[E237]TV Crime Shows Influence Sex Consent Views

TV Crime Shows Influence Sex Consent Views

You can talk to teens[青少年] all you want about sex. But if you want to drive home healthy messages about consent[准许，赞同; 同意; （意见等的）一致], maybe you should have them watch: “In the Criminal Justice system[刑事司法制度] sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous[可憎的；极凶恶的]…”

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit[法律与秩序：特殊受害者]. Really. Compared with other TV shows, anyway. Because a study finds that college students who watched episodes[一集] of the various Law & Orders had a better understanding of sexual consent issues than those who watched two other crime procedural[程序性的] franchises[给…以特许权], NCIS and CSI. The research is in the Journal of Health Communication[健康传播杂志].

【参考】

• 《法律与秩序：特殊受害者》（Law & Order: Special Victims Unit）是一部由Dick Wolf创造的美国电视剧，于1999年9月20日起在美国国家广播公司播出。

• 《海军罪案调查处》（原名：NCIS，是Naval Criminal Investigative Service的缩写）是美国哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）电视网的一部电视系列剧。

• 《犯罪现场调查》，CSI: Crime Scene Investigation，美国电视剧。

For the study, researchers asked more than 300 college freshmen[大一] if they agreed or disagreed that if a woman is raped she is at least somewhat responsible, a concept called rape myth acceptance. The students were also asked about their intentions[意图;打算] to seek consent for sexual activity and their intentions to refuse sexual activity.

The results: the college students who watched ripped-from-the-headline[源于头条新闻/Inspired by the headline] Law & Order versus the other shows had stronger views about consent and were less likely to accept rape mythology. Watching CSI, where the victim is often dead and treated as another piece of evidence[证据], was associated with lowered intentions to seek consent and a greater acceptance of rape myths. Exposure to the NCIS franchise was associated with decreased intentions to refuse unwanted sexual activity.

Previous research found that the Law & Order shows directly challenge myths[神话( myth; 杜撰出来的人] and stereotypes[老套，模式化的见解] related to sexual assaults[性侵犯]. While CSI has been criticized for plotlines[情节主线，主要情节] that reinforce rape myths.

So it turns out watching those shows—at least for college-aged kids—may have some effect on sexual consent intentions and behavior. And when it comes to Law & Order, that effect could be positive.

—Erika Beras

From 60-Second Science