{{Short description|Danish criminologist (1935–1995)}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Berl Kutchinsky. | image = Berl Kutchinsky.JPG | image_size = 200px | caption = Berl Kutchinsky | birth_date = {{birth date|1935|8|14}} | birth_place = [[Aarhus]], [[Denmark]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1995|3|9|1935|8|14}} | death_place = [[Copenhagen]], [[Denmark]] | field = [[Criminology]] | work_institutions = [[University of Copenhagen]] | known_for = [[Public health effects of pornography]] }}

'''Berl Kutchinsky''' (1935 – 1995) was a [[Denmark|Danish]] Professor of [[Criminology]] at the [[University of Copenhagen]].<ref name=age/><ref name=bocaraton>{{cite news |title=Europe debates control of child porn import |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zNgPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kI0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6807,3748188&dq=berl-kutchinsky |work=[[Boca Raton News]] |page=6|date=1984-09-16 |access-date=2009-06-16}}</ref> He became internationally famous for his studies in the [[Social effects of pornography|public health effects of pornography]].

He was based in Denmark, which in 1969 became the first country to legalize [[hardcore pornography]]<ref name=age>{{cite web |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/19/1063625202157.html |title=X-rated? Outdated |access-date=2009-06-16 |author=Helen Vnuk |date=2003-09-20 |work=[[The Age]] }}</ref><ref>Berl Kutchinsky: [http://www.fanny-hill.net/html/o1a_danish_pornography_laws.htm The first law that legalized pornography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051108034758/http://www.fanny-hill.net/html/o1a_danish_pornography_laws.htm |date=2005-11-08 }}</ref> Sweden followed suit in 1970, and West Germany in 1973.<ref name=age/> Kutchinsky was therefore in a unique position to study the effect of pornography on a massive scale. Over the next two decades Kutchinsky carried out extensive research into crime statistics in the three countries.<ref name=age/> His findings were that increased availability of pornography had not led to an increase in [[sexual violence]].<ref name=age/> He found that the incidence of certain sex crimes had in fact fallen, including rates of [[child sexual abuse]] in Denmark.<ref name=age/>

His first work on the subject, ''Studies on Pornography and sex crimes in Denmark'' (1970), was a scientific report ordered by the United States' [[President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography]]. It found that the legalizing of [[pornography in Denmark]] had not (as had been expected) resulted in an increase in sex crimes.<ref>[http://home20.inet.tele.dk/gorzelak/dps/anmeldelser/barbano_kutchinsky.html Berl Kutchinsky: ''Studies on Pornography and sex crimes in Denmark''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030030642/http://home20.inet.tele.dk/gorzelak/dps/anmeldelser/barbano_kutchinsky.html |date=2007-10-30 }}</ref>

In 1980 he helped to draft the law which banned [[child pornography]] in Denmark; after which according to him, "Child porn has largely disappeared from Denmark."<ref name=bocaraton/> Berl Kutchinsky's last book, ''Law, pornography, and crime: The Danish experience'', was edited by his colleague Annika Snare and published posthumously in 1999.

==Selected works== *''Studies on Pornography and sex crimes in Denmark'' (New Social Science Monographs, Denmark 1970) *''Obscenity and Pornography: Behavioral Aspects'', In: ''Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice'', Vol. 3, pp 1077–1086 (The Free Press, Macmillan, New York 1983) *''Pornography and its Effects in Denmark and the United States: A Rejoinder and Beyond'', in: ''Comparative Social Research'', vol. 8, pp.&nbsp;301–30 (JAI Press, US 1985) *''Som hånd i hanke'', In: ''Hug'' nr. 42/43 (Tiderne Skifter, Denmark 1985) *''Big sister is watching!'', In: ''Umoralske opstød - 15 debatindlæg om s/m, pornografi og nypuritanisme'' (Juvelen, Denmark 1986) *''Legalised pornography in Denmark'', In: ''Men Confronting Pornography'', pp.&nbsp;233–45, 335-6 (Crown Publishers, New York 1990) *''Pornography and rape: Theory and practice? Evidence from crime data in four countries where pornography is easily available'', In: ''International Journal of Law and Psychiatry'', vol. 14, 1991, no. 1 & 2, pp.&nbsp;47–64. (1991) *[http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/proceedings/14/kutchinsky.pdf ''Pornography, Sex Crime and Public Policy''] (Institute of Criminology and Criminal Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 1991) *''Den pornografiske scene'', In: ''Social Kritik'' nr. 64, June 1999 (Selskabet til fremme af Social Debat, Denmark 1999) *''Law, pornography, and crime: The Danish experience'' (Pax Forlag, Oslo 1999)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *Annika Snare: ''Pornoliberaliseringens mange facetter'', In: ''Social Kritik'' nr. 64, June 1999 (Selskabet til fremme af Social Debat, Denmark 1999) *[https://web.archive.org/web/20071030030642/http://home20.inet.tele.dk/gorzelak/dps/anmeldelser/barbano_kutchinsky.html A Danish-language article about Berl Kutchinsky's ''Studies on Pornography and sex crimes in Denmark'']

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kutchinsky, Berl}} [[Category:Danish criminologists]] [[Category:Research on the effects of pornography]] [[Category:Social psychologists]] [[Category:1935 births]] [[Category:1995 deaths]]