Lecture Notes
Chapter 22 Sex and The Law
Modified:
2007-05-18
Laws about sex are an old tradition and are designed to protect the
weak, uphold public morality and decency, and the commercialization
of sexuality. What is the state of the laws governing sex today?
- Why Are There Sex Laws?
- Ancient idea and long tradition in West
- Some sex laws are necessary: sexual assault,
exploitation of children
- Other laws were designed to protect the family as a
social unit: adultery and fornication
- Still other laws protect social morality: homosexual
behavior, bestiality, contraception
- Church and state issues: Anthony Comstock
(1844-1915)
- Double standard issues
- What Kinds of Sex Laws Are There?
- Crimes of Exploitation and Force
- Rape (see Chapter 17)
- Over 100,000 reported rapes/year
- underreported crime
- Views
- victim precipitated
- psychopathology of rapists
- feminist
- social disorganization
- Data and Views
- cultural values
- sexual scripts
- early family history
- peer-group influences
- situation
- victim
- miscommunication
- sex and power
- masculinity and men's attitudes
- Aftermath
- acute phase
- long-term reorganization phase
- Date rape
- more common than thought
- response by schools
- Spousal rape
- the Rideouts
- positive correlation with battering
- Gang rapes
- fraternities, sports teams, gangs
- Prison rapes
- common
- dominance motivation
- Rape prevention
- know own limits
- decide about intercourse early
- no mixed messages
- be forceful and firm
- make a scene
- avoid drugs and alcohol
- listen to own feelings
- don't go home or to his home
- Incest
- Criminal Consensual Acts
- adultery
- cohabitation
- miscegenation
- sodomy
- Crimes Against Good Taste
- exhibitionism
- voyeurism
- solicitation
- disorderly conduct
- public nuisance, general lewdness
- Crimes Against Reproduction
- Criminal Commercial Sex
- prostitution
- obscenity (Internet)
- Sex-Law Enforcement
- Inconsistent enforcement is the norm
- Leads to abuses and unfairness
- Trends in Sex-Law Reform
- Decriminalization of sexual behaviors
- Right to privacy--not explicitly guaranteed in the U.S.
Constitution
- Equal Protection--does it apply to gays, lesbians, &
commercial sex workers
- Victimless Crimes--prostitution
- Pornography--soft core, hard core, Internet, child
- Obscenity--offensive to society or to authorities
- Reproductive Freedom--Roe vs. Wade (1973) and its
sequelae
- Ethnicity and Sex Laws--White women have had more options
for reproductive freedom
- Sex and the Law in the Future
- Arkansas Sex Laws
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