| Abstract: | Reviews the book, Pornography and sexual aggression by N. M. Malamuth and E. Donnerstein (1984). Malamuth and Donnerstein are well qualified to prepare a book on pornography by virtue of their extensive research on the topic over the last several years. In 1970, the United States Commission on Obscenity and Pornography concluded that there was no evidence that pornography had adverse effects on the incidence of violence toward women. It is clear from Malamuth and Donnerstein's chapters that they believe the evidence now points to radically different conclusions and that a book summarizing all of the evidence was warranted. In the opening chapters, Malamuth and Donnerstein present summaries of their respective lines of research. Malamuth has concentrated primarily on the effects of aggressive pornography on men's sexual arousal to portrayals of coercive sexual interactions, their self-reported likelihood to rape, their acceptance of rape myths, their acceptance of interpersonal violence, and the belief that women enjoy being raped. Donnerstein discusses the effects of aggressive pornography on men's aggression toward females in a laboratory situation. The evidence presented in the book points to three main conclusions: (a) portrayals of sex and violence in the media have important effects on at least some people; (b) it is possible to formulate general theories to account for most of the results presented; and (c) the results present serious problems for society. This book is an important contribution to the literature on the effects of pornography. Put together in one volume, the evidence on the effects of pornography, especially violent pornography, is very convincing. The theoretical aspects of why this should be so are much less convincing. But the authors have made a good beginning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
