The most familiar female cop on television is staring into the eyes of yet another rape victim. She looks like the victim of a violent street abduction — bruised, swollen and scratched. Olivia Benson speaks calmly, her voice full of practiced concern.
“This man, can you describe him?”
The victim takes a breath. “Yes,” she says. “Yes, I know him.”
Olivia, as played by Mariska Hargitay, doesn’t look surprised.
Researchers at Washington State University who study the way the media influences the public have long been curious about crime procedural dramas, which have proliferated to the extent that kinky serial killers are as commonplace on the airwaves as wacky sitcom neighbors. Lead researcher Stacey J.T. Hust wondered: Do these shows make us more intelligent about crime, or more indifferent to it?
Hust and her team sent out a survey to WSU’s dorm-dwelling freshmen, seeking data on which crime shows they watch. They also asked them their views of sexual assault, such as what they believe it means for a person to consent to sex and whether they think some victims “ask for it.”
Unsurprisingly, the most popular crime shows among those surveyed were the long-running hit franchises “Law & Order,” “CSI” and “NCIS.” But after controlling for factors like gender and whether the respondents had experience with sexual assault, the researchers found only the “Law & Order” dramas had a positive effect on the students’ views. “NCIS” had a mostly neutral effect, while “CSI’s” was actually negative.
Students who watch “Law & Order” were less likely to buy into rape myths, more likely to adhere to their partner’s decision about whether or not to have sex, and more likely to say no themselves to sexual activity they did not want, the researchers concluded.
“but we know there is a definite association there.”
Her hypothesis: “Law & Order” victims don’t cleave to stereotypes: They’re not necessarily alone or in an unsafe place or dressed “provocatively” when attacked. The attackers are of all races, ages and socioeconomic statuses. Even when the victim is a sex worker or porn star, the stories assert that he or she had every right to refuse sex. And at the end of each episode, the criminal is almost always found guilty.
“According to social cognitive theory, seeing them punished for that action will likely make the viewer think, ‘I don’t want to do that. I don’t want that punishment,’ ” Hust said.
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The habitually violent show is not without its critics, who argue its ripped-from-the-headlines plots veer toward seamy sensationalism. The Season 15 story arc in which Olivia was kidnapped and tortured was singled out in some quarters as especially exploitative.
But accurately portraying the complications of sex crimes in the justice system is an ongoing concern at NBC, where “SVU” executive producer and showrunner Warren Leight is tasked with making entertainment out of real-life scenarios, such as Rolling Stone’s publication of false
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