One of the biggest issues in sexual violence
research, especially child sexual abuse research, is the lack of a coherent
baseline. We read research like David Finklehor’s telling us that sexual abuse
is, statistically, on the decrease (NY
Times) while at the same time we are confronted with ever increasing media
stories about the escalation of the reporting and unearthing of sexual violence
cases. The fact that sexual abuse has
been under reported and under recorded historically, although this is starting
to change in recent years (NSPCC),
means that we never really, accurately,
know whether there has been an increase or decrease in recent years.
This is stated even with the proviso that there are other data capture
techniques which can be used in conjunction with police recording including,
medical reports, social work reports and school reporting. Hence, it difficult to truly get to grips
with the nature, extent and reality of sexual violence in modern society and
that is just focusing on westernised and developed countries, never mind
developing nations. This knowledge vacuum has been, in part, replaced or supplemented
with soft, experiential evidence provided in large part by the media, especially
the television and print press. The ever increasing reporting of sexual abuse
cases, particularly child sexual abuse cases, results in an ipso facto understanding, especially
among the public and politicians, that there is more offending; for if
offending was not increasing then there would be nothing to report? However,
this is not necessarily the case, for as Greer & Reiner (2012) state the
media can often misrepresent the abnormal as normal, therefore in their over
reporting of unique cases they give the impression that there is more
offending. Child sexual Abuse is a particularly potent case of this as it meets
all the core components of newsworthiness generally containing, either,
(1) a visible/spectacular act, (2) graphic presentation, (3) deviance, (4)
sexual/political factors, or (5) individual pathology (Chinball, 1977). The lack of a sexual violence baseline
and issues in media reporting reach almost perfect storm portions with
celebrity sexual offending.
In recent years, especially the last 10 years or so,
there has been an onslaught in the reporting of, recording of and high profile
media discussion of celebrity sexual abuse cases, on both sides of the
Atlantic. It seems that since the Michael
Jackson and Gary
Glitter (Paul Gadd) cases in the late 90’s/early 2000’s there has been an
increase in the reporting of sexual abuse by celebrities, historical and
current, with a flood gate being opened. In the USA the big cases of Late has
been the Jerry Sandusky, Steubenville, OH,
and the Duke
Lacrosse team, where in the UK there has been a number of historical
(Jimmy
Savile; Rolf
Harris; Stuart
Hall) and contemporary (Ian
Watkins)individual perpetrator cases
as well as the suggestion of a cover up of sexual
abuse by members of the government. This raises an important question,
relating to media coverage and the lack of a baseline, has there actually been
an increase in the rates of sexual abuse by celebrities or is it just that
victims feel better able to report and police forces feel more confident to
pursue these cases? This piece will now
discuss the central parts of the argument in turn,
(Sexual) Abuse by celebrities: There is
no reason to believe that celebrities would be any more or any less susceptible
to being perpetrators of sexual violence comparable to the ordinary members of
the public from whence they came. However, what we do know is that celebrity is
often linked with cognitive distortions, aspects or narcissism; where often
times there whims maybe more likely to be catered to and aspects of
transgressive behaviour (i.e., drugs, sexual promiscuity, minor offences, etc)
either facilitated or tolerated. This means that being a celebrity can result
in the person being treated differently than a “normal” non-celebrity
individual. In addition, we know that “celebrity” sells papers and that there
will be increased and in depth reporting of celebrity sexual abuse scandals.
Celebrity Culture and Celebrity worship:
One of the big questions surrounding celebrity is why should we trust celebrities
more than other people? Research has shown that Celebrity status holds a particular
sway in modern society (McQuail, 2010). McCutcheon, Lange and Houran (2002)
developed the “absorption–addiction” model of celebrity worship which consists
of three levels;
1.
“Entertainment–Social” – whereby the individual
discusses the behavior and attitudes of their favorite celebrity, this is a low
level form of worship that is ultimately social and non-problematic.
2.
“Intense–Personal” – whereby the individual
consistently thinks about their favorite celebrity, even at inopportune times,
and this is an intermediate level of celebrity worship.
3.
“Borderline-Pathological” - whereby the
individual is completely infatuated with their favorite celebrity and would do
anything that they asked them to do. This is an extreme version of celebrity
worship.
Additional
research by North & Hargreves (2006) identified a fourth factor,
4.
“Deleterious Imitation” – whereby the
individual is completely infatuated with their favorite celebrity and would go
as far to mirror all their behaviors, including their illegal and transgressive
ones. This, again, is an extreme version of celebrity worship.
Maltby
et al’s research (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007) goes on to state that there is
a relationship between celebrity worship, especially extreme celebrity worship,
and mental illness. Individuals with tendencies towards extreme celebrity
worship have been shown to have higher levels of vulnerability, personality
problems, anxiety disorders, self harm and suicide. Which ties into issues
surrounding celebrity and sexual abuse, for as we know vulnerable individuals
are more likely to be targeted by sexual abusers, more susceptible to grooming
and less likely to report abuse, especially in cases of child sexual abuse
(Harrison, 2010). This becomes more problematic in regard to the reporting of
these cases by victims because the victims who may report can be, certainly
historically and less so now, be seen as problematic and unreliable witnesses by
the police because of their vulnerabilities. The Ian Watkins case crystallized
these issues with a series of unreliable witnesses (an
ex-girlfriend who was a prostitute) as well as dedicated and obsessed
vulnerable fans who where co-conspirators
to his abuse who where in fact groomed and manipulated by him. The
participation of vulnerable fans in abusive practices, although condemned by
the press and the public (see
the article and message board responses
below), ties in with research indicating that extreme celebrity worship,
vulnerability and potential for delinquency all tie together (Sheridan, North,
Maltby & Gillett, 2007).
Policing & celebrity sexual abuse:
One of the main questions which has arisen as a result of the perceived
increases in celebrity sexual abuse cases is the role of the police
investigation. This is particularly salient in cases where the police are
seeing to be complacent, complicit or absent from these cases. If you look at
two cases from the UK (Jimmy Savile and Ian Watkins) you see evidence of a lack
of police follow through at times, whereby people will report instances of
abuse or suspensions to the police and they have not followed this up properly.
In the Jimmy Savile investigation this lack of follow through can be explained,
in part, by the societal attitudes to sexual abused at the time, Savile’s
status as a celebrity with power and influence (i.e., closely tied to the
establishment with high profile public supporters including high ranking police
officers) and his personality all of which can been seen to intimate and
dissuade investigations (Erooga, 2013). Over time, especially since the 60’s
and 70’s, policing has changed and improved; however, the recent Ian Watkins
case highlights that there are still issues with evidence indicating numbers
reports to the police over a period of time and problematic online behaviour in
open internet forums, which has resulted in an IPCC
investigation into three police forces . There needs to be an open culture
surrounding the policing of celebrity transgression, whether it is minor or
serious, with police forces not being afraid to make difficult decisions, but
as always these need to be based on evidence because false allegations can be
as damaging as real ones (i.e., Michael
Le Vell).
The recent high profile discussions of celebrity
sexual abuse are important conversations to have, but we need to have them in
the context of the role of celebrity in society, vulnerability amongst victims
of this abuse and how to better prevent this abuse; how do we realistic manage
and respond to celebrity in the culture of celebrity that we live in? The one
thing that we need to be careful of is knee jerk political and public reaction,
especially in terms of policy for as we have seen in the past with sex offender
disclosure and now with anti-pornography
legislation, this needs to be coherently through through.
References
Chibnall, S. (1977). Law and Order News. London:
Tavistock.
Erooga, M. (2013). The SAVILE Scandal: beginning to understand. NOTA News, 70, 8 – 11.
Greer, C., & Reiner, R (2012). Mediated mayhem: media, crime,
criminal justice.
In Maguire, M, Morgan, K and Reiner, R (Eds.). The Oxford handbook of
criminology (5rd
ed.), (376-416). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Harrison, K. (2010). Dealing
with High-Risk Sex Offenders in the Community: risk management, treatment and
social responsibilities. Willan: Cullompton.
Maltby, J., Day, L., McCutcheon, L. E., Gillett, R., Houran, J. and Ashe, D. D. (2004). Personality and
coping: A context for examining celebrity worship and mental health. British
Journal of Psychology, 95: 411–428.
Maltby, J., Houran, J., Lange, R., Ashe, D. and McCutcheon, L. E. (2002). Thou shalt worship no
other gods – Unless they are celebrities: The relationship between celebrity
worship and religious orientation. Personality and Individual Differences,
32: 1157–1172.
Maltby, J., Houran, M. A. and McCutcheon, L. E. (2003). A clinical
interpretation of attitudes and behaviors associated with celebrity worship. Journal
of Nervous and Mental Disease, 191: 25–29.
Maltby, J., McCutcheon, L. E., Ashe, D. D. and Houran, J. (2001). The self-reported
psychological well-being of celebrity worshippers. North American Journal of
Psychology, 3: 441–452.
McCutcheon, L. E., Lange, R. and Houran, J. (2002).
Conceptualization and measurement of celebrity worship. British Journal of
Psychology, 93: 67–87.
McQuail, D. (2012). Mass Communication Theory, 6th Ed. London: Sage Publications.
North, A. C. and Hargreaves, D. J. (2006).
Problem music and self-harming. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior,
36: 582–590.
Sheridan, L., North, A.C., Maltby, J. and Gillett, R. (2007). Celebrity
worship, addiction and criminality. Psychology, Crime and Law, 559-571.
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