Seduction Of The Innocent In Australia
Recently some very interesting research into Fredric Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent has come to light regarding his techniques. The research, conducted by Dr Carol Tilley of the University of Illinois have shown that Wertham’s findings were based on both flawed and outright fraudulent research and studies. While it’s true that Wertham’s tome had a very real impact upon comic books in America for several decades, in Australia attitudes toward it varied greatly. Recently released documents shows that, by the early 1970s, the Australian Federal Government didn’t afford it the same courtesy as their American counterparts. Indeed the book itself, its methodology and findings, went towards the changing attitudes towards comic books and censorship, but not in the way that Wertham had intended. Wertham’s research into juvenile delinquency began to gain notice in Australia in 1948, when his first screeds against comic books began to appear in magazines such as The Satur