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Pornography
When Porn Consumption Goes Up, Sex Crimes Go Down
Contrary to media hysteria, research shows that porn reduces sex crimes.
Posted September 13, 2016
On January 23, 1989, on the eve of his scheduled execution via electric chair, notorious sociopathic serial killer Ted Bundy sat down for one last interview with Dr. James Dobson, a psychologist and evangelical founder of the organization Focus on the Family. In his final hours, Bundy had one last confession to make and Dr. Dobson, who had spent his entire career battling against the forces of tolerance and diversity (literally- click on the links, especially the first one where Dobson claims that "tolerance" and "diversity" are buzzwords to promote homosexuality), was just the person to hear it.
First things first, Bundy wanted to clear the air and set the record straight. His upbringing and family had nothing to do with his evil exploits. Indeed, according to him, "I grew up in a wonderful home with two dedicated and loving parents, as one of 5 brothers and sisters. We, as children, were the focus of my parent’s lives. We regularly attended church. My parents did not drink or smoke or gamble. There was no physical abuse or fighting in the home. I’m not saying it was 'Leave it to Beaver', but it was a fine, solid Christian home."
Alright, so it appears that childhood trauma and its counterpart, "eroticized rage" played no role. No, there was another culprit at work. Porn. You see, according to Bundy, he developed an "addiction" to hardcore, graphic porn. As a child, he would "explore the sideways and byways of ... neighborhoods, and in our neighborhood, people would dump the garbage" which "included detective magazines, etc." as well as "the most damaging kind of pornography."
Dobson prompts him, "It fueled your fantasies."
Bundy continues his narrative of being victimized by porn addiction, "Once you become addicted to it, and I look at this as a kind of addiction, you look for more potent, more explicit, more graphic kinds of material. Like an addiction, you keep craving something which is harder and gives you a greater sense of excitement, until you reach the point where the pornography only goes so far - that jumping off point where you begin to think maybe actually doing it will give you that which is just beyond reading about it and looking at it."
Dobson concludes the interview, "Do you deserve the punishment the state has inflicted upon you?"
At this point, Bundy deflects and points the finger of guilt on one thing and one thing only-- porn. "What I hope will come of our discussion is that I think society deserves to be protected from itself. As we have been talking, there are forces at loose in this country, especially this kind of violent pornography, where, on one hand, well-meaning people will condemn the behavior of a Ted Bundy while they’re walking past a magazine rack full of the very kinds of things that send young kids down the road to being Ted Bundys. That’s the irony."
According to Bundy, it is our society that is to blame. Every magazine rack full of porn is an incubation chamber for future sex killers. Certainly, well-meaning people will condemn Ted Bundy, but they are ill-informed, as Ted Bundy is the real victim here.
Someone reading this for the first time might see the obvious flaws in Bundy's argument. They would be able to point out his cognitive distortions, projections, deflections, and other manipulative tactics to take the responsibility off of him for his actions. But amongst anti-porn activists, Ted Bundy is a sage, a respected thinker whose words carry great power and gravitas (click the link).
Armed with the words of Ted Bundy, porn detractors have their slogans in place:
“Look at the serial killers in our country that were raised on porn.”
“Porn degrades women as objects.”
“Porn promotes violence against women.”
And so on, and so on. Is it true that porn creates more societal sexual violence? I recently appeared on a nationally broadcast debate with Dr. Neil Malamuth about the GOP Platform position that porn is a "public health crisis" and we debated this very point. You can see the discussion in the video here.
Now that you've gotten a quick primer, let’s take a look at the facts. In the debate, Dr. Neil Malamuth discusses his confluence model, in which he states that some men are more at risk for becoming more aggressive when they watch porn, and these men are characterized by "hostile masculinity", (i.e. sociopathy or something like it). So according to him, there's a small percentage of antisocial individuals that are prone to acts of violence after viewing sexual imagery.
But what about the vast number of people who are not struggling with "hostile masculinity?" As I detail in my upcoming book, Modern Sexuality, unlike Bundy's anecdotal evidence, we have real science behind us to help answer the question of whether or not porn increases violence. And we have lots of it. Researchers in many countries have actually taken a look at this. And the results are conclusive.
In every country studied, sex crimes have fallen inversely with the legalization of pornography. Yes, you read that right. Porn up, sex crimes down. This research, spanning over twenty years, covers three continents and dozens of countries, including the USA, Croatia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Czech Republic, Japan, and Shanghai and Hong Kong in China. Take a look at these citations-- Czech Republic; Japan; USA, Denmark, Sweden and West Germany.
In 2007, Professor Todd Kendall of Clemson University stated that based on his extensive research, “Potential rapists perceive pornography as a substitute for rape… pornography is a complement for masturbation or consensual sex, making pornography a net substitute for rape." Let’s take a look at this statement a little closer. Professor Kendall is saying that people who are thinking of rape actually choose to watch porn instead of going out and acting out on their urges. And that pornography merely leads to masturbation or consensual sex.
That about sums up my experience as a sex therapist as to how I address porn with my clients. For many, porn is their first introduction to new sexual activities and experiences that they were never aware of before. For many couples, watching porn is the fuel for mixing things up and adding variety to their stale sexual lives. For many men, porn provides the sexual variety that they crave without feeling like they need to get that variety outside of their relationships. For most, porn is a source of inspiration, creativity, and new possibilities. Yes, for some it is a refuge from life and relationship problems. But that doesn’t mean porn should be banned. And, in the big scheme of things, porn helps society by reducing sex crimes.
Next time, someone warns you of the dangers of porn, just remember this simple slogan, backed up by decades of scientific research: Porn up, sex crimes down.
