America and Violent Crimes
The Trouble With America is there are an estimated 1 million sexual predators. 1 in 3 women (and possibly more, according to http://www.gmu.edu/facstaff/sexual/brochures/WorldStats2005.pdf) in America will be sexually assaulted (in one way or another) in their lifetimes. 1 in 7 men will be sexually assaulted, as well.
You may say that this is the case everywhere, but that is simply not the case. According to the above link, Brazil has numbers closer to 10% (for women).
So why the deviation in America? What is it that makes Americans so much more likely to produce sex offenders?
In my opinion, it's a combination of things.
Certainly, the hypersexualization brought on by the media, particularly focused on young girls (ie Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears) that has been going on for years must play some factor. One thing that I find interesting is, while watching old horror films (the Friday the 13th series, Halloween, etc), is that following almost all of the sex scenes was a scene of violence against women. That's just an interesting tidbit, that I'm sure sociologists are able to comment on much more articulately than I can.
The proliferation of pornography, combined with young boys' access to it (via the Internet) can't help, too much, either. Pornography in America is a mega/multi-billion dollar a year industry, and it's growing more rapidly than ever before.
But there's something else about America that is very unique, in terms of developed nations. We seem to have a much more violent culture than almost anywhere in Europe, North America, South America, and Asia.
The number of gun-related deaths in America is up to 100 times greater in America than in almost any developed nation in the world. Upwards of 30,000 gun-related deaths in 1999, according to The National Vital Statistics Reports of 2001. Murders in 2003 accounted for over 17,000 deaths in America (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/finaldeaths03_tables.pdf#2).
I don't really know why America is so violent. I'm sure a lot of people have very good ideas about it. Dougles Morris, author of "It's a Sprawl World After All" presents a very insightful reasoning for it, linking the single-use zoning (along with less investment in public transportation) that became so prevalent after World War II (thanks to big oil and the auto manufacturers) to the breakdown in communities that left families on their own, resculpting the economic environment to favor those who had the means to afford transportation on the highway (ie cars). Everyone else was out of luck. You can go to Morris' website at http://www.itsasprawlworld.com.
You may say that this is the case everywhere, but that is simply not the case. According to the above link, Brazil has numbers closer to 10% (for women).
So why the deviation in America? What is it that makes Americans so much more likely to produce sex offenders?
In my opinion, it's a combination of things.
Certainly, the hypersexualization brought on by the media, particularly focused on young girls (ie Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears) that has been going on for years must play some factor. One thing that I find interesting is, while watching old horror films (the Friday the 13th series, Halloween, etc), is that following almost all of the sex scenes was a scene of violence against women. That's just an interesting tidbit, that I'm sure sociologists are able to comment on much more articulately than I can.
The proliferation of pornography, combined with young boys' access to it (via the Internet) can't help, too much, either. Pornography in America is a mega/multi-billion dollar a year industry, and it's growing more rapidly than ever before.
But there's something else about America that is very unique, in terms of developed nations. We seem to have a much more violent culture than almost anywhere in Europe, North America, South America, and Asia.
The number of gun-related deaths in America is up to 100 times greater in America than in almost any developed nation in the world. Upwards of 30,000 gun-related deaths in 1999, according to The National Vital Statistics Reports of 2001. Murders in 2003 accounted for over 17,000 deaths in America (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/finaldeaths03_tables.pdf#2).
I don't really know why America is so violent. I'm sure a lot of people have very good ideas about it. Dougles Morris, author of "It's a Sprawl World After All" presents a very insightful reasoning for it, linking the single-use zoning (along with less investment in public transportation) that became so prevalent after World War II (thanks to big oil and the auto manufacturers) to the breakdown in communities that left families on their own, resculpting the economic environment to favor those who had the means to afford transportation on the highway (ie cars). Everyone else was out of luck. You can go to Morris' website at http://www.itsasprawlworld.com.
posted by Tim C at 11:17 AM
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