Stacey Hust, Washington State University – Popular Crime Shows Influence Behavior

Could watching Law & Order:SVU make you less likely to commit a sexual crime?

Stacey Hust, associate professor of communications at Washington State University, wonders whether TV crime shows affect the intentions of viewers who watch them.

Stacey J.T. Hust (Ph.D., 2005, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) is an associate professor of communication and Director of the Strategic Communication Sequence in The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University.  She is nationally ranked by the Communication Institute for Online Scholarship for her health communication research focused on media and children, gender, conflict (sexual assault reduction), and substance abuse prevention.  Her research identifies effective health communication messaging that can be used to reduce sexual assault and promote healthy sexual relationships among young people.

She also investigates the media’s effects on youths’ romantic and sexual relationships.  She and Kathleen Boyce Rodgers received the 2014 Mary Ann Yodelis Smith Award for Feminist Research from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.  Hust and Rodgers also earned one of two National Council on Family Relations Innovation Grants in 2014. Dr. Hust is ranked 28th out of 3,091 national and international authors for the number of top conference papers (source: AEJMC).

Hust’s research has been published in the Journal of Sex Research, Journal of Health Communication, Health Communication, Mass Communication & Society, and others. Her research has been sponsored by the United States Department of Education, the Washington State Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, and the Washington State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program.

Popular Crime Shows Influence Behavior

Healthy sexual consent negotiation is vital in establishing that sexual activity is consensual and wanted. Given that crime dramas like Law & Order SVU and CSI often include storylines about sexual violence, it is important to identify the association of watching these programs with attitudes and intentions related to sexual consent negotiation.

Previous research identified exposure to crime dramas was positively linked to intentions to intervene during a sexual assault and reduced acceptance of rape myths. Yet content analyses indicate a marked difference in the content of the most popular crime drama franchises.

A survey of 313 college freshmen explored the influence of watching Law & Order, CSI, and NCIS. 

Overall, the results indicate the context of mediated portrayals is an important factor to consider.  Watching Law & Order programs was associated with viewers’ increased intentions to adhere to expressions of sexual consent and to refuse unwanted sexual activity. 

In contrast, watching CSI programs was associated with decreased intentions to both ask a partner for consent and to adhere to a partner’s sexual consent decisions.

One of the marked differences between Law & Order and other crime dramas is its focus on the criminals’ trials. Viewers of Law & Order not only see the criminal act taking place, but they typically see the criminal punished for the crime.  This judicial punishment is rarely seen in other crime dramas.  Individuals who watch programs in which sexual predators are punished may try to avoid sexual predatory behavior in real-life.  

This study provides evidence that crime dramas could be a useful tool to promote sexual assault reduction. The results indicate that simply depicting the issue and its impact on the victim may not be enough to influence attitudes and behavior.  Instead, sexual assault reduction messages should emphasize the rewards of practicing healthy sexual consent negotiation.