TY - JOUR
T1 - The Findings and Recommendations of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography
T2 - Do the Psychological "Facts" Fit the Political Fury?
AU - Linz, Daniel
AU - Donnerstein, Edward
AU - Penrod, Steven
PY - 1987/10
Y1 - 1987/10
N2 - "The Attorney General's Commission on Pornography has concluded that there is a causal relationship between exposure to many forms of pornography and several antisocial effects, including increased levels of violence against women. As a result of these findings, the commission has called for more strict enforcement of existing obscenity laws and serious consideration of additional legal measures not traditionally handled under obscenity law. The authors question whether the social science data relied on by the commission justifies either the commission's conclusions about harm or the call for more stringent law enforcement. Although some of the commission's findings appear to be sound extrapolations from the empirical studies, the authors find several of the commission's findings and recommendations incongruent with available research data. Instead of advocating stricter legal controls the authors reiterate their call for educational programs to mitigate the effects of sexual violence in the media.
AB - "The Attorney General's Commission on Pornography has concluded that there is a causal relationship between exposure to many forms of pornography and several antisocial effects, including increased levels of violence against women. As a result of these findings, the commission has called for more strict enforcement of existing obscenity laws and serious consideration of additional legal measures not traditionally handled under obscenity law. The authors question whether the social science data relied on by the commission justifies either the commission's conclusions about harm or the call for more stringent law enforcement. Although some of the commission's findings appear to be sound extrapolations from the empirical studies, the authors find several of the commission's findings and recommendations incongruent with available research data. Instead of advocating stricter legal controls the authors reiterate their call for educational programs to mitigate the effects of sexual violence in the media.
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U2 - 10.1037/0003-066X.42.10.946
DO - 10.1037/0003-066X.42.10.946
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0006793178
SN - 0003-066X
VL - 42
SP - 946
EP - 953
JO - American Psychologist
JF - American Psychologist
IS - 10
ER -