Man, the 50s were just miserable.
AFAIK, the same level of molestation, abuse, rape, murder and theft existed.
We just didn't obsess over it.
People were routinely killed or horribly maimed in moderate car accidents. Kids on bikes were getting run over. Drunks killed motorists & pedestrians alike. In my small home town, a 12-year-old girl was abducted raped, tortured and cut up by adult(s) unknown.
The news back then was focused on larger issues. Fear mongering wasn't even a glimmer of a thought to news directors and editors.
Some time in the 70s, they all began to wake up and apply the "when it bleeds it leads" philosophy to news. Then, people would think to lock their cars against that 1:200,000 chance of theft.
The big change I think we've seen has come through TV creating the notion that something is acceptable by virtue of displaying it: things like the promiscuity shown on Jerry Springer. The lifestyle displayed in 'gangsta rap' videos. These popular entertainments have a corrosive effect on peoples' behavior -- giving them "permission" to push the limits of propriety.
So, has society changed? In some ways, no, in some ways yes. But it's undeniable that attitudes have changed.