Page 327 - Media Effects Advances in Theory and Research

316 HARRIS AND SCOTT

Results have been inconsistent, sometimes showing that an increase in
availability of sexual explicit media is associated with in increase in rape
rates (e.g., Court, 1984; Jaffee & Straus, 1987), and other times suggested a
decrease or no difference in rates of rape and other crimes (e.g., Kutchin-
sky, 1973, 1991). This inconsistency in the literature may be in part due to
sampling and procedural differences across studies and in part due to cul-
tural and national differences in social attitudes toward rape, rates of
reporting, and likelihood and severity of punishment.
One of the most interesting examples of cultural factors is seen in the
case of Japan, which has wide availability of sexually explicit materials
(including high levels of sexual violence) but at the same time very low
rape rates (Abramson & Hayashi, 1984; Diamond & Uchiyama, 1999). Sex-
ual themes in Japanese art and society go back centuries and continue to
be strong, without being associated with shame or guilt. Although Japan
has specific legal restrictions against showing pictorial representations of
pubic hair or adult genitalia, sexual depictions are not restricted to
“X-rated” magazines, books, and films. Thus, nudity, bondage, sado-
masochism, and rape occur regularly on commercial television, popular
movies, magazines, and even in advertising. Films often portray very
vivid scenes of rape and bondage. In recent years a market has surged for
magazines featuring pictures of naked schoolgirls. It is legal in Japan for
men to have sex with children over 12, and some schoolgirls earn extra
money from prostitution or catering to men’s sexual fantasies in Tokyo’s
“image clubs” (“Lolita in Japan,” 1997).
Why, then, is the incidence of reported rapes in Japan less than one-
tenth the rate in the United States and one-quarter the rate in western
Europe? Some have suggested that rape in Japan is more likely to be
group instigated, perpetrated by juveniles, and greatly underreported by
victims (Goldstein & Ibaraki, 1983). These factors are unlikely to entirely
explain the difference, however (Abramson & Hayashi, 1984). Japanese
society emphasizes order, obligation, cooperation, and virtue, and one
who violates social norms is the object of shame. This probably discour-
ages victims from reporting rape but also greatly discourages and stigma-
tizes those who perpetrate it.
Firmly establishing a causal relationship between the availability of
sexually explicit materials and the incidence of crimes like rape is
extremely difficult, due to the many other relevant factors, including the
different varieties of sexual material, cultural differences, changes in
social consciousness about reporting sexual assaults, and changing norms
sanctioning such behavior. Although there may be positive correlations
between a specific measure like sex magazine circulation and reported
rapes within a narrow geographical area (e.g., Court, 1984; Jaffee &
Straus, 1987), a more general conclusion remains elusive.