Paper Title
Problems with Aggregate Data and the Importance of Individual Differences in the Study of Pornography and Sexual Aggression: Comment on Diamond, Jozifkova, and Weiss (2010)
Keywords
- Pornography
- Sexual Aggression
- Individual Differences
- Aggregate Data
- Public Policy
- Sexual Offenders
- Attitudes and Behaviors
- Crime Rates
- Cross-National Studies
- Societal Indicators
- Pornography Consumption
- Sexual Crimes
- Research Methodology
- Legalized Pornography
- Displacement Function
- Population-Based Studies
- Sexual Violence
- Media Influence
- Policy Implications
Journal
Research Impact Tools
Publication Info
Volume: 40 | Pages: 1045–1048
Published On
February, 2011
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Abstract
The influence of pornography on attitudes and behaviors has been a longstanding question that has provoked considerable debate among researchers (Malamuth, Addison, & Koss, 2000; Marshall, 2000). Evidence associating pornography consumption with aggression would be important, not only for public policy and legislation, but in the assessment and treatment of special populations, such as sexual offenders. In this commentary, we briefly discuss the methodologies in which pornography’s putative effects have been examined, with particular note of the aggregate approach employed by Diamond, Jozifkova, and Weiss (2010). We conclude with a brief review of the literature on pornography’s role in affecting negative attitudes and behaviors among certain individuals. Aggregate-Level Analyses Investigations examining the putative effects of pornography have employed several different study designs. Some researchers have argued for examining the association between the availability of pornography in a given society and fluctuations in the incidence of sexual crimes. Analyzing aggregate-level data is consistent with numerous cross-national studies that have attempted to identify important societal indicators as predictors of problematic behavior (e.g., LaFree, 1999). Recently, Diamond et al. examined the incidence of a range of officially reported sexual and non-sexual offences in the Czech Republic over a period of approximately 30 years. Fluctuations in sex crime rates were compared across periods in which various sexually-explicit materials were banned to a time when all pornographic material, including child pornography, was legal and widely available. Results were consistent with many of the earlier population-based studies conducted in many different countries (e.g., Diamond & Uchiyama, 1999; Kutchinsky, 1973, 1991), such that the shift toward legalized pornography was associated with either a decrease (or no substantial and lasting increase) in the incidence of child sexual abuse, hands-off sexual offending (e.g., indecent exposure), and rape or attempted rape. In discussing their findings, Diamond et al. suggested that pornography is a substitute for sexual aggression, stating that ‘‘our findings support the displacement function of pornography for potential sex offenders.’’
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