Introduction
Pornography involves visual materials containing a description or display of sexual organs or activity intending to stimulate sexual excitement. The Internet has gained popularity over the year as modern technology is expanding. Communication gadgets have proliferated worldwide while consuming most of the time within an individual’s routine. Therefore, it has been possible to access various contents of these communication devices, such as smartphones. The displaying of explicit content has grown rampantly over the years, with many internet users downloading and accessing pornographic films or content easily since these sites have also proliferated. However, little has been known concerning the effects of watching these films. Psychologists have a significant role in explaining how pornography influences behavior and attitude. For instance, does watching violent and explicit materials trigger an individual into acting violently and becoming a potential sexual offender? The paper will address and support the thesis that a causal relationship exists between various sexual offenses from pornography.
In most nations, including the United States, erotic materials are accepted or limited to certain segments, such as adults only. According to Diamond (2009), those against such public acceptance and availability of pornography are detrimental to social order predisposing the occurrence of sexual crimes. Moreover, their pornography is associated with the degradation of women. Men watching such materials will act violently as they imitate the scenes they have watched, affecting the women (Diamond, 2009). Moreover, Sharpe & Mead (2021) maintains that frequent users of pornography are experiencing problematic pornography use (PPU), a major factor that accelerates physical and mental harm and thus drives them to sexual crimes.
PPU involves the undiagnosable aspect of pornography addiction. PPU does not affect the user but also influences their behavior toward others. For instance, the possession of indecent images of children or the consumption of materials relating to child sexual abuse has been contributed by using legal or illegal forms of pornography (Sharpe & Mead, 2021). Furthermore, the addictive approach behind pornography influences an individual’s inability to control their emotions and thus increases their desire to rely on the stimulus; this leads to antisocial behaviors, including harassment, coercion, and sexual abuse.
Sexual offending involves various sexual crimes; they may differ with culture, but some include physical assault such as rape, aggressive behavior, and emotional harm, as in the case of child pornography, among other offenses (Robertiello & Terry, 2007). The sexual abuse of children is a topic under sexual offenses that has been discussed over the last decades with increased awareness of using the Internet to commit child abuse (Beech et al., 2008). According to the world statistics on internet usage, about 1.3 billion users were reported, whereby Europe represented 18% of logged-on users, north America had 20.4%, and Asia topped the list with 38.7% of users. The other regions also had a significant growth in internet use. Beech et al. (2008) maintain that child abuse content over the internet is challenging to quantify since the systems and material are dynamic. For instance, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) based in the United Kingdom reported a 78% increase in websites reported to criminal justice agencies containing abusive children images. Moreover, more than six thousand sites were reported, with the United States topping the list with 40% (Beech et al., 2008).
Such pathological internet use is entwined with problematic internet use and regarded as an etiology of pedophilic attitudes. As Houtepen et al. (2014) depict, there is a risk of crossing over from child pornography to sexual offending involving minors. Problematic behavior is realized due to cognitive distortions whereby an individual crosses over from downloading child pornography into sexual offending behavior. Some factors that motivate sexual offenders include the internet’s anonymity and availability, early sexual experiences, and antisocial personalities (Houtepen et al., 2014). There is a great risk of crossing over to child sex offenders; for instance, as the research by Osborn et al. (2010) suggests, there are lower recidivism levels among internet sex offenders, while reoffending among content child sexual offenders was found to be high. The study by Osborn et al. (2010) involves two actuarial assessment measures used among convicts of child pornography. A standard and revised version of RM2000 and static 99 actuarial models assessed reconviction rates among seventy-three convicted sexual offenders. The results depicted low reconviction rates for internet sex offenders than in contact child sex offenders.
Another critical aspect is that concerning juvenile sexual offenders. As Ryan et al. (2016) claim, sexual abuse by the youth is a serious problem and should not be perceived as insignificant. This is because the consequences of sexual assault are very pervasive; for example, it leads to post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, and major depression. It has been found that youths contribute about 15% to 20% of all sexual offenses and half of all sexual offenses committed to children (Ryan et al., 2016). Moreover, among adult sex offenders, a third to half started offending while they were youth. Implying that juvenile sexual offenders are sexual offender convicts who have not matured since they were caught early. The factors discussed to explain the etiology behind juvenile sexual offenses include biological, social, developmental, and exposure to pornography (Ryan et al., 2016). Exposure to pornography has received interest. This implies that pornography is a significant trigger to a sexual offense.
Sexual offending can be theoretically explained using an integrated theory of sexual offending as portrayed by Ward & Beech (2006). The theory maintains that sexual abuse results from interacting causal variables. The tenet of this theory is that brain development and ecological factors significantly influence the neuropsychological factors that trigger human action. Therefore, as per the theory above, there is a great possibility of an individual engaging in sexual crimes after viewing pornographic content, given that the environmental factors are suitable for sexual offending. According to the theory, the human brain is depicted as evolving, accelerated by sensory interaction. Therefore, with continued use of pornography, the brain will be used to such violent scenes observed, and similar behavior will be triggered, leading to sexual crimes. This approach can be viewed similarly to Fortin et al. (2018) explanation of criminal steps relating to sexual offending. There is target selection, preparation, commission of the crime, escape, and post-crime acts (Fortin et al., 2018). The research involves the adaptation of the script approach in studying criminal behavior.
For instance, such crime scripts can be applied to analyze Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM). First, crime scenes have characteristics, with the location being essential. In CSEM, we have various websites or sites that depict location since they are visited; despite that, there are relational differences in the properties of virtual and real physical locations. Therefore, the omnipresence internet and website with child pornography have been described as a great opportunity for online sexual offenders. The script theory is in place to explain the evolution of these online events and episodes from an amateur to a potential sexual abuser and offender. Therefore, CSEM to sexually assaulting children is depicted as the ultimate stage of the script theory and concludes that the evolution of the brain events triggers behavior and action. This review points out that pornography has an indirect effect on sexual offending.
In another article by Kingston et al. (2009), 1792 adolescents were surveyed in a study examining the amount of sexual content viewed and the likelihood of them engaging in sexual intercourse over the year. The results showed a positive correlation between the amount of sexual content viewed and the likelihood of sexual intercourse over the year. For instance, adolescents recorded in the 90th percentile regarding sexual content exposure showed a double the likelihood of having sexual intercourse to those in the 10th percentile. Also, another study in the article displays that media effects are experienced more by whites than blacks. In the study, teens’ sexual media diet (SMD) was measured from four media, namely magazines, movies, televisions, and music, at baseline.
Factors such as peer sexual norms and parental opposition to teen sex were controlled, whereby it was found that the sexual behaviors of black adolescents did not relate to the SMD baseline. Conversely, among the white teens, the results doubled, with those who had the highest SMD showing 2.2 more likelihood than those in the lower quintile. The article, thus, argues that interacting variables result in sexual aggression. For instance, individual differences may predict behaviors when certain variables are observed, such as dominance and aggressiveness. Thus, according to the research in this article, pornography exposure is linked with a positive outcome in sexual offending, whereby personal differences play a great role in determining the extent of the offense committed.
Furthermore, we can use the classical and operant conditioning mechanisms to explain the effects of pornography. As Mellor & Duff (2019) explains, arousal as a rewarding behavior results when an individual watches porn. As a result of such rewarding behavior, the mind and body get used to it until it is embedded into the routine and becomes normal action. Moreover, the person is triggered to respond to similar behavior and, therefore, the likelihood of committing a sexual offense. Mellor & Duff (2019) also use Bandura’s social learning theory to explain the association between pornography and male sexual offenders. Its application to pornography implies that consumer behavior is influenced by explicit content by creating psychological and physiological responses. The response is viewed as desirable, with an implication that if similar behavior is performed in actual life, similar desirable responses will occur. This is how individuals cross over from downloading porn to engaging in a sexual offense.
However, despite the above studies and research showing that pornography is a significant etiology of sexual offending, a number of researches show contrasting approaches. For instance, in a correlational study targeted at college students, Ferguson & Hartley (2009) examined the influence of pornography on rape and sexual assault. Despite the study’s results being inconsistent, there was a correlation between pornography and self-reported sexual aggression. However, the causation of rape as resulting from pornography is criticized.it is stated that rape existed even in uncivilized societies. Moreover, in contemporary society, rape incidences have been reported to decline. Furthermore, pornography became available online by the 1990s following various amendments in the United States. Since the rape cases have been reported to decline. Therefore, despite a correlation between pornography and sexual aggression, this does not explain its causal effects to rape as a sexual offense.
Moreover, Johnson (2015) claims that an average pornographic user will not likely be impacted negatively. He points out that of millions of individuals using pornography at particular points, only a small segment is negatively impacted and chooses to engage in violent behavior. Furthermore, despite much research representing the negative attributes of pornography, little has been said concerning the utilization of pornography as a treatment tool among sex offenders. Johnson (2015) suggests that more research is required to examine the effectiveness of pornography in sexual offender treatment programs since it has been initiated in some places.
Conclusion
In conclusion, pornography use has increased rapidly in recent years, a phenomenon motivated by the increased internet use among individuals in contemporary society. Internet pornography has proliferated due to its affordability, anonymity, and accessibility. There is numerous site where one can access this content. Furthermore, the acceptability of pornography in society through the amendments is another factor explaining its rampant prevalence. However, what has been fascinating about this phenomenon is its effects on society. Studies and researchers have explained the association between pornography and sexual offenders. Critics of the positive association between pornography and sexual offenders claim that internet pornography emerged recently during the 1990s, while some sexual offenses like rape existed even in uncivilized eras. Moreover, statistics have shown that rape has declined since internet pornography emerged. Furthermore, pornography should be utilized as a model for treating sexual offenders.
On the other side, pornography is detrimental to social order and vice that should be eliminated. Everything the eyes see conveys a certain message to the brain and thus the likelihood of behaving according to what an individual observed. Many researchers have explained how pornography is harmful and a significant etiology of sexual offending. In my opinion, the research supporting pornography as a cause of sexual offenses is vast and provides more outstanding pieces of evidence than the critics. Therefore, eliminating pornography may be a great approach to mitigating sexual offenses.
References
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