research

The present body of studies on the effects of pornography on perceptions and attitudes
warrant more elaborate investigation. We presently know that certain perceptions and
attitudes toward sexual coercion can be altered in a laboratory setting by exposure to
specific types of materials.   It would be worthwhile to determine what other
perceptions and attitudes might be affected by exposure and how the development of
affected attitudes is linked to behavior.

   The concern with attitudes toward sexual coercion has been primed by the
relevance of this attitude formation process to our understanding of the subjugation of
women and the etiology of sexual aggression.  There is the possibility, however, that
exposure to pornography also has an effect on the formation of other attitudes of
interest.  Attitudes toward such things as traditional family values or the
attractiveness of one's partner (see, e.g., Zillmann, in press) may also be affected by
repeated exposure, and changes in attitudes like these would be important to know
about in order to assess the Iong term effects of viewing pornography on the quality of
interpersonal relationships.

   Of equal or even more importance, however, ia the need to conduct longitudinal
investigations regarding the development and influence of attitudes on sexual
behavior.  Longitudinal studies, similar to Ageton's (19831, that chart attitudinal
changes in adolescents and adults over time, discuss any relationships of these
attitudes and contact with pornography, and note any predictive value that these
attitudes have regarding sexual behavior are critical. These studies will provide solid,
rather than circumstantial, evidence about the effects of pornography on the
development of attitudes toward sexuality and aggression and the effects of these
attitudes on behavior.  Such investigations would also allow for an understanding of
the influence of certain contextual factors related to the effects of pornography on
attitudes and behavior, such as whether the pornography is viewed alone or with others
or how family interactions affect interpretation of this material. Without such
investigations of the same people over time, researchers will onIy be able to continue
speculating about the clarity and power of the relationsips between pornography
exposure, attitude formation, and behavioral expression.

   Finally, continued research into the use of erotic stimuli for clinical purposes
should be done. Clinical reports have indicated that pornography can be valuable in


46

treating sexual dysfunction or phobic reactions to sexual activity.  In addition,
research by Ceniti and Malamuth (1984) found that repeated exposure to violent or
nonviolent sexual material lowered the arousal to rape scenes in a group of males who
had been aroused by such material earlier.  Possible uses that may be made of
pornography in clinical settings, including the use of pornography to alter deviant
sexual arousal patterns, may have much to offer in the treatment of those individuals
who pose considerable threat to the community because of their sexual interests and
behavior patterns.

Summary

Judging from the above agenda, researchers have a sizable challenge ahead of them in
filling the gaps of existing knowledge regarding the effects of pornography. The
research agenda laid out above, however, is not only extensive, but also one that will
require work by investigators of different interests and methodological orientations.
No one approach or disciplinary perspective will be able to provide the breadth of
information required as background for a reasoned judgment on this issue.
  A final point that is worth remembering regarding future research is that this
line of inquiry really is in the initial stages of development, where much still needs to
be described and conceptualized. As a result, researchers must be open to new ways
of thinking about variables to be investigated. Particularly, thought must be given to
the dimensions of pornography or the conditions of exposure that might be influential
in producing harmful effects. As shown by the recent research with violent
pornography and victim arousal, there may be specific qualities of presentations that
are salient but not immediately evident if one is concerned only with the amount of
graphic content presented.

  The aspects of pornography that precipitate moral concern may not be the
same aspects that are most influential in producing harmful effects, and investigators
must keep this in mind in their initial choice of variables and designs. Researchers
will do the most service to informed debate on this topic by searching for those
dimensions of presentations and the processes of influence that are the most
theoretically meaningful, rather than trying to prove or disprove the effects of
particular types of offensive mate&L At this point, the aim must be one of building
theory, and the applicability of a good theory will become obvious.


47

PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION

Introduction

A third Workshop consensus session focused on methods for mitigating the negative
effects of pornography.  Two general topics were considered: 1.) preventing the
negative effects that have been shown or hypothesized to occur when children and
adolescents view pornography, and 2.) providing intervention services to children and
adolescents who are at risk for becoming involved or are already involved in the
production of pornography. Achieving any success in either of these tasks will require
the integrated efforts of individuals from several academic disciplines, the media
industry, and government.

   ?his section provides general ideas about prevention strategies in these two

areas.  There is no call for the abolition or censorship of certain materials. The
question of banning materials was not considered an appropriate one for discussion by
the Workshop participants, since it involves issues that go well beyond the scope of
social science.

   Instead, participants worked on proposing methods of prevention that could be
usefully pursued under the assumption that pomcgmphic materials will continue to be
a possible influence on the development of children.  Only general directions for
programs can be presented at this time, however, and specific prevention programs
will have to be developed according to the goals and resources of those involved in
later efforts. Separate programs will need to be developed for youth of different ages
and backgrounds, and the level of cooperation received from parents and professionals
will obviously limit the types of strategies that can be pursued.

   In this regard, it should be remembered that bigger, more elaborate programs
do not always make better programs. There is such a dearth of information regarding
prevention in this area that there is a great need for carefully evaluated pilot

programs.  Information gained from these efforts can make the design and
implementation of larger scale projects more effective.  What is needed now is a
concerted effort to undertake programs that make theoretical and operational sense
and to document carefully the effects of such efforts.


48

Prevention of the Effects of Exposure: Two Approaches

Particular concern should be focused on the prevention of the possibIe effects
associated with violent sexual materiaL This material is defined as that in which
explicit or nonexplicit sexual activity is either accompanied by violence (as in a rape
depiction), is juxtaposed with violence (as when a woman is harmed immediately after
sexual activity), or is otherwise linked to vioIence (as when the same musical theme
occurs during both a sexual scene and a later violent scene). Prevention of effects of
violent sexual materia1 are targeted as worthy of serious concern because evidence
from current research indicates a clearer link between viewing this particular
material and consequent undesirable changes in beliefs and patterns of thinking about
women and sexuality. Prevention of the possible effects of this growing aspect of the
pornographic materials market is the most fruitful pIace to begin in order to make a
substantial impact regarding possible negative effects on children.

   Two general approaches to the limitation of negative effects of exposure to
violent sexual materials are advocated. The first is to provide parents (and children)
with cues to sensitize them to the materials that should be watched with caution. The
second approach is to provide a framework of media literacy for viewing these
materials that might Iimit the harmful effects of exposure. Done in unison, these two
primary prevention approaches could promote careful choice of materials for child and
adoIescent viewing and a way of "innoculating" youth who do see potentialIy harmful
materials.

First Approach: Cues Regarding Materials

Content labeling of movies would be one method for providing valuable information to
parents and youth regarding materials that may have harmful effects on attitudes. It
is generally impossible to ascertain the types or amount of violent or sexual content in
movies by either their title or their ratings. This can be especially troublesome for
parents who do not want to appear to condone a particular type of behavior by allow-
ing their children to see a movie in which it occurs, either at a theater or at home.


49

Therefore, it would be useful for the movie industry to extend its current Iabeling of
movies (G, PG, PG-13, R and X) to include more easily understood terms that would be
used industry-wide.
   Not to be confused with "warning labels", these labels would simply identify
contents of the movies that some may wish to avoid. They would appear on advertise-
ments for the movies and on the covers of movie cassettes. Examples of these labels
can be found in a variety of television and cable movie guides (e.g., nudity, violence,
adult situations, language).

   The purpose and orientation of this content labeling approach is educational. It
is primarily intended to make parents aware of the scenes that form the core of the
films to which their children could be exposed.  In the end, no labeling system or
categorization scheme can be totally effective in limiting exposure of youth to par-
ticular types of materials. Recent survey research by Greenberg (in progress), for
instance, shows that many of the most popular R-rated films had been seen in movie
theaters by a majority of 14-15 year olds in a broad sample. While it is unclear how
many more youth may have seen these films if there were no rating system, this re-
search points up the validity of the common sense conclusion that responsibility for
restrictions on viewing of certain materials rests heavily with the family or the youth.
With this in mind, it would seem useful to provide as much information about the con-
tent of movies as reasonable so that an informed choice could be made.

   An additional method for highlighting the possible negative effects of certain
materials is to schedule the television showing of these materials only at times that
children would be least likely to see them. Some cable networks broadcast nonexplicit
violent sexual movies during times when young children can easily watch them. Based
on research findings reviewed earlier, it is reasonable to assume that repeated expo-
sure to these materials during regular viewing hours conveys the message that the
relationships or activities seen in these movies are common in the real world. Merely
showing these movies exclusively during hours when most children are not normally
awake could limit theexposure and subsequent effects on children's beliefs. While this
restricted scheduling cannot prevent children from watching these movies, the fact
that the children would have to break their normal patterns to watch them could rein-
force the idea that the contents do not reflect frequently occurring behaviors, and the
formation of improper beliefs from these movies might therefore at least be partially
discouraged despite the viewing.

   As mentioned previously, the ultimate responsibility for children's exposure to
potentially harmful sexually violent materials currently rests with the family. These
two rather nonintrusive measures would help the family to perform this function.
Increased information about film content and restricted showing times could focus the


50

efforts of parents and guardians who are presently assuming that no such preventive
measures implies no possible harm from these materials.

Second Approach: Media Literacy

The second major strategy for limiting any harmful effects on children of exposure to
violent sexual materials is to increase the capacity of children. to withstand any
possible negative effects of exposure to these materials. If one takes as a given that
limiting exposure can only be done with marginal success because of the easy access
to media with sexually violent themes, it then becomes impemtive to explore the pos-
sibility of teaching children, adolescents, and adults to evaluate critically the contents
of media presentations and to be aware of the effects that certain presentations can
have on beliefs and attitudes.  Using existing institutional structures, adults and
children could be educated about these issues in broadly based programs designed to
teach consumers about the media.

   There is reason to believe that a media literacy program regarding the effects
of violent sexual material could be effective, based on the results of several studies
that have examined ways to counteract influences connected with exposure to these
materials. Several studies (e.g., Check & Malamutb, 1984; Malamuth & Check, 1984;
Kmtka, 1985; Donnerstein, 1986) have shown that presentations outlining the ways
that violent sexual material can foster or reinforce incorrect beliefs or negative
attitudes have been able to prevent the expected results of exposure. In other words,
educating people about the possible effects of exposure, in conjunction with exposure,
appears to reduce or eliminate the shifts in attitudes that are usually seen after

exposure.

   These presentations have generally been given to groups of college students
who had recently watched one or more violent sexual movies. The ways that their
beliefs may have been affected by the movies were demonstrated by showing them a
scene from a violent sexual movie and highlighting the particular false belief that it
supports. For instance, showing a scene in which a woman who is being raped even-
tually appears to be aroused by the experience and noting that this supports the
incorrect belief that women generally enjoy being mped has been shown to reduce the
acceptance of that belief. While this type of presentation is not appropriate for al.I
children and adolescents, it may be appropriate for older adolescents and may be
adapted to be useful with younger children as well. What is impressive and potentially
useful about these research findings is the demonstration that youth may be able to be


"innoculated" against these influences through a carefully planned exposure to
materials. Careful use of the very material that one may want to restrict access to
may hold the key for ensuring that harmful effects are minimized when inevitable
exposure does occur.
   While this approach could be adapted and integrated into a school curriculum or
organizational program effort, broader media literacy approaches could also be
undertaken.  Television and radio, for example, could be influential in promoting
attitudes that counteract those possibly fostered by exposure to violent sexual

media.  Research by Greenberg (in progress) has indicated the popularity with
adolescents of many of the night-time situation comedies and afternoon soap operas.
Several of these programs have included epsiodes which promote the beliefs of
equality, sensitivity to others, and social responsibility, and which illustrate some of
the negative aspects of attitudes like those that may arise from viewing violent sexual
material.
   These shows are to be commended for their efforts to promote positive atti-
tudes, and steps could be taken to make public commendations to that effect. The
Surgeon General, other public figures, or the media industry could give an award
regularly for programming that promotes positive sexual attitudes and provide favor-
able publicity to these shows as a result. It would be hoped that such recognition would
encourage the inclusion of these themes in a systematic manner into the format of
other shows.
   Finally, other direct efforts using media could be made. Public service an-
nouncements which reinforced attitudes counter to those which condone sexual ag-
gression could be of use. Also, radio programs could integrate material related to
attitudes toward sexual coercion into their programming. This could be done effec-
tively by including media-literacy themes into programs that are popular with children
and adolescents in which listeners phone in and speak with a mental health profes-
sional.
   `Ihe purposes of this broad media literacy effort would be to sensitize the
public to the presence of particular attitudes and to warn them about the possible
mechanisms which could promote these attitudes.  This approach makes sense as an
application of a positive strategy that has been used in curbing cigarette smoking and
combatting drug abuse. Educating people empowers them to do something about a
problem, and providing information about the development of attitudes toward sexual
coercion could be the most effective long term tactic in countering the harmful
effects of exposure to violent sexual pornography.


52

   Before leaving the question of prevention of harmful effects of exposure, a sec-
ondary prevention strategy that should at least be mentioned here is that of early
identification. Some research has indicated the possibility that adolescents and adults
who are sexually aroused by depictions of violence, or who regularly have sexual fan-
tasies involving high levels of violence, are at a higher risk for coercing someone else
to engage in sexual activity. `Ihis screening information could be of potential value
both to youth experiencing such arousal and to adults to whom they might turn for

counseL  Discussions about their arousal patterns could help these youth to feel more
comfortable with their sexuality and may help to reverse thinking patterns or beliefs
influencing behavior in undesirable ways.

   At the same time, it is obvious that this information could also be very dan-
gerous in promoting labeling. The overall prevalance and normalcy of these patterns
of arousal among those who never are coercive is not known, and suggesting to youth
who have them that they are destined to become sexually coercive may encourage
such behavior in individuals who otherwise would not engage in it. As a result, any
such efforts at early identification of adolescents with arousal patterns related to
violence would have to be handled with extreme care, and would probably be best be-
gun after additional research on the development of these patterns has been done.
Presently, inclusion of the information that certain individuals may be aroused by
violence as part of general educational approaches would seem appropriate, but iso-
lation of individuals with such arousal patterns would seem premature.

Prevention of the Effects of Involvement

Preventing children's involvement in the production of pornography and intervening
with those who have been involved presents a formidable challenge to child protection
agencies, social service providers, mental health professionals and legal authorities.
General prevention and intervention strategies are presented here, but, as in the pre-
vious discussion, there is no detailed consideration here of the steps that could be
taken by enforcement agencies to combat this problem. Providing general statements
and observations about prevention strategies was a sufficient challenge for the
Workshop participants.

   As a first step in focusing efforts and gathering valuable information for the
design of future prevention programs, efforts to locate and aid those youth currently
involved in the production of pornography must be increased This effort would in-


53

elude encouraging child protection and mental health agencies to develop clearer
methods for accurately identifying these youth, disseminating this information to ap-
propriate adults (e.g., parents, teacher, physicians, mental health professionals), and
encouraging the reporting of these youth to the appropriate public agencies. `Ihis
proactive strategy of case finding and service provision would be a humane way to
prevent ongoing victimization of children, to gather badly needed information about
the dimensions of this probIem, and to educate professionals about the methods used
for involving children in this activity.

   The importance of providing mental health services after disclosure of
involvement in the production of pornography is underscored by research done by
Burgess and her colleagues. In a study of a sample of youth involved in pornography
rings (Burgess et al., 19841, these investigators found an exacerbation of symptoms
after disclosure of involvement. In addition, it was found that `many children did not
receive mental health services after disclosure of their activities. Given these two
findings, it appears imperative that services at least be made available and strongly
encouraged for youth immediately after disclosure. It is at this time that the youth
would be in the most volatile state regarding the meaning of involvement, and this
opportunity should not be missed to help provide the youth with a framework for
viewing this situation.

   Programs to prevent children's involvement in the production of pornography
should be established simultaneously. Of central importance to the planning of these
preventive intervention efforts should be the recognition that the youth who are likely
to be involved in the production of pornography almost invariably have multiple
interpersonal and famiIy probbms.  These are not youth with a clearly identifiable,
singular problem that makes them "at risk."  Instead, most of these youth end up
involved in pornography as the result of a tragic chain of events that has stripped
them of standard support structures during a developmental period when these
supports are essentiaL Research has shown that most of the children and adolescents
involved in the production of pornography have run away from or been forced to leave
their home and turn to pornography as a way of surviving. Others have become
emotionally abandoned by their families and turn to those involved with pornography
for emotional support (e-g., see Burgess & McCausland, 1984; Silbert & Pines, 19841.

   The merging of opportunity, situational need, and lack of emotional attachment
foster involvement, and this means that it Is unrealistic to think of identification of
high risk youth in this area in terms of any particular personality measures. There are -
a Iarge number of homeless or emotionally abandoned youth who are "at risk" largely


54

by virtue of their life situation. These are the youth who must be targeted for
prevention efforts.

   A corollary of this premise regarding identification is that services in this area
are also not providing a clear remedy for a disorder. Instead, they are competing with
the producers of pornography for contact with an alienated and disenfranchised group
of young people. As a result, the key to invoIvement with these youth is the provision
of the same things that the producers of pornography use to lure youth into this activ-
ity: emotional engagement and financial support.  Programming, therefore, must be
creative and adaptive, and cannot afford to be professionally parochial,

   Establishing a working relationship with these youth is a difficult task; one that
requires active outreach and a variety of services offered by a community-based
umbrella agency.  Establishing and maintaining contact early on in a youth's
experience on the street, however, appears to be a critical component to success.
CIinical reports consistently document the callousness and defensiveness that
accompanies continued exposure. It is during the initial period that these youth are
most susceptible to influence from either service providers or those interested in using
these youth.  As an adolescent fmds contacts and builds an awareness of what it takes
to survive on the street, it becomes increasingly difficult to propose an alternative.
The known is at least predictable, and it is hard to believe that any proposed
arrangement will really work out any better than the present situation.

   Providers attempting prevention in this area must be prepared to offer more
than just a single service (such as counseling) and must be prepared to be on the street
rather than in an office. A component of these programs would include reuniting some
of the youth with their families.  Other youth who are unabh or refuse to return to
their families should be given shelter and emotional support, taught independent living
skills, given vocational and traditional education, and provided with the opportunity to
establish independent lives. `l'his is a tall order for any service, but multifaceted
programming is critical, given the myriad of needs that can be present with this broad
at-risk group.

   This lack of a clear singular service may be in conflict with the predominant
trend toward specialization and professionalization in mental health care provision. In
many ways, what is being advocated is classic street social work combined with an or
ganzational plan for a multi-purpose alternative setting. Starting where the client is
appears to be critical in this area, however, and -this means that the lines between
mental health services, education, and provision of material needs must often become
blurred when working with these youth.

In summary, what is being highlighted here is the need for innovative programs


55

to address the particular needs of a broad group of disenfranchised youth who are like-
ly victims for involvement in the production of pornography. General calls for preven-
tion in this area can be made, but the reality of the situation is that someone has to go
onto the street and establish programs that appeal to the youth there. These programs
cannot be of the traditional model of mental health service provision merely located
in a NndOWn neighborhood. They must involve settings with a wide range of services
and clear sense of mission. Establishing and maintaining them will be a true chal-
lenge, but one that must be undertaken if the flow of children into the pornography
industry is to be curtailed.


56

SUMMARY

  It may have been the hope of some that this Workshop would produce a pro-
found summary statement or authoritative, comprehensive package of findings about
the effects of pornography.  What was produced instead was more of a progress
report.  All of the facts are not in yet regarding the effects of pornography, but
enough facts are in that an assessment of future directions for research and
prevention can be made.

  What is known about the effects of pornography can be broken down into two
bodies of knowledge.  First, considerable clinical material has documented the
personal tragedies and continuing problems for youth who are involved in the
production of pornography. This form of sexual victimization has been seen to have
longstanding, adverse effects on youth. The amount of unique influence that pornog-
raphy involvement has on the development of psychological and social problems in the
youth seen cannot be accurately determined, however. It is often one of many influ-
ences that have contributed to an already dismal childhood. There does not seem to
be any clear rationale, however, for maintaining that this involvement is not a signif-
icantly damaging factor in the lives of the youth who become involved in the pro-
duction of pornography. Pure and simple, it is another form of sexual victimization of
vulnerable youth.

  Second, a body of knowledge has demonstrated that exposure to pornography,
especially violent sexual pornography, has effects on beliefs, attitudes, and laboratory
behavior.  Repeated exposure in controlled conditions alters the beliefs of late
adolescents about the frequency of certain uncommon sexual practices in the general
population. Exposure to violent sexual pornography in which the victim is aroused by
assault produces more acceptance of the use of coercion in sexual relationships.
Exposure to violent pornography also produces more aggressive behavior toward
women in laboratory simulation tasks.  Finally, it appears that the presence of
attitudes condoning the use of sexual coercion (the same ones that are altered by
exposure) appear to coexist with reported or detected sexual aggmssion.

  These, bits of knowledge, however, do not yet form a totally coherent picture of
the real world effects of exposure to pornography. We still know little about actual


57

patterns of use or the power of attitudes in precipitating sexually aggressive behavior.
Much research is still needed in order to demonstrate that the present knowledge has
significant real world implications for predicting behavior.  Pornography is one of
many potential influences on behavior and it must be assessed in conjunction with
some of these other factors in order for more global statements about effects to be
warran ted.

   While highlighting the need for more research, the presently incomplete state
of knowledge does not preclude reasonable preventive actions from being taken.
Programs for youth involved in the production of pornography or likely to be lured into
such involvement should be supported.  These have to be street-based, innovative
approaches in order to be efficient rather than just pro forma prevention. On a more
primary prevention level, labeling of materials should be done and media literacy
programs should be developed. These initiatives could help educate the public about
both the types of materials available to youth and the development of sexual
attitudes.

   As emphasized from the outset, the purpose of this Workshop was to give a
reasoned professional opinion on the effects of pornography. It was not to prescribe
policy or make grand calls for reform. What is evident after examining the evidence
in this light is how disturbing, intriguing, and incomplete our knowledge of this topic
really is.


58

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67

BACKGROUND PAPERS

(In the order they were discussed in the program)

"Psychological Research and Public Policy: Taking a Long, Hard Look
   Before We Leap"

Donn Byrne and Kathryn Kelley

"Effects of Prolonged Consumption of Pornography"

Dolf Zillman

"Do Sexually Violent Media Indirectly Contribute to Antisocial Behavior?"

Neil M. Malamuth

"Effects on Juveniles of Being Used for Prostitution and Pornography"

Mimi Helper Silbert

"Techniques Designed to Mitigate the Impact of Mass Media Sexual
    Violence on Adolescents and Adults"

Edward Donnerstein


Byrne and Kelley 1

rsychological Research and Public Policy:

Taking a Long,  Hard Look before We Leap

    Donn Byrne and Kathryn Kelley

     State University of New York at Albany

When psychologists find themselves in the relatively

unfamiliar position of being consulted as experts about important

issues of public policy, two common --- though incompatible ---

reactions are commonly observed. One possibility is to retreat

rapidly to the laboratory behind a protective shield bearing the

inscription MORE RESEARCH IS NEEDED. The opposite choice is based

on the assumption that important decisions are going to be made

with or without psychological input. If so, one may as well

charge boldly forth armed with theory and`data in an attempt to

influence the decision-making process.

   Though we find it easy enough to advance arguments to

support either reaction, our basic message is to urge that

caution be exercised. When major societal changes are being

considered in the form of introducing new legislation, repealing

existing legislation,  or altering enforcement and regulatory

practices with respect to current laws, a conservative stance has

much to recommend it. tiecause any change involves countless

unforeseen consequences,  it is vital that the reason for such

change be very well established. The same point is made more

pithily in the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." That

advice could be amended to suggest that even if you aren't sure

"whether it's broke or not, don't rush to fix it."

With respect to the effects of pornography on behavior and

the need to "fix it," the Attorney General's Commission on


Byrne and Kelley 2

Pornography has issued an introduction to its upcoming

publication (Report: Pornography can lead to violence, 1986). In

it is the conclusion that exposure to most pornography "bears

some causal relationship to the level of sexual violence, sexual

coercion or unwanted sexual aggression." As individuals who have

conducted research in this field and who testified before the

Commission in its Houston hearings,  we are disturbed by this

conclusion and by the policy recommendations to be made involving

new federal laws dealing with obscenity, pandering, and labor

practices as well as recommendations concerning the use of the

powers of the Federal Communications Commission and the

establishment of an obscenity task force in the Justice

Department that will focus on prosecution. Such conclusions and

recommendations may not have a firm data base, but they are

consistent with studies of the perseverance of social theories

(Anderson,  1982; Anderson, Lepper, h Ross, 1980). In fact, this

perseverance bias is most pervasive when it is based on extremely

weak data such as vivid case histories (Anderson, 1983).

   Even before the formal report is issued and new laws

considered,  it is ominous to find that the 7-Eleven chain can be

pressured to remove such erotically dull publications as Playboy

and Penthouse from its shelves.  The announcement of that decision

was soon followed by the removal of American Photographer from

magazine racks in Kansas because the distributor discovered a

photograph of an unclothed female breast in one issue (Photo

magazine canned in Kansas, 1986).

   In view of such governmental recommendations and

anticipatory reactions in portions of the business community, our


Byrne and Kelley 3

cautionary stance does not seem to be baseless. It is not based

on timidity or professional modesty,  but on the knowledge that

judgments are routinely made on inadequate bases and that the
utilization of sophisticated research methodology, statistics,

and professional jargon can sometimes serve only to camouflage

the inadequacies of the decision-making process rather than to

correct them.  Please note that these warnings are directed

equally at psychologists and nonpsychologists alike. Sexuality

seems to be especially vulnerable to this problem as when well
meaning physicians at the end of the last century and beginning

of this urged parents to take whatever steps were needed to

eliminate childhood masturbation in order to prevent loss of

memory and intelligence, depression, nymphomania, retarded

growth,  headache,  sleeplessness, pain,  weakness in the back and

genital organs, cowardice, dry hair with split ends, heart pains,

constipation, coughing, epilepsy, paralysis, premature old age,

and death (Stout, 1885; Walling, 1904).

   Before turning to the specific question of interpreting

research on the effects of erotica,  it may prove helpful to point

out precisely why truly objective judgments are generally

difficult or impossible to achieve and to remind ourselves of an

embarrassing chapter in psychology's past with respect to our
field's very effective influence on public policy.

     Difficulties Encountered by Emotional Organisms

          Trying to Make Rational Decisions

  One paratheoretical dispute among behavioral scientists is

the tendency to emphasize the rational versus the affective

aspects of human behavior.  Whether we each function as a


Byrne and Kelley 4

computer-like mechanism dealing with facts, probabilities, and

cost-benefit ratios or as a wary mammal primarily motivated

simply to avoid pain and achieve pleasure is a venerable issue

and one that cannot readily be settled on an empirical basis

(e.g., Mandler ti Shebo, 1983; Zajonc, 1980).

   We identify ourselves with the affective emphasis and

propose that most human decision-making occurs on the basis of an

emotion-based sequence of reactions (Byrne, 1971; Byrne, Rasche,

h Kelley,  1974; Clore b Byrne, 1974). As an oversimplified

version of this approach,  it is proposed that stimulus events

often elicit short-term affective responses that, in turn, form

the basis for temporally stable evaluative responses such as

attitudes. These attitudes, in turn,  influence approach versus

avoidance behavior. At the most rudimentary level, a child tastes

ice cream for the first time,  experiences positive affect, and

concludes that he or she likes ice cream. Subsequently, that

individual is inclined to desire ice cream, to ask for ice cream,

to purchase ice cream,  to eat ice cream when it is available,


etc.  On another occasion,  the same child may taste cabbage,

experience negative affect,  and conclude that he or she dislikes

cabbage.  Subsequently,  that individual is inclined to avoid

contact with this vegetable, to refuse to eat it, etc. Because

many stimulus events have mixed effects and elicit combinations

of positive and negative affect (e.g., curiosity, fear, pleasure,

guilt,  and so forth),  it has been necessary to specify the

mathematical rule whereby discrete affective responses differing

in magnitude and valence are combined to yield a simple

evaluative response (Byrne, 1982, 1983). This conceptualization


Byrne and Kelley 5

involving stimulus events that elicit affect that forms the basis
of stable evaluations that influence overt behavior has proven to

be a useful one for predicting a variety of behaviors (e.g.,

Byrne, Clore, & Smeaton, in press; Byrne & Lamberth, 1971; Byrne

6 Murnen, in press; Fisher, Byrne, & White, 1983).

   Actually, the description of behavior just outlined is
consistent with the behavior of many organisms, including our two

Golden Retrievers. That is,  they show overt signs that appear to

reflect pleasure in response to being fed, petted, or talked to,
and they wag their tales, try to lick our faces, and run toward

us --- whining, jumping, and rolling on their backs. They also

show overt signs that appear to reflect to reflect anger and fear
in response to being teased by small neighbor boys and bark

ferociously when they appear, sometimes running toward them with

menacing growls and sometimes running out of sight into their dog

houses.

   With human beings, analogous responses to positive and
negative stimuli are somewhat more complex than those of these

two not overly bright dogs. The cognitive capacity of our species

is such that behavior can also be guided by rational

considerations in addition to affective ones. If not, we would

never visit a dentist or turn down a second helping of chocolate

cake (Kelley et al., 1985). In addition,  even when we respond to

simple emotional determinants,  we seem to feel constrained to

supply logical, rational justifications for our decisions and our
actions (Byrne, Fisher, Lamberth, & Mitchell, 1974). It is this

need to justify many basically simple and primitive reactions

that creates a great many problems.


Byrne and Kelley 6

   To leap ahead to the pornography question, it is perfectly
understandable that explicit depictions of nude men and women
engaging in various sexually explicit activities make some
individuals feel anxious, guilty, ashamed, angry, and/or

nauseated while others respond with interest, curiosity,

excitement, and joy.  These differences would seem to be based on

differences in socialization experiences, parental attitudes,

cultural influences, and specific personal experiences (Fisher,

Byrne, White, b Kelley, 1986). The consequence would seem to be

simple --- those who respond negatively should avoid sexual
explicitness and never be forced to encounter it; those who
respond positively should come in contact with as much of this
material as they wish and never be deprived of the opportunity
(Kelley, 1979, 1985a, 1985b). This simple sequence of events

rarely occurs, and the initial stumbling block is our human
tendency to justify our own reactions. Long before there were
research data of any kind dealing with the effects of exposure to

sexual images, many argued strongly that this imagery was
dangerous and debilitating to the individual and to society while
others argued strongly that it was liberating and healthful to
the individual and to society (Byrne 6 Kelley, 1984).

   In a totally rational and ideal world, these contradictory
propositions about the effects of sexually explicit presentations
could be resolved by the objective application of the methods of
behavioral science to confirm or disconfirm the conflicting

claims and expectancies about the behavioral, emotional, and

attitudinal effects of exposure. Such an assumption would seem to

underlie the work of the first Commission on Obscenity and


Byrne and Kelley 7

Pornography,  appointed in 1968 under President Johnson, At that

time,  almost nothing was known about the effects of explicit

sexual material,  and by 1970 when the Commission report was

published and 1971 when the series of technical reports was

published, one might have hoped that all of the controversies

would have been settled once and for all.

   That did not happen, of course,  because (1) scientific

questions are never settled once and for all and (2) scientists

are human beings who are influenced by their own emotional

responses and their need to justify their emotional responses.

Perhaps the second of these assertions can best be illustrated by

briefly examing an earlier example of behavioral research and

public policy applications in an area far removed from sexuality.

         The Fruitless Search for Objectivity

                and the Pervasive Influence

    of Emotions, Attitudes, Beliefs, and Values

From time to time one hears the assertion that certain

activities such as judicial proceedings, news reporting and

science are,  or should be, objective and unbiased in their

communications to the general public.  At the risk of stating the

obvious to some and the heretical to others, we are forced to

conclude that objectivity is most often an impossible dream. We

select,  believe,  remember,  and conclude in large part on the

basis of our existing emotions, attitudes, beliefs, and values.

Alter (1986, p.  15) provided an interesting example of this

process with various assertions in 1984 about what George

Orwell's politics would have been had he lived until the year he

made infamous.  "Liberals and socialists tended to argue that


Byrne and Kelley 8

Orwell would be a liberal or a socialist today. Conservatives and

neoconservatives tended to insist that he would be a conservative

or neoconservative."

   One place we clearly expect objectivity is the courtroom,

but there are plentiful data dealing with jury selection,

eyewitness testimony, attorney behavior, and juror bias to

suggest the opposite (Baron (i Byrne, in press). Research even

indicates that judges unwittingly communicate their attitudes

about a defendant by means of nonverbal cues such as tone of

voice (Goleman, 1986). In this instance,  the decisions of jurors

are found to be affected by these affective judicial messages.

   In news reporting,  the objective ideal is also invoked.

Despite various accusations about the liberal bias of the

networks,  it has been found that the verbal content of the network

news is surprisingly fair with respect to liberal versus

conservative biases (Robinson, 1985).  Undoubtedly a small army of

writers and editors work very hard to achieve this goal. Even so,

nonverbal emotional and attitudinal messages are conveyed,

probably unconsciously, by way of smiles, frowns, and other

facial indicators of the news person's own reactions (Mullen et

al.,  in press).  In the 1984 campaign,  it was found that Peter

Jennings on ABC showed a nonverbal bias in favor of President

Reagan while Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw managed to respond

nondifferentially to Reagan and Mondale. It was also found that

ABC viewers were more likely to vote for Reagan than were viewers

of CBS and NBC.

   Though these findings could indicate the awesome power of

television to influence the attitudes and behaviors of viewers,


Byrne and Kelley 9

it is more likely an indication of the tendency of viewers to

expose themselves to and to believe that which matches their

previously established biases.  Whatever we tell ourselves about

our openmindedness,  there is a well established tendency to seek

out that which fits whatever we already believe and to avoid that

which does not.  One documented example was the disinterest of

pro-Nixon viewers in the Watergate hearings versus the continuing

fascination of anti-Nixon viewers with every detail (Sweeney &

Gruber, 1985).

Despite these various examples,  surely science must be a

totally different matter.  Scientists seek empirical tests and

rely on hard data to buttress or refute their hypotheses. This is

true,  of course,  and it constitutes the major strength of this

particular approach to acquiring knowledge about the world. It is

nevertheless more difficult and time-consuming that it sounds to

obtain a sufficient body of data to overcome pre-existing beliefs

about anything whether the topic is planetary orbits, evolution,

or the germ theory of disease.  Even the seemingly least

subjective aspects of a scientific quest are guided by one's

beliefs about what will be found (Kelley, 1985c). Kuhn (1962, p.

59) suggested that,  "The decision to employ a particular piece of

apparatus and to use it in a particular way carries an assumption

that only certain sorts of circumstances will arise."

   Scientific bias is not necessarily this subtle, but even

blatant abuses are easiest to spot when one is far removed in

time and in cultural support from the incident. Gould (1981) has

detailed the way in which prevailing racial, ethnic, and sexual

biases in the first half of this century exerted a profound


Byrne and Kelley 10

effect on psychological research involving intelligence and on

the conclusions drawn from the data that were obtained.

   The belief in hierarchically ordered group differences based

on genetic factors was widely accepted, and behavioral scientists

were able to provide seemingly irrefutable data that supported

such beliefs and served to affect public policy decisions in a

direction consistent with the beliefs. At the clearly unethical

extreme lies the falsification of data by those holding

hereditarian views as when the photographs of Goddard's (1912)

Kallikak family were retouched to make them look convincingly

depraved, sinister,  and diabolical (Gould, 1981) or when Sir

Cyril Burt (e.g.,  1966) fabricated investigators, subjects, and

data to support his views as to the innateness and

unchangeability of intelligence (Hearnshaw, 1979; Kamin, 1977).

    Much less obvious bias can affect the work of otherwise

objective investigations. For example, when H. H. Goddard (1913,

1917) assessed emigrants arriving in the U. S. at Ellis Island,

he found that from 79% to 87% of the Jewish, Hungarian, Italian,

and Russian arrivals were "feeble-minded." This apparent assault

on the U. S.  gene pool was soon alleviated by legal restrictions

on who could be admitted to this country and by a rapid increase

in the number of annual deportations on the basis of being

classified as mentally defective. Any considerations of cultural,

experiential, or linguistic barriers to valid intelligence

testing were ignored.

   On the other side of the continent,  Lewis Terman's (1916)

investigations with the Stanford-Binet led him to conclude that

high grade defectives (i.e., the working class, especially


Byrne and Kelley 11

Spanish-Indians and Mexicans) should be identified, placed under

society's surveillance,  and curtailed from reproducing. His

laudable goal was to eliminate crime, poverty, and industrial

inefficiency.

   The power of emotional-attitudinal bias is demonstrated by

such examples,  and the eventual power of the scientific method is

shown by the fact that Goddard and Terman later changed their

minds on the basis of additional data. The public policy caution

must be repeated, however. Before these and other investigators

were converted,  a great many human beings had been refused entry

to the LJ. S., deported from the U. S., and sterilized. In Great

Britain,  Burt's influence on the educational system --- early

testing and rigid stratification --- is still being felt. Those

who were unfairly treated on the basis of such policy decisions

might find it more difficult than we do to respond sanguinely to

the eventual corrective powers of the scientific enterprise.

   How do these various points, issues, and examples apply to

the question of pornography and its effects? The general

difficulty in achieving objectivity should be clear, except that

it should be underlined that emotional reactions to questions

about sexuality are stronger and more pervasive that reactions to

questions about politics, courtroom defendants, or intelligence.

We will suggest 'a few of the most obvious specific problems

encountered in conducting and interpreting research in this area

and,  most importantly,  in using these research findings as

justification for taking action against individuals, business

concerns, goods,  or services that have any relationship to

sexually explicit words and pictures.


Byrne and Kelley 12

          Sex Research as an Exemplar

          of Individual and Cultural Biases

The task of identifying the effects of explicit sexual

presentations on behavior is not conceptually an unusual or

especially difficult one,  but it becomes unusual and extremely

difficult because of the affective aspects of anything havinq to

do with sex. Thus,  it would undoubtedly be much easier to think

clearly,  arque cogently,  and act rationally if the topic were the

effect of explicit presentations of dessert receipes on calorie

intake.

   For the present discussion,  we will narrow the focus to a

specific question about sexual imagery.  Does exposure to explicit

sexual material on a short-term or long-term basis have an effect

on coercive sexual behavior ? While there is considerable

disagreement as to the desirability of other effects of exposure

to erotica (e.g.,  an attitude shift toward increasinq

permissiveness),  almost everyone can agree that sexual coercion

is unacceptable --- there are few proponents of sexual

harrassment, rape, and child abuse. Since the initial hearings of

the first Commission in the late 196Os,  a great deal of research

has been conducted by behavioral scientists in both laboratory

and field studies.  Over the last decade,  the rapid development of

appropriate measuring instruments and research methodologies, the

growth in the amount of available empirical data, and the

development of relevant theoretical formulations have been

pnenomenal. Despite the progress that has been made, it is

difficult to conclude that we know enough to take steps that

directly affect the rights of our fellow citizens.


Byrne and Kelley 13

    in science, controversy and uncertainty are an inteqral part

of the game. The fact that scientists attempt to be open to new
data and new ideas and hence to a revision of previously held
beliefs is the basic strenqth of this approach to knowledge. In
the everyday world of legislation and law enforcement,

controversy, uncertainty, and shiftinq conclusions are

disastrous. Let us now take a brief look at some of the detailed
reasons for being cautious about moving from sex research to

making policy.

Examining Imperfect Substitutes

for the Dependent Variables
--
  An unavoidable weakness in the study of coercive sex is

sometimes ignored. We are unable directly to investigate the

behavior in question. There are few fields of inquiry in which
the prime dependent variable is excluded from the research

process. As difficult as it has been to study any form of sexual

responding, the development of measuring devices that assess male
and female genital arousal (Kelley b Byrne, 1983) and the
creation of a laboratory settinq in which autosexual,

heterosexual,  and homosexual acts are observed and
physiologically recorded (Masters & Johnson, 1966, 1979) has
brought much of human sexuality within the realm of ordinary

scientific procedures.

  Analogous advances in the study of coercive sexuality cannot
ethically be undertaken. As a result,  it is necessary to rely on
other variables that may or may not be directly relevant. So, we
ask subjects what they have done in the past and what they
hypothetically might do in the future. Analoques can be created


Byrne and Kelley 14

as when the pressing of a button supposedly causinq pain to

another person is roughly equated with interpersonal aggression.

Emotional responses to verbal and/or auditory depictions of rape,

t-rture,  or child abuse can be used as rough samples of how an

individual might respond to similar scenes in everyday life.

Finally,  archival data such as public statistics of reported

crimes can be correlated with other societal variables in the

hope of identifying causal links (Kelley, 1985c).

   There is no intention here of disparaging the creativity of

those who developed such methodologies or of dismissing the

resultant findings as irrelevant. One might, nevertheless,

hesitate to assume perfect correspondence between these

behavioral measures and genuinely coercive acts.

Case Histories:

For Instance Isn't Proof
              --

   The careful gathering of case history material has played

and can continue to play a valuable role in psychology as a

source of data and hypotheses about human sexual behavior (Byrne

& Kelley, 1984b).

    In contrast,  when case histories are treated as the final

step in validating or disconfirminq a predicted relationship,

they are not only useless but frequently dangerous. Even without

the dramatic trappings of anonymous victims and sincere police

officers testifying before the Pornography Commission, we have

each read newspapers and magazine accounts that present many

versions of a scenario in which a convicted rapist is found to

possess pornographic magazines, books, or movies. Even with

multiple instances of such discoveries, this type of "evidence"


Byrne and Kelley 15

for the dangers of erotica would be clearly ludicrous were it not

for the widespread acceptance of such data.

   Without belaboring the obvious, the general problem of

selecting some small aspect of the total array of data and the

need for a control group can perhaps be illustrated by a

comparison. How convincing would it be to read that police

officers discovered homogenized milk in the refrigerator of a

convicted rapist? Without knowing  whether this activity

differentiated rapists from a matched sample of non-rapists, few

of us would be inclined to propose laws banning dairies,

forbidding milk distribution,  and removing this product from

refrigerated grocery shelves.

Existing Beliefs Guide

Hesearch and Its Interpretation
          --

   The leap from isolated case history data to a conclusion

about cause and effect occurs in part because of preexisting and

widely held beliefs. Such beliefs have a more general influence

as well.

   For example, a link between sexual and aggressive impulses

has long been assumed, and biological explanations have been

offerred (MacLean, 1965).  It was said that the brain's limbic

system provided the link between the arousal of these two

motivational processes.  The basic assumption was that an

expression of aggressive behavior facilitates sexual arousal. The

everyday analogy is that spouses may argue and then lovingly make

up their differences.  There is even the observation that a

physical assault on one's spouse is mutually enerqizinq to

subsequent sexual interactions (Kelley, 1985c).


Byrne and Kelley 16

   Whatever ultimate conclusions we draw about the validity of

the general proposition,  one line of research was undertaken that

indicated that anger increased sexual arousal as measured by

sexual imagery created by subjects in response to TAT-like

stimuli (Barclay, 1969, 1970; Barclay h Haber, 1965). Those TAT

pictures invlved males and females in dominant and submmissive

roles,  and subsequent research in our laboratory provides

evidence that it is the degree of depicted dominance that

determines whether sexual imagery is expressed in the stories.

Neither anger nor the opportunity to aggress was found to have

any effect on sexual arousal (Kelley, Miller, Byrne, & Bell,

1983).

   A quite different line of research indicates that sexual

arousal in response to aggressive cues may occur but only for a

small subset of the male population (Abel, Barlow, Blanchard, b

Guild,  1977; Greendlinger, 1985; Kelley, 1985d; Malamuth, Check,

h Briere, 1986). An even smaller group in a sample of sex

criminals enjoys mentally transforming mutually consenting sexual

stories into tailor made fantasies of rape and violence

(Marshall, 1985).

   It can be seen that the assumption of an aggression-sex link

at first led to confirmatory results. Second, the attempt to

clarify the relationship yielded new information about the role

of dominance. Third,  the original proposition may be valid but

only for certain identifiable individuals. Thouqh the original

assumption may not be totally accurate as stated, belief in its

validity has served as a road map to suggest what reearch

questions to ask and what findings to expect.


Byrne and Kelley 17

The Importance of Content:
                -

Do We Want to Prevent the Modeling
----

of All Sexual Activity?
--~

   The literature on modeling provides strong support for the

proposition that those who are exposed to sexually explicit

images would show an increased tendency to imitate whatever

sexual activity had been presented.  Existing evidence indicates

that individuals so exposed  express the desire to imitate the

depicted acts (Bryant, 1985),  report their intention to engage in

such an act (Wishnoff, 1978),  and increase the frequency with

which they perform the behavior (Heiby h Becker, 1980).

       The fact that erotic presentations are not always

Lollowed by imitative behavior can be explained by the fact that

negative emotional responses to the depiction do not lead to the

desire or intention to engage in the activity and that inhibiting

factors may intervene ---anxiety, quilt, moral beliefs, legal

restrictions,  expectancies of unpleasant conseguences, and the

nonavailability of a suitable or willing partner or partners

(Kelley, 1985e).

How we as individuals or as a society evaluate the

desirability of the depicted behavior and its possible imitation

goes beyond what scientific inquiry can appropriately answer. We

noted earlier that coercive sex is generally disapproved, and we

suspect that loving, procreational sex in the context of marriage

is generally approved.  Between those two extremes lie a vast

number of possible activities,  the acceptability of which is open

to honest disagreement.  We know that sexually dysfunctional

individuals can learn from certain depictions how to initiate


Byrne and Kelley 18

sexual intercourse with a spouse,  to engage in lengthy foreplay,

and to reach orgasm (Nemetz, Craig, & Reith, 1978) and that in

the context of sex education students can learn about the use of

contraceptives and the prevention of sexually transmitted

diseases (Kelley, Byrne, Greendlinger, & Przybyla, 1985). Are

those instances of modeling acceptable? How do we react to the

depiction of promiscuity, adultery, or homosexuality?

It seems to us that any statements about the effects of

erotica miss the point. Whether or not individuals are depicted

as clothed or unclothed and using or not using their genitalia

seem much less relevant to anything than the emotional,

attitudinal,  and moral context in which the behavior occurs.

These considerations necessarily extend beyond erotica to a

consideration of sexist television commercials, reckless car

chases on TV, slasher films, and much else besides.

Some Additional

Research Problems

   Sampling bias.  In any studies of human behavior, sampling is

an everpresent problem. In much that we do, psychologists utilize

admittedly inadequate samples of the total population and

fervently hope that the findinqs have generalizability. With

studies of sex,  we know that any informed volunteers differ from

the general population. Subjects in sex studies are found to be

more sexually permissive and more sexually experienced than non-

volunteers. Though su.ch sampling biases by definition affect the

results of survey research, we know very little about their

effect on experimental investigations. That knowledge is crucial

to permit us to generalize with any confidence from the behvior


Byrne and Kelley 19

of volunteer subjects to the behavior of the population at large

and hence to policy decisions.

   Correlational data. The elementary fact that correlation

does not indicate causation hardly seems worth mentioning except

for the fact that when the topic is sex, basic knowledge

sometimes is forqotten.  A case in point is Baron's (1985) very

interesting and widely quoted finding that there is a correlation

across states between the circulation of sexually oriented

magazines and the incidence of rape.  Despite the author's warning

about the correlational nature of his data, on two occasions at

public forums we have heard that finding used to "document" the

probable dangers of soft core publications as the instigators of

sex crimes.  It should be noted that other variables in that study

such as the number of divorced males, economic disparity, and

urbanization were more strongly related to rape incidence than

were the sales of sexual magazines. Further, rape is also found

to be related to the circulation of masculine publications such

as Field and Stream and Guns and Amo (Scott, 1986).
   --              ---

   un the opposite side,  there are correlational data

indicating that in societies in which pornography laws are made

less restrictive,  the rate of coercive sexual acts decreases or

is unaffected (Abramson & Hayashi, 1984; Green, 1985;

Kutchinsky, 1985). In a similar way, the self-reported

pornographic exposure of convicted sex criminals is found to be

less than that of non-sex criminals (Goldstein, Kant, h Hartman,

1974). Once again,  correlations do not necessarily indicate that

cause and effect relationships have been identified.

    Individual differences. Whatever the general effect of


Ayrne and Kelley 20

explicit material on behavior,  there is abundant evidence that

the such effects are not universal but are mediated by

dispositional variables such as erotophobia, sex quilt,

authoritarianism, and hypermasculinity (Fisher h Byrne, 1978;

Kelley b Musialowski, in press: Mosher & Anderson, 1986; Mosher &

Sirkin,  1984; Smeaton & Byrne, 1986).

   Not only do individuals with different personality

characteristics respond differently,  they often are found to

respond in opposite ways (Kelley, 1985f). Thus, an erotic

depiction that has a positive effect on some viewers can have a

negative effect on other viewers (White, 1979). It seems that

attempts to enact general restrictive laws are analogous to

banning the sale of peanut butter because some individuals have

severe allergic reactions to this substance.

   Restricted response alternatives. In any experimental

setting,  the response alternatives available to subjects are

limited. This limitation is a valid and purposeful one. The major

difficulty is that initial assumptions can determine the

experimenter's selection of alternatives to be provided and thus

create an unrepresentative view of behavioral effects (Kelley,

1985c).

   For example,  if one sets out to study the effects of

sexually explicit films on aggression,  the response possibilities

tend to consist of degrees of aggression. The fact that these

same stimuli may evoke positive responses such as altruism could

not be known unless subjects were given the opportunity to behave

in a prosocial way following exposure to erotica (Kelley, in

press;  Przybyla, 1985).


Byrne and Kelley 21

   Limited exposure versus massive exposure, The problem of

attempting to establish a laboratory equivalent of real-life

experiences is never a simple one. Most often, we have access to
human subjects only for a very limited period of time. With

research on sexual imagery,  there is often a very brief exposure

followed by the assessment of immediate or relatively short-term

effects. Much of the research conducted for the original

Pornography Commission was of this type. Such brief contact may

be quite different from prolonged contact. As a result, an

investigator may be inclined to conclude erroneously that there

is little or no effect. An analogy would be to investigate

addictive drugs by examining what happens when individuals have

one ingestion experience.

   Given the temporal limitations of subject access and the

possibility that measureable effects might require years of

exposure (Byrne, 1977), a different strategy is to employ massive

doses of erotica (e.g., Zillmann s Bryant, 1984). Though this

procedure might well represent a speeded-up simulation of what

ordinarily takes place over a much longer time span, it also may

distort such effects. An analogy would be the laboratory studies

of the health effects of diet soda that concentrate longterm

consumption patterns in a limited time segment. It seems likely

that the effects of drinking one soda per day for five years may
not be precisely the same as the effects of consuming 73 bottles

per day for 25 days.

Conclusions

The foregoing discussion of the multiple reasons for caution

in applying what we know in ways that affect society can easily


Byrne and Kelley 22

be misinterpreted to mean that behavioral research is worthless

and that we might do as well or better consulting our

grandmothers rather than psychologists.

    Our clarion call for inaction should not be taken to mean

that action is never appropriate. Though each individual

investigation may present problems of interpretation, the

accumulation of consistent findings in multiple investigations by

different investigators holding different biases, using different

methodologies,  across quite varied samples, measuring a variety

of behaviors in a variety of ways,  can eventually lead to a

widely accepted conclusion that may warrant societal action. The

gradual accumulation of data about the effects of cigarette

smoking has led over a period of decades to increasing agreement

(even among smokers) about the dangers and a slowly accelerating

series of steps to prevent or discourage smoking and to protect

passive as well as active inhalers of tobacco fumes.

   There is no magic moment at which the accumulated knowledge

suddenly is "enough"  to achieve consensus,  but there is surely no

reason to think that such a moment is upon us with respect to the

effects of erotica.

   Finally,  let us suggest that if errors of judgment are to be

made in this realm (and they are likely to be), it is preferable

to err by waiting a few years too long to act than by rushing to

act a few years too early.  Procrastination that helps us avoid

harmful decisions may represent the wisest course of action.


Byrne and Kelley 23

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Byrne and Kelley 25

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Fisher, W. A., Byrne, D., 6 White, L. A. (1983). Emotional
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  Manuscript submitted for publication.


Byrne and Kelley 26

Goddard, H. H. (1912). The Kallikak family, a study in the
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Goddard, H. H. (1973).  The Binet tests in relation to

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               ---'

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    social science research.  Paper presented at the U. S.

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   Sexual Behavior, 2, 115-121.

Kamin, L. J. (1977). Burt's IQ data. Science, 195, 246-248.


Byrne and Kelley 27

Kelley, K. (1979). Socialization factors in contraceptive

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   and sexual experience. Journal of Sex Research, 15, 6-20.
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Kelley, K. (1985a). Sex, sex guilt, and authoritarianism:
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Kelley, K. (1985b). Sexuality and hostility of authoritarians. The

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Kelley, K. (1985c, September). Testimony presented to the U. S.
                                                        ----

   Attorney General's Commission on Pornography. Paper
                                      -

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                      -            -                -

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Byrne and Kelley 28

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Byrne and Kelley 29

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                          Byrne and Kelley 30


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               -

Zajonc, R. B. (1980). Feeling and thinking: Preferences need no

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                  - ;

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Effects - l-

Effects of Prolonged Consumption of Pornography

Dolf Zillmann

Indiana University

Paper prepared for the
Surgeon General's Workshop on Pornography and Public Health

Arlington, Virginia

June 22-24, 1986


Effects - 2-

   Effects of Prolonged Consumption of Pornography

Uost experimental investigations of the behavioral consequences

of exposure to graphic portrayals of sexual activities have employed a

research paradigm in which (a) subjects consume pornographic stimuli

just once and (b) any effects are ascertained more or less immediately

thereafter (cf. Donnerstcin, 1984b; Walamuth. 1984; Sapolsky, 1984;

Zillmann, 1984).  This paradigm has much to recommend itself and is

particularly suited to the testing of specific proposals concerning

the psychological and physiological mediation of known consequences.

However,  as a means of establishing perceptual, attitudinal, and

behavioral changes,
            ---- --  especially lasting ones,  the paradigm can rightly

be questioned.   First, many effects of interest may manifest

themselves only after repeated exposure to critical stimuli.  Second,

and equally important, effects may be transient (cf. Berkowitz &

Heimer Rogers, 1986;  Wyer b. Srull, 1981; Zillmann, 9983) and without

consequence for later behavior.  In establishing perceptual,

attitudinal, and behavioral consequences of the consumption of

pornography, then,  it would seem imperative to employ designs that

accomplish (a) repeated exposure with between-exposure intervals that

simulate characteristic consumption patterns and (b) delayed

assessmcllts of effects with an interval between consumption and

effects that rules out that the effects are of trivial duration.

Experimental investigations that employed this latter type of design

in exploring the effects of the consumption of pornography have

actually been conducted and are summarized in this paper.

The prolonged-exposure paradigm has been pioneered in two

investigations that were initially presented in the Technical Report

of the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography (1971).   Harm. Sidman.

and Starr (1971; see also Mann, Berkowitz, Sidman, Starr, & West,


                                   Effects - 3-

1974) explored the effect of repeated exposure to pornography on

sexual behavior; and Howard, Reifler, and Liptzin (1971; see also

Reifler, Howard, Lipton, Liptzin, & Widmann,  1971) probed consequences

for excitation and cognition in the later consumption of pornographic

materials.


    Mann et al.  exposed married couples in four consecutive weekly

sessions to sexually explicit films or, in a control condition, to

nonerotic films.  During the treatment period,  subjects recorded thei r

sexual activities in diaries.  Exposure to erotica was found to

stimulate sexual behavior only shortly.   Sexual activities were more

frequent on exposure days than on the days thereafter. The

transitory, sex-stimulating effect diminished over the weeks and

became negligible in the fourth week.   Wann et al.  emphasized that

this stimulating effect was rather nonspecific, manifesting itself in

a variety of sexual activities with which the couples were familiar.

The investigators concluded that the couples did not adopt depicted

sexual practices that were not already part of their behavioral

repertoire.  Exposure to pornography merely seemed to revive well

established but dormant sexual practices.

   The conclusion that pornography does not entice consumers to try

out novel sexual practices is compromised by the fact that the

investigation was conducted with couples who were married for at least

ten years.  Couples with such sexual histories presumably could detect

little,  if anything, in the.erotic materials that was not already part

of their sexual repertoire.   The conclusion also clashes with more

recent findings which show that sexually inexperienced persons readily

accept and are willing to practice particular sexual behaviors that

they have witnessed on the screcrr (e.g., Wishnoff, 1978).   Most

importantly, however, the findings reported by Mann et al. seem of


Effects - 4-

little consequence for considerations of public health because effects

of pornography on sexual behaviors are, in general, not feared to

produce socially undesirable effects.  The instigation of sexual

interest and desire, as well as the likely expansion of repertoires of

sexual techniques through modeling (cf. Bandura, 1969, 19711, are--

without visible opposition --accepted as positive effects of

pornography.  The notable exception is the use of pornography in the

enticement of prepubertal girls and boys to take part in sexual

activities with adults (Lanning, 1984).   However,  these uses have, for

obvious reasons.  not been subjected to systematic effects research.

    In the Howard et al.  investigation of the effects of pornography

consumption on later reactions to pornography, male college students

were given access to pornographic films, photographs, and readings, or

they were not given such access in a control condition.   This was done

in 15 sessions that were distributed over a three-week period.   The

experimental subjects were free to choose from among these materials

and from among nonerotic ones in the first 10 sessions.   In the

following three sessions,  the original pornographic materials were

replaced by new ones.   In the last two sessions, the nonerotic

materials were removed.  Each session lasted 90 minutes, and during

this time the subjects recorded their activities at regular intervals.

Both experimental and control subjects were shown an explicitly sexual

film prior to and following the extended exposure treatment.  Eight

weeks after the treatment,  the exycrimental subjects were once more

shown an explicitly sexual film.   Numerous measures of sexual arousal

were taken during and after exposure to the films, and a battery of

self-perception and attitudinal measures was recorded following

exposure.

The findings show, first of all,  that the young men initially had


Effects - 5-

e strong interest in pornographic films.   However.  this interest faded

rapidly with repeated consumption.  Pornographic photographs and

readings received comparatively little attention, but this attention

was sustained.  The eventual introduction of novel pornographic

materials failed to return interest to the initial high levels.

Following the unrestricted consumption of pornography in the

experimental condition,  subjects characterized their reactions to

pornography as boredom.  Although interest in pornography was

maintained to some degree,  the findings give no indication that

frequent consumption of the materials in question fosters or

facilitates favorable reactions such as enjoyment.

   The analysis of the physiological data yielded results that are

consistent with decreased interest or increased boredom.   It revealed

a loss of responsiveness as the result of frequent consumption.

Exposure to an explicitly sexual film immediately after the conclusion

of the longitudinal treatment produced diminished reactions of sexual

o xci tedness.  On the most direct measure of sexual arousal, penile

tumescence. reduced responsiveness was obtrusively evident.   Erect ions

were less pronounced and moLe poorly maintained than prior to frequent

exposure to pornography.  Complementary meuzures, such as release of

acid phosphatase,  showed redundant changes.  Sympathetic activity, a

vital concomitant of sexual excitedness. also underwent parallel

changes.   Heart rate,  respiration rate, and skin temperature indicated

reduced responsiveness.  The loss of specifically sexual

responsiveness, however. appeared to be more consistent and more

pronounced than that of its sympathetic accompaniment.  Finally, the

remeasurement of physiological reactions to pornography after a period

----w---
Figure 1
--w---w-


                                             Effects - 6-

of eight weeks, during which subjects were not treated in any

particular way,  revealed some degree of recovery from the loss of

responsiveness.  But more importantly,  this responsiveness remained

markedly suppressed.  The findings on.erection are characteristic.

They are summarized in Figure 1.

   The investigation reported by Howard et al. is not without

problems.  In the 10 initial exposure sessions, subjects* choice of

pornography was severely limited.  What appeared to be a loss of

interest in pornographic films is more likely the result of subjects

having exhausted the pool of available films.  As the subjects

themselves had to record their consumption choices, it is additionally

likely that they experienced evaluation apprehension and avoided

giving the impression of excessive erotic interest and eagerness by

not watching the films repeatedly.  The conclusions about rapidly

growing disinterest in and boredom with pornography that were drawn

under these circumstances,  together with the authors* insinuation that

interest in pornography is self-corrective, can only be considered

highly tentative.   In fact,  these conclusions were proved wrong by

subsequent research ytL to be described.  Additionally,  the projection

of growing boredom and disinterest is quite obviously faulted by the

continued commercial success of pornography as a genre of

entertainment.  What the study does show,  with some degree of rigor,

is that consumers of pornography grow tired of watching the same

materials repeatedly (see also Kelley. 1982).

   The observation of diminished excitatory responding, in terms of

both specifical sexual arousal and accompanying sympathetic activity,

is not compromised by these procedural difficulties, however.

Eventually, subjects were virtually forced to consume pornography (in

the later sessions);  and the intended, strong difference in


Effects - 7-

pornography consumption between the experimental and control groups

was accomplished.  The demonstration of substantial, enduring

habituation effects of prolonged pornography consumption, then, is not

in doubt.  The consequences for public health are not immediately

apparent, however.  Habituation of excitatory reactivity might be

specific to erotic entertainment and merely reduce enjoyment of the

material.  Pornographic materials might alvo start to fail as

convenient arousers for sexual activities of parLies exploiting them

in this capacity.  On the other hand,  the lessened excitatory reaction

to erotic entertainment might generalize, to some degree, to erotic

stimuli employed as arousers in actual, intimate, sexual settirlys.

But these possible consequences have not been explored systematically.

   A point to be made in this connection is that the enduring

physiological changes that result from prolonged exposure to

pornography are,  in all probability,  not modifiable by intervention

techniques of "mere talk" (that is.  by cautioning subjects to be on

guard, by making them aware of the behavioral changes that occurred,

and/or by debriefing them in the sense of telling them how they should

undo and correct influences, and how, ideally, they should behave).

Abstinence from pornography offers itself as a viable behavior-

modification strateyy for the regaining of the lost responsiveness--if

such regaining of sensitivity to pornographic materials is deemed

desirable.   However, strategies of this kind also have gone

unexplored.

   The excitatory, attitudinal, and perceptual consequences of

prolonged consumption of pornography were further explored in an

investigation by Zillmann and Bryant (1982, 1984).  In contrast to the

experiment conducted by Howard et al., both male and female subjects

were employed and exposure to pornography was strictly controlled.


Effects - 8-

subjects came to six exposure sessions in consecutive weeks.   In each

session,  they sav (a) six pornographic films, (b) three pornographic

and three innocuous films,  or (cl Six innocuous films.   The

pornographic films vere taken from a super-8 color series called

"Svedish Erotica."  They depicted heterosexual activities among

consenting adults in all conceivable manifestations.  Hovever , they

did not involve sadomasochistic acts or anything, such as bondage,

that could be construed as nonvoluntary or coercive behavior on

someone's part.

   One veek after the last exposure session, subjects' excitatory

and evaluative responses to three additional films vere ascertained.

The films featured (a) sexual activities in a suggestive fashion (as

characteristic of R-rated material).  (b) common sexual activities in

graphic detail (X-rated).  and (c> uncommon sexual activities in

graphic detail (X-rated sadomawchistic ventures and bestiality).

Similar assessments vere made tvo veeks after the exposure treatment.

Finally,  in the third veek after the treatment, the subjects

participated in a purportedly independent study said to be conducted

for the American Bar Association.  Subjects dealt vith a case in which

a female hitchhiker vas raped.  They recommended the prison term, in

years and months,  they thought vas fair and most appropriate under the

circumstances.  Eventually, subjects estimated the popularity of

sexual practices among all sexually active American adults and

reported their concerns about the impact of pornography.

   The findings regarding excitatory and evaluative changes are

summarized in Figures 2, 3, and 4.  Figure 2 shovs the habituation of


                        -_---_--__----_------
                Figures 2. 3. and 4
                        ------_---_----------

excitatory responding in terms of systolic blood pressure.   Other


                                             Effects - 9-

measures of sympathetic activity QrOVed redundant.  Predictably, the

strongest habituation occurred for stimuli that had been massively

consumed.  Also predictably, habituation generalized, to some degree,

to less explicit portrayals of common sexual activities.   The total

lack of generalization to uncommon and, hence,  relatively novel sexual
practices in pornography vas not expected, h&ever.

   Figure 3 shovs that prolonged exposure to common pornography

reduces initial reactions of repulsion.  Figure 4 shovs thai lhis loss

of repulsion does not necessarily translate into increased enjoyment.

Prolonged consumption of common fare fostered more favorable

evaluations of portrayals of uncommon sexual practices only.   Because

intense enjoyment hinges on heightened sympathetic aclivity (cf.

Zillmann. 19801,  the diminished excitatory reaction to suggestive and

common material presumably resulted in flat pleasurable reaclions. if

not in disappointment.

   The same response patterns vere observed in the second veek after

the initial exposure treatmerit.  As the findings reported by Hovard et

al.  had suggested.  the duration of excitatory habituation is indeed

substantial.  Related evaluative consequences appear to be similarly

enduring.

   The rape case, presented three veeks after the habituation

treatment,  produced remarkably strong and partly unexpected effects.


                               ---w----w-
                    Figure 5
                               ----B---s-

As can be seen from Figure 5.  prolonged consumption of common,

nonviolent pornography trivialized rape a~ a criminal offense.   After

prolonged exposure to messages that depict vomen as sexually

insatiable, as socially nondiscriminating in the sense that they seem

eager to accommodate the sexual desires of any man in the vicinity,


                                         Effects - IO-

and as hypereuphoric about any kind of sexual stimulation, men

apparently find exaggeration in the trauma of rape and consider lesser

prison terms approyriate.  This outcome was expected.  Unexpected vas

the finding that vomen become similarly lenient with rapists, although

they treat them altoyether more punitively than do men.  The Qublic-

health implications of these findings, then,  do not only concern the

evaluation of rape as a most fundamental violation of human righls,

but also the self-concept of vometl as a gender--in addition to the

perception of vomen's sexuality by men.

   Regarding the perception of sexuality in general, subjects vith

prolonged exposure to pornography, as Figure 6 shovs, overestimated

                               --~--~~-~~
                     Figure 6
                               m-me----mm

the popularity of all less common sexual practices.  This shift in the

perceived normalcy of sexual behaviors can be expected to promote

tolerance toward behaviors deemed "deviant" by others.   However,

specific evaluations that could validate such a proposal were not

collected.  The investigation entailed, instead, measures of

callousness toward women generally.  as veil as measures of subjects'

concern about the impact of pornography on society.  Prolonged

consumption of pornography vas found to promote men's callousness

toward vomen and to diminish concerns about pornography's impact itI

both genders (e.g.,  subjects came to believe that minors vould not

suffer undue emotional distress from exposure to Qornvyraphy and that

restrictions are largely inappropriate and unnecessary).

    Linz (1985; see also Linz, Donnerstein. d Penrod, 19841 conducted

investigations to clarify the mediation of men's callousness toward


women.  In a first study, male subjects were exposed to violent,

female-victimizing.  but nonpornographic films such as "Texas Chainsaw


                                      Effects - ll-


Wassacre.m  Subjects watched one movie on five consecutive days,

Immediately after the last shoving.  they participated in a rape trial.

Subjects dealt vith a case in vhich an encounter betveen strangers in

a bar eventually led to the sexual assault.

    The first- and last-day films vere counterbalanced to allov

assessments of diminishing sensitivity to violerlce.  Subjects

evaluated numerous aspects of each film after exposure.   The

comparison of these evaluations shovs that men came to report fever

emotional disturbances from the same films vhcn shovn last (i.e.,

after four similar others).   Such habituation also manifested itself

in the perception of lesser violence and diminshed degradation of


vomen.  This perceptual shift vas carried into the subsequent trial.

Men vho had consumed the series of violent films, compared to men

vithout such exposure, came to judge the victim of violent assault and

rape as having suffered less,  as having been injured less, but also as

nov being less vorthy altogether.

   A second study compared the effects of repeated consumption of

R-rated violent films,  of R-rated sexual films, and of X-rated

nonviolent pornography.  Exposure vas either to tvo or, as before, to

five films.  Film ratings were obtained immediately after exposure,

but the rape trial vas delayed to the second day after exposure to the

last film.  Additionally,  the subjects vere recruited independently

and had to come to a different building.   The case vas altered also.

It nov involved the alleged rape of a vomall ut a fraternity party.

   Concerning the perception of rape and its victims, this second

study shovs,  as did the first,  that the consumption of violent

material occasions a loss of sympathy vith and compassion for the

victims of sexual assaults (i.e.. less injury, less vorth).   The

additional finding that subjects vho had consumed R-rated sexual


Effects - 12-

movies or x-rated nonviolent pornography had similar effects vas

unexpected.  Donnerstein (1964a) conceded:  What ve consistently find

is"  that "those subjects . . .  vho have seen the R-rated films, the x-

rated films or the X-violent films, perceive less injury on the part

of the victim (p. 921."  According to Linz's studies, then, sexual

themes desensitize men toverd rape victims jusl as strongly as do

violent themes vith sexual undercurrents.   In fact,  the findings shov

that the desensitization effect vas the strongest for nonviolent

pornography (cf. Donnerstein, 1994a. p. 92). Nonviolent pornography

thus must contain information that promotes~callousness in men tovard

sexually victimized vomen.

   Weaver (1986) conducted an investigation to determine exactly

vhich stimuli vithin violent and/or erotic entertainment produce the

callousness in question.  Wale and female subjects vere exposed to

nonviolent and nonerotic scenes in a control condition, to scenes

featuring lovers enjoying sexual activities, scenes featuring

nymphomaniacal escapades, scenes featuring rapt, or scenes featuring

the terrorization of vomen vithout involving clearly sexual threats.

Subjects later participated in ostensibly independent legal research,

dealing vith a case of physical abuse of a female cohabitant and vith

a case of rape.  Exposure to the films vas of no consequence for the

damage suit.  Judgments of appropriate punishment for rape vere

greatly affected, hovever.  Compared vith the control condition,

exposure to the film depicting vomen as sexually insatiable and

socially nondiscriminating--vhich. it should be noticed. is a most

salient theme in nonviolent pornography--reduced recommended

incarceration terms most strongly (by 37%).  Rape and terror had

intermediate effects (28% reduction).  Lovers' sex, finally, had only

an insignificant effect (11% reduction).   These effects were rather


Effects - I3-

uniform across gender of respondent.  The only discrepancy occurred in

the terror condition.  In this condition. females vere highly punitive

tovard the rapist, but men vere not.

   The findings shov, first of all,  that particular sexual cues that

are entirely devoid of violence are indeed potent mediators of sexual

call ousness tovard vomen.   Second,  they shov that the terrorization of

vomen fosters such callousness in men.  Third,  they suggest that not

all nonviolent erotica are equally involved in the mediation of

callousness concerning rape and its victims.

   The research conducted by Linz (1985) thus helped to establish

evaluative components of rape callousness.   It failed in another

regard, hovever.  Exposure to the various erotic and violent materials

failed to influence punitive recommendations appreciably.   The same is

the case vith a subsequent study by Krafka (19851 involving female

instead of male respondents.  In this study,  subjects vere exposed to

a violent,  a sexually violent.  or a pornographic movie in four

consecutive days.  They participated in the fraternity party rape

trial on the fifth day.  The main finding vas that vomen, after

consuming violent fare,  thought it less likely that they themselves

could become victims of violence.  The same group also shoved little

sympathy for the rape victim in the trial.   Hovever ,  puni t ive

recommendation again did not differ as a function of exposure to the

different genres of film.

   These null results can be vieved as failures to replicate earlier

findings.  The question is:  Why did Linz and Krafka fail to obtain

positive findings?  One vay out of this is to deny failure and to

allege that earlier positive findings vere artificial.  This vas

quickly suggested by arguing that subjects detected a connection

betveen the exposure treatment and the rape trial and thought to


Effects - 14-

please or thvart the experimenter by rendering verdicts that did not
truly reflect hov they felt about the rapist.  Although this kind of
argument favors null effect by projecting inflated error variance,
some thought it to explain specific effect patterns.   Because in the

initial demonstration of diminished punitiveness tovard rapists the
same experimenter administered the exposure treatment and the trial in

the same building. vhile in the null-result studies experimenter and
building vere varied from the first to the second part of the

experiment, it vas deemed conceivable that subjects came to enlertain

notions about the connectedness in the former situation.

   To rule out the possibility that sameness of experimenter and
locale created the effects reported by Zillmann and Bryant (1982).
Bryant (1986) coriducted an investigation in vhich experimenter and
locale vere systematically varied.  Subjects vere exposed to
pornography on five consecutive days and participated in the rape

trial tvo days later.  For the first and the second part of the study,
they dealt either vith the same experimenter or vith different

experimenters, and they did so either in the same building or in

different buildings.  Compared vith a control condition in vhich
subjects consumed innocuous material instead of pornography, punitive
behavior toward the rapist vas reduced in all pornography conditions.
Sameness of experimenter and locale contributed to this effect.   But

most importantly,  incarceration recommendations in the different
experimenter, different locale condition vere significantly belov

those in the control condition.

  Bryant's findings shov lhat the trivializing effect of prolonged
consumption of pornography on rape as a criminal offense is not an

artifact of procedure.   It is robust, and its experimental

demonstration is replicable.  Linz's and Krafka's failure to obtain


Effects - IS-

differctlces in punitiveness thus must result from alternative

procedural features of their research.  At least three of them stand

out as likely candidates:  (a) In contrast to the earlier used case in

vhich rape vas brutal and never in doubt,  the cases used by Linz and

Krafka vere highly ambiguous.  The rapist enjoyed some mitigating

circumstances.  The initial issue vas, in fact, his guilt or nonguilt

dependent on vhethcr, in the subjects' perception, rape had or had not

occurred.  Such ambiguity can only increase error variance and

therefore must be considered to favor null effects.  ( b) Subjects

rated each film on numerous aspects of violence and sex, and they

determined hov demeaning each film vas to the one or the other gender.

Such assignments must have creillcd a high degree of avareness about

vhat the investigators considered important media influences, and

subjects may have guarded against these influences.   (c) Prior to

rendering a verdict,  the subjects had to respond to empathy questions

concerning rapist and victim.  Subjects vho initially may have felt

little sympathy for the victim may veil have become sympathetic after

responding to such empathy requests.  Under these procedural

circumstances,  the null results should be expected rather than come as

a surprise.

   Zillmann and Bryant (19668.  1986b. in press) conducted a series

of investigations into effects of prolonged consumption of pornography

that go beyond callousness in connection vith rape and its victims.

Specifically, they explored the implications of such consumption for

(a) perceptions and attitudes concerning sexually intimate

relationships,  especially marriage and the family as essential

societal institutions,  (b) personal happiness and sexual satisfaction,

and (cl possible shifts in erotic appetite.

The experimental paradigm vas much the same as that of the


                                           Effects - 16-

earlier vork (Zillmann & Bryant. 1982, 1984).  Both male and female

subjects consumed either nonviolent pornography or innocuous materials

in hourly sessions in six consecutive veeks.  An intermediate exposure

condition vas not employed, hovever. .Instead,  efforts vere made to

expand the generalizability of findings by representing nonstudents in

addition to students.  Nonstudents were recruited in strict adherence

to procedures of random sampling.  The vithdravel rate upon revelation

of the nature of the research vas substantial, hovever.   As a result,

the findings on nonstudents can not be considered representative of

the adult population at large.  A final change concerns the

pornographic materials: Instead of films, the latest color C sound

videocassettes vere acquired from rental stores.   But the materials

vere screened, as before,  to assure that none of the depicted

behaviors vere violent or coercive or could be construed in these


terms.

   One veek after the exposure treatment,  subjects participated in

ostensibly unrelated vork on the American family and aspects of

personal happiness.  They responded to a Value-of-Uarriage Survey and

completed the Indiana Inventory of Personal Happiness.   Shifts in

pornographic preferences vere ascertained in the second veek after the

exposure treatment.

   The impact of prolonged consumption of pornography on the

evaluation and desirability of marriage, family, and children vas

explored for its apparcllt implications for public health.   The nuclear

family is generally considered vital for societal velfare (e.g.,

Reiss, 1980).  In terms of educational efforts, the family concept

seems universally endorsed.  Its values are rarely alloved to be

challenged.  Yet the values expressed in pornography clash so

obviously vith the family concept. and they potentially undermine the


Effects - If-

traditional values that favor marriage. family, and children.

   Even a cursory look at pornography makes this very clear.
Pornographic scripts dvell on sexual engagements of parties vho have

just met, vho are in no vey attached or committed to one another, and

vho vi11 part shortly, never to meet again.  Not by accident. the
parties involved accept no curtailing rules for their social and

sexual conduct, enjoy sexual stimulation for vhat it is, and do so at

no social or emotional expense.  Sexual gratification in pornography

is not a function of emotional attachment, of kindness, of caring, and

especially not of continuance of the relationship, as such continuance
vould translate into responsibilities, curtailmerrts, and costs.
Irrespective of the merits or demerits of the projection that much
gratification is accessible from sexual activities involving

unattached others, the projection is diametrically opposed to the
values that promote enduring social aggrtgations. especially those

that are to serve reproduction.  Enduring intimate relationships

curtail personal freedoms to some degree.  Relationships that provide
economic and emotional security are based on responsibility, if not on

sacrifice.   And vhere, in such a relationship, sexuality is vital and

valued, partners tend to lay claim to exclusive sexual access.

Finally, the decision to have a child or children, vhether by a
married couple or by persons othervise aggregated, is probably the

greatest responsibility that human beings accept.   It amounts to

restricted freedom, servitude, and to enormous expenditures for a good

portion of adult life.  If sexuality is considered part and parcel of

such enduring relationships, there can be no question that it comes at

a forbidding price.  In terms of shere retreat ional sexual joy, then,
these relationships compare poorly with the short-lived ones that are

continually exhibited in pornography-- those that invariably show that


                                           Effects - la-

great pleasures can be had at next to no cost.  Prolonged consumption

of entertainment with clear messages of this kind thus must be

expected to impact profoundly the perception and evaluation of

sexuality and its social institutions-and arrangements.

   Strong perceptual and attitudinal changes vere indeed observed.

The perception of the very nature of sexuality changed.   As can be

seen from Figure 7. promiscuity in both men and vomen vas deemed more

                                we------e-
                    Figure 7
                                sm--------

natural after prolonged consumption of pornography than vithout such

consumption.  The effect vas uniform for male and female respondents

and for students and nonstudents.   Beliefs in the faithfulness of

sexual partners predictably declined vith the greater acceptance of

promiscuity.

   Various attitudinal changes are shovn in Figure 8.  Pro1 onged


                                ~~-~~~~---
                     Figure 8
                                mm-mm-----

consumption of pornography fostered greater acceptance of pre- and

extramarital sexuul relations for self and intimate partners.  Along

vith that,  it fostered acceptance of sexually nonexclusive relations

vith partners.  Prolonged consumption also led to greater acceptance

of the myth of health risks from sexual repression.  Pornography

apparently manages to convey the idea that unrestrained sexuality is

vholesome and healthy,  and that any restraint poses risks.   All these

effects are uniform for men and vomen, students and nonstudents.

Additionally, prolonged consumption of pornography was found to

counteract gender equality.  For intimate relationships, male

dominance vas favored over egalitarianism.   This effect vas also

uniform for the various groups.  Overall, however. females embraced


Effects - 19-

egalitarianism more than did males,  and students embraced it more than

did nonstudents.

   Pornography consumption had a most poverful effect on evaluations

of the desirability and viability of marriage.   Endorsement of

marriage as an essential institution dropped from 60.0% in the control

groups to 38.8% in the treatment groups.  The effect vas again

parallel for males and females, students and nonstudents.

   The most astonishing effect of prolonged pornography consumption

on family values, hovever,  concerns the desire to have children. As

can be seen from Figure 9.  exposure to pornography reduced the desire

                               -----ma---
                    Figure 9
                               ~~---~-~~~

to have children,  and it did so in a uniform fashion.   Male and female

respondents,  students and nonstudents alike, vanted fever children on

the average.  The desire to have male offspring dropped 31%.   The

desire for female offspring, being lover overall, dropped by about

tvice that margin: 610.  This reduction proved specific to gender.

Wale respondents expressed little desire for female offspring

al together.  It is the desire of females for offspring of their ovn

kind that,  after consumption of pornography, shrank to one third of

its normal strength (see right-hand side of the graph).

  These findings suggest that prolonged consumption of pornography,

presumably because it continually projects lhe attainment of sexual

joy vithout acceptance of social confinements and obligations, indeed

makes having children and raising a family appear an unnecessary

inconvenience.  But such reasoning explains only the overall reduction

in reproductive desire.  It leaves unexplained the discrimination

against female offspring by vomen.  Exactly vhat. vithin pornography,

inspires this ovn-gender discrimination remains unclear.


                                     Effects - 20-

   The Indiana Inventory of Personal Happiness generated clear-cut

findings.  None of the items unrelated to sexuality shoved differences

in happiness or satisfaction.   In stark contrast, all items pertaining

                              ~---~-~~-~~
                    Figure 10
                              w--mm----m-

to sex vere impacted.  Prolonged consumption of pornography reduced
sexual satisfaction and sex-related personal happiness markedly, and

it did so uniformly.  The separation of elements of sexual

satisfaction and happiness into an affective component (i.e. loving,

caring),  on the one hand,  and into sexual activities as such, on the

other, made it clear that satisfaction vith sexual specifics--the

looks of intimate partners,  their sexual performance, and their

villingness to engage in novel sexual activities--had suffered the

most.

   The findings point to a paradox.  Presumably. pornography is

initially consumed in hopes of increasing sexual satisfaction.   But

consumers eventually compare appearance and performance of

pornographic models vith that of their intimate partners, and this

comparison rarely favors their intimate partners.   The result is the

realization that,  in sexual matters,  others may be more gratified.

Dissatisfaction vith intimate partners and perhaps vith sex at large

seems the inevitable result.

   The final study in this series concerned shifting preferences for

pornography.  Tvo veeks after the exposure treatment, subjects

returned once more to..;the laboratory.  An unavoidable delay vas

announced, and they vere ushered into the office of a research

assistant that vas equipped vith a monitor, a cassette player, and


numerous cassettes.  They vere encouraged to vatch cassctlcs from his

collection vhile vaiting.   The cassettes contained movies that were


Effects - 21-

G- and R-rated.   Hovever,  some cassettes vere X-rated and featured

common nonviolent pornography, bondage, sadomasochism. or bestiality,

The subjects' consumption of the various cassettes vas unobtrusively

monitored.

   As Figure 11 shovs.  subjects vith prolonged exposure to common

pornography expressed virtually no interest in this common form of

-------s-m-
Figure 11
~~~~-~-~-~-

pornography.  The males moved almost exclusively into pornography

depicting less common sexual practices.   Females shoved the same

preference, but to a markedly lesser degree.

   The findings demonstrate that consumers of pornography that

depicts the more common forms of sexuality are not likely to limit

themselves to these forms vhen given the opportunity to consume

material featuring less common sexual practices, including

sadomasochistic and violent sexual behaviors.   This shift in

preference can be expected on the basis of satisfied curiosity about

common sexuality as vell as on the basis of excitatory habituation to

frequently consumed fare.  Pornography featuring the uncommon, in

contrast,  is still met vith curiosity,  and probably more importantly.

it is still capable of producing sexual excitedness.  Surely, some

erotica connoisseurs vi11 be nostalgic about so-called mild stimuli.

But the research projects that, as a rule, consumers vi11 advance to

extreme material before, perhaps,  reaching dead end and returning to

vhatever erotica in their recollection fostered the most gratifying

sensations.  With regard to young consumers,  it can only be speculated

at this point that they are likely to be more strongly motivated by

curiosity than by excitatory habituation.   This does not detract from

the fact, hovever,  that they are also inclined to go beyond the common


                                            Effects - 22-

and seek exposure to the less common sexual expressions, including

aberrations--violent ones, in particular.  For older consumers, a

preference shift tovard violent erotica, specifically, is to be

expected, because vitnesr;cd violence is sympathetically arousing and,

hence, vell suited to supplement fading excitement (oving to

habituation) vith pure erotica (cf. Zillmann, 1986).

   Bryant (19851 conducted an investigation to shov that prolonged

consumption of common pornography influences moral judgment concerning

sexual behaviors specifically.  Male and female subjects consumed

pornography or innocuous material in one-hour sessions in five

consecutive days.  Tvo days later they participated in an ostensibly

unrelated study in vhich they evaluated the moral indefensibility of

numerous nonsexual and sexual improprieties and transgressions.

Subjects indicated the degree to which they thought a particular

social behavior vas morally right or vrong.

   Exposure to pornography proved to be vithout consequence for the

moral judgment of nonsexual behaviors (e.g., drunken driving. shop

lifting).   In contrast,  it greatly influenced the judgment of

improprieties in the sexual realm (e.g.,  self-advancement through

sexual favors,  cover-up of homosexual reltilions to a heterosexual

lover).  Specifically,  it consistently relaxed the moral verdict on

behaviors that vere deemed dishonest or immoral by those vithout the

exposure in question.

   The investigation connects vith the earlier vork on the perceived

popularity of sexual practices as vell as vith that on the groving

acceptance of sexual freedoms in socially confined situations, such as

marriage.  Pornography's impact on the perception of sexual

behaviors-- their overestimation, in particular--apparently grants

these behaviors greater normalcy and, therefore, greater moral


                                             Effects - 23-

legitimacy.  The observation that the morality manifest in pornography

finds expression in the moral judgment of sexual conduct generally is

consistent vith such an interpretation.

   Finally.  Check (1985b) conducted-u most informative study in

connection vith the Fraser Committee on Pornography and Prostitution

in Canada.  Unlike the studies by Linz (1985) and Krafka (1985) in

vhich pornography vas secondary to R-rated horror films, Check's

investigation focuses on pornography proper and applies the violent-

nonviolent distinction vithin pornography proper.

   Three content classes vere distinguished: nonviolent erotica,

nonviolent dehumanizing pornography, and sexually violent pornography.

Nonviolent erotica portrayed sexual behaviors free of "objectionable

elements."  As part of the material vas taken from sex-education and

sex therapy programs,  the depicted behavior could be deemed ideal, if

not idealized.  Nonviolent, dehumanizing pornography entailed scenes

such as a man sitting atop a voman, masturbating, and ejaculating into

her face.  Sexually violent pornography, finally, featured events such

as the penetration of a voman vith an oversize plastic penis vhile she

vas strapped to a table.

   Because the labels of these forms of pornography have created

confusion and misunderstandings already (e.g., Check, 1985a; Zillmann

L Bryant, in press),  clarification seems in order.  The qualifier

"dehumanizing" suggests a class of erotic stimuli somevhere betveen
                  . .
pornography and violent pornography.  It also inplies that most

pornography is rwt dehumanizing.   In fact,  this has been assumed to be

the case in the interpretation of Check's findings.   Yet,  commonly

available pornography abounds vith events such as masturbation into

the face--vhich is usually folloved by the female's pleasureful

ingestion of sperm.  Systematic content analysis leaves no doubt about


                                            Effects - 24-

it (Palys. 1984).  some parties might vcll find behavior of this kind

demeaning to someone.  Others might object to the depiction of rear-

entry coi tion.   Where should one drav the line?  On the one hand,


then,  the judgment of vhat is dehumanizing to vhom and vhat is not is

far too value-laden to be vorkable.  On the other hand, it appears

that vhat is referred to as dehumanizing pornography is nothing other

than g_oBw~g_n pornography.  It is the class referred to as nonviolent

erotica that is uncharacteristic,  as it is devoid of so-called

entertainment value.   We thus shall substitute labels and refer to

nonviolent erotica as good-sex or ideal pornography and to nonviolent,

dehumanizing pornography as common pornography.  We shall maintain the

label violent pornography, hovever,  although it is debatable vhether

consented-to sadomasochistic scenarios-- such as the one specified--

qualify as violent or even coercive.

   In Check's investigation.  male students and nonstudents (a

nonrepresentative sample similar to that in the study by Zillmann and

Bryant,  in press) came to three exposure sessions that vere scheduled

vithin one veek or two veeks.  Subjects consumed a 30-minute tape of

one of the three kinds of pornography each session.  On average four

to five days later.  they participated in a test session in vhich the

impact vas ascertained.  A control group participated in this test

session only.  The effects of interest vere sexually aggressive

attitudes,  the inclination to coerce and force vomen into unvanted

sexual acts,  and the proclivity for rape.  The measures vere mainly

those developed by Walamuth (1981).

   Prolonged exposure to pornography influenced both the reported

likelihood of coercing vomen into unvanted sexual acts and, more

importantly,  the reported likelihood of committing rape.   As can be

seen from Figure 12,  the likelihood of forced sexual acts increased


Effects - 25-

significantly after prolonged consumption of common pornography.

Increases after consumption of ideal pornography and violent

pornography are apparent, but vere not reliable.  The effect pattern


                         --------------.----
               Figures 12 and 13
                         ------------------s

for rape proclivity proved to be similar, yet different.   Both common

and violent pornography increased the reported likelihood of

committing rape significantly and to the same degree.  The apparent

increase from consumption of ideal pornography again failed to be

reliable.

   The investigation by Check has obvious implications for public

health.   It shovs that, on the vhole, common nonviolent pornography
                                          ------ ----------

has the strongest influences on men's villingness to force intimate

partners into forms of sexuality that are not necessarily to their

partners' liking _e_n_d on the propensity for forcing sexual access

altogether.  Violent pornography apparently has the same pover to

increase rape proclivity,  but its influence on the coercion of

specific sexual acts is limited, if not negligible.  Sex-idealizing

pornography is the only form vithout clear-cut effects on the

readiness for sexual coercion and on rape proclivity.   But even here

caution is indicated,  because the effect is consistently intermediate

and clearly in the same direction as that from the other forms of

pornography.  Although the effect is not reliably above the control

condition,  it is never reliably belov the effect of these other forms

either.

   Check's investigation provided further useful information.

Subjects vere classified in terms of psychoticism (Eysenck & Eysenck,

1976).  Persons high on psychoticism are knovn to be rather solitary

and hostile,  to lack empathy and to disregard danger.  They also are


                                      Effects - 26-

known to prefer impersonal, noncaring sex (Eysenck, 1976).  Subjects

scoring comparatively high on the psychoticism scale (but not high

enough to meet clinical criteria) vere those greatly influenced by

common nonviolent and violent pornography.  In contrast, subjects

scoring lov on this scale were only negligibly affected.   This effect

pattern is shovn in Figure 13.

   A final observation of interest concerns heavy consumers of

pornography.  The findings reported by Check shov that continued

consumption of common pornography by those already in the habit of

consuming such material fosters significant increases in rape

proclivity.  The same exposure vas vithout appreciable impact for

persons not taking a strong interest in erotica.  Considering the

propensity for rape, then,  those vho take a keen interest in erotica

seem to constitute the population at risk of becoming coercive and

violent in their sexuality.

SEs!!_arY ,of Effectz

   The experimentally demonstrated effects of prolonged consumption

of pornography can be summarized as follovs:

   (a) Excitatory responses to pornography,  both specifically sexual

and general ones, diminish vith prolonged consumption.  Some degree of

recovery occurs spontaneously.   It remains unclear, hovever, vhich

conditions might facilitate or hamper such recovery.

   (b) Repulsion evoked by common pornography diminishes and is lost

vith prolonged consumption.

   (c) Prolonged consumption of common pornography does not lead to

increased enjoyment of the frequently consumed material.  Only less

common forms of pornography that depict less common forms of sexuality

tend to elevate enjoyment.

   (d) Prolonged consumption of common pornography fosters a


Effects - 27-

preference for pornography featuring less common forms of sexuality,

including forms that entail some degree of pseudoviolence or violence.

   (e) Prolonged consumption of common pornography distorts

perceptions of sexuality.  Specifically,  it fosters presumptions of

popularity for all less common sexual practices and of health risks

from sexual hypoactivity.

   (f) Prolonged consumption of common pornography promotes

increased acceptance of pre- and extramarital sexuality.  Although it

increases distrust among intimates, the violation of sexual

exclusivity is more readily tolerated.   Moral condemnation of sexual

improprieties diminishes altogether.

   (g) Prolonged consumption of common pornography spavns doubts

about the value of marriage as an essential societal institution and

about its future viability.

   (h) Prolonged consumption of common pornography leads to

diminished desire for progeny.  The strongest effect of this kind

concerns the desire of females for female offspring.

   (i) Prolonged consumption of common pornography breeds discontent

vith the physical appearance and the sexual performance of intimate

partners.  To a lesser degree,  it breeds discontent vith these

partners*  affectionate behavior.

   Cj) Prolonged exposure to nonviolent and violent pornography

promotes insensitivity tovard victims of sexual violence.

   (k) Prolonged consumption of common pornography trivializes rape

as a criminal offense.

   (1) Prolonged consumption of nonviolent and violent pornography,

especially of the former, promotes men's propensity for forcing

particular sexual acts on reluctant female partners.

   (ml Prolonged consumption of nonviolent and violent pornography


                                     Effects - 28-

increases men's propensity for committing rape.  This effect is

pronounced for normal men manifesting some degree of psychoticism; it

is negligible for men vith minimal psychotic tendencies.

   (n) Habitual consumers of common pornography, in contrast to

occasional consumers,  are at risk of becoming sexually callous and

violent.


                                             Effects - 29-

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Bryant, J,  (1985. September).  Effects -of pornographyi &search
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----,I Effects of multiple Dpturalis&& _expgg;rgs gq_d &&igfiQq _o_n
          _------ -- ----- --

female vievers.
  ------  ------a  Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of

Wisconsin, Uadison.

Lanning. K.   (1984).  Child pornography and pedophilia.   In D. Scott

(Ed.), Symposium 2~ !ng_dig violengg s_nd pornoqra&yL Proceedings _a~9
                                                            --------

resource book (pp. 184-213).
  ---_---- ----            Toronto: Wedia Action Group.

Linz, D.   (1985).  Sexual yi_ol_eD_c_e in tb,e media: E&fectz _~p m&g
                     ------

vievers and implications &_r xgi&y.
  ___---- --- -- ---------          Unpublished doctoral
dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Wadison.

Linz. D.,  Donnerstein, E.. h Penrod, S.   (1984).  The effects of

multiple exposures to filmed violence against vomen.  Js?urn,al ,of

CpBmygicatipq. 34(3). 130-147.

Walamuth. N. U.   (19811.  Rape fantasies as a function of repeated

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  33-44.

Walamuth, N. W.  (1984).  Aggression against vomen: Cultural and

  individual causes.   In N.  W. Malamuth & E. Donnerstein (Eds.).

Pornography and sexual qggression (pp. 19-52).   Orlando. PI.:
  ---a- -- a -we -e--m     --s-m--

Academic Press.


Effects - 31-

Harm, J..  Berkovitz. L.. Sidman. J.. Starr, S., 6. West, S.  (1974).

Satiation of the transient stimulating effect of erotic films.

Journal of Personality _aD_d S_o_ci_el EEychqlpgy. 30, 729-735.
  ------- -- ---------e

Warm, J.. Sidman, J., 6 Starr, S.   (1971).  Effects of erotic films on

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@mmimsi_o_n g_n Obscenjty ,aDg EgrDagrrphy (Vol. 8, pp. 170-254).

Washington. DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Palys, T. S.  (1984, June). _ _______ ___- ___ __ --_____
                    A content analysis of sexually _e_xplicit
                                                                      _-_--

videos in British Columbia (Working papers on pornography and
------ -- ------- --------

prostitution, Research Report No. 15).  Ottava, Canada: Department

of Justice.

Reifler, C. B., Hovard. J.. Lipton, M. A., Liptzin, M. B., &

Widmann, D. E.  0971).  Pornography: An experimental study of

effects. _------- ----__ --
        American Journal of Psychiatry, 118, 575-582.
                                   -- ------

Reiss, I. L.   (1980).  _F_agjly _syz&_e_m_s i_n &nggi_c_a (3rd ed.).   Nev York:

Bolt, Rinehart & Winston.

Sapolsky. B.   (1984).   Arousal, affect,  and the aggression-moderating

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Pornography _a_n_d sexual aggression (pp. 85-113).   Orlando, FL:
  ----- -- -       ------ - -------

Academic Press.

Weaver, J. B.  (1986). --__--- __ -_--_ --- _- __---_ __a-we__
                Effects of portrayals of female sexuality n_ng

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  w------- - ----- ----- -- --- --a---        ----     ----a

Dissertation research conducted at the University of Kentucky

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Some theoretical and empirical issues concerning the processing of


Effects - 32-

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                                                               - -----

(vol. 2, pp. 161-197).   Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Zi llmann. D.   (1980).  Anatomy of suspense.   In P. H. Tannenbaum

(Ed.), T_h_e gc&grrBiDBeDt f~D_c&i,oDs _of &&y&&D (pp. 133-1631.

Billsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

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A sourcebook (pp. 215-240). Nev York: Guilford Press.
  - _a--------

Zillmann. D.   (1984).  connectin!s b_eLl?_e!z xl! am nssressinE*

Billsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Zillmann. D.   (1986).   Coition as emotion.  In D. Byrne & K. Kelley

(Eds.1 a ___--___---
      Alternative gpp,r_o_ag_hhg t,o th_e gtu_dy _of sgxu_a& &hnyior (pp.

173-1991.   Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Zillmann, D., & Bryant, J.   (1982).  Pornography,  sexual callousness,

and the trivialization of rape.  Jougg_al _of &-qynicatiqn, 12(4),

  10-21.

Zillmann. D.. & Bryant, J.   (19841.  Effects of massive exposure to

pornography.  In N. U. Walamuth 61 E. Donnerstein (Eds.), Egg_n_ogrrpby

and sexual sggrsssip_n (pp. 115-138).   Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
  --- -em---

Zillmann, D., & Bryant, J.  (1986a). ---___- --
                          Effects of pngsggrrphy

consumption on family yB&uss.
  ---a-- SW-0 -a  -me--        Manuscript submitted for publication.

Zillmann, D., & Bryant, J.   (1986b).  E9rn99IaPhYLs u!E!,a_ct P!? s_em!_aL

satisfaction.
  ---e-------m   Manuscript submitted for publication.

Zillmann, D., C Bryan.f, J.  (in press).  Shifting preferences in

pornography consumption.   Communication Research.
                               ^------------ se------


Effects - 33-

Figure Captions

Figure 1.   Habituation of sexual arousal.
-- --- -                             From Hovard, Reifler, and

Liptzin, 1971.

Figure 2.
-- --- -   Habituation of sympathetic-excitation.   From Zillmann and

Bryant, 1984.

Figure 2.
-- ---    Diminution of repulsion.  From Zillmann and Bryant, 1984.

Figure 4.
-- -me -   Enjoyment changes.  From Zillmann and Bryant, 1984.

Figure 5.
-- --- -   Incarceration recommendations for rape.   From Zillmann and

Bryant, 1982.

pg,e 5.

Figure 7.
-- --a -

1986a.

Figure 8.
-- --- -

Eigur_e s*

ELqur_e ro

1986b.

.

Perceptual consequences.  From Zillmann and Bryant, 1982.

Further perceptual consequences.  From Zillmann and Bryant,



Attitudinal consequences.  From Zillmann and Bryant, 1986a.

Reproductive desire.  From Zillmann and Bryant, 1986a.

Effects on sexual satisfaction.  From Zillmann and Bryant,

Figure 11.
me me- -   Changing erotic preferences.  From Zillmann and Bryant, in

press.

Ei9_ur_e 12.  Reported proclivity for coercion of sexual acts on

uncooperative partners (circles) and for rape (squares).  Data points

not sharing a letter differ significantly in comparisons along

gradients.   From Check, 1985b.

EL9x-e 12.  Reported rape proclivity as a function of psychoticism.

Data points not sharing a letter differ significantly in comparisons

along gradients.   From Check, 1985b.


5
2 20

u
r=
5
E
a

15 I
L

III II I II 11
12  34  5  6  7  8910

Exposure (2 min blocks)

No Habituation

8 week5 After

Immediately tier
Habituation

Fig.1


  60



z 40
g
`2
Y
  20





   0

Fig.4


a Intermediate
m Massive

0
       Men       Women

(Responses 3 Weeks After Habituation Treatment)

                                  F

Expmure to Pornography
a None
ml ntermediate
m Massive

oral      Anal    Group     S&M    Bestiality

            Sexual Practice
  (Responses 3 Weeks After Habituation Treatment)

~ig.6


W Control

   Perceptual Changes
(One week after exposure treatment)

Fig. J

    a Control

75 t  m Exposure

   Attitudinal Changes
(One week after exposure treatment)

Fig. 8


cbddrra   BOYS    Girls
      by
    Men k Women
     Combined

Girls
by
Men

Girls
by
Women

Fig. 9

t;;;l Control

I       m Exposure

  Impact on Self-Assessment
(One week after exposure treatment)

Fig.10


Condition

I Males
m Females

Control Massive
   Exposure
     to Common
    Pornography

Neutral Common Uncommon Neutral Common Uncommon
Stimuli    Pomw-why    Stimuli   Pomograpb

(Consumption 2 weeks after exposure treatment)

Fig.11

            b

                 rb
       ab p Forced 5cx Acts


                Rapt
            b     b

       ab

I 1     I     I     I
NOB-W   ideal Common Vmlcnr

b

Ideal Common Violmc

Pornography

Prychodcirm

Fig. 12                       Fig.13


Prepared for the Surqeon General's Workshop on
Pornoqraphy and Public Health, June 22-24, 1986,
        Arlinqton, Virqinia.

DO SEXUALLY VIOLENT MEDIA INDIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE

TO ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR?

By Neil M. Malamuth

University of California, Los Angeles

Mailing Address:  Neil M. Malamuth
            Communication Studies
           232 Royce Hall
                UCLA
              L.A.,  CA 90024

Running Head:  Sexually Violent Media


DO SEXUALLY VIOLENT MEDIA INDIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE TO
       ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR?'

Introduction:  The Indirect Effects Perspective

    The research described below has focused on violent

sexual media, particularly rape. 2  It demonstrates the

importance of analyzing media stimuli by the "messages" or

meanings they convey.  Meaning is, of course, a function of

both the message and the receiver's interpretations of it.

   The message given the most attention here involved the

consequences of sexual aggression.  A series of experiments

found that rape depictions that showed the victim ultimately

deriving physical pleasure from her experience fostered

attitudes more condoning of aggression against women.  Rape

depictions that portrayed the victim abhorring the experience,

on the other hand, were less likely to have such effects.

   According to these findings, a PG-rated film showing rape

in a positive light could be more socially detrimental than an

X-rated film not showing sexual violence.  The degree of

sexual explicitness, according to this approach, is less

relevant than the "message" behind the depiction of sexual

aggression. 3

Besides discriminating among differing "messages" in

studying media stimuli, the research presented differentiates


Sexually Violent Media 2

among media consumers.  No influence works in a vacuum and

media influences are viewed as combining and interacting with

a variety of other influences -- sometimes counteracting them,

sometimes reinforcing them and at other times not having much

of any effect.

   The current strong interest in exploring a possible
relationship between pornography and crime has led to a search
for direct links between media exposure and deviant behavior.
People have sought an immediate causal connection between

media action and audience imitation.  For example, a civil

suit brought against NBC alleged that a rape portrayal in a

television movie, Born Innocent, resulted in an imitation rape

by some juvenile viewers.   However,  because of the ethical

constraints against researchers' creating conditions that
might increase serious aggression (e.g., exposing individuals
to large doses of violent pornography and seeing if some

commit rapes), experimentation to study direct effects can

only be used to a very limited extent.

   Beyond the dramatic popular notion of violent pornography
spurring a minority of sexual deviants and "weirdos" to

criminal acts, lies the far greyer, more complex, but also

potentially far more pervasive area of indirect effects.   The

evidence in this paper suggests the prospect of a wide range
of media affecting the general population in a variety of

different ways.  It looks at how an aggregate of media sexual

violence could affect a person's attitudes, which are

concurrently being shaped by family, peers, other media


Sexually Violent Media 3

messages and a host of other influences.  Such attitudes might

contribute to stranger and date rape, a not-acted-upon desire

to be sexually aggressive, sanctioning the sexual aggression

of others, or sexist and discriminatory acts.   Even when not

translated into violent behavior, such effects have wide

social implications.

Figure 1

   Elsewhere (Malamuth & Briere, in press), we described an

indirect effects model of the hypothesized development of

aggressive behavior against women (see Figure 1).  To briefly

summarize this model,  individual conditions and the broader

social climate are postulated as the originating influences on

the individual.  The mass media is considered one of the many

social forces that may, in interaction with a variety of other

cultural and individual factors, affect the development of

intermediate attributes such as attitudes, arousal patterns,

motivations, emotions, and personality characteristics.   These

intermediate variables, in complex interactions with each

other and with situational circumstances such as alcohol or

acute arousal, may precipitate behaviors ranging from passive

support to actual aggression. 4  In addition to contributing to

attitude formation, the mass media may increase the recall or

Hprime" antisocial thoughts, feelings, and behavioral urges

that were previously formed (Berkowitz, 1984).


Sexually Violent Media 4

   For some individuals antisocial acts may take the form of

violence that comes to the attention of the law, such as

"stranger" rape or wife-battering.  For others, these same

underlying factors may contribute to responses that are not
typically prosecuted, but instead are manifested as aggression
in dating situations or in laboratory settings, a reported

desire to commit acts of sexual violence, discrimination

against women, and/or expressed support for the sexual

aggression of others.  We are not lumping illegal violence

together with all other antisocial behaviors but we are
suggesting that all these behaviors may share some underlying

causes, including media infuences.

   This model indicates possible avenues by which cultural

forces such as the media may change a person's intermediate

responses and how such changes may ultimately affect his own

aggressive behavior under some circumstances.  This model also

suggests that attitudinal changes of some people may affect

the aggressive behavior of others.  If a person becomes more

tolerant of violence against women as a result of media

exposure or other causal factors, for example, he may change

his reactions to the sexual aggression of others even if his

own aggressive behavior is not altered.

   This general model does not suppose a linear sequence of

events, but a reciprocating system of mutually influencing

factors -- as indicated by the upward arrows in Figure 1.   For

example, mass media portrayals of sexual violence may

contribute to attitudes and perceptions which, in combination


Sexually Violent Media 5

with personality characteristics derived from aversive

childhood experiences, may result in sexual aggression on a

"date."  This aggression, especially if unpunished, might
produce a further alteration in attitudes and perceptions

(including of self),  that could attract the individual to a

peer network supportive of sexual aggression.  These peers,

themselves a product of "originating" and "intermediate"

variables, might then provide greater support and approval for

further sexual aggression.

   We have suggested two possible routes culminating in

sexual aggression.  First, an individual may "progress"

through the stages hypothesized to produce sexual violence.

Second, mass media stimuli and other cultural influences may

impact on individuals not sexually violent themselves, but who

nevertheless, because of their negative attitudes toward
women, support and reinforce sexual violence in others.   Such

support may manifest itself by blaming a rape victim,
supporting another man's aggression in a "locker room"

conversation, or even deciding guilt as a jury member in a

rape trial.  The idea of such thought patterns encouraging

sexual violence is reminiscent of the "cultural climate"

concept suggested by Brownmiller (1975).  It argues that media

infuences that increase cultural supports for sexual

aggression need not produce immediate violence to have

seriously harmful effects.  Of course,  the indirect model need

not be restricted to sexual aggression but may apply to

nonsexual aggression as well.  For example, media depictions


Sexually Violent Media 6

of violent vigilantes as heroes (e.g., the Death Wish series
of movies) may contribute to a cultural climate condoning

similar behavior in "real world" settings.

   The indirect effects model provides the basis for this
paper's twin hypotheses that 1) exposure to some sexually
violent media may contribute to the development of attitudes
that condone aggression against women and that 2) such

attitudes, in combination with other influences and

circumstances, may lead to sexually violent acts.

Hypothesized Processes Leadinq to Attitude Chanqes

   Obviously,  most viewers of media sexual violence
distinguish between fantasy and reality and don't necessarily
perceive the media as a model for behavior.  However,  there is

considerable research indicating that even when people
recognize an event as fictional, for some it can nonetheless
affect their perceptions of reality and their attitudes.   Such

media influences may be more likely when the sexual violence
is presented in a positive light or when the audience is
sexually aroused by it.

Figure 2

  Figure 2 summarizes several possible processes by which
media sexual violence might lead to attitudes that are more

accepting of violence against women.  I adapted these from

Bandura's (1977, 1986) description of ways by which normally


Sexually Violent Media 7

censured acts become more intellectually and emotionally

acceptable.  They include:

   (1) Labeling sexual violence more as a sexual rather

        than a violent act.

(2) Adding to perceptions that sexual aggression is

   normative and culturally acceptable.
(3) Altering perceptions of the consequences of sexual

   aggression.  In particular, minimizing the
  seriousness of the consequences to the victim and
  reinforcing the myth that victims derive pleasure

   from sexual assaults.

(4) Changing attributions of responsibility to place

   more blame on the victim.

(5) Elevating the positive value of sexual aggression by
  associating it with sexual pleasure and a sense of

   conquest.

(6) Reducing negative emotional reactions to sexually

   aggressive acts.

Some of the studies discussed later measure these

cognitive and emotional processes.

The Anatomy of Media Sexual Violence

   A comparison of sexual versus non-sexual media violence

helps to isolate the characteristics of sexually violent

depictions. Of course, males act against females in the vast
majority of sexually aggressive depictions (e.g., Smith,

1976a, b), whereas the victim is usually male in non-sexual


Sexually Violent Media 8

portrayals of violence (Gerbner, 1972).  Two other important
differences distinguish sexual and non-sexual violence.

First, victims of non-sexual aggression are usually shown as
outraged by their experience and intent on avoiding

victimization.  They, and at times the perpetrators of the

aggression,  suffer from the violence.  However,- when sexual

violence is portrayed, there is frequently the suggestion
that, despite initial resistance, the victim secretly desired
the abusive treatment and eventually derived pleasure from it.
This provides a built-in justification for aggression that
would otherwise be considered unjustifiable.   Sexual violence
is often presented without negative consequences for either
the victim or the perpetrator.  For example, less than 3% of

the rapists in "adult" books surveyed by Smith (1976a, 1976b)
suffered negative consequences and their victims were seldom
shown to have regrets about having been raped.  Similarly, in
a recent content analysis of videos, Palys (1986) found that
the majority of sexual aggressors were portrayed in a positive
fashion and only seldom did their violence result in negative

consequences.

   The second distinction between sexual and non-sexual

violence involves the element of sexual arousal.   Such arousal
in response to sexually violent depictions might result in
subliminal conditioning and cognitive changes in the consumer
by associating physical pleasure with violence.  Therefore,
even sexual aggression depicted negatively may have harmful
effects because of the sexual arousal induced by the


Sexually Violent Media 9

explicitness of the depiction.  For example, a person who

views a sexually violent scene might feel that the violence is

immoral but may nonetheless be sexually aroused by it.   Such

arousal might motivate him to rationalize the aggression or to

minimize its seriousness or its consequences.

   Given these issues, particular concern about sexual

aggression in the media is not only based on the frequency of

sexual as compared to non-sexual violent portrayals.  Instead,

the "positive" manner in which sexual violence is portrayed

and its potential to positively link or reinforce sex and

violence justifies special concern.

   The research described below provides some support for

the indirect effects model's two interrelated hypotheses that

exposure to media depictions can help form attitudes

supportive of real-life sexual aggression and that such

attitudes can in turn contribute to actual aggression against


women.

From Media Exposure to Antisocial Attitudes

    SURVEY DATA:  Several studies assessed the correlation

between the degree of men's exposure to sexually explicit

media and their attitudes supportive of violence against


women.  Such correlational studies can only reveal

associations between the amount of media people reported

consuming and their attitudes.  They cannot indicate whether

these media were responsible for their attitudes.

Unfortunately, these studies didn't distinguish between


Sexually Violent Media 10

sexually violent and sexually non-violent media.  Had they
focused exclusively on sexually violent media rather than

pornography in general, it's likely that the links to
attitudes condoning aggression would have emerged as strongly,

if not stronger.

   In most studies, higher levels of reported exposure to
sexually explicit media correlated with higher levels of
attitudes supportive of violence against women.  For example,

in a sample of college men, Malamuth and Check (1985) found
that higher readership of sexually explicit magazines was
correlated with more beliefs that women enjoy forced sex.

Similarly, Check (1984) found that the more exposure to
pornography a diverse sample of Canadian men had, the higher
their acceptance of rape myths, violence against women, and

general sexual callousness.  Briere, Corne,  Runtz and Malamuth

(1984) reported similar correlations in a sample of college

males.  On the other hand, the failure to find a statistically
significant correlation in another study, led Malamuth (in
progress) to examine other interesting correlations.

   That study asked subjects to indicate how much
information about sexuality they obtained in their childhood
from various sources, such as peers, parents, church,

educational media, educational courses, sexually explicit

media,  and doctors.  Pornography emerged as the second most
important source of information, second only to peers.
Subjects who reported obtaining more information from
pornography also held attitudes more supportive of violence


Sexually Violent Media 11

against women.  Such a correlation was not found with the

other sources of information about sexuality.   Information

from some, such as educational courses, actually correlated
with lower levels of attitudes supportive of violence against


women.  In fact, pornography's link to antisocial attitudes
tended to be stronger when compared to other sources of sexual

information than when measured alone.

   Focusing only on quantity of exposure, therefore, may be

an oversimplified approach.  Pornography's degree of influence
on a person may largely depend on how that exposure interacts

with other influences.  People raised with little education
about sexuality or in families where sex was treated as

"taboo," may be more susceptible to the influences of
pornography than those reared with considerable education
about sex (Malamuth, 1978; Malamuth & Billings, 1985). It

makes sense that those with other sources of sex information

can more accurately assess the myths about women and sexuality

portrayed in some pornography.  However,  those without much

sex education might be more apt to use pornography as a

primary source of information.

    EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH:  A growing body of experimental
research complements the survey data linking media exposure to

attitudes.  The studies described below have shown connections

between sexually violent media and attitudes supportive of
sexual aggression, but have not revealed similar relations

with equally explicit , non-violent stimuli which portrayed


Sexually Violent Media 12

both sexes in equal power roles.  Here, it is possible to

consider a causal link between exposure and attitudes because

other factors have been controlled.  Still, caution must be

exercised in generalizing findings from controlled situations

to naturally occurring settings.

   Research has examined the impact of "positive" vs.

"negative" rape portrayals in two ways.  One series of studies

assessed how either victim arousal or abhorrence at the end of

a rape depiction changed the way in which the assault was
perceived when the rape itself remained identical in the two

versions.  When the rape victim became aroused, male subjects

labeled the assault more as a sexual act.  They also perceived

greater justification for it, reported a greater likelihood

that they and other men would commit such an act, and saw the

victim as more responsible for what had occurred (Donnerstein,

1984; Rapaport, 1984).  These effects have been particularly

pronounced for more sexually aggressive men.

   These experiments show that changing the outcome of a

rape affects the way it is perceived.  They don't show that

these perceptions carry over to rape in general.   In another

series of studies, the carry-over effects of perceptions of

and attitudes toward rape were directly examined.   These

studies assessed whether rapes depicting victim arousal

changed subjects perceptions of other rapes, altered beliefs

about women's reactions to sexual assaults and increased the

acceptance of violence against women.


Sexually Violent Media 13

   In three experiments, male subjects were either exposed

to depictions of mutually consenting sex, rape in which the

female victim eventually became aroused, or rape abhorred by

the victim.  Afterwards,  the subjects were shown a rape

depiction and asked about their perceptions of the act and the

victim.  In two of the studies,  those subjects exposed to the

"positive" rape portrayal perceived the second rape as less

negative than those first exposed to the other depictions

(Malamuth, et al.,  1980; Malamuth & Check, 1980).   One of

these studies also found that the rape depicting victim

arousal led men to perceive rape as a more normative act

(Malamuth & Check, 1980).  Subjects in the third experiment

were asked how women in general would react to being

victimized by sexual violence (Malamuth & Check, 1985a).

Those exposed to a "positive" rape portrayal believed that a

higher percentage of women would derive pleasure from being

sexually assaulted.  This effect of the portrayal was

particularly apparent in men with higher inclinations to

aggress against women.

   A fourth experiment conducted outside the laboratory

yielded similar results (Malamuth & Check, 1981).   Male and

female undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of two

exposure conditions.  Participants in the experimental

condition were given free tickets to view feature-length films

on two different evenings that included portrayals of women as

victims of aggression in sexual and non-sexual scenes.   These

films suggested that the aggression was justified and/or bad


Sexually Violent Media 14

"positive"  consequences.  Subjects in the control condition

were given tickets to other films on the same evenings which

did not contain any sexual violence.  The movies shown in both

exposure conditions have been aired with some editing on

national television.  Subjects viewed these films with movie-

goers who purchased tickets and were not part of the research.

Classmates of the recruited subjects who didn't see the films

were also studied as an "untreated" control group.   Several

days after the films were viewed, a "Sexual Attitude Survey"

was administered to the entire classes.  (Subjects were not

aware of the relationship between this survey -- purportedly

administered by a polling agency -- and the earlier movies

some students had seen as part of an ostensibly unrelated

study.)

   Subject responses were assessed by scales developed by

Burt (1980).  They included Acceptance of Interpersonal

Violence (AN) against women (e.g., acceptance of sexual

aggression and wife battering), Rape Myth Acceptance (RMA)

(e.g., the belief that women secretly desire to be raped), and

Adversarial Sexual Beliefs (ASB) (e.g., the notion that women

are sly and manipulating when out to attract a man).   These

measures were embedded within many irrelevant items intended

to disguise the purpose of the survey.

   Exposure to,the films portraying "positive" effects

significantly increased the scores of male but not female

subjects on the AIV scale. 5  A similar pattern was observed on

the RMA scale.  Only the ASB scores were not at all affected.


Sexually Violent Media 15

Taken together,  the data demonstrated effects sustained over
time6 of sexually violent movies on men`s acceptance of

violence against women.  Moreover,  the results were obtained

in a non-laboratory setting seemingly devoid of "demand

characteristics," i.e., researchers' subtly conveying their

hypotheses to subjects.  Recently, Demare (1985) replicated

these results using very similar procedures.

   An earlier experiment by Malamuth, Reisen, and Spinner

(1979) found no attitude changes following exposure to media

sexual violence that didn't depict victim arousal.   In the

experiments showing significant media effects, the stimuli

were specifically selected because they clearly depicted

violence against women as having "positive" consequences.

These findings suggest that certain antisocial effects may be

limited to media stimuli depicting "positive" consequences of

sexual aggression.

   Still, sexually violent films that do not portray

"positive" consequences may nonetheless affect consumers in

undesirable ways.  For example, Linz (1985) studied the

effects of repeated exposure to X- and R-rated feature-length

films portraying sexual violence with primarily negative

consequences to victims.  He found that these movies had

desensitizing effects on viewers.  In one experiment, male

college students who viewed five such movies had fewer

negative emotional reactions to such films.   There was even a

tendency for the subjects' "desensitization" to carry over to

their judgments of a rape victim in a simulated trial


Sexually Violent Media 16

presented following their exposure to the films.   In a second

experiment, Linz (1985) again found that males exposed to

several R-rated, sexually violent films became less

sympathetic to a rape victim in a simulated trial and were

less able to empathize with rape victims in general.

From Attitudes to Antisocial Behavior

   Although psychologists have demonstrated that there is

seldom a strong, direct link between attitudes and behavior

(Ajzen & Fishbein, 1977),  several researchers have contended

that attitudes accepting or justifying sexual aggression are

an important cause of aggression against women (e.g.,

Brownmiller, 1975; Russell, 1984).  Burt has presented the

most influential theoretical perspective in this area (1978;

1980; 1983).   She contends that a cultural matrix that

encourages rigid sex roles and supports male dominance over

females generates attitudes supportive of rape.   These

attitudes act as "psychological releasers or neutralizers,

allowing potential rapists to turn off social prohibitions

against injuring or using others" (1978, p. 282).   To assess

such attitudes and beliefs, Burt (1980) developed the scales

used in the experiments described earlier, including the AIV,

RMA, and ASB.

   Studies by Malamuth and his colleagues provide some

support for Burt's perspective.  They show a significant

relationship between Burt's rape-condoning attitude scales and

men's self-reported likelihood of engaging in a wide range of


Sexually Violent Media 17

violence against women as long as the men suffered no negative

consequences (e.g., Briere & Malamuth, 1983; Malamuth, 1981;

1984).   However,  some commentators have contended that the

linkage between attitudes and actual aggressive behavior is

assumed too facilely in such studies (e.g., Vance, 1985).

Fortunately, several studies have recently examined this

connection and have found consistently that the attitude

scales can predict actual aggressive behavior.  This, of

course, does not mean that everyone with attitudes condoning

aggression will act on them.

     LABORATORY AGGRESSION:  Malamuth (1983) tested whether

men's attitudes could predict their aggressive behavior in a

laboratory setting.   He also examined whether men's arousal to

rape depictions compared to their arousal to consensual sex

depictions predicted laboratory aggression.

   About a week after both attitudes (on the AIV and FUlA

scales) and sexual arousal to rape were measured, subjects

participated in what they believed was a totally unrelated

"extrasensory perception" experiment.  In that session, they

were angered by a female aide of the experimenter who

pretended to be another subject.  Later in the session,

subjects could vent their aggression against her by

administering unpleasant noise as punishment for her incorrect

responses.  They were told that punishment was thought to

impede rather than aid extrasensory transmission, but they

were given the option of trying it out.  Subjects were also


Sexually Violent Media 18

asked how much they wanted to hurt their co-subject with the

noise.  Men with attitudes more condoning of aggression and

with higher levels of sexual arousal to rape were more

aggressive against the woman and wanted to hurt her to a

greater extent.

   Malamuth and Check (1982) successfully replicated these

results in a similar experiment that didn't consider the

subjects' arousal to rape but did assess attitudes.   Later,

Malamuth (1984b) examined the extent to which several measures

related to violence against women (including attitudes)

predicted laboratory aggression against both female and male

targets.  While strong relations between the predictor

measures and aggressive behavior were found for female

targets, only weak relations were obtained for male targets.

Taken together, these three experiments consistently showed

that attitudes condoning aggression against women related to

objectively observable behavior -- laboratory aggression

against women.

   Although such laboratory assessments of aggression have

the advantage of being an objective measurement not relying on

subjects'  self-reports,  they have the disadvantage of using a

setting that some researchers argue is artifical and lacking

in ecological validity (e.g., Kaplan, 1983).   The case for

linking attitudes condoning aggression with actual aggressive

behavior is strengthened by studies that have measured

naturally-occurring behavior.


Sexually Violent Media 19

    AGGRESSION IN NATURALISTIC SETTINGS:  These studies have

used samples of men from the general population as well as

convicted rapists.  The importance of attitudes toward

violence is confirmed by data showing that men's aggression

against women is linked with their own attitudes as well as

those of their peers.

   Ageton (1983) gauged the extent to which a variety of

measures predicted levels of sexual aggression.   Eleven to

17-year-old subjects, drawn from a representative national

sample, were interviewed in five consecutive years between

1976 and 1981.  Based on subjects'  self-reported behavior,

they were categorized as sexually aggressive or non-

aggressive.

The results showed that involvement with delinquent peers

at a young age was the strongest factor in predicting sexual

aggression later in life.  Personal, attitudes toward sexual

assault was another of the factors found to differentiate

significantly between those who became sexually aggressive and

those who did not.  Ageton therefore concluded that "peer-

group support for sexually aggressive behavior does appear to

be relevant to the performance of this behavior, as do

attitudes supportive of rape myths."

   Another study was recently reported by Alder (1985).   She

used a subsample from a larger representative sample of men

from a particular county in Oregon.  Variables potentially

predictive of sexual aggression were assessed.   These included

family,  social class, educational attainment, war experience,


Sexually Violent Media 20

peer behavior, and personal attitudes toward sexual

aggression.  The findings suggested that the most important

factor relating to sexual aggression was having sexually

aggressive friends.  The other two factors found likely to

contribute to sexual aggression were attitudes legitimizing
such aggression and military service in the Vietnam war.

   Several studies using samples of college men also

reported significant links between attitudes and actual sexual
aggressiveness (Briere et al., 1984; Koss, Leonard, Beezley, &

Oros, 1985; Mosher & Anderson, 1986; Rappaport & Burkhart,

1984).  These studies measured self-reported sexual aggression

on a continuum of behaviors ranging from psychological

pressure on women to rape.  Similar results were reported by

Kanin (1985) who compared the attitudes of 71 university

students who admitted committing rape with a control group of

non-aggressive college males.  He found that a much higher

percentage of rapists justified rape in general than did

control subjects.  Moreover, he found that rapists were far

more likely to believe their reputations would be enhanced

among their peers by aggressive behavior toward women,
particularly those perceived as "pick-ups," "loose,"

"teasers," or "economic exploiters."

   In a study of 155 men who were mostly college students,

Malamuth (1986) broke down the variables thought to set the

stage for sexual aggression into three classes.  Motivation

for sexual aggression included sexual arousal to aggression,

hostility toward women,  and dominance as a motive for sex.


Sexually Violent Media 21

Disinhibition to commit sexual aggression included attitudes

condoning aggression and antisocial personality

characteristics.  Opportunity to aggress sexually was assessed

by sexual experience.  These rape "predictors" were then

correlated with self-reports of sexual aggression.  While the

"predictors" related individually to sexual aggression,

interactive combinations of these variables allowed far more

accurate prediction of varying levels of sexual aggression.

Subjects who had relatively high scores on all of the

predictor variables were also highly aggressive sexually.

These data have been successfully replicated by Malamuth and

Check (1985b) in an independent sample of 297 males.   The

findings suggest that a person's attitudes accepting of

violence against women may be one of several important

contributors to sexually aggressive acts, but that none alone

is sufficient for serious sexual aggression.

   Taken together, the data on unincarcerated subjects point

clearly to a relationship between sexual aggression and

attitudes supportive of violence against women, although they

also highlight the importance of other contributing factors.

One of these other factors, peer support, might also be

influenced by the impact of media exposure on the audience's

attitudes.  The findings on unincarcerated men are reinforced

by research on incarcerated rapists.

    CONVICTED RAPISTS:  Many clinical studies report that

convicted rapists frequently hold callous attitudes about rape


Sexually Violent Media 22

and believe in rape myths to a relatively high degree (e.g.,

Gager and Schurr, 1976).  Data from more systematic studies of

rapists' attitudes tend to collaborate the clinical reports'

For example, Wolfe and Baker (1980) studied the beliefs and

attitudes of 86 convicted rapists and reported that virtually

all believed that their actions did not constitute rape or

were justified by the circumstances.  Unfortunately, these

investigators did not distinguish between general endorsement

of rape myths and rationalizations of the rapists' personal

crimes.  Burt (1983) found that although rapists perceived the

same degree of violence as the general public in vignettes

describing aggression against women, they were less likely to

perceive the violence as "bad" and more likely to justify it.
Finally, Scully and Marolla (1984, 1985) found that rapists

tended to believe in rape myths, particularly those justifying

violence against women, more than control groups composed of

other felons.

Other Relevant Data

    NONSEXUAL MEDIA VIOLENCE:  Although research on nonsexual

media violence has not devoted much attention to the formation

and importance of attitudes (Rule & Ferguson, in press), some

relevent findings exist.  The research of Huesmann, Eron,

Klein, Brice and Fischer (1983) attempts the most direct

assessment of cause and effect relations in this area.   After

involving elementary school children in a program designed to

change their attitudes about television violence, the


Sexually Violent Media 23

researchers studied whether changed attitudes translated into

less aggressive behavior.  The students were randomly divided

into experimental and control groups.  Over a 2 year span, the

experimental group was educated about harmful aspects of

television violence while the control group received neutral

treatments.  Although the frequency of the children's free-

time viewing of violence did not change, their attitudes about

the violence did.  In addition,  their peers reported reduced

aggression in the experimental group but no change in the

behavior of the control group.  These data suggest that

changed attitudes about TV violence led to a reduction in

personal aggression by children, as reported by their peers.

   Another relevant study was just published by Vern der

Voort (1986).  He assesed whether individual differences in

children's perceptual,  emotional and attitudinal reactions to

TV violence predicted peer-reported aggression.  Significant

relations were found between the predictors (measured one year

earlier) and actual aggression.  The more children approved of

the violence of "good guys" on TV, the higher their

aggression,  even after factors such as socio-economic levels

and school achievement were controlled.   Vern der Voort also

found that parents who were less concerned about their

children viewing violence had more aggressive children.   While

these findings suggest a relation between attitudes and

behavior, they don't enable cause and effect conclusions.


Sexually Violent Media 24

    JURY STUDIES:  One aspect of the model presented in

Figure 1 is the idea that changes in attitudes may be of

importance even if these attitudes do not increase the

likelihood that the person himself will commit aggressive

acts.  Jury decisions, for example, involve attitudes about

aggression and not aggressive behavior.

   Feild and Bienen (1980) examined the impact of personal

juror characteristics on reactions to a simulated rape case.

The "jurors" in the simulated trials were groups of citizens,

police officers,  rape counselors and rapists.  Juror attitudes

about rape were found to be highly predictive of their

decisions in the rape trial.  For example, people who believed

that rape victims often precipitate rape were more lenient

toward the rapist than those not holding such an attitude. If

attitudes condoning of violence against women can result in

milder punishment of rapists, the deterrence against rape may

be reduced by social attitudes.

Summary and Conclusions

   The research presented has provided support for the model

hypothesizing indirect causal influences of media sexual

violence on antisocial behavior against women.   Data were

described which indicate:  a) linkages between exposure to

media portrayals of sexual violence and resultant attitudes

supportive of sexual aggression, and b) a relationship between

such attitudes and a variety of antisocial behaviors against


Sexually Violent Media 25

women.  The data suggest that such attitudes may lead to high

levels of sexual aggression if combined with other factors

such as peer support for aggression, sexual arousal to

aggression, antisocial personality characterstics and

hostility toward women.  Clearly,  much additional research is

needed to further develop and test this model.

   As with many behaviors, it is apparent that antisocial

behavior against women is a function of several interacting

causal factors.  It is very difficult to gauge the relative

influence of media exposure alone, but it would appear that,

by itself,  it exerts a small influence.  But this appears to

be true to some degree for all the contributing causes.  Only

in interaction with other factors might they have substantial

influences.  The reduction of antisocial behavior against


women,  therefore,  requires attention to all potentially

contributing factors,  including the mass media.


Sexually Violent Media 26

Footnotes

    1 I thank Timna Horowitz and Susan Holley for valuable

comments on earlier drafts of this paper and Rebecca Lipa for

her excellent typing.  Correspondence should be addressed to

Neil M. Malamuth, Communication Studies, 232 Royce Hall, UCLA,

Los Angeles, CA 90024.

    2 The term pornoqraphy is used in this paper to refer to
sexually explicit media without any pejorative meaning

intended.  Also,  the terms aqqression and violence are used

interchangeably herein,  as are the terms sexually violent

media and violent pornoqraohy.

     3 Of course, sexual explicitness in and of itself should

not be ignored as a conveyance of messages.   Based on cultural

and personal background and experience, sexual explicitness

may be interpreted in many different ways.  For example, the

uncovering of a woman's body may be perceived by some as

debasing her.  Similarly, the public display of sex may break

taboos that could be interpreted as sanctioning other

restricted behaviors (Malamuth, Jaffe, and Feshbach, 1977).

However, such interpretations are not inherent to sexually
explicit media whereas a positive depiction of rape or child
molestation is not equally a matter of individual

interpretation.

    4 The focus in this model is on the factors that may

contribute to the development of antisocial behavior.


Sexually Violent Media 27

Obviously, there may be varied factors, including some media

portrayals, leading to the development of attributes

stimulating prosocial behavior and reducing antisocial

responses.  Also, this model does not necessarily exclude

other possible effects of sexually violent media, some of

which may not necessarily be judged harmful by many observers.

    5

    Some might argue that the use of college students in

these and similar studies limits the ability to generalize

from the findings.  That implies that college students are

more susceptible to media influences than non-college students

or younger people.  In fact,  less educated and younger groups

might be more susceptible to such influences.

    6

    It would be desirable to examine the effects of sexually

violent media over longer time periods than a week.  However,

ethics committees have in certain instances refused to permit

such delays, requiring that subjects be debriefed soon after

the media exposures.  These debriefings are intended to

mitigate the negative effects of exposure to sexually violent

media.  They appear to have been effective (e.g., Donnerstein

& Berkowitz, 1981; Linz,  1985; Malamuth & Check, 1984).  They

point to the need for further research on the efficacy of

educational interventions, including those presented via the

mass media, designed to reduce attitudes supportive of

violence against women and to reduce susceptibility to the

possible negative impact of sexually violent portrayals.


Sexually Violent Media 28

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FIGURE 1

HYPOTHESIZED DEVELOPMENT OF AGGRESSION AGAINST WOMEN

Developmental
  level

Originating
/variables

/ i

I   Intermediate

variables
1
Immediate

I I (situational)

variables
i
Antisocial
behavior

against
women

Cultural forces
(e.g., mass media)

I ndlvldual experiences
(e. g. , home envl ron ment,
traumatlc events)

Attitudes.
perceptlons,
belief
systems

Sexual
arousal to
aggresslon

L-l,-,,,
WIIlllldllC~
motives

Hostllitv
toward-
women

"----iallty
rersv1
chara& *risks

Social netwwk
of aggressbn-
supporllve peers

Opportunlty
and
access

Dislnhlbltlng
events fe. g.,
alcohol, immediate
pressure or approval)

Acute arousal
(e.g. s frustration,
perceived Insult)

Prlmlq sflmull
(e.g., mass medlal

Aggresslon      Aggression
accepted as       often not seen
crime (e.g.,     a5 criminal (e.g.,
stranger rape)      "date rape")

Laboratory
aggression

NonaggressIve
antisocial acts
(e. g* , dkcrlmlnatbn,
expressing support
for aggressbn)


Figure 2

HWOTRESIZED PROCESSES MEDIATING IMPACT OF E(EDIA SEXUAL VIOLENCE ON A'I"l!ITlJDES

MEDIA                Sexual aggression depicted in .positive. faehion and/or
EXPOSURF4 :                           associated with sexual arousal

1

  !      Euphemistic Labeling Normative Perceptions Consequences Responsibility Valuation  Emotionality
PERCEPTDAL                                                    Attt ibution
AND EMOTIONAL Labeling aggression   Increase Percept ions   Minimize      Increase         Increase     Reduce
PROCESSES t    as sexual rather    that aggression is    ser iouenees   victim blame    positive     negative
           than violent        normative           to victim                 reactions    emotions
                                                                           to            to
                                                         aggression   aggression

ATTITUDE
CHANGES :

   Increase in attitudes facilitating sexual aggression
(e.g., rape myth acceptance, acceptance of violence against women)


THE EFFECTS ON JUVENILES OF BEING USED

FOR PROSTITUTION AND POPNOGRAPHY

by Himi Halper Silbert

This paper concerns the sexual exploitation of juveniles.  For our purposes

h+e,  sexual exploitation  refers to pornography and prostitution, although

the paper also includes some discussion of incest and other sexual abuse of

juveniles because they were factors in the backgrounds of many of the youths

interviewed.  Prostitution is defined as the exchange of sex for money;

juvenile pornography refers to films, videos, magazines, books, or pictures

that depict juvenile boys and girls in sexually explicit acts.  This paper

does not focus on the investigation of pornography, the collector, the

distributor, or the viewer of pornography, nor on the pimps, customers, or

law enforcement aspect of prostitution.   Neither does it concern itself with

the controversial issues of prosecution, legalization, or decriminalization.

Rather,  it focuses on the perspective of the youths and their experiences in

being used by adults sexually for commercial and pornographic purposes.

Specifically, the paper focuses on the impact of such sexual exploitation on


the victim.

The paper is therefore based on self reports from young men and women, boys and

girls who have been involved in juvenile prostitution and/or pornography.   The

findings discussed here are derived from two sources:   (1) The results of

a two and one half year exploratory study of "The Sexual Assault of Prostitutes',

conducted for the National Center for the Prevention and Control of Rape,

National Institute of Mental Health, sponsored through the Delancey Street

.

I

Foundation in which the author was the principal investigator; and

1

Three volumes describe the results of the study, Grant #ROl MH 32762-01, in detail.
Silbert, Mimi,  Sexual Assault of Prostitutes, Volume I:  Phase One Final Report:
Volume II:  Phase 'Ike Final Report:   Volume III:  Summary Report.   National Center
for the Prevention and Control of Rape, NIMH, 1982.


Mimi 1~.  Silbert
Page 2

(2) clinical experiences with well over a thousand prostitutes and a

hundred people who were used to make pornography as juveniles.

Delancey Street Foundation is a self-help residential center which

successfully treats prostitutes, ex-convicts, and substance abusers through

multi-dimensional services providing individual and group treatment,

vocational training, education, and the development of independent living

skills for 600 residents in four cities in the country, along with out-

reach work for juvenile prostitutes and youths involved with pornography.

The residents stay at Eelancey Street an average of four years before

graduating, completely rebuilding very shattered lives.'  As President of

Delancey Street,  I have lived and worked in depth with our residents and

the negative short and long term impact of sexual exploitation, as well

as the secondary social problems attendant to sexual victimization, for

fifteen years.  The NIMH research findings corroborate the clinical pictures

depicted by several thousand residents with whom I've worked: being used by

adults for prostitution and/or pornography is harmful to the juveniles,

not only during the distressing period of involvement, but also, and often

even moreso,  during their future development.

I.   JUVENILE PROSTITUTION

In recent workshops with people in the helping professions specializing

in juveniles, I have asked participants to list those clients whom they

found the most difficult to treat.  Juvenile prostitutes headed the list.

2

For more detailed explanation of Delancey Street, see Mimi Silbert, "A Process
of Mutual Restitution", chapter in book Mental Health and the Self-Help Revolution,
Gartner 6 Reissman, eds., Human Science Press.


Mimi H.  Silbert
Page 3

The comments reflected those made for prostitutes in general and were

typified by the person who stated, "I hate to say once a prostitute,

always a prostitute, but it seems that way.  They say they want out, but

nothing you do to help them out works.  They run back.  They rip you off.

F

They just don't seem to want to change." 3

From clinical experience, as well as from the study results, I believe

the exasperation expressed by helpers working with juvenile prostitutes

has a great deal to do with a self-destructive pull that develops among

prostitute victims of sexual exploitation who have not dealt directly

or successfully with overcoming their victimization.  Indeed the opposite

is true for these young women.  Subjected to continuous abuse and victimization

over which they have no control, and about which they have no understanding,

these youths have developed what I term a sense of psychological paralysis

which prohibits their ability to do anything positive about further


victimization.  They believe themselves unable to change destructive behavior;

they become debilitated, self-deprecating, and entrapped in helplessness and

hopelessness.  Trapped in a self-destructive cycle, they feel themselves

to be out of control of their lives.  Essentially, they have developed a

chronic disorder as a result of their victimization and an inability to

separate themselves from the sexual exploitation in order to reestablish a

positive life.

'Mimi H. Silbert I  "The Treatment of Prostitute Victims and Sexual Assault"
in Victims of Sexual Aggression: Treatment of Children, Women and Men, Stuart
and Greer, eds.  Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York.  This chapter explores
in depth the problems of treatment of prostitutes and offers some solutions
in detail.


Mimi H .  Silbert
Page 4

The results of the NIMH study4 are based on an analysis of 200 women street

prostitutes,  the youngest of whom was 10, the oldest, 46.  Seventy percent

of those prostituting were under 21;  almost sixty percent were 16 or under,

and many were 10 or 11 years old.  Seventy-eight percent of the sample

reported starting prostitution as juveniles; and sixty-eight percent were

16 or younger when they started prostitution.

A majority of the juvenile prostitutes described family structures with the

outward appearances of stability. For example,  over three-fourths reported

having a religous upbringing; that is, going to church regularly and/or

attending a church school.  Forty percent were raised by both mother and


father.  The younger the prostitute,  the more affluent and more educated the

family.  yet, despite the religous, financial,  and other outward appearances

of success,the study revealed a number of problems occurring within the family.

More than half the prostitutes had parents involved in excessive drinking; in

over half the families the subject saw the father hit her mother violently.

Only nineteen percent of the subjects reported having any kind of positive

relationship with their mother while growing up.

In addition to witnessing violence and feeling a sense of isolation in the

family,62 percent of the subjects were themselves beaten while growing up.

Only in one third of the cases was the beating related to something she did.

As distressing as these physical abuse situations are, the most damaging

psychologically are probably those cases in which the victims couldn't ascertain

4

A number of articles derived from the study have been published in professional
journals.  See for example, Silbert, Mimi,  "Prostitution and Sexual Assault: Riosocial:

Journal of Behavioral Exology, Winter, 81-82.  Silbert & Pines, "Juvenile Sexual
Exploitation in the Background of Street Prostitutes", Social Work, 1982, Silbert et-al.
"Substance Abuse and Prostitution", Journal of Psychoactive Drugs Vol. 14, No. 3.
Silbert and Pines, "The Endless Cycle of Victimization", Victimology, Vol. 7.


Mimi H.  Silbert
Page 5

why they were being beaten or those in which they were being beaten for

no special reason.  Two thirds of the victims who were physically abused by

their families as children stated that the beating was not related to any-

thing that they did.

Sixty-one percent of the women were sexually abused as juveniles by an

average of two people each.  Victims ranged in age from 3 to 16 with the

mean age of victimization being 10 years old.  Two-thirds of the victims

were sexually assaulted by father figures:  Thirty-three percent were abused

by their natural father;  thirty percent by a step or foster father; four

percent by a mother's common law husband.  Only ten percent were sexually

molested by strangers.

The emotional impact reported by the victims from the abuse was extremely

negative.  Only one percent felt that they had resolved the experience

positively.  All other victims reported feeling terrible about the experience,

and reported that the abuse negatively affected the way they felt about men,

about sex,  and about themselves.  Almost half of the victims overtly blamed

themselves for the abuse, despite the fact that in almost every case either

physical or emotional force was used on them.   The horror of the incidence

of sexual abuse is compounded by the fact that in most cases (91%) there was

nothing the victim felt she could do about it, either because she didn't

know what could be done or because she was afraid of the repercussions.

In about two-thirds of the cases,  the victims had never told anyone about

their sexual abuse until this study.  Of those who disclosed, fifty-eight

percent stated that disclosing the sexual abuse had a bad effect on their

relationship with the person told.  Only one percent told a professional; only

three percent reported to the police.


Nimi H.  Silbert
Page 6

Seventy percent of the women reported that the sexaul abuse affected their

decision to become a prostitute, "I was only 11 when it happened.   I felt

sick and disgusted...I wanted to die; I thought everyone could tell what he

did to me by looking at  me . ..I thought my mother would think I was crazy

if I told her or maybe she wouldn't even have cared; she's like that.   She

doesn't want to lay her trip on me...He didn't even love me: he just wanted

to try something new.  Yeh, I wasn't nothing but a new hole to my own father...

After I ran away, I tried to get a straight job, but who would hire a 12

year old drop-out who was nuts?... At first when they tried to talk me into

prostituting I said no.  Finally, I was scared and hungry and lonely. I

figured I was already ruined.  I couldn't ever go back home after what

happened,  so what did I have to lose?"  Even those who did not score the

sexual abuse as affecting their decision to become prostitutes, did reflect

the influence the abuse had in their open-ended comments. "M_u father bought


me so who cares who else does?"

The picture which emerges from the data on peer relationships is one cf

young girls of grammar school age, feeling extremely isolated, lonely,

and rejected by a group of peers to which they wanted to belong, moving

slowly out of isolation and finding friends among deviant groups, where

they do not experience rejection.  Isolation following sexual abuse was a

common experience among all those in the study.

A distressingly high percentage of the subjects (44%) seriously attempted


suicide.  In addition, 27 percent reported trying to harm themselves in

some other way, or tried to commit suicide more because they wanted someone

to know they were hurt than because they seriously wanted to die.


Mimi H.  Silbert
Page 7

The average age of juveniles starting prostitution was 13.   Almost all the

juveniles (96%) were runaways prior to starting prostitution.   Almost all

the subjects (94%) felt very negatively about themselves just prior to

starting prostitution.  The vast majority felt they had no other options

at the time they started prostituting.  Basic financial survival was the
?
reason mentioned by over ninety percent of the juveniles for prostituting.

Although there were different types of the prostitution life-style described,

one predominant pattern emerged among the juvenile prostitutes.   While a

number of juveniles were recruited for prostitution by pimps and other

prostitutes, many reported that they were recruited by middle-aged women,

nurturing in style and appearance.   These women would meet them at areas

in which they were extremely vulnerable such as bus depots and cafeterias

in the Halls of Justice after they had been picked up by the police and

released.  The women, whom I have labelled "house-mothers", would take the

young girls to a cafeteria, buy them a meal, listen to their stories, and

offer them a great deal of concern and sympathy.  They slowly encouraged

the girls into prostitution, not so much by promises of excitenent and

glamour, but through a continuous process of nurturing, concern, and an

offer to care for all their needs.  A number of the juvenile prostitutes

were working out of "gourp homes" as "sex rings ,> . in which three to five

young girls lived, their meals were provided for, and support and control

were supplied by the house-mother.  Pimps serviced the entire group, not

so much as a lover, but moreso as the business agent and ultimate

5 Although these"group homes" were not labelled as sex rings, they share many
of the factors described in the Typology of Sex Rings" in Ann Wolbert Burgess,
Editor, Child Pornography and Sex Rings, Lexington Books, Massachusetts, 1984.


Mimi H.  Silbert
Page 8

protector of the group.  Over three-quarters of the juveniles stated that

they had a pimp at the time of the study, despite the fact that forty-one

percent stated that there were no advantages they could name in having

the pimp.

Although the pimp's primary function is seen as protecting the prostitute,

two-thirds of the youths have been physically abused or beaten by their pimps

many times.   Indeed, victimization as part of their work is very high.

Seventy percent were victimized by customer rape or clients similarly going

beyond the work contract.  The passivity and helplessness experienced by

the victims became evident in the fact that in more than three

quarters of the cases of physical abuse by the customers, the women felt

there was absolutely nothing they could do about the abuse.  Similarly,

in over half the cases of those who were beaten by the pimps, they accepted

it as a way of life,  felt they deserved it, or understood it as a sign of

caring.  One young 14 year old girl explained, "It made him feel like mOre

of a man, and I felt it was my duty...I'm used to it by now.  They can't


hurt me no more."

Aside from the sexual assault related to their work, well over half of the

prostitutes reported that they had been raped since becoming prostitutes,

but completely unrelated to their jobs.  In the majority of cases, the rapist

was a stranger to the victim, the rape involved physical force, and in many

cases the victims sustained physical injury.  Every single rape victim reported

fear, guilt, rage, shock, hurt, depression, relief to be alive, overwhelming

helplessness at the time of the rape, and feeling out of control of her own life.


Mimi H.  Silbert
Page 9

Emotional trauma experienced by sexual assault victims in general appears

to be compounded for these victims by two factors: 1) The informal street

code of prostitutes precludes the display of hurt or emotional upset or

leaning on personal or social support for assistance-in resisting such

qiotional trauma.  Most prostitutes felt they could not break that code and

therefore dealt with their feelings alone and/or attempted to suppress


them.  2) The helplessness generally experienced as a result of rape is

exacerbated by a general feeling of powerlessness over their lives.   With

no options or control over other areas of their lives, they place a

disproportionate  amount of energy on the ability to control their sexual


activities.  The negative impact of rape is thus intensified by the fact

that it takes this important sense of control from them.

Therefore, despite the violence, and the serious negative physical and

emotional impact of the rapes, significantly more than half of those

victims never told anyone about the rape until this study.  Of those who did

seek help, the majority stated that they felt that the treatment that they

received was indifferent or not helpful,  and that being a prostitute

negatively affected the way they were treated.

When asked the advantages of being a prostitute, they mentioned an average

of one advantage; with almost everyone citing money for survival as the

primary advantage.  When asked what the disadvantages are, the respondents

cited an average of a little over six disadvantages.  For example,   "It is

degrading... you develop a total hatred for yourself for being so low,

filthy, and dirty.  You're like a slave, but like most slaves you don't know

how to get out.  The horror of opening your eyes and finding someone on top


Mimi H. Silbert
Page 10

of you... it's hard to forget the faces and the smells.  Especially the


smells.. . The only thing to do is not feel anything and pretend you don't


care.  By now I don't think I'm even pretending.  I don't think I care about

anything."  (13 years old)  Yet, a sense of entrapment in a hopeless situation

emerged when the subjects discussed their options and plans for leaving

prostitution at the time of the interview.  Although most saw themselves

as remaining in prostitution only for a limited period of time, they were

unable to set a specific time.  They saw no other options, particularly

because they were runaways, uneducated, unskilled, and saw adequate

employment as the major enabler to leave prostitution.   Even when asked

to state their hopes,  rather than expectations,  the juvenile prostitutes,

feeling trapped in a degrading life, were simply afraid to hope. As

one of them said,  "Ive learned not to expect nothing.  I just hope I don't

end up nuts."  (16 years old)

The patterns reported by the women street prostitutes in the study reflect

a picture of both male and female prostitution treated at Delancey Street

both through its residential program and through the outreach services


offered.  Prostitution among boys differs from female prostitution in the

portrait of their life on the street.  For example,  while the females are

generally involved with a pimp,  the males generally operate independently.

While female prostitution has tended to include a higher proportion of

minorities in the past, in recent years in the San Francisco Bay Area, the
                    .;

numbers of white girls are increasing and appear to be a majority. Similarly

in a reverse way, male hustlers have been predominantly white; recently,

more minorities are entering hustling, particularly as more and more street


Mimi H.  Silbert
Page 11

youths,  those in crisis,  and those preteens who are experimenting with

drugs are also experimenting with hustling.

Because they work without pimps,  the male youths tend to be more peer

imolved,  are less professionally organized than the young women, and

engage in a more sexually abusive lifestyle although a less physically


battered one than the women.

The males described significant amounts of violence and sado-masochistic sex.

While there seems to be a great deal of physical violence done to the female

prostitute, the males talked more about their being violent in return.  Again,

this generally focused on sexual violence.

The males, moreso than the females,  seem to maintain a constant search for

the "sugar daddy" or trick who would become a long-term relationship.  While

a number of the females are looking for a love relationship to pull them out

of prostitution, a large number of the males are looking for a lonely man

with a lot of money.  "You can play one of those suckers for a pretty long


time.  They need you.  Especially when they're old and they feel pretty

desperate,  they like us.   The like me 'cause I'm real young.  They act like

it's all this love shit, and you just let them do it as long as they pay.

They pay real good.  And you can keep it up for a pretty long time.  I got

a friend who has been playing this one out with a guy for a long time.

He's set and that's what I want to be." (14 years old)

Those male prostitutes who are also part of the gay sub-culture noted that

for them,  in addition to making money, prostitution offered a sexual outlet.

In the last few years, a high percentage of those who are gay and prostituting


Mimi H.  Silbert
Page 12

primarily to a gay market, have tested positive to exposure to the AIDS


virus,  and several I have worked with have in fact come down with the disease.

Recently the subject of AIDS has increased thenumbers of young male gay

prostitutes seeking to leave the prostitution life style and is a pervasive

fear with which many are dealing.

On the other hand, while their lifestyles as prostitutes may be different,

the backgrounds of the males tend to be quite similar to those of the females.

Young male prostitutes report similarly troubled family histories.  They

describe a great deal of parental fighting, drinking, and emotional abuse or

neglect.  Their relationships with their families are poor, and they describe

themselves,  as did the women, as isolated among their peers.  Although they

come from families which appear less stable on the outside than the women did,

they show similar and even greater victimization, both physical and sexual.

Over three quarters of the males involved in hustling reported that they were

victims of juvenile sexual abuse.   Half of these were involved in incest.

Again, disclosure was almost non-existent.  The incest was reported by the

child in only one case,  and in that situation the disclosure proved to have

a negative impact on the relationship with the person told.

II.   PORNOGRAPHIC INVOLVEMENT

The NIMH study did not attempt to research either the effects of violent

pornography on sexual assailants or the use of juveniles in child pornography.

Yet, as happens in every large research project, especially exploratory research,

some unexpected information emerged, important information, that unfortunately

was not studied in a systematic manner, but which was significant enough to


report.  Such was the case in  this study with regard to the relationship


Mimi H.  Silbert
Page 13

between sexual abuse and pornography. 6 From the detailed descriptions the

subjects provided to open-ended questions in regard to incidents of juvenile

sexual assault in their childhood and to incidents of rape following entrance

into prostitution,  it became clear that there was a relationship between

violent pornography and sexual abuse in the experience of women street

prostitutes.  Since the relationship between sexual abuse and pornography

was unexpected,  no questions addressed it directly.  Only after the data

collection was completed, was the content from all the cases of rape in

juvenile sexual abuse analysed for any mentioned relationship between these

incidents and pornography.

Out of 193 cases of rape,  24% made unsolicited comments that the rapist

alluded to pornographic material.  'Ihe comments followed the same pattern:

the assailant referred to pornographic materials he had seen or read and

then insisted that the victims not only enjoyed the rape but also the extreme


violence.  For example, the following is a typical victim's comments transcribed

from the interview describing how the assailant made reference to his prior

use of pornography, "I know all about you bitches, you're no different: you're


like all of them.  I seen it in all the movies.  You love being beaten." (He

then began punching the victim violently.)  "I just seen it again in that flick.

He beat the shit out of her while he raped her and she told him she loved it;

you know you loviz it; tell me you love it."  The assailant continued to beat

and slap the woman while raping her, repeating his demand that she say that

she loved it,  just like the woman he saw in the movies.  In the majority of


cases, there were no distinctive features about the victims, their situations,

or the factors of the rape, which could account for the assailants' mentioning

6 The results reported, along with a review of the literature and discussion.
in Silbert and Pines, "Pornography and Sexual Abuse of Women", Sex Roles
vol.  10, Nos. 11/12, 1984.


Mimi H. Silbert
Page 14

their involvement with pornography.  In 12% of the 193 cases of rape, the

assailant mentioned his involvement with pornography as a response to the

victim's telling the assailant she was a prostitute.

In 19% of the rape cases,  the victims tried to stop the violence of the

rape by telling the assailant that they were prostitutes.  For example, "Calm


dam.  I'm a hooker. Relax, and I'll turn you a free trick without all this

fighting."  Rather than assuage the violence,this assertion only exacerbated

the problem;  the assailants increased the amount of violence in every single


case.  They became furious at hearing the woman say she was a prostitute.   Most

started screaming, demanding that she take back what she had said, insisting

on taking her by force.  In order to reassert their own control, assailants

then became extremely violent.   In all these cases,  the victim sustained

even more serious injuries than those victims who did not disclose their

prostitution status.  This finding supports the contention that rape is an

aggressive act motivated by a desire to establish the rapist's power over his


victim,  rather than a sexual act.

In 12% of the 193 cases, the victims who told the rapist that they were

prostitutes not only received more violent abuse than those who didn't tell,

but also elicited overt comments from the assailants related to pornography.

An analysis reveals that there is a pattern of response among the assailants to

the disclosure, characterized by the following four elements: (1) their

language became more abusive,  (2) they became significantly more violent, beating

and punching the women excessively, often using weapons they had shown the women,

(3) they mentioned having seen prostitutes in pornographic films, the majority

of them mentioning specific pornographic literature, and (4) after completing

the forced vaginal penetration, they continued to assault the women sexually in


Mimi H.  Silbert
Page 15

ways they claimed they had seen prostitutes enjoy in the pornographic literature


cited.  For example,  "After I told him I'd turn him d free trick if only he'd

calm down and stop hurting me, then he just really blew his mind.   He started

calling me all kinds of names, and then started screaming and shrieking like

nothing I'd ever heard.  He sounded like a wailing animal.  Instead of just
*
slapping me to keep me quiet, he really went crazy and began punching me all over.

Then he told me he had seen whores just like me in (three pornographic films

mentioned by name),  and told me he knew how to do it to whores like me.   He


knew what whores like me wanted -.-After he finished raping me, he started

beating me with his gun all over.  Then he said,  'You were in that movie.


You were in that movie. You know you wanted to die after you were raped.

That's what you want; you want me to kill you after this rape just like

(specific pornography film) did.'"  This particular women suffered, in addition

to forced vaginal penetration, forced anal penetration with a gun, excessive

bodily injuries,  including several broken bones: and a period of time in which

the rapist held a loaded pistol at her vagina, threatening to shoot, insisting

this was the way she had died in the film he had seen.  He did not, in fact,


shoot after all.

Similarly, 22% of the 178 cases of juvenile sexual abuse mentioned in

unsolicited comments, the use of pornographic materials by the adult prior to


the sexual act.  The particular manner in which the adult used the pornographic

materials varied.  For a few, they used the materials to try to persuade the

children with comments such as, "Now doesn't that look like something that you

and I would have a good time doing together?  Come on look at that.   Doesn't that

make you want to come with me?"  Others used pornographic materials to attempt to

legitimize their actions.  Several victims report that the abuser showed them

pictures depicting children involved in sexual acts with adults to convince them thz


Mimi H. Silbert
Page 16

it was acceptable behavior and that it was something they wanted to do.

These abusers for example, "See the expression on her face; that's exactly how

you look at me."  Others used the pornographic materials to arouse themselves

prior to abusing the child.  For example, one of the subjects in the study

described a primitive movie projector her father had set up in the garage.
He used to show himself and his friends pornographic movies to get them

sexually aroused before they would rape her.   (She was 9 at the time.)

Thirty-eight percent of the 200 women prostitutes interviewed reported that

sexually explicit photographs had been taken of them when they were children

for commercial purposes, and/or the personal gratification of the photographer.

Twenty percent were under the age of 13 when this occurred;the rest of the

subjects were under the age of 16 years old.   It should be noted that while

many of the descriptions were open-ended comments included in their stories.

some were responses given to questions of how they earned a living once

they ran away from home and before they began prostituting.

It is likely, given the numbers who spontaneously described their involvement

with pornography, that the cases of pornographic abuse of children would

be significantly higher among the prostitute population if studied overtly. /

7 Indeed, there is already some evidence indirectly supporting this contention.
For example, Baker (1978) mentioned that several authorities have found a close
relationship between child pornography and the practice of child prostitution.
Rush (1980) mentioned that most runaways can survive only as prostitutes or by
posing for pornography.
Baker, C.D. "Preying on Playgrounds: The Exploitation of Children in Pornography
and Prostitution*.  Pevoerdine Law Review. Vol. 5. No. 3. 1978.

Rush, F.  "Chi Id Pornography" in Take Back the Night, Lederer, Ed., William Morrow

Co., N-Y., 1980.


Mimi H Silhert
Page 17

III.   IMPACT OF POl?NOGFW'HY ON JUVENILE: VICTIMS

The following discussion is based on self reports and clinical observation

of one hundred (100) males and females who, as juveniles, have been used

to make pornography, including hard-core and simulated sexual films, videos,

?
magazines,  and photographs.  The subjects ranged in age from 6 years to 21;

the median age was 14.

Clinical data indicate that being a subject in pornography is disturbing and

damaging to the juveniles used.  Short and long-term negative effects were

apparent in terms of physical, behavioral, attitudinal, and emotional impact

on the subjects.  The effects of being used to make pornography will be explored

in this section during three periods of the victims' involvement:  1) At

the time of the exploitation;  2) At the time of disclosure for those who told;

3) Years later, as these people were trying to rebuild their lives.   Some

few of the juveniles counseled were still involved with pornography.

1)  At the Time of the Exploitation

During the exploitation itself, several patterns emerged.   Those who were

involved with the pornography on a short term basis and had stopped their

involvement by the time of the interview, recalled primarily physical and

somatic impacts.,  For example they talked about a great deal of soreness and

irritation in genital, vaginal and anal areas.  They remembered feeling

generally flu-like during the period.  They described symptoms such as

vomiting,  a lot of headaches,  a loss of appetite and sleeplessness.

Fmotionally, most described themselves as extremely moody and unable to

continue on with the friendships they had had before because they felt they


Mimi H. Silbert
Page 18

were now so different.  Those used by adults to make pornography over a

longer time described more intense emotional isolation as time passed.

They also talked of growing feelings of anxiety, and many experienced


direct fear.  Clinical observations of those still involved with

pornography at the time of the counseling underscored these descriptions.

Although the physical symptoms were similar, the emotional withdrawals,

isolation, moodiness, daydreaming, and complete sense of hopelessness

were far greater when observed clinically than when described by those

recalling their own past involvement.  That is,  a typical emotional

description included such comments as "I remember not paying a lot of

attention to teachers and people like that sometimes'.  Clinical observation

of youths of similar age and similar type of pornographic involvement showed

them extremely noncommunicative, very withdrawn,seriously inattentive, and,

highly fearful and/or anxious.

2.   At the Time of Disclosure

One of the most destructive impacts on juveniles of their participation in

pornography is the silent conspiracy  into which they feel bound by the


offenders.  Whether they were paid or not,  the participants in the

juvenile pornography all expressed an overwhelming pressure to cooperate

with the adult, never to tell, that disclosure would not only discredit the

offender, but would totally shame and discredit the juvenile, and leave him

or her completely isolated.  Since many of the victims were already vulnerable

because of their need to be included, feel wanted, and cared for, even for

those who participated simply for survival money,  the pressure of the silent

conspiracy had a long term highly negative affect on them, particularly on


Mimi H.  Silbert
Page 19

tbair ability to trust others or to feel trustworthy themselves.   This

conspiracy, coupled in some cases with family backgrounds which left

the victims isolated from an adult they could trust with their "secret",


accounted for most of the victims' not telling anyone about the exploitation.

Although the majority of the victims never told anyone of their involvement

with pornography, disclosureoccurred in four cases through law enforcement

intervention, and in one case where a young woman told her mother of her

involvement in an attempt to have her mother intervene.   In two of the


cases, although the period immediately following the disclosure was

extremely traumatic and stressful, the situation was ultimately resolved in a

generally healthy manner.  There was a successful prosecution of the offender,

and the victims, who were 6 and 8 years old at the time, were provided with


treatment.  In the other three cases, the period following the disclosure

included social pressure on the victims and their having to deal with

the negative reactions of others.  In one case there was a great deal of fear

of retaliation, particularly because the offender was violent and was  ultimate


not sentenced for the offense.  In the fifth case,  where disclosure was

initiated not by law enforcement but by the victim herself, the mother

blamed the girl.

The girl, Audie, was 12 years old when she disclosed her involvement in

pornography. Audie had been avictim of incest from ages 9 to 11. and had

begun to show severe signs of withdrawal and depression around age 11.   The

family placed her in a psychiatric ward for observation.  One of the psychiatric


Mimi H.  Silbert
Page 20

technicians in the hospital began taking pictures of the girl, telling

her that she could make enough  money from the pictures to not have


to return home.  Initially Audie was terrified of going back to the home

not only because she feared further abuse by her father, but also because

she feared her mother,  the dominant one in the home, would discover what

had occurred.  She allowed the technician to take the pictures thinking

"it didn't matter anyway since I'd already been ruined", and was anxious

to go out on her own.   However, after he took well over 100 pictures and

did not provide her with any money, she began to feel trapped. He

then began posing her being tied up using sexual devices, and with the

suggestions of violence and beatings,  she really became panicked. In

a momentary awareness that she was getting herself more deeply involved

rather than using the pictures as a way to break free from sexual exploitation,

she turned to her mother for help.  At first, particularly because she

was in a psychiatric ward, her mother insisted that she was delusional.

Her mother was extremely angry with her, blamed her, called her "oversexed",

and yelled at her for having continual sexual fantasies.   The mother

reported her upset to the psychiatrist in charge of the case who met with


Audie.  Because she felt completely boxed in a corner at this point, Audie

was able to overcome her fear of retribution by the technician and told

the psychiatrist of the incident.  As it turned out,  the psychiatrist was

able to discover the truth of the case, and found that the technician

had taken pictures not only of this young girl,  but also of a number of


Mimi H.  Silbert
Page 21

other youngsters in the ward, many involving bizarre, violent,

sadomasochistic sexual situations.   When the mother was told that the

situation was in fact a true one, she was outraged at the hospital,

then continued her feelings of shame and disappointment in her daughter

9
and the belief that the daughter was "oversexed".  Her mother's

response increased her secrecy, withdrawal, and self-blame.  Although

she was released fromthe hospital, Audie ran away from home and

spent eight years on the street.  She entered Delancey Street when she

was twenty.  She was completely desperate, hopeless, homeless, very


awry r and very guilty.  Indeed.  she had attempted suicide twice, was

a heroin addict, felt completely out of control both of her life and of

her current compulsive thoughts and behavior, had an extremely low

self-concept,  and was violent.  Although she used sex for money, for

attention, and as a way to get what she wanted, she had no emotional

involvement with any of her sex partners and, aside from tremendous

rages and swings to incredible quilt and self blaming, she had little


or no affect.

3.   Years Later

The long term impact of participating in pornography appears to be even

more debilitating than the immediate effects.  The initial negative responses

of shame, fear, or anxiety develop into extremely negative self-concepts,


Mimi H Silbert
Page 22

sustained shame and anxiety, deep despair, inability to feel, hopelessness,

and psychological paralysis.

For example, Mike had participated in making hard-core pornography films

for profit beginning at the age of 16.  Mike had been in and out of juvenile

halls since he was 12, for being incorrigible at home and for other minor

juvenile offenses, and he was using drugs by age 15.   He had had one

girlfriend from age 14 to 16.  At 16, while he was in juvenile hall,

the girl  left him for their drug dealer and began turning tricks on the


street.  In response, when released from the hall, Mike headed to a

commercial pornographer known to the qanghe ran with on the streets.

He made films for the company for a one year period.  During that time

his drug problem increased greatly, and he felt the money he was making

from the pornography was not enough to sustain his drug habit.   He left

pornography and became involved in a series of burglaries and armed

robberies which had him in and out of prison for ten years.   Mike came to

Delancey Street at 27, functionally illiterate, unskilled, alone, and

wanting to die.

In working through his past to build a new life during his stay at Delancey


Street, Mike found his involvement in pornography to be the hardest part of


his life to admit.  He concealed it for a long time, and when he finally

disclosed it, although he experienced an initial relief from its being out
                  .;

in the open, he began having repeated nightmares, and became extremely

paranoid, despite the fact that he had had no real problems with paranoia

since coming to Delancey Street.  He was unable to get into a relationship


Mimi H. Silbert
Page 23

for several years, and was obsessed with the fact that everyone scorned

him and wanted nothing to do with him because of his "debasing myself,

making myself so low, doing disgusting sex thing after sex thing.   I

didn't care what or who I put it in.  I have no right to touch any decent

girl.  I mean like I feel bad about what I did to my family and everything
r

and I ripped off an awful lot of people and I know I was a real scumbay

for a lot of years.  But at least with that I feel like now that I'm

helping people and doing good things, a lot of the rest of me can be a

person who can hold his head up again one day.  But somehow the stuff

that I did for (name of pornographer) and that I let them film and that

I know people saw, I just don't think I can touch any girl.  I don't even


mean sex.  I mean I can't love anyone good.  I'm like an animal.  why

would she want to have anything to do with me?"  It took over two years

of intensely working with Mike to bring him to separate the acts from

himself and the past from his future.  When he finally entered his first

relationship, he had a great deal of difficulty.  However, he at least

was able to feel some hope and investment in the future of his life.  Now,

five years after entering Delancey Street, Mike has earned a G.E.D., is a

licensed electrician and a diesel truck driver, and has been in a healthy

relationship for a year.

Like Mike, mostof those who were used as juveniles to make pornography,
particularly hard-core pornography,' expressed deep humiliation, extremely

'The impact on participants in juvenile pornography may differ in accordance with
various categories of pornography.  Those involved in hard-core pornography in
which sex acts, bizarre or violent varieties of sexual intercourse are photographe
or filmed, seem to have the most intensive and extensive damage.   Those who were
used to pose for nudist materials with sexual simulations and implications appear
to have somewhat less extensive damage.  Because no real study was conducted to
differentiate the extent of the negative emotional and attitudinal impact of the
pornography on the juvenile victims, these are merely suppositions.


Mimi H.  Silbert'
Page 24

long term and very negative impacts on their attitudes toward themselves,

towards sex, towards their intimate relationships with others. An

overwhelming sense of unworthiness and dirtiness pervaded virtually all

of their pictures of themselves.

Julia came to Delancey Street for help at age 21; she had prostituted in

massage parlors for 3 years;  she had been used to make pornographic films

commercially, but primarily underground pictures and videos for 4 years

prior to that.

Julia grew up in a middle-class area in a small city in the Southwest

where she attended parochial school until she was 14 years old, when she

dropped out of school.  Shortly thereafter she ran away from home. Up

to that time she had lived at home with her step-father, mother, and three

step-brothers.  Her step-father drank excessively while she was growing

up; her mother worked and was not at home a lot.   There was some violence


in the home, in which her step-father hit her mother while drunk on numerous

occasions and also beat her randomly throughout the years she lived at home.

Julia was sexually abused by one of her step-brothers from the time she


was 12 until she left home.  "He and my step-father and one of the other

brothers used to watch these pornographic movies out at my Dad's workshop.

They were always laughing and making loud noises when they watched it and


I wanted to be included.  I was in a weird position in the house anyway.

I'd call my father my step-father because he isn't really ny father.   But


Mimi H.  Silbert
Page 25

he was the father of the boys and two of them were older then me.

Even the younger one was his.  I don't know what happened with me. I


don't know if I was a bastard or what.  I only know he wasn't my father

and I used to have to call him step-father and no one would tell me

"who my real dad was.  Anyway, I wanted to see what the movies were that

they'd always be watching.  SO one day my oldest brother took me in and


showed me.  To tell the truth I could hardly make out what was going on,

but as he was watching he became more excited.  He started showing the

movie a second time and started masturbating and making all kinds of

disgusting comments.  I wanted to get out of there by then but the workshop

door was locked and no one came home in the afternoons until dinnertime.

At the end of the second time, he pushed me down and tied my hands with

his belt and raped me... He told me that if I told my mom I would be kicked

out of the family because I was only there because he and his father and

brother agreed that I could stay.  I was sobbing and begging him but he


told me that we'd do this whenever he wanted and that I better not tell

anyone... I didn't tell and that's just what happened.  I did what he

said and never asked any questions and I never told anyone and I kept

feeling sicker and sicker.

One day I was making trouble at school and the nun started screaming at

me and saying 'everyone knows what's wrong with you girl'.   IkneWI

hadn't told but I thought everyone must know.  I-ran home that day and

decided I didn't care what anyone did to me.  They could kill me but I was

never going back to that school...Anyway, with things getting worse at home

and having no real friends anymore, I decided torunaway to (the nearest

big city)...


Mimi H.  Silbert
Page 26

I was having a hard time surviving, SO when he offered to pay me

and feed me and buy me some clothes just for letting him take pictures

of me, I really thought I had a good deal.  After a few months I really

thought everything was going to be great.  I was sleeping with him, and

I didn't care that the cameras rolled and took pictures of us while we

made love, because he was the first guy who really seemed to want me.

After a while he told me that I was the best he'd ever seen, and he thought

I could probably take two or three guys on whereas most girls couldn't do


that.. .I really didn't want to, but it seemed real important to him and

I wanted him to be proud of me.  He was 33 years old and I knew he had

lots of women and I thought if I was the only one who could do this, then

I must be really something special to him...

They began to film with with several guys... Then came all the disgusting

things; they would just put anything up me, stalks of celery-.-then it

started with the Coke bottles.  It became a big deal, how I could get

bigger bottles up me than anyone that had worked for them...

By this time I had been with (name) for about three years.  He was still

supporting me, but he was now beating me a lot, and was spending most of

his time with other girls.  I was getting completely broken and desperate.

I started using drugs about two years into being with him, and now he is

no longer asking me to do anything to make him proud.  Now he would just

withhold my drugs and tell me if I wanted them I'd have to do these things.

I needed that dope just to get through the day.  I was strung out pretty

bad and I didn't care what they put up me and I didn't care how many

of them took pictures of it.  I really didn't care about nothing...

The thing I guess that finally got me out of there is when he brought


Mimi H.  Silbert
Page 27

another woman he'd been with and told me I had to do it with her for the

pictures.. .I don't know why that was worse than bottles or celery or

maybe it was just all of it combined but anyway, I had just had it.

So I took off . ..I was just about 18.
?

I survived for a couple months although hekeptcoming after me.  The

people at the place I was staying at told me not to worry, that they'd

protect me.  I guess it wasn't so much that I was afraid but more that

I thought that he really must want me badly because he kept coming after

me.  I thought maybe he found out I really was special and would stop

beating me up and stop playing around with all those other women.    I

don't know, anyway I went back with him.  Then the same stuff started all

over again.

Finally I took off for good.  I ripped off one of the guys and had enough

money to get myself to (another state).  I decided I'd straighten out some.

I was still shooting dope,  but not as much as I had been.   And I swore I'd

never let anyone take no pictures of me again... I ended up working in a

massage parlor.. -It wasn't as bad as what I'd been doing.   A lot of them

were old, you know, kind of disgusting, but at least I didn't have to do

all that weird stuff . ..By then I was so sick of myself and being used by

old men.. .I decided to come to Delancey Street to try to get my life back."

After three years of intensive counseling and work developing her strengths

at Delancey Street, Julia still found herself choosing men who did not treat

her well, and rejecting men who were good to her.  Even after several years

of a successful career in interior design,  and success and confidence in all


Mimi H.  Silbert
Page 20

areas of her life,  Julia still felt she was "almost compulsively attracted

to self-centered guys who used me, and bored by the nice guys."   She is

still working on feeling worthy of a mutually caring relationship.

These case studies typify many of the adolescents who have been used to

make pornography.  Over time their self-concepts are eroded. The

problems which occurred during the time of the exploitation were made worse

as the years passed, particularly because most were unable to disclose the

exploitation or to resolve it in any healthy fashion.  As a result, they

feel horrible, not only about themselves, but about the people around


them.  They describe feeling desperate about their lives, out of control of
both their thoughts and their behaviors, unable to make it in society, and

unable to separate the acts they had been involved with from themselves.

It is important to understand how large a role secrecy played for most

of these youths.  The same feelings reported by victims of physical and

sexual abuse were described by juveniles about their being used for

pornography.  They felt there was absolutely nothing they could do about


the victimization.  I suggest here that when excessive victimization is

coupled with the lack of understanding of the causes of the abuse, as

well as a sense of impotence to do anything to change the situation, then

a sense of psychological paralysis develops.

Psychological paralysis is characterized by immobility, acceptance of

victimization, feeling trapped and hopeless, and the inability to take


Mimi H.  Silbert
Page 29

the opportunity to change.  As I define it, psychological paralysis seems


to occur as   an outgrowth of extended and repeated situations which

lead to "learned helplessness".  A growing body of literature in social

science has shown that when people (and animals) undergo a series of

'negative events over which they have no control, the result is learned

helplessness. 9  The research on learned helplessness is focused generally

on animals and task performance of people.  Some literature has explored

the relationship between learned helplessness and clinical depression,

with a focus on particular groups such as autistic children or battered

wives.  Learned helplessness has been found to be related to depression and

ineffective ways of dealing with events, even positive ones.  After people

have developed learned helplessness they are less likely to believe that

they have control over the success and failure of their experiences,

assuming that they are going to fail at tasks that would otherwise have

been within their ability.

It is my contention that a sense of psychological paralysis pervades those

juveniles who havebeen used as juvenile prostitutes and to make pornography

who claim that they hate what they are doing, who feel that they did not

choose to do that, yet who seem to be completely unable to leave the life-

style, sometimes even when other opportunities are offered.  They maintain

a belief that bad consequences would occur to them no matter what new steps

they would take.  They have lost any sense of control over their lives

and have accepted feeling trapped and victimized.

9 Seliqman, M. Helplessness "Cm Depression, Development and Death", Freeman
Press,  San Francisco, 1979.
Walker, L.E., "Battered Women and Learned Helplessness", Victimology, 2, 3-4,
1977-78.


Mimi H. Silbert
Page 30

Therefore, whatever other controversial issues surround the subject of

pornography, it clearly behooves us to make available to juveniles used

by adults to make pornography intervention services to help them gain

control over their lives.  While not all appear to be seriously traumatized

at the time that they are involved, the long term effects seem to be

extremely damaging for so many, particularly when compounded by other abuses

and/or secondary problems.


TECHNIQUES DESIGNED TO MITIGATE THE IMPACT OF MASS MEDIA

SEXUAL VIOLENCE ON ADOLESCENTS AND ADULTS

Paper prepared for the Surgeon General's Workshop on Pornography
and Public Health , June 22-24, 1986 in Washington D.C.

Authors:

Edward Jonnerstein

Center for Communication Research
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Daniel Linz

William S. Middleton Memorial Veteran's Hospital
                 and

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Preparation of this paper as well as some of the research reported
herein was supported by National Science Foundation grant YBNS-8216772
to Dr. Edward Donnerstein and Dr. Steven Penrod, University of
Wisconsin-Madison.


                                                                   1


I.   Introduction

   The concern over the potential effects of med ia v iolence on both children and


adults is not new.  The research literature abounds with studies showing effects

on behavior, attitudes, and perceptions.  While there are disagreements regarding

the relative contribution of mass media violence to actual aggressive behavior

(e.g., Freedman, 1984), the research community is fairly unanimous in its

conclusion that at least some individuals are affected and that exposure to many

types of violent media can contribute in some part to the general incidence of

violence in our society.  The research findings linking exposure to mass media

violence with anti-social behavior have been summarized in the 1982 NIMH report on


media violence and will not be discussed here.

   Uhile the last two decades were devoted to research on the impact of mass

media violence, the last few years have seen some emphasis on methods of

countering or mitigating the impact of exposure to media violence.  This research

has nowap reached the point where we can say with certainty that a given message,

educational program, or label on a particular media product is effective in

reducing the impact of exposure to violence.  We are, however, able to identify

some promising procedures developed independently by several researchers that may

counter the effects of exposure to media violence.  The intent of this paper is to

very briefly review these findings and the findings from empirical investigations

on the impact of exposure to sexual violence, and then to review in greater detail

attempts at mitigating the effects of exposure to violent pornography and mass

released (R-rated) sexually. violent media presentations.  Several of our

suggestions for intervention programs for consumers of sexual violence are derived

from the results of investigations of programs to counter the effects of exposure

to milder forms of violence contained in network television portrayals among

gradeschool children.


II.  The Effects of Exposure to Sexual Violence in the Media


L

   By the latter part of the 197,0's many persons were becoming concerned about

what appeared to be an increase in violence in pornographic materials. Feminists

warned that: ". . . pornography is in fact escalating its misogyny, promulgating

raw, mutilation, and even murder as average sexual acts, depicting the 'normal'

man as a sadist and the 'healthy' woman as a willing victim" (Morgan, 1978, p.

55).  Although it is not clear exactly to what extent pornographic depictions in

American society have become more violent, there exists preliminary evidence from

systematic content analysis of both "hard core" materials (Smith, 1976a, 1976b)


and "soft core" materials such as Playboy and Penthouse magazines (Malamuth h

Spinner, 1980) that violence in pornographic portrayals had increased at least

throughout the 1970'9.  The extent of the increase in the 1980's is at this point

largely unknown. There is some suggestion, however, that materials more readily

available to adolescents, because of cable and VCR access, are perhaps more
sexually violent than traditional X-rate: materials (Palys, 1986).

  Regardless of whether there has been an increase in violent images in

po~ography , the combination of portrayals of sex and violence in the material

that is available may be especially potent for several reasons (Malamuth, 1984;

Malamuth 6 Donnerstein, 1982).  First, the pairing of sex and aggression in

violent pornographic depictions may classically condition viewers to become

sexually aroused to violence.  It is assumed by many psychologists and

psychiatrists (Abel, Blanchard, h Becker, 1978) that such conditioning processes

are responsible for the behaviors of sexual offenders.  Second, much aggressive

pornography has as its predominant theme the idea that victims secretly desire

assault, often deriving sexual pleasure from it.  This may cause the viewer to

believe that women want to be sexually assaulted, and even if initially resistant

to sexual advances will eventually submit and even "enjoy" the aggression.

Continued exposure to depictions which portray this message or "rape myth" may

affect both attitudes toward sexual violence and behavior.  It is precisely the


3

portrayal of this myth in violent pornography that may account for many of the

increases in male sexual arousal to rape depictions, male perceptions and

attitudes towards rape victims, and aggressive behavior against female victims

following exposure to the material.

   Several studies have shown that if the victim is portrayed as becoming

involuntarily sexually aroused by the assault, subjects show levels of sexual

arousal as great and sometimes greater than those stimulated by mutually

consenting sex (Malamuth & Check, 1980a, 1980b, 1983; Malamuth, Helm & Feshbach,

1980).  On the other hand, more realistic rape portrayals which depict the victim

as abhorring the experience are significantly less sexually arousing than

consenting portrayals (Malamuth 6 Check, 1980a, 1980b; Malamuth, Helm, & Feshbach,

1980).

   Several studies have also shown effects for exposure to aggressive
pornography on aggressive behavior in the laboratory.  Subjects exposed to

illustrated stories from Penthouse magazine depicting the rape of a woman with

"some suggestion" of a positive outcome who were also given a communication

designed to reduce inhibitions against aggression delivered significantly more

electric shocks to a female confederate.  Donnerstein (1980a, 1980b) conducted

similar studies using short pornographic film clips.  The results showed that the

combination of exposure to aggressive pornography, a high level of pre-exposure


anger, and pairing with a female victim resulted in the highest level of

aggressive behavior (compared to neutral or nonaggressive pornographic films).

However , even non-angered male subjects exposed to violent pornography showed

significantly higher levels of aggression when paired with a female victim. In

another experiment Donnerstein and Berkowitz (1981) showed that exposure to

aggressive-pornographic films in which the movie victims appear to enjoy being

roughed up or are sexually aroused while being raped tend to increase subjects'

later aggression against a female even when the subjects are not angered.


4

Exposure to aggressive-pornographic depictions with a realistic outcome in which

the victim is shown to abhor the experience, however, does not appear to result in

greater levels of aggressive behavior against women by non-angered subjects,

although the greater aggression is still found for angered subjects.

   There is also evidence that exposure to mass media that portray violence

against women in sexually nonexplicit contexts may affect males' attitudes and

levels of aggressive behavior as measured in the laboratory. For example, in a

field experiment Halamuth and Check (1981a) tried to determine whether the

depiction of sexual violence contained in mass media nonpornographic depictions

such as The Getaway and in a mass-released film with similar content influenced

the viewers' perceptions of women and their attitudes towards women.  In their

investigation male and female students participated in a study which they were led

to believe focused on movie ratings.  One group of subjects watched, on two

different evenings, The Getaway and Swept Away (which also shows women as victims

of aggression within erotic contexts).  A group of control subjects watched

neutral, feature-length movies.  These movies were viewed in campus theaters and

as part of the "Campus Film Program."  The dependent measures were scales

assessing the acceptance of interpersonal violence (AIV) against women, rape myth

acceptance (WA), and beliefs abour adversarial sexual relations (Burt, 1980)

which were embedded in a larger scale containing many items as part of a "Sexual

Attitudes Survey."  Subjects reported that they saw no connection between the

survey and the movies.  The results showed that viewing the sexually aggressive

films significantly increased male but not female acceptance of interpersonal

violence and tended to increase rape myth acceptance.

  In two more recent studies, Donnerstein (1983a, 1983b) and Donnerstein and

Berkowitz (1983) tried to assess the impact of nonpornographic depictions of

sexual violence against women on physiological arousal, attitudes toward women,

and aggressive behavior in the laboratory.  In the study by Donnerstein (1983)


5

subjects were first either angered by a female or angered by a male confederate

and saw one of four types of short films.  One group saw a sexually explicit

aggressive-pornographic film in which a woman is attacked by a man at gunpoint,

tied up and raped (violent pornography).  The second group of subjects saw the

aggressive-pornographic film with the sexually explicit parts edited out (a clip

that might have been suitable for cable television).   In this film the woman is

still attacked by a man at gunpoint, tied up, slapped around and generally

aggressed against; but, there was no nudity or even simulated sexual activity.

The third group of subjects saw non-violent pornography. The fourth film was a

non-sexually explicit, nonviolent neutral presentation.  The results of this study

showed that for subjects angered by a female confederate, both the

violent-pornographic film and violence-only film conditions produced heightened

levels of aggression.  The Donnerstein and Berkowitz (1983) study showed a similar

pattern of results.  Angered subjects exposed to aggressive but nonpornographic

materials behaved more aggressively towards a female confederate than control

subjects exposed to nonviolent pornography. Attitudes about rape and subjects'
willingness to say they might commit a rape were also measured. The most callous

attitudes and the largest percentage of subjects indicating some likelihood of

raping were found in the aggressive nonpornographic condition.

   Most recently, Linz, Donnerstein, and Penrod (1984), and Linz (1985) have

studied the impact of prolonged exposure to nonpornographic materials that portray

violence against women in an extremely graphic fashion (R-rated slasher films).

In one study, (Linz et al., 1984), men who viewed five movies depicting violence

against women came to have fewer negative emotional reactions to the films, to

perceive them as significantly less violent, and to consider them significantly

less degrading to women.  There was also a tendency for this "desensitization" to

the filmed violence to "spill over" into subjects' judgments of a female victim in

another context.  Men who were exposed to the large doses of filmed violence


6

against women judged the victim of a violent assault and rape to be significantly

less injured and evaluate her as generally less worthy than a control group of

subjects who saw no films.  An additional study (Linz, 1985) examined the

relationship between individual differences in psychoticism (as measured by the

SCL-90, Derogatis, 1977) and responses to R-rated, mass released movies containing

sexual violence and rape on later decision making about the victim of an

acquaintance rape.  The results showed several consistent interaction effects with

subjects with relatively high psychoticism who were exposed to the high sexual

violence (rape) films more likely to endorse the use of force in sexual relations

and evaluate a victim portrayed in a reenacted rape case as less credible, less

worthy and less attractive.

III. Mitigating The Effects of Sexual Violence

  At the end of all the experiments described above, subjects were debriefed.
These debriefings generally concentrated-on the unreality of the media depiction.

Subjects are cautioned that pornographic and nonpornographic portrayals of women

desiring, enjoying, or sexually aroused to forced sexual relations are fictitious.

Material is also presented which tries to dispel common rape myths (Burt, 1980)

especially any myths that have been portrayed in the stimulus materials used in

the experiment.

As Sherif (1980) has pointed out, it is extremely important for experimenters

in this area to evaluate the effectiveness of these debriefings. Over the last few

years several followup studies of the effectiveness of these debriefings have been

undertaken.  Donnerstein and Berkowitz (1981) compared the responses of debriefed

subjects who had been exposed to violent and non-violent pornography in their

study with control subjects exposed to a neutral film who received no debriefing

on seven items taken from the Rape Myth Acceptance scale and the Acceptance of

Interpersonal Violence scale (Burt, 1980).  Subjects in this study were followed

up anywhere from two weeks to four months after participation and asked to


7

complete the seven item questionnaire.  The results of this follow-up showed that

those subjects who viewed aggressive and non-aggressive pornography who were

debriefed showed less acceptance of rape myths than nondebriefed subjects (who had

been exposed to non-aggressive pornography or neutral films).

  More recently, Malamuth and Check (1984) conducted a study in which male and

female subjects were exposed to sexually explicit stories depicting either rape or

mutually consenting intercourse.  Afterwards, subjects exposed to the rape version

were given statements emphasizing that the depictions of rape in the stories they

read were complete fantasy, and that in reality rape is a serious crime punishable

by law and that victims of rape usually suffer severe psychological and physical

damage after the assault.  Subjects were also given specific examples of rape

myths and assurance that these commonly held beliefs are indeed completely

fictitious.  Ten days later subjects received, in their classes, a "Public

Survey." As part of the survey subjects-were asked to read newspaper articles and

give their opinions, one of which was an article about rape.  In addition,

subjects were asked questions regarding the police's decision to bring charges,

the victim's responsibility for her own rape,  the recommended sentence for the man

if convicted, and whether they thought they themselves might rape a woman if they

could be assured of not being caught and punished.  Subjects were also asked to

what extent victim, rapist, and societal factors contribute to rape.   There were

no effects for subjects' evaluation of the newspaper article on rape.  Subjects
who were exposed to the'rape stories and then debriefed were, however, less

inclined to see women as wanting to be raped, and victim behavior generally as a

cause of rape compared to subjects who read the consenting story and received no

debriefing.  Debriefed subjects were also less likely to see rape as the result of

a normal sexual tendency among males.

In another experiment, Check and Malamuth (1984), using basically the same

procedures, had subjects first read rape depictions in which the victim and


8

assailant were either acquainted or unacquainted with one another.  As in the

previous study, subjects were later (two to three days) presented several

newspaper stories with a story about rape embedded among them.  Subjects, when

exposed to the rape debriefing, gave the rapist in the newspaper report a higher

sentence and saw the rape victim as less responsible for her own assault.

However, these effects only happened if subjects had been exposed to an example of

a rape depiction which was relevant to both the rape myths discussed in the rape

debriefing and the newspaper report of the rape. Specifically, only when subjects

were exposed to an acquaintance rape scenario and given a debriefing which

emphasized rape myths pertinent to that acquaintance situation (e.g., a woman who

goes to a man's apartment deserves to be raped) was the debriefing effective.

Further, there were no effects for receipt of the debriefing if it was preceded by

a non-violent mutually consenting scenario instead of a rape scenario.

  The effectiveness of debriefings u&d in studies of long term exposure to

movies that are nonpornographic but portray violence against women in an extremely

graphic manner (R-rated slasher films) have also been assessed. One aspect of

these studies that is particularly noteworthy is the long term nature of these

followups.  Subjects who are surveyed as long as seven to eight months after

participation in debriefings show significant increases in their sensitivity

towards rape victims.  In a study designed to assess effectiveness of the

debriefing used in the Linz et al. (1984) study on long term exposure to R-rated

slasher films (Donnerstein, Penrod, &i Linz, 1984) subjects were assessed several

weeks before participation in the study, one to three days after participation in

the study and receipt of the debriefing, and again six weeks later.  At each point

in time subjects completed the entire Rape Myth Acceptance scale.

   The debriefing used in this study was a videotaped message in which one of

the principle investigators cautioned subjects that "constant exposure to violence

can desensitize or harden and make people callous to violence."  The part of the


                                                                      9

message particularly relevant to the rape myths portrayed in the films used in the

study emphasized that "one problem with some of the scenes in the films that you
saw this veek is that they tend to reinforce certain myths about rape such as the

notion that women who wear provocative clothing are asking for or deserve sexual

assault, or that women who put themselves in a risky situation are setting

themselves up to be raped and hence are responsible for what happens.  The filmL
Spit on Your Grave, in which the woman was camping and canoeing by herself,

illustrates this point."  The subjects were told that research has shown that

films of this type tend to reinforce and maintain these common but fictitious

beliefs about rape.  The results of the followup shoved that immediately after

participation in the study and debriefing, subjects' average scores on the rape

myth acceptance scale declined relative to the pre-study participation score by a
few points (although the decrement was not statistically significant).  The score
obtained six weeks later were nearly identical to the immediate post-participation
level scores (and still a few points lower than those obtained before the study).
  Perhaps more compelling is a followup study done by Linz (1985) which tried

to assess the effectiveness of debriefings given to subjects who received either

high (5 movies) or low (2 movies) doses of graphic filmed violence against women.

As in the previous study, subjects' scores on the Rape Myth Acceptance scale were
obtained before exposure to the violent films (in this case nearly two months) and

again after participation in the study and debriefing.  The films used in this

study did not portray rape behavior per se although the films could be interpreted
as propagating several myths about blaming the victim for her assault if she

places herself in certain situations.  Consequently, subjects were told:

  Although there were no rape scenes in these films, these films tend to

  reinforce certain myths about rape and other forms of sexual assault.

  Some examples of the types of rape myths that these films may have

   reinforced are that "only certain types of women get raped," or that "if


10

a women really vanted to fend off an attacker, she could," or that

"women who dress provocatively are asking to be sexually assaulted."

After receiving this message (conveyed by videotape), subjects were told

they would be contacted later and were dismissed from the laboratory.

As in the previous study the effectiveness of the debriefing was assessed but

instead of surveying subjects six weeks after participation, the subjects were

requested to complete the Rape Myth Acceptance scale six to seven months after

participation in the study and debriefing.  The results of this followup showed

that subjects experienced a statistically significant decline in Rape Myth

Acceptance relative to their pre-study levels. Further, the decline in this index

was equal in size for both the large dosage and small dosage film exposure groups.

   Similar decreases in Rape Myth Acceptance after a proper debriefing can also

be found among female participants in studies involving exposure to sexually

violent media.  Previous research on fen&e subjects' sexual responsiveness to

rape depictions indicates a tendency for women to become sexually aroused to rape

depictions if the depiction emphasizes the women victims of rape becoming sexually

aroused by the experience (Stock, 1983). More recently Krafka (1985) has found

that females exposed to R-rated non-pornographic sexual violence (slasher films)

become emotionally desensitized (less anxious and depressed) to these depictions

vith repeated exposure and later, when asked to evaluate a videotaped reenactment

of a physical assault-rape trial were more likely to evaluate the victim of sexual

assult harshly, than females exposed to other types of film.

   As with studies involving males, females exposed to sexual violence were

thoroughly debriefed after participation in these studies.  They were warned about

the possibility of becoming desensitized to the violence in the film stimuli used

in the study and are also debriefed about the portrayal of various rape myths in

sexually violent movies.  In addition to pointing out these concerns, females in

the study by Krafka (1985) also received an additional message concerning the more


11

general belief prevalent in our society that women are sexually aroused by force:

The sum total of rape-myth says that women enjoy rape, will be sexually
aroused by force, and that they ask to be raped in subtle, if not
direct, ways.  One of the most common sexual fantasies for women, in
fact, involves rape -a point that is not lost on the writers of
best-selling romance novels.  A common theme of the romance trade is
that a handsome devil-hero ravishes the novel's heroine in a fit of
uncontrolled passion;  she later falls in love with her ravisher. The
popularity of the romance novel is due in part, I think, to their
ability to play on our fantasies.  But important distinctions must be
made between the fantasy and the fact of rape.  First of all, fantasy
does not typically involve violence or pain. The typical rape fantasy
involves being overwhelmed gently by a man who considers one so
desirable that he quote "simply cannot control himself."  Second,
fantasy is safe. Lots of people, male and female alike, experience
things through fantasy that they would never want to experience in real
life.

Fantasy is okay -and yet we know that the typical real-world rape bears
little resemblance to either rape as it is depicted most often in film
or to the kind of pseudo-rape which might play out in a woman's fantasy.
Rape is a crime,  and it is a crime of violence that has little to do
with the satisfying of sexual urges.  It involves coercion.or threat in
some form, and in a large percentage of cases, requires physical force
to subdue the victim.  This may res_ult in pain or serious injury to a
woman, and most women who have been assaulted respond with extreme
emotional trauma.  Film-depicted rape tends to gloss over
unpleasantries, so consequently, it doesn't reflect reality.

Followvp evaluations of the effectiveness of a debriefing containing this

type of message have been undertaken immediately, six weeks, and six'months after

participation in the study and debriefing (Chapin, 1985; Krafka, 1985). The

results of these evaluations indicate that exposure to sexually violent materials

coupled with debriefings will produce significant reductions in rape myth

acceptance (compared to a baseline measure taken several weeks before

participation in the study) not only immediately but these effects will remain six

months later.

IV.  What Factors Mediate the Effects of Debriefings?

   As we have seen, subjects participating in studies using violent pornographic

depictions, as well as studies using nonviolent pornographic depictions of

violence against women who have received a proper debriefing, emerge from this

experience more sensitive to cultural stereotypes about violence against women.


12

Further, these effects have been found in studies in which subjects have been

exposed to relatively large or relatively small doses of sexual violence during

the experimental phase of the study, for male subjects as well as female subjects,

immediately after participation in the debriefings and six to eight months after

participation.

   What is it about the debriefings and/or participation in the studies

themselves that lead to these changes?  The results of two of the studies that we

have reviewed (Check h Malamuth, 1984; Halamuth h Check, 1984) suggest factors

about participation in sexual violence experiments and debriefings that may be of

great importance.  First, as Check and Malamuth (1984) note, it is probably

necessary to specifically tailor the debriefings to the types of myths portrayed

in the material used during the experimental phase of the study.  Debriefings

which focused on rape myths not specifically portrayed in the experimental phase

of the Check and Malamuth (1984) study, for example, were not effective in

reducing rape myth acceptance.  This finding seems congruent with the research by

Donnerstein et al. (1984), Linz et al. (1985), Krafka (1985), and Chapin (1985)

where debriefings were presented in a videotaped format which were interdispersed

with specific examples from the material presented to subjects during the

preceding phase of the experiment. Second, messages dispelling rape myths might be

most effective for subjects who had first been exposed both to the rape scenarios

in the experimental portion of the study and the debriefing.  Debriefings coupled

with pre-exposure to consenting sex scenarios in the Malamuth and Check (1984)

study were relatively ineffective in changing attitudes about rape.  These

findings imply that it may be necessary for subjects to first become aware of

increased levels of sexual arousal in response to the rape passages, or experience

desensitization in the face of violent portrayals and then to receive a debriefing

which addresses these processes.  As Halamuth, Heim, and Feshbach (1980) point


out, the debriefing might provide the subject vith a certain kind of insight


13

comparable to that experienced by students who might become aware of racist

feelings during a study on social prejudice.  This may also be the case for

subjects who have participated in studies using nonpornographic materials that

portray rape myths.

    We might add to this Nisbett and Wilson's (1977) observation that many

psychological phenomena such as the inhibition of helping due to the presence of

bystanders (Latane & Darley, 1970) and many experiments within the insufficient

justification paradigm (Aronson 6 Mills, 1959) probably would not occur in the

first place if people were aware of the impact of certain critical stimuli. If

subjects were aware of the effects of the presence of others on their tendency to

help they vould undoubtedly try to counteract that influence.  Similarly, as

Kelley (1967) has also noted, results of insufficient justification experiments

could probably never have been obtained if subjects were aware of the critical

role of social pressure from the experimenter.  If subjects realized that their

behavior was governed by this pressure they would not have been motivated to move

their attitudes into line with their behavior because they would realize that it

was the result of external pressure, not their own attitudes.  The debriefings

used in sexual aggression experiments might provide subjects with similar sorts of

insights about psychological processes.  This insight might then be useful for

subjects in short-circuiting the negative effects of exposure to sexual violence

in the future.

   To say that this process might serve to "inoculate" subjects against

uncritical acceptance of rape myths (in the classic persuasion and attitude change

paradigm, e.g., McGuire h Papageorgis, 1961) as have Check and Malamuth (1984),

may be somewhat inaccurate, however.  According to Check and Malamuth "presenting

a pro-rape communication (e.g., a rape depiction likely to result in subjects

perceiving the victim as a willing and perhaps blameworthy participant in the

assault) and then presenting counterarguments designed to dispel such rape myths


                                                              14

(e-g-, a rape debriefing) may serve to immunize subjects against uncritically

accepting rape myths in the future" (p. 17).  It is difficult to see exactly how

decreased acceptance of rape myths would be predicted by an inoculation to

persuasion approach as long as we adhere closely to McGuire's original

formulation.  It is possible, for example, that rape myths may be beliefs that are

similar to the "cultural truisms" that, according to McGuire and Papageorgis,

people are unpracticed at defending.  As Petty and Cacioppo (1981) note, because

people have no counterarguments with which to resist a persuasive message against

these truisms, they remain highly vulnerable to influence.  McGuire (1964)

suggested that an inoculation treatment would consist of exposing people to a few

pieces of counterattitudinal propaganda prior to exposure to the threatening

message and showing them how to refute these arguments.  According to the theory,

presentation of weak counterarguments produces resistance to future attacks

against the cultural truism because the inoculation poses a threat that motivates

people to develop arguments to bolster their initial beliefs. Thus, relatively

weak attacks (such as debriefings) might actually produce more resistance in

people to future attempts to dispel rape myths, not greater critical evaluation of

rape myths.

   Finally, a word of caution.  As the research currently stands it is

difficult to tell from any of the studies reviewed if 3 aspect of the

debriefings actually accounts for changes in subjects' rape myth acceptance or if

given enough time subjects would naturally experience a change in these beliefs.

Those debriefings which have been effective in changing subjects' beliefs have

always been preceded by exposure to the rape depiction phase of the experiment.

Consequently, it is impossible to rule out the possibility that exposure to the

rape materials alone and participation in some other activity besides the

debriefing, or even sufficient time for subjects to reflect or rest, might result

in lowered rape myth acceptance or at least a return of rape myth acceptance to


15

pre-study participation levels.  From a study by Malamuth and Ceniti (1986), for

example, we might suggest the possibility that a rest period might result in

greater sensitivity towards rape victims.  These authors have found that subjects

exposed to violent pornography who are asked one week later to participate in an

ostensibly unrelated experiment involving the administration of aversive noise

shoved no increases in aggression.  The findings of this study stand in apparent

contradiction to the results of previous studies (Donnerstein, 1980a, 1980b, 1984;

Donnerstein h Berkowitz, 1981; Malamuth, 1978). As Malamuth and Ceniti (1986)

point out the important difference between these studies and the Malamuth and

Ceniti study is that earlier investigations examined aggressive behavior

immediately after subjects were exposed to violent pornography rather than testing

for relatively long-term effects.  These findings suggest that with time subjects

exposed to sexual violence might return to baseline levels of hostility and

aggression toward women.  Rape myth acceptance among subjects exposed to violent

pornography might well decline naturally with the passage of time also.  However ,

examining the possibility of this decrement with time vould involve exposing

subjects to rape depictions and not debriefing  them -a procedure that would be

unethical.


V.   Designing Interventions to Counter Sexual Violence in the Media

  One way to test the idea that providing subjects vith knowledge about

psychological processes they may be experiencing while viewing sexual violence

might counter the effects of these depictions, would be to design an experiment

directed at reducing acceptance of rape myths and aggressive behavior towards

women in the laboratory through the use of E-briefings. Messages could be

constructed vhich inform subjects about the effects of exposure to violent

pornography and other forms of aggression against women administered before

participation in experiments.

Recently, Bross (1985) has examined the effectiveness of a pre-film message


                                                                  16

informing male viewers who were later exposed to large doses of R-rated slasher

films about the psychological processes which might be operating. These pre-film

messages explained to subjects what psychological effects might result from

viewing sexually violent media.  The message was similar to videotaped debriefing

presented after participation in experiments involving sexually violent materials

(e.g., Linz, 1985; Linz, Donnerstein, h Penrod, 1984). Clips of scenes from

slasher films were interdispersed throughout the filmed message to assist subjects

in understanding the effects that can be caused from viewing slasher films. Of

special interest were the subjects'  awareness of desensitization to violence and

the possibility that viewers maight come to viev violent scenes less critically

when they are juxtaposed with sexual ones.

   Thirty-three male introductory psychology students took part in the

experiment.  Eleven subjects were exposed to the manipulation, while the other
twenty-two were examined for comparison purposes.  Subjects were informed that

they had been chosen to take part in a film evaluation study and were to view six

full length feature motion pictures (all R-rated slasher films) over the period of


two weeks.  Subjects in the experimental condition saw the pre-film message before

viewing the first film. The control group simply saw the first motion picture

after signing the consent form.  All subjects viewed four more slasher films over

the next two weeks.  After each film subjects indicated how much violence they

perceived in the films, how degrading the films were to women, the realistic

nature of the violence and self-reported physiological arousal.  On the final day

of the experiment, all subjects were contacted by phone and told that the last

film they were originally scheduled to see had not arrived and were asked if they

would take part in a study being run by the University's Law School.  All agreed

and reported the next day to the law school courtroom vhere they viewed a

videotaped reenactment of a mock rape trial.  Following the viewing, subjects

evaluated a number of aspects of the trial (to determine if there were any "spill


17

over" effects into decisionmaking in a more realistic context).

   The pre-film message is a videotaped presentation with clips from slasher

films edited into the tape. The message stated:

During the next two weeks we will show you six full length feature films
and then will ask for your reaction to these films.  The six films you
will see during the next two weeks have one thing in common.  They are
all R-rated which means they all contain scenes of explicit aggressive
behavior.  In addition, the films may contain scenes of a sexual and/or
erotic nature.  I would not like to discuss with you the effect that
this type of material can have on viewers.

One major problem with these films is that constant exposure to violence
can desensitize or harden and callous people to violence in general. As
an example, we will show you some scenes from these films. [Film Clip]

While you may initially find some of the violence in these films
disturbing, it will perhaps become a little easier to tolerate the
violence after continued exposure.  This is a normal reaction. You
should, however, be aware that this type of film can make people less
sensitive to violent acts.

Another concern we have in reference to desensitization to violence is
that many of the films that you will see are particularly violent in
regard to women.  For example, the Tollowing scenes are among those you
vi11 see.

We are particularly concerned about the issue of violence against women.
Just as you may experience desensitization to violence after viewing
these types of films you may experience the same effect with regard to
violence against women.  Again, you should be aware of this issue and
sensitive to this problem.

A second major problem is that in many of the films an erotic or sexual
scene is combined or juxtaposed with a violent scene.  As an example of
this type of combination, here is a scene from one of the films.  [Film
Clip1

This type of scene map quicken the process of desensitization that makes
one more tolerant of violence.  Also, such a combination places the
violence in a very positive context because it occurs while the viewer
is aroused or in a very positive state.  Many of the violent scenes you
will see are preceded by sexual, sensual, or erotic content.   One
potential problem with this combination is that some individuals who
become sexually aroused to the sexual portion of the scene also become
sexually aroused to the violent portion of the scene.  Again,  this is a
normal reaction for some individuals but you should be aware that this
type of conditioning can occur.  Further, you should be aware that some
individuals become less sensitive to this type of violence, especially
violence against women when the violence is placed in an erotic context.
You should be aware that films like these can condition people to become
sexually aroused during violent scenes.


18

   Thank you very much for your cooperation in this film evaluation study.

It should be noted that this message tries primarily to increase awareness among

subjects of the psychological processes vhich might be the result of continued

exposure to slasher films, instead of a direct attempt to persuade subjects that

viewing sexual violence is wrong or harmful.

   The results indicated that, overall, subjects exposed to the pre-film message

were less susceptible to the effects of the slasher films on the first day of the

study than were those who were not exposed to the message (see Table 1). Although

the differences were not statistically significant, subjects in the message

condition reported seeing more violent scenes (number of scenes) and more violent

scenes directed at women than did subjects in the no-message condition.  Subjects

exposed to the pre-film message also reported seeing more combinations of erotic
and violent scenes than the non-exposure subjects on day one of the experiment.

Subjects in the message condition found The day one film to be significantly more

degrading to women than no message subjects.  There was no discernible pattern of

differences between prebriefed and control subjects' responses to the mock rape

trial questionnaire.

   Another finding that should be noted was the high dropout rate of subjects

who had been exposed to the pre-film message.  Eleven subjects were originally

shown the message on day one of the study.  One subject decided to not continue

his participation in the study immediately after viewing the message.  Over the

two week experimental period, four more subjects dropped out of the study (over

45% of those originally shown the message).  The no message group had only a 32%

drop out rate.  Comparisons between subjects who discontinued participation in the

experiment and those who decided to stay throughout indicate some interesting


trends.  Those vho dropped out of the study reported seeing more scenes of

violence, more combinations of erotic and violent scenes, found the film to be

more degrading to both men and women on day one than those who stayed for the


                                                                  19


duration.  Subjects who dropped out of the study also reported more physiological

arousal to the first film than those who completed the entire study.  The message

might have convinced subjects to leave the study.  In fact, one subject decided to

discontinue his participation immediately after viewing the pre-film message. He

stated that he did not want to be exposed to the slasher films because of the

possible effects that were mentioned in the videotaped message.

   The findings from this small scale study are, of course, only suggestive. The

effects for the most part are only trends and even these manifested themselves

immediately after the first film viewing in a two week long study.  More effective

may be an intervention program that assists young adults in making critical

evaluations of sexual violence in the media based on what has been learned from

research on mitigating the effects of TV violence on school children, a subject

which we will now adddress.

Mitigating the Effects of Television Vioience

   Recently there has been interest among mass media violence researchers in

teaching children skills to enable them to understand and evaluate what is being

presented on television (Anderson, 1980; Corder-Bolz, 1982).  The underlying

premise has b.een, in general, that the media can teach behaviors, but the

behaviors can also be unlearned (Eron, 1980). Of the studies undertaken, the

majority have been directed at modifying children's beliefs about

television-particularly beliefs about the unrealistic nature of much of what is

presented (Dorr, Graves, 6 Phelps, 1980; Huesmann et al., 1983; Singer, Zuckerman,

& Singer, 1980).  Most successful of these attempts has been an intervention

designed to change attitudes about aggression by Huesmann et al. (1983). The

program developed by Huesmann et al. relied upon some of the major empirical

developments in the area of aggression and television violence-including:  the

notion that children learn through the observation of aggressive models that

violence can sometimes be revarding or an effective solution to problems; that


20

increased identification with aggressors may facilitate aggressive behavior in

viewers; and that viewing violence that is portrayed as socially acceptable or

permissible may increase behavior. a Huesmann et al. reasoned that even if

children encoded the violent problem solving strategies they viewed on television

they might be less likely to enact these strategies if they could be convinced

that they are unrealistic, inappropriate, and unrepresentative of most people's

behaviors.

   In their study Huesmann et al. chose a sample of 169 first and third grade

boys and girls who had a history of high exposure to television violence who were

randomly divided into control and experimental groups, both of which received

three training sessions over a 6-8 week period.  Before the intervention the

children were pretested for the degree to which they considered the behavior of

television characters as realistic.  In the first study children in the

experimental condition were taught, through a series of discussions and lectures,

three principles:  (a) the behaviors of the characters on shows such as Starsky

and Hutch and Charlie's Angels do not represent the behavior of most people; (b)

the camera techniques and special effects give the illusion that characters are

actually performing highly aggressive and unrealistic feats; (c) the average

person uses other methods to solve their problems.  This technique resulted in

little change in the children's aggressiveness, as measured through a peer

nomination technique (Eron et al., 1971) or as measured by frequency of violence

viewing, judgments of television realism,  or television character identification.

Consequently, Huesmann et al. made a more direct attempt to motivate the children

not to encode and later enact aggressive behaviors based on counter-attitudinal

advocacy research that has been found CO be effective in producing enduring

behavioral changes in other domains (Cook h Flay, 1978).  In the experimental

group's training sessions children vere first credited with the attitudes that the

experimenters wished them to adopt.  The children were then asked to make


21

videotapes for other children who had been "fooled" by television and "got into

trouble by imitating it" even though they themselves knew better. Finally, the

children composed persuasive essays explaining how television is unlike real life

and why it would be harmful for other children to watch too much television and


imitate the violent characters.  A videotape of each child reading his/her essay

which was then played before the entire group.

   This second intervention was successful both in changing children's attitudes

about television and in modifying aggressive behavior.  Four months after the

intervention there was a significant decline in peer nominated aggression and

attitudes about the harmfulness of television violence for the experimental group.

Further, analysis revealed that the strongest predictor of decreases in aggressive

behavior and attitude changes about the harmfulness of television violence

occurred for subjects who had a tendency to identify less with television

characters.  However, the intervention did not significantly reduce violence

viewing or the judgments of the realism of television violence. As the reader will

recall,  Huesmann et al. (1983) reasoned there may be three factors contributing to

the likelihood that a child would behave more aggressively as a result of violence

viewing:  (1) the child's perception of the violence as realistic, (2) the child's

identification with the TV character; and (3) the child's beliefs about society's

acceptance of aggression.  Huesmann et al. (1983) have devised a successful

intervention program based on these three factors.  A very similar set of factors

may account for the young male adult's acceptance of sexual violence against women

and predisposition toward aggressive behavior following exposure to violent

pornographic depictions.  It is possible that an intervention designed to change

males' perceptions that the portrayal of sexual violence or rape in the typical

violent-pornographic film are realistic, reduce the likelihood of males

identifying with the aggressor in the pornographic film and change males' beliefs

about the acceptability of aggression against women, as well as providing subjects


22

with descriptions of the possible psychological effects of prolonged exposure to

violence against women, may result in less acceptance of violence against women

and lowered predispositions to aggress after exposure to violent pornographic

films.

   Such an attitude change program as Huesmann et al. point out may be most

effective if based on prior research on cognitive consistency and the persistence

of attitude change (Cook 6 Flay, 1978).  As Cook and Flay (1978) note, programs of

attitude change which involve making salient inconsistencies between attitudes and

behavior (emotional role play, behavioral rehearsal, modeling) or inconsistencies

with cognitions about the self seem to produce persistent attitude change.   For

example, observing one's own behavior usually causes greater and more persistent

change than observing others behave in some counternormal way (Bandura, Blanchard,

d Ritter, 1969; Mann & Janis, 1968); an attribution manipulation (in which the
subject can only justify his/her counter=attitudinal behavior by referring to an

internal disposition or motivation rather than some external motivation) results

in greater attitude persistence than the simple receipt of a persuasive message

(Miller, Brickman, & Bolan, 1975); and writing one's ovn counter-attitudinal

message will produce more persistent change than passively reading a message

(e.g., Watts, 1967). Examples of some of the long term changes caused by

consistency approaches include:  teaching children self-control and honesty-with

effects persisting for periods to 6 weeks  (Freedman, 1965; Lepper, 1973); and,

reducing smoking for up to 18 months (Mann h Janis, 1968).  These approaches have

also produced decreases in ethnocentrism (directed toward the physically

handicapped) vhich have persisted over 4 months (Clore 6 Jeffrey, 1972); and

reduced phobic behavior of many kinds for periods as long as 2 years (Cook h Flay,

1978).

Operationalization of the consistency approach for changing attitudes about

sexual violence might include:  (1) crediting adolescent males for possession of


23

the attitudes we wish them to adopt; (2) inducing behaviors that would lead to the

self-attribution of these attitudes; (3) inducing perceptions of personal

responsibility for an outcome related to the attitudes; (4) inducing the

perception of participation out of free choice, and (5) promoting the perception

that the consequences of their behaviors are important.  The subjects could be

asked to help (in exchange for a small payment) prepare a videotape on sexual

violence.  This film, they would be told, will be used in area high schools to

inform male adolescents who have been fooled by mass media depictions into

thinking that women desire sexual violence.  The subjects could then be informed

by the experimenter that he/she assumes that the subjects do not really believe

the message being advocated but a younger adolescent male might and therefore get

himself into trouble for imitating such behavior.  Subjects would then spend time

composing essays on the "myths about sexual violence" which will be read and

evaluated by the experimenter and then rewritten by subjects.  These essays will

then be read before a video camera.  Subjects could be instructed to focus on the

unreality of sexual aggression as presented in the media and why it is harmful to

adopt attitudes which trivialize rape and sexual violence.  These instructions

will be presented only as rough guides as the experimenter will emphasize the need

for subjects to contribute their own ideas.  Each subject's videotaped reading

will then be played before the entire group of subjects so that the group may

evaluate the product.

   This intervention procedure could be tested against a direct persuasion

approach designed to teach subjects:  (a) that women do not enjoy, desire or

become sexually aroused by violence and rape; (b) that repeated exposure to

violence against women may desensitize subjects to violence not only in the films

but perhaps co the plight of other actual victims of violence.   This intervention

would essentially be comprised of debriefing tapes and scripts we have used in

previous studies.  After subjects have participated in the interventions, several


24

measures of intervention effectiveness could be taken, including:  (1)

self-reported sexual violence viewing (in a follow-up assessment); (2) ratings of

realism in portrayals of sexual violence (i.e. , portrayals of the myth that women

desire sexual violence.); (3) general attitudes towards rape and rape victims; and

(4) identification with sexual aggressors.

VI.  Mass Audience Interventions

   The interventions suggested above are only practical with relatively small

groups of persons in a classroom or other controlled setting. Probably the most

well known efforts at educating the general public about sexual violence in the

media has involved large scale projects.  As Malamuth (1984) notes there have been

several large scale educational efforts directed at large audiences concerning

subjects such as rape and rape myths (e.g. Cry Rape, Why Men Rape, A Scream of

Silence) and pornography (e.g., Not a Love Story).  These documentaries were

expressly created to make the general public more aware of these issues.

If the effectiveness of other mass media campaigns are taken as an

indication, there can be little doubt that documentaries about rape or sexual

violence have great potential for informing the public about these issues if they

are seen by enough people.  Research evaluating the effectiveness of anti-smoking

televison information spots, for example, has demonstrated that these programs

have been successful in increasing public awareness about the negative health

consequences of smoking (Flay, 1986).  But, this success has probably been the

result of the large number of anti-smoking messages delivered during prime viewing

times.  Most public service announcement campaigns do not produce significant

effects because they consist of a small number of spots, often of questionable

quality delivered at unpopular viewing hours (Flay and Sobel, 1983).  In order for

informational programs on rape and sexual violence to be effective they must be

viewed by a large proportion of the population.  Even then,  the most effective

program for altering viewing patterns or changing attitudes about sexual violence


25

would include both a mass media information campaign conducted in conjunction with

small more focused workshop interventions such as the program suggested above in

schools or the home.  Programs which have combined mass media campaigns with

individualized skills training sessions have proven to be quite successful in

helping the onset of adolescent smoking behavior, alcohol and drug abuse (Flay h

Sobel, 1983).

   A preliminary investigation into the effectiveness of the film Not a Love

Story to change attitudes about pornography and sexual violence by Bart, Freeman

and Kimball (1984) suggest that viewers may benifit from exposure to this film.

Bart et al, surveyed a group of 332 males and 318 females after they had viewed

this film in an art film house in the Chicago area.  The findings indicated that

exposure to the film resulted in changes in beliefs and attitudes about

pornography (e.g., "I didn't know pornography was that violent", "The film made me

angrier about pornography"). Unfortunat<ly,  because the film audience was a

naturally ocurring group only self reported attitude change data was collected by

the investigators (i.e., subjects were asked if their attitudes about pornography

changed after viewing the film). No attempt was made to assess pre-film viewing

attitudes or compare the film-viewers attitudes with a matched sample of control

subjects.

   It should be noted that programs concerning rape and sexual violence aimed

at large audiences may also result in serious unintended consequences (Malamuth,

1984).  These films may contain explicit sexual depictions and rape scenes that

would be sexually arousing to some members of the audience.  This arousal may

interfere with the attitude changes sought by the films producers. In addition,

these films often contain interviews with convicted rapists or other persons who

may express rape myths.

Certain audience members may process only that

information which supports their preconceptions about rape and rape victims.


26

VII. Scientifically Adequate Evaluation8 of Intervention Programs

   Because of the possibility of unintended consequence8 arising from mass media

program8 and because of the fact that any discussion of sex or rape related issues

in the ma8s media is far from acceptable to many Americans there is a need to

proceed with 8ome caution when designing any intervention program.  Thus, while it

is necessary to conduct "formative evaluations" of any program in order to collect

information on preliminary implication8 of outcomes before the program is

implemented on a wide scale, it is particularly true of this area. The fact that

Not a Love Story was restricted to certain type8 of educational theaters by the

Ontario, Canada film board because member8 of the board felt that film might be

misunderstood by the causal movie going public is illustrative of this concern.

Social scientists or other parties interested in creating educational programs for

widespread distribution should be especially vigilant about evaluating their.
program8 at each point in the development stage to avoid the possibility of

creating programs unnaceptible for large segments of the audience (or at least

objectionable to a vocal minority of vievers who are likely to unduly influence

decisions by local broadcast television or educational distributors).

   Any intervention program developed to counter the effects of sexual violence

in the media should also be subject to rigorous "8ummative evaluation" in which

the desired outcomes of the program once implemented are 88Se8Sed.  It is not the

intent of this report to present a detailed list of proceedures for

methodologically sound program evaluation.  Such advice can be otained from

several source8 (e.g., Flay h Best, 1982).  It is appropriate to note that none of

the debriefing projects discussed in this paper would qualify as intervention

programs appropriately designed and evaluated.  The more obvious proceedural

omission in the debriefing research described here is the lack of

"attention-placebo groups" who undergo the same or similair activities as

recipients under test but do not recieve the actual component8 of the program


                                                                  27

assumed to be reponsible for attitude or behavioral changes. The use of attention

control groups is, as we have mentioned before, unethical.  Researchers who have

exposed their subjects to depictions of sexual violence cannot manipulate

characteristics of their debriefings in order to eliminate essential components

for one group or another.  It is important to recognize that no truly adequate

scientific evaluation of interventions designed to mitigate the effects of sexual

violence in the media can be accomplished unless at least this minimum requirement


is met.

VIII. Summary and Conclusions

    In this paper we first discussed research findings in the domain of sexual

violence including pornographic and nonpornographic depictions of violence against


women.  We noted that research on the effectiveness of debriefings following

participation in these studies indicates that subjects who participate in

experiments involving exposure to sexual-violence and who receive an appropriate

debriefing emerge from this experience more sensitive to the issues of violence

against women and rape than before participation. This suggests that a program

based on the best features of programs designed to counter the effects of

television violence and debriefings from sexual violence experiments might be

effective in providing adults with the critical viewing skills necessary to

counter the effects of exposure to violence against women in the media.

   In closing we might add that while programs designed to mitigate the effects

of sexual violence on young adults are certainly worth undertaking, waiting until

late adolescence or early adulthood to teach critical viewing skills may, in fact,

be waiting too long.  A recent report on the viewing patterns of a sample of 4,500

children in England and Wales (countries that have declared many of the sexually

violent films which receive an R-rating in the United States to be "obscene")

indicates that by the ages of 7 and 8, 6.5 percent of boys in those countries have

seen the movie I Spit on Your Grave.  The percentage climbs to nearly 20 percent


28

by age 13-14 (Hill, Davis, Holman, h Nelson, 1984).  Comparable data for the

United States is not currently available.  One can probably safely assume that if

20 percent of pre-adolescent males have seen a film declared liable for

prosecution, and thus relatively scarce in Great Britain, a much larger number of

pre-adolescents have probably been exposed to such films in the United States. In

addition, with the current availability of home videocassette players, and cable

television services devoted to "adult" entertainment--much of which may include

sexual violence- we should expect that an even greater number of young children

will be exposed to these materials in the future.

    We have attached as Appendix 1 an overview of a multimedia educational

program designed by the Media Action Research Center in New York which we believe

can address many of the issues we have discussed.  The program is intended for

those in the 11 to 18 year old age range and could become part of sex education or

media courses in the schools.  This partfcular program is currently being

considered for funding by various foundations.


29

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children critical television viewing skills: An evaluation. Journal Gf
Communication, 30, 84-93.

Smith, D. D.  (1976).  Sexual aggression in american pornography: The stereotype
of rape.  Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological
Association, New York City.

Smith, D. D.  (1976).  The social content of pornography. Journal of
Communication, 26, 16-33.



36

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2.


3.

4.


5.

6.


7.

8.


9.

10.



11.





12.



13.





14.

Figure 1.  Rape Myth Acceptance .Scale  Items

A woman who goes to the home or apartment of a man on their first date implies
that she is.tiElbn.g to have sex.

Any female can get raped.

One reason that-women falsely rep0uf.a rape is that they frequently have a
need to call attention to themselves.

Any healthy w&an can srtecessfully'.re$ist a rapist&if she really wants to.

When women go around braless or wearing short skirts and tight tops, they are
just asking for trouble.

In the majorit@ of rapes;. tne victd&.&s promiscu0us;or has a.-bad. reputation.

If a girl engages in neekihg or petting and she Iets things @Lout of hand,
it is her- own fault if her partner forces sex on her.
                                                ...-..-mII____  _I - _.
Women ~o~~t-r~~~~~~hite~fk~g~.t_ahat,~hey,de~rrprr,
                 --        --.-_

A woman who is stuck-up and_'nh$aks.'&e ;4%~&00;g~dlS~,C_~~;EZr;lguys on the
street deserves to be taught a lesson.

Many women have an unconscious wish JO be raped, and may thea unconsciously
set up a situation in which they are fikelp to be attacked.

If a woman gets drunk at a party and has intercourse with a man she's just met
there, she should be considered "fair game" to other males at the party who
want to have sex tith her too, whether she wants to or not.

What percentage of women who report a rape would you say are lying because
they arc angry and want to get back at the man they accuse?

What percentage of reported rapes would you guess were merely invented by
women who discovered they were pregnant and wanted to protect their own
reputation?

A person comes to you and claims they were raped.  Row likely would you be to
believe her/his statement if the person were:

.  . . your best friend?
. . .  an Indian woman?

. . . a neighborhood woman?
.  . . a young boy?
. . .  a black WOIIUI?

? ? o  a white woman?



APPENDIX I

This project is a multimedia educatioaal program des.&ed;.as an intervention
strategy to help young people understand the nature and influence of sexually
violent media and the ncitur&`o~+e%uiLIy Gvioienti behaviqc +and its impact `on
individuals and society.

Tatgc t Group

me audience yt have determined to be mast at risk from sexually violent media
are seventh through tvelfth grade, fyt166 e~&&tt .phrs .df .age 233 seventeen.

This age group has the skills and developmental maturity to understand the
concepts and yet are still in the f&&fft+ei $~&ig&s: air&i-bi-kely:tb assimilate
 new-att&&s. both. ~~ic:-4y. and.e,yyicq5aive- .* The men in this age group aIso shape
G r a,nd-.$acb, their &*,ua?$,m$(urit)J' -$d'~l~~~ty*
Ii :,q+i,.ide'&~Jy-yi$h $ers df `Ijoth'a.d~~&k'k'    `&+ wor&a-~~8aabLiih thiir role
                                              e:' A .: ;   T-r':;! ;?" .-1,y--.      . .
                . . -. - 35 ..fi    : ,     ; I  : 3-,r:: ..(
                                                  7. i    : 1.. . .   >:,I,,.:_ ..z
                                                                 `-. :::.
  It is our intent t0 create a program'?t&t --can-- ach~ev6:`:aCEe~ta~ce.: in the

school, church and home vith this,ra.r;get gr_oup.
                                   I, : 2: -y : c. t;r;.    r,ri
                                           5 , . . .  I F 5. x >T < .-. c, L ; _ . i    _
                                                                .   . .

4.  To change vieving habits;                   s-; :c; .<; ,:,+I 5


A presentation of the messages in myths reinforced by sexual violence in the
media.   This module portrays the nature  ~~~~~ d~~~-~~ i n g
                                                                   a=
misconceptions.   Students discuss  t eir  ideqs about myths and reality and
                               ;c-c,

monitor their ovn attitude changes. 6 6s;  -,rj $; LZ;; p':`i*`l  se6947i. C.I'

Interviews of victims and offenders of sex&' %~l%&&ipt%U%%J~t~~~sis for
discussion.  The impact of sexual violence  is taken out of the realm of the
media and into the real world for c~d~d"s'c~~~~'andL-di~~Sdofi~~'Sj -Y .i
                                                                0 4


EIDEETE OF. l'RE EDUCATIONAL CRWICDLDl4

Our project  vi11 use both exposition, and interaction in its curriculum
approach.  `This ;u+kes the program a dynatiic and individualized process
depending hiariry 00. strident input.  It is respoa8ive to current programming
and ,cu+&t `fir-4' &i&&o-.offeringt, aL any given. tiq- and. allows for the
exptessioa "of ' i&iv'idu%l `%ntatests, insights and needs of each partic-ipating
group of young people.

The teach$r'r guide offeSs direction in presenting the expository. sections and
of fe+s quest%% and: : Toll&through `.-act ivit~iia~." It.` iIso -.provides  various
dyne$c istf4@$si;;~ . i _
          such `& siti'latiotis; iiii~rovijht~iohg ad oFher kinds of
open-ended :$dttvitiee Fo facilithtie awar&nis'a.+ .>Theae arcivit%,es also provide
the oppo:$tfkiCp- `foi r&debts L tb' `6oAitor <iiqir ovn &iases .. and, .-changing
at t it.udes .

The program arterial is dcrigued-,bot-h for classroom and at home.  Involving
t+3-+ers. axid  p?Fedtr' ' `in,-.-the<" educationif
-honon-jqsi'cxipti&-uiy diff&ir t$fe' "chkged" .. - $tdcerr in . a;-. oon+judgxental,
                           aatirre: of--;thti prog.~::mate<ial.

These uqtivatioaal elements provid; the nucleus  for follov-up. iu group
discuss ion, iiiuklat io'a lehiig `aEt i<iries `ind individubl' &pnasi@

j3ov.e ve r , a generalized pedagogy needs measurable learning objectives.   Because
ue believe this" Eu&ikul& %s so `&*ak"uti&l -to our- si*a~Lr, we @pose to
ev$&e. `the foIloviqg-Objectives.

Aft.er participating :i,u the five wdules,
following obj~t~kas, Th&$"ohj&ctivG students will be able to achieve the
                    `ai'e derigriat&U: to; M `part of the

formative vplidaiion &die. `& `s-tive revi&& -to' W. c@uctcd:

1.. -Identify examples of sexualized violeqcc in the medid. (MQduLe 1)

2. .List possibla effects of such violence.  (Modules 1, 2, 3, 4)

3, Cite examples. of hov media portrayals have influenced their own
  attitudes aad%eh&&ir; `(MddJkr'2;"3~%)

4. Identify co-n wths and misperceptioaa regarding -cape and
iexualired vioZinci"M-portri$i& iii: tlie~tidi~? ;`(M&iles 2; 5)

5. Critically, eraluate sexually violent prograrmaing so as to mitigate
potentially.uegatiM efbcis. (UbduiG~Y~!5'~
        -.-

6,. Explqin the role the awdia consuaux plays in program availability.
  (Mbduk 5 )