16th September
2011 |
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| Does sexual equality change porn?
Permalink
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See article
from salon.com
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 A
new study investigates the link between a country's relative gender equality and
the degree of female "empowerment" in the X-rated entertainment it consumes.
Researchers at the University of Hawaii
focused on three countries in particular: Norway, the United
States and Japan, which are respectively ranked 1st, 15th and
(yikes) 54th on the United Nations Gender Empowerment Measure
(GEM).
To simplify their analysis, their
library of smut was limited to explicit photographs of women
from mainstream pornographic magazines and Internet websites, as
well as from the portfolios of the most popular porn stars from
each nation. Then they set out to evaluate each image on both a
disempowerment and an empowerment scale, using respective
measures like whether the woman is bound and dominated by
leashes, collars, gags, or handcuffs or whether she has a
natural looking body.
Their hypothesis was that societies
with greater gender equity will consume pornography that has
more representations of empowered women and less of disempowered
women.
It turned out the former was
true, but, contradictory as it may sound, the latter was not.
While Norwegian pornography offers a wider variety of body types
-- conforming less to a societal ideal that is disempowering to
the average woman -- there are still many images that do not
promote a healthy respect for women, the researchers explain.
In other words, Norwegian porn showed
more signs of female empowerment, but X-rated images in all
three countries equally depicted women in demeaning positions
and scenarios. This, the researchers surmise, suggests that
empowerment and disempowerment within pornography are
potentially different constructs.
...Read the full article
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8th May
2011 |
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| Newspapers pick up on obscure research about people selecting their own community to seek acceptance of their views, be they right, wrong, good or evil
Permalink
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7th May 2011.
See article
from dailymail.co.uk
(note also the small, but full frontal, image used to illustrate
the story)
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One of a
collection of papers published in 2008
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The Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph have picked up an on 2008
research papers written by Tim Jones. & David Wilson
- In my own world: A case study of a paedophile's
thinking and doing and his use of the Internet published
in The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice
- Thinking & Doing; Fantasy & Reality: An Analysis of
Convicted Paedophiles published in a collection of
papers titled: The Assessment, Treatment and Management
of Violent and Sexual Offenders, (London: Willan)
The Daily Mail writes:
Extreme sexual fantasies are being
normalised because of the rise in deviant pornography on the
internet, psychologists have warned.
Researchers now believe there is a
causal link [corrected from casual!]between
the rise in explicit images available online and an increase
extreme illegal behaviour in real life.
According to experts, the internet
is allowing like-minded people to share explicit and violent
sexual fantasies, therefore making them more acceptable.
Hardly rocket science, all sorts of frowned up on group chat
amongst themselves and hence finding community affirmation of
their slant on life. Seems to apply equally to melon farmers,
Daily Mail readers and religious nutters.
The findings are based on research
conducted by Dr Tim Jones, senior lecturer in cognitive
psychology at Worcester University as well as top
psychologists such as criminologist Professor David Wilson
from Birmingham City University. Their research is based
around a series of interviews with a convicted paedophile
named James.
They also point to the rise images
of child pornography available on the internet. The Greater
Manchester police obscene publications unit has seen a
staggering leap in the number of illicit images seized. In
1995, they seized around dozen images of child pornography,
rising to over 41,000 in 1999, and by 2001, the unit was so
overwhelmed with the number of images that they stopped
counting.
Hardly a revelation, no doubt the same escalation applies to
any other category of image that circulates on the internet.
Update: Casual Churnalism
8th May 2011.
See article
from sundaymercury.net
The Daily Mail have now corrected their story and corrected
'casual link' to 'causal link'. They have also pixellated the small
full frontal porn image.
Meanwhile Birmingham's Sunday Mercury newspaper didn't spot the
spelling error and re-churned the story complete with the 'casual link':
Psychologists from a Midland university
say internet porn is linked to increases in sex attacks.
Research by Dr Tim Jones from Worcester
University and Professor David Wilson from Birmingham City
University showed a casual link between extreme graphic sex
scenes and sex offenders.
They interviewed a convicted paedophile who
is serving a 14-year sentence for numerous sexual offences involving
children, and found paedophilia has been made more extreme by the
web.
Dr Jones said: The internet is fuelling
more extreme fantasies. The danger is they could be played out in
real life.
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22nd November
2010 |
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| But non-aggressive porn is cleared
Permalink
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Based on article
from prnewswire.com
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 Viewing violent x-rated material may contribute to
sexually aggressive behavior among 10-17 year olds. X-rated material
without violent content does not appear to have the same impact, finds
a new study conducted by Internet Solutions for Kids and funded by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Published in Aggressive Behavior, the study
is expected to be highly influential. Because of the obvious
ethical problems of purposefully exposing kids to pornography, Dr.
Michele Ybarra, the primary author of the study, explains, little
was known before about how viewing x-rated material may be related to
sexual aggression in children. We asked kids whether they had looked at
x-rated material before, and then looked to see if the kids who said
'yes' were more likely to also say that they were sexually aggressive.
The study finds that youth who look at violent x-rated material are six
times more likely to report forcing someone to do something sexual
online or in-person versus kids not exposed to x-rated material.
Watching violent pornography does not always lead to sexual aggression
and not all sexual aggressors have been exposed to pornography, Ybarra
cautions; nor does the study prove that violent x-rated material causes
sexual aggression.
Exposure to Internet pornography is relatively common.
Findings from the Youth Internet Safety Survey – 2 indicate that 15% of
12-17 year olds have purposefully looked at x-rated material online.
Data from the Pew Internet and American Life Project suggest that 70%
of 15-17 year-old Internet users accidentally view pornography very
or somewhat often. Nevertheless, Ybarra's study also finds
that the Internet is not the most common source of x-rated material –
even violent x-rated material. Fourteen percent looked at x-rated
material in movies, 12% in magazines, and 11% online. There's an
assumption out there that the Internet has somehow increased kids'
exposures to deviant content. Our data don't support this. We're
learning that just because content that we find disturbing is
accessible online, doesn't mean kids will seek it out, Ybarra
explains. She agrees that blocking and filtering software will likely
prevent exposure to violent x-rated material online. But, these
things won't do anything to prevent exposure through magazines and
movies. That's why it's important to talk to your kids also.
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18th November
2010 |
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| Placating victims, politicians or irate citizens will not solve society's problems
Permalink
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See
part 1 from oyetimes.com by William Belle
See part
2
from oyetimes.com
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 The concern that countries allowing pornography and
liberal anti-obscenity laws would show increased sex crime rates due to
modeling or that children or adolescents in particular would be
negatively vulnerable to and receptive to such models or that society
would be otherwise adversely effected is not supported by evidence. It
is certainly clear from the data reviewed, and the new data and
analysis presented, that a massive increase in available pornography in
Japan, the United States and elsewhere has been correlated with a
dramatic decrease in sexual crimes and most so among youngsters as
perpetrators or victims. Even in this area of concern no clear and
present danger exists for the suppression of sexually explicit
material. There is no evidence that pornography is intended or likely
to produce imminent lawless action (see Brandenberg v. Ohio,
1969). It is reasonable that the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently
rejected the principal that speech or expression can be punished
because it offends some people's sensibilities or beliefs. Compared
with hate speech or commercial speech there seems even
less justification for banning sex speech.
Sex abuse of any kind is deplorable and should be
eliminated. Rape and sex crimes, like any criminal activities are
blights on society which should be expunged. The question remains How
best
to do this? Most assuredly, focusing energy in the wrong
direction, or taking actions just to placate victims, politicians or
irate citizens will not solve the problem or help. Nor will spreading
myths or misinformation. Removing pornography from our midst will,
according to the evidence, only hurt rather than help society.
I think it is better to expend our energies in two
directions. 1) Make better pornography so that preferred role models
are portrayed and more segments of society can come to appreciate or at
least understand and tolerate its value; and 2) turn our research to
other directions to eliminate or reduce the social ills of rape and
other sex crimes. The best place to look is probably in the home during
the first decade of life. But it is only by research that we can
continue to understand how to most effectively meet this social
challenge. Governments as well as the pornography industry itself would
do well to finance and encourage such research.
...Read the full article:
part 1 +
part 2
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19th October
2010 |
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| Watching porn videos not harmful for men
Permalink
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Based on
article
from mynews.in
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 Watching
pornographic videos does not impact the sexual habits of a man and there
is no ill-effect on his sexual relationships with his partner.
Allaying the fears of negative impact on men watching pornographic
videos, a report conducted by a Canadian researcher over a period of two
years says that there is nothing harmful in the practice.
Simon Louis Lajeunesse, a Montreal University associate professor,
has asserted that his research discards the common view that pornography
enthusiasts seek out in life what they see in X-rated videos, that
ultimately leads to sexual abuse or denigration of women.
Denying the common apprehension of negative impact of porn videos,
Simon said: It would be like saying that vodka ads lead to
alcoholism.
His research proves that a majority of men watch movies containing
explicit pornographic content to satisfy their fringe fantasy and
it is wrong to assume that it leads to criminal behavior.
Simon said that he face a lot of problems while conducting his
research, as adult video stores and sex shops refused to allow him to
post notices inviting men to participate. However, a handful of
universities permitted him to address their campuses, and after
appealing to some 2,000 mostly women students to take part, 20
heterosexual men agreed to come out to talk on the issue of sex in their
lives.
Among the many discoveries that Simon derived during his course of
the study, he reached a conclusion that all the respondents watched
adult videos online and almost all searched alone for online erotica,
whether in a committed relationship or not.
The study also revealed that men tend to fast-forward through scenes
that do not interest them, often involving sexual violence or group
ejaculation which they found disgusting.
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20th September
2010 |
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| Religious porn addicts advised to ditch the self loathing, enjoy their porn, but maybe cut down a bit
Permalink
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Based on
article
from business.avn.com
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 Clinical
research journal Behavioral Therapy has published results of the
first-ever study conducted to address problematic internet pornography
viewing.
Though it is common for many anti-pornography campaigners to refer to
issues related to the excessive use of internet porn as addiction,
the authors of the study, Utah State University psychologist Michael Twohig
and graduate student Jess Crosby, approached the problem rather as an
obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
Despite the prevalence of problematic internet pornography viewing and
the breadth of intervention approaches to potentially address it, no studies
to address this problem have been reported to date, reads an abstract of
the study. An emerging treatment approach, Acceptance and Commitment
Therapy (ACT), holds promise as a treatment for internet pornography
viewing because of its focus on processes hypothesized to underlie this
maladaptive behavior.
ACT, according to Psychology Today blogger Stephen C. Hayes, teaches
people to walk in the exact opposite direction than that suggested by the
problem-solving organ between our ears. Instead of controlling urges, ACT
teaches acceptance and mindful awareness of them. Instead of self-loathing
and criticism, ACT teaches self-compassion. Instead of avoidance, ACT
instigates approaching ones' values.
This is counter-intuitive. Suppressive avoidance is what the mind
knows how to do. A highly religious young man struggling with pornography
viewing is likely to criticize himself horribly, and then try to eliminate
the urge and suppress all thoughts about it. It almost looks as though that
is the moral thing to do, but instead this research suggests that it is a
route toward more struggle, more suffering, and ironically toward more
obsessive viewing.
The study, which appears in the September issue of Behavioral Therapy,
reports that the outcome was successful:
In the first experiment on the treatment of problematic internet
pornography viewing, the abstract continues, 6 adult males who
reported that their internet pornography viewing was affecting their quality
of life were treated in eight 1.5-hour sessions of ACT for problematic
pornography viewing. The effects of the intervention were assessed in a
multiple-baseline-across-participants design with time viewing pornography
as the dependent variable. Treatment resulted in an 85 percent reduction in
viewing at post treatment with results being maintained at 3-month follow-up
(83 percent reduction).
In other words, says Hayes, Religious obsessions went down but
positive commitments went up. Obsessive thinking was relieved and with it
worry that unbidden thoughts alone cause harm. People became more accepting
of their emotions and less entangled with their thoughts. And they were more
able to act in accord with their values as a positive goal, carrying
difficult thoughts and feelings with them in a more compassionate way.
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5th March
2010 |
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| Pornography, Public Acceptance and Sex Related Crime: A Review
Permalink
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Thanks to Hobosoup
Based on
article
from
business.avn.com
See also the
study paper from
hawaii.edu
|
 Milton
Diamond, a professor of anatomy and reproductive biology at the
University of Hawaii at Manoa, has authored a study titled
Pornography, Public Acceptance and Sex Related Crime: A Review.
Published in 2009 in the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry,
the study takes a comprehensive, cross-cultural look at research
conducted over the years on the subject of porn's influence on
individuals as well as societies.
Diamond's conclusion, which he readily admits flies in the face of
common assumptions held by many today, is that there is no objective,
verifiable evidence that exposure to pornography causes any of the
societal ills ascribed to it, including sex crimes, the abuse or
disempowerment of women, and a host of negative effects on individuals
or families.
He writes:
With these data from a wide variety of
communities, cultures and countries we can better evaluate the thesis
that an abundance of sexual explicit material invariably leads to an
increase of illegal sexual activity and eventually rape. Similarly we
can now better reconsider the conclusion of the Meese Commission and
others that there exists 'a causal relationship to antisocial acts of
sexual violence and … unlawful acts of sexual violence' (Meese, 1986,
page 326). Indeed, the data reported and reviewed suggests that the
thesis is myth and, if anything, there is an inverse causal relationship
between an increase in pornography and sex crimes.
Further, considering the findings of studies of
community standards and wide spread usage of SEM (sexually explicit
material), it is obvious that in local communities as nationally and
internationally, porn is available, widely used and felt appropriate for
voluntary adult consumption. If there is a consensus against pornography
it is in regard to any SEM that involves children or minors in its
production or consumption.
Lastly, we see that objections to erotic
materials are often made on the basis of supposed actual, social or
moral harm to women. No such cause and effect has been demonstrated with
any negative consequence. It is relevant to mention here that a temporal
correlation between pornography and any effect is a necessary condition
before one can rationally entertain the idea that there is a positive
statistical correlation between pornography and any negative effect.
Nowhere has such a temporal association been found.
His findings are a severe blow to those who claim that porn leads to
crime.
In every region investigated, he writes,
researchers have found that as pornography has increased in
availability, sex crimes have either decreased or not increased.
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25th January
2010 |
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| As contended by 2 recent studies
Permalink
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Based on
article
from
business.avn.com
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 The
notion that hardcore pornography is addictive and, even worse, a corrosive
hazard to individuals, families and society is running headlong into studies
conducted by noted researchers that show precisely the opposite—that
hardcore pornography is good for you.
A
blog post by Dr. Gad Saad on the Psychology Today website makes just
that argument, citing two recent studies, including one conducted by
Gert Martin Hald and Neil M. Malamuth.
I should mention, writes Saad, that Neil Malamuth is a
highly regarded scholar of pornography who has often argued for its
supposed ill effects. Hence, if there exists a possibility of an a
priori bias here, it would be in hoping to find that pornography yields
negative consequences.
But that is not what the researchers found in their
survey of 688 young Danish adults (men = 316; women = 372). Instead,
Hald and Malamuth found that respondents construed the viewing of
hardcover pornography as beneficial to their sex lives, their attitudes
towards sex, their perceptions and attitudes towards members of the
opposite sex, toward life in general, and over all. The obtained
beneficial effects were statistically significant for all but one
measure across both sexes. Now here is the kicker: A positive
correlation was obtained between the amount of hardcover pornography
that was viewed and the impact of the benefits reaped. This positive
correlation was found for both sexes. In other words, the more that one
watched porn, the stronger the benefits (for both sexes)!
The second
study yielded similar results. In a paper published in 2009 in
the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, Milton Diamond reviewed
a very broad number of studies that have explored the supposed ill
effects of pornography, writes Saad.
Diamond concludes, Indeed, the data reported and reviewed suggests
that the thesis is myth and, if anything, there is an inverse causal
relationship between an increase in pornography and sex crimes. Further,
considering the findings of studies of community standards and wide
spread usage of SEM [sexually explicit material], it is obvious that in
local communities as nationally and internationally, porn is available,
widely used and felt appropriate for voluntary adult consumption. If
there is a consensus against pornography it is in regard to any SEM that
involves children or minors in its production or consumption. Lastly we
see that objections to erotic materials are often made on the basis of
supposed actual, social or moral harm to women. No such cause and effect
has been demonstrated with any negative consequence.
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5th March
2009 |
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| Very high probability that adolescents will view porn
Permalink
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Based on
article
from
news.com.au
See also
Adolescence, pornography and harm by Colleen Bryant
|
 Dr
Collen Bryant of the Australian Institute of Criminology said research showed
males reported more positive attitudes to pornography from an early age than did
females who were generally extremely negative.
But by their mid-20s, both males and females might report similarly positive
attitudes.For that reason, seeking to minimise exposure to pornography was not
the whole answer.
Though restricting exposure will remain a priority, an over-reliance on this
approach to protect against the perceived harms of pornography is problematic as
it fails to recognise the realities of ready availability and the high
acceptance of pornography among young people, she said.
Abstract:
Adolescence, pornography and harm
The probability that a young person will have exposure to pornography prior to
the age of 18 - the legal age in Australia at which it is permissible to view
and purchase such materials - is very high.
Concern exists, among both parents and policymakers, that widespread, premature
exposure to pornography is changing the nature of sexual attitudes, behaviours,
and intimate relationships and potentially contributing to sexual violence in
society. The extent to which it is difficult to determine, owing to the scarcity
of adolescent-based research and differing conceptions about harm.
This paper examines the many factors that underpin pornography exposure, and
stresses how the risk factors for exposure and problematic sexual behaviours
intersect to contribute to harm. An understanding of the complex interplay of
factors such as gender, age, attitude, personal characteristics and social
context of use is important in the development of strategies that will assist
young people to avoid any potential adverse outcomes.
The available evidence remains highly incomplete, and its interpretation is
highly contested, so the paper highlights the need for longitudinal studies of
use and of actual behaviour, and for studies that focus on cultural contexts and
emerging media.
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As
part of a programme of on-going research to better inform the work of
the British Board of Film Classification (the BBFC), the BBFC conducted
research into the use of sex videos and DVDs. The purpose of the
research was primarily to assist the BBFC in its understanding of the
audience for the material. In addition, it was hoped that, by
investigating in detail the viewing experience and its relation to
viewers’ own sexual activity, lessons would be learned regarding such
practical classification issues as the relevance of dialogue and the
likelihood of imitation of specific activities featured in the material.
These issues play a significant part in the BBFC’s assessment of the
likelihood that a particular sex video/DVD may cause harm to potential
viewers, or may cause harm to society through the actions of potential
viewers, factors to which special regard is given in accordance with the
terms of the Video Recordings Act 1984. 
