Public health effects of pornography

Research concerning the public health effects of pornography is inconclusive; the availability of pornographic material and the incidence of sex crime have been variously argued to be in a positive or in a negative (inverse) correlation, and the validity of these estimates has in turn been questioned.

Epidemiological studies

An epidemiological study describes the association between given behaviors or environmental conditions, and physical or psychological health by means of observation of real-world phenomena through statistical data. Epidemiological studies generally have high levels of external validity, insofar as they accurately describe events as they occur outside of a laboratory setting, but low levels of internal validity, since they do not strongly establish cause-and-effect relationships between the behaviors or conditions under study, and the health consequences observed.

"The effects of Pornography: An International Perspective"The effects of Pornography: An International Perspective [http://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/online_artcls/pornography/prngrphy_ovrvw.html] ] was an epidemiological study which found that the massive growth of the pornography industry in the United States between 1975 and 1995 was accompanied by a substantial decrease in the number of sexual assaults per capita; and reported similar results for Japan. Findings of this nature have been critiqued by Robert Peters, president of Morality in Media, on the grounds that the results are better explained by factors other than the increased prevalence of pornography:

a more plausible explanation is that if there is a decline in “forcible rape,” it is the result of a tremendous effort to curb rape through community and school-based programs, media coverage, aggressive law enforcement, DNA evidence, longer prison sentences, and more. [ [http://www.obscenitycrimes.org/noprevent.cfm ObscenityCrimes.org ] ]

Since Denmark was the first country to legalize pornography (in 1969), it was also the first place where researchers employed epidemiological methods in an attempt to assess any consequences of free access to pornography.

Danish criminologist Berl Kutchinsky's "Studies on Pornography and sex crimes in Denmark" (1970), a scientific report ordered by the Presidential Commisson on Obscenity and Pornography, found that the legalizing of pornography in Denmark had not (as expected) resulted in an increase of sex crimes [ [http://home20.inet.tele.dk/gorzelak/dps/anmeldelser/barbano_kutchinsky.html Berl Kutchinsky: "Studies on Pornography and sex crimes in Denmark"] ] .

Since then, many other experiments have been conducted, either supporting or opposing the findings of Berl Kutchinsky, who would continue his study into the social effects of pornography until his death in 1995. His life's work was summed up in the publication "Law, Pornography, and Crime: The Danish Experience" (1999).

In stark contrast to the previously described research, a review of epidemiological studies found that some studies find that the quantity of pornographic material viewed by men was positively correlated with degree to which they endorsed sexual assault. Yet it sees a failure to find statistically significant correlations in other studies. [Malamuth, Neil M.: "Do Sexually Violent Media Indirectly Contribute to Antisocial Behavior?", [http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/NN/B/C/K/W/] , page 10]

Controlled studies

medication can be employed, double-blind studies concerning the health consequences of viewing pornographic materials are impossible, as participants would be aware of their exposure to the experimental condition.

"Effects of Prolonged Consumption of Pornography" [Zillmann, Dolf: "Effects of Prolonged Consumption of Pornography", [http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/NN/B/C/K/V/] ] was review of controlled studies which found that extensive viewing of the type of pornographic material commonly sold at adult bookstores was positively correlated with leniency in the sentencing of a person convicted of rape in a mock trial setting (figure 5), decreased satisfaction of participants with their sex lives and partners (figure 10), and an increased self-reported willingness to commit rape or other forced sexual acts (figure 12). This line of research has been critiqued in "The effects of Pornography: An International Perspective" on external validity grounds:

Lab experiments typically do not take into account context and other crucial social and situational factors in considering the audience or the material... In real life, individuals are free to satisfy different sexual urges in ways unavailable to students in classroom or subjects in laboratory situations.

Further reading

*Berl Kutchinsky: "Studies on Pornography and sex crimes in Denmark" (New Social Science Monographs, Denmark 1970)
*Berl Kutchinsky: "Law, pornography, and crime: The Danish experience" (Pax Forlag, Oslo 1999)
*Gert Martin Hald: "Pornography Consumption - a study of prevalence rates, consumption patterns, and effects" (Psykologisk Institut, Aarhus Universitet, Denmark 2007)
*Gert Martin Hald & Neil M. Malamuth: "Self-Perceived Effects of Pornography Consumption" (Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2008)

References

* [http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/NN/B/C/K/H/ Report of the Surgeon General's Workshop on Pornography and Public Health] , United States Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General, August 4, 1986

External links

* [http://www.spotbit.com/main/magazine.php?&prod=3950 - "Porno: why? how?" - psychoanalytical and sociopsychological analysis]