Pornography

Defined as material, such as writing or pictures, designed to arouse sexual desire, pornography has been in existence for centuries and found popularity across every culture. For the latter half of the twentieth century, the majority of pornography was directed at heterosexual males, with the audience being primarily White and middle class. With the advent of the Internet, all forms of pornography became easy to access and the demographics of viewers expanded. There has long been a social stigma, or a non-pecuniary cost, associated with the use of sexually explicit materials (Kendall, 2006). However, social mores have loosened over time, and the shame or stigma associated with viewing pornography has also decreased. Pornography is also a "hot button" issue for many feminists—some of whom feel that all pornographic material depicting women degrades and objectifies women. Other opponents of pornography base their views on religious or moral grounds and see the consumption of pornographic material as a threat to the family and society. Social scientists continue to study the effects of long-term exposure to pornography on intimate relationships, as well as the relationship between exposure to pornography and sexually deviant behavior.

Keywords Child Online Protection Act (COPA); Child Exploitation Pornography; Erotica; Internet Pornography; Miller v. California; Non-pecuniary Costs; Peer to Peer Networks; Prurient; Sexual Violence; Sexually Explicit Materials; Social Mores

Overview

Defined as material, such as writing or pictures, designed to arouse sexual desire, pornography has been in existence for centuries and found popularity across every culture (Hudson, 2008). The majority of pornography has been directed at heterosexual males, with the audience being primarily White and middle class (Hudson, 2006). With the advent of the Internet, all forms of pornography became easy to access and the demographics of viewers expanded.

Opponents of pornography have long argued that pornography has a corrosive effect on individuals, families, and society. Social conservatives view it as capable of undermining monogamous marriages, leading unmarried men into sexual depravity, and corrupting young, impressionable women (Pollard, 1993). Accordingly, there has long been a social stigma, or a non-pecuniary cost, associated with the use of sexually explicit materials (Kendall, 2006). However, social mores have loosened over time, and the shame or stigma associated with viewing pornography has also decreased. The Internet has made pornography ubiquitous and easy to access. Historically, as the financial or pecuniary costs of accessing pornography have decreased, there have been repeated attempts to increase the non-pecuniary costs associated with pornography (Kendall, 2006). In other words, as sexually explicit materials have become cheaper and more widely available, social forces have shifted in an attempt to control consumption through non-pecuniary means.

The Rising Demand for Pornography

Pornographic materials have been in existence for as long as man created art out of stone and clay. The production and distribution of pornography adapts easily to new media, whether they be pictures, print, photography, movies,computer files, or streaming video. In the US, pornographic images gained popularity with GIs during WWII. Twenty years after the war, Playboy magazine was first published, and, in a short time, saw its circulation skyrocket. In 1974 the more explicit Hustler entered publication and, like Playboy, was well-received in the marketplace, showing just how much demand there was for pornography. After Sony introduced the VCR in 1975, pornography began to be sold in the form of X-rated video tapes, which allowed viewers to watch pornographic movies in the privacy of their homes instead of at public movie houses. When it was created, the Internet and the first graphical browsers represented a "quantum leap in pornography distribution" (Kendall, 2006). It was difficult to ascertain what percentage of Internet sites began to contain sexually explicit or sexually oriented materials, but estimates were staggering. Some estimates put the growth of sexually oriented websites at "hundreds" per week, but with the global reach of pornography, such estimates were probably low. Much of the pornography exchanged in digital formats is shared over peer-to-peer networks. These networks allow creators, distributors, and users to share content directly without having to post it on public sites. By the 2020s, sites like PornHub offered free access to pornograpy and sites such as OnlyFans put control of pornography in the hands of the creators.

Legislation & Pornography

Some types of pornography are protected under the First Amendment. This protected content depicts adults, and while adults are free to access it, minors' access may be restricted if the content is deemed "harmful to minors." In 1973 the US Supreme Court decision Miller v. California defined what types of sexually explicit materials are and are not excluded from protection under the First Amendment: obscenity and child pornography.

Miller v. California defined basic guidelines for obscenity cases as the following:

• "Whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interest.

• "Whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law.

• "Whether the work taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value" (Hudson, 2008).

Child pornography was defined by the 1996 Child Pornography Prevention Act as "any visual depiction…[that] is, or appears to be, of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct" (Child Pornography Prevention Act, 1996, as quoted in Hudson, 2008, ¶ 20). When minors, including teens, are depicted in pornographic material, they are considered "victims" of a crime, and anyone possessing or viewing such material is considered a criminal (Finkelhor & Ormrod, 2004; Hudson, 2008).

Determining what constitutes pornography is both "controversial and confounding" (Hudson, 2008) and, even with the Supreme Court definition, remains the subject of much contentious debate. The Court has continued to hear cases regarding pornography and First Amendment Rights from the end of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first (PBS, n.d.). Pornography is also a "hot button" issue for many feminists—some of whom feel that all pornographic material depicting women degrades and objectifies women. Other opponents of pornography base their views on religious or moral grounds and see the consumption of pornographic material as a threat to the traditional nuclear family. Feminist proponents of pornography argue that women have the right to choose what they do with their bodies and being able to make money from sites like OnlyFans or to have a business as a camgirl is a step forward for women in the agency of their sexuality. Social scientists continue to study the effects of long-term exposure to pornography on intimate relationships, as well as the relationship between exposure to pornography and sexually deviant behavior.

Via the Internet, children and teens have unprecedented access to sexually explicit materials, and researchers have begun to study what effects the accidental and purposeful viewing of pornography has on children and teens.

Applications

Pornography & Sexual Violence

A long-standing question asked by social scientists concerns the relationship between sexually explicit materials and anti-social behavior (Kendall, 2006). Consider the following public perceptions about exposure to pornography from a survey.

• 49 percent believed pornography can cause men to rape

• 56 percent blamed it for a breakdown in morals. (Hudson, 2006)

In 2018, 43 percent of Americans continued to believe pornography was immoral (Dugan, 2018). Many researchers have explored the relationship between exposure to pornography and sexually violent behavior. The following examples reveal that research on the question has been largely inconclusive.

In 1979 Neil Malamuth and his colleagues published a study titled Exposure to Pornography and Reactions to Rape, the purpose of which was to study the effects of exposure to sexual violence as presented in the mass media on men's and women's attitudes toward rape.

Malamuth's study cited research suggesting that sexually violent depictions could, among other things, perpetuate beliefs about female subservience, lead to assault, and encourage acts of hostility against women (Malamuth, Reisin & Spinner, 1979). However, Malamuth also cited other studies which concluded that there was no evidence that exposure to pornography caused any adverse effects, including aggression toward women. His 1979 study was meant to further understand just what effects depictions of sexual violence have on attitudes toward rape.

Malamuth and his colleagues collected a group of 80 male and female students and randomly exposed each of them to one of three different stimuli:

• violent sexually explicit images (Playboy magazine images with violent content)

• non-violent sexually explicit images (Playboy magazine images without violent content)

• neutral images (National Geographic magazine images, primarily landscapes).

After being exposed to the stimuli, all of the students viewed the same video of an interview with a rape victim and then completed a survey about the interview, asking them about their

• "Perceptions of the victim and assailant (e.g., intelligence, attractiveness)

• Perceptions of experience of victim (e.g., pain, trauma, etc.)

• Attitudes toward rape (e.g., responsibility, possible justification, punishment merited, sexual vs. violent motive).

• Subjects' beliefs about their own behavior in such situations (e.g., the possibility of engaging in sexual assault)" (Malamuth, Reisin & Spinner, 1979, p. 5).

Because the researchers were concerned that the experimental environment might skew their results, several weeks after the initial exposure Malamuth and his colleagues asked the same group of students to give their impressions on three stories in the mass media. The stories dealt with the Quebec separatist movement, government regulation of the auto industry, and a story about the dismissal of a rape conviction. Students were tested to see if they connected the two different experiments, and it was found that they did not. Students were then asked to assess their own attitudes about how a variety of factors may contribute to rape acts. The factors that the students were asked to consider in relation to the story about the dismissal of the rape conviction included: mental illness, attitudes of the judicial system, societal attitudes, victim behavior, and pornography (Malamuth, Reisin & Spinner, 1979). The researchers found that "the only effect of exposure to sexual stimuli (violent or non-violent) was a clear reduction in the degree to which pornography was perceived as a cause of rape"(Malamuth, Reisin & Spinner, 1979).

Malamuth (1979) also collected self-reported data from male students with regard to their "inclination to rape." When asked to consider if they would commit rape if they knew they would not be caught, those students who answered affirmatively displayed "a generally callous attitude toward sexual assault" (Malamuth, Reisin & Spinner, 1979, p. 7). They were more likely to believe that the woman in the interview they saw was responsible for her assault and less likely to believe that her assailant was dangerous. Malamuth and his colleagues believed these findings were consistent with those of other studies. In 1977, Abel, Barlow, Blanchard, & Guild found a positive correlation between "sexual arousal to the depiction of sexual violence" and "proclivity to rape"(Malamuth, Reisin & Spinner, 1979, p. 8). Malamuth continued his studies of pornography and sexual aggression in the twenty-first century rarely deviating from his study’s initial findings, though many have found fault with his findings. Malamuth has conceded that attitudes toward pornography and violence against women are highly individualized as well (Malamuth, Martin, & Koss, 2012).

As stated previously, researchers are divided on the effects that repeated exposure to pornography may have on a person's proclivity to sexual violence. The following discussion focuses on a study from 2006 that suggests that easy access to pornography actually reduces the number of instances of sexual violence.

Pornography, Rape, and the Internet, a 2006 article by Todd Kendall of Clemson University, set out to investigate the relationship between exposure to pornography and sexual violence. By analyzing statistics on rape and Internet usage from multiple states, Kendall found that "the arrival of the Internet was associated with a reduction in rape incidence" (2006, p. 1).

Kendall's study of pornography and rape is unique because it examines the "global" availability of porn that has resulted from the Internet. Consumers no longer have to deal with the market constraints imposed by geography or age. Barriers to pornography have largely disappeared with the advent of Internet technology.

Kendall states that he finds that because of the major decline in the price of pornographic material, the Internet appears to be acting as a substitute for rape. In fact, he states that he found that a 10 percent increase in Internet access was associated with a 7.3 percent decline in reported rape victimization (Kendall, 2006). According to Kendall's findings, there is no link between the rise of Internet accessibility and the incidence of other types of crime.

Kendall states that his findings are not consistent with many other studies but are in line with the findings R.A. Posner in his book, Sex and Reason (1994). Posner's book outlines his economic theory of sexuality, and, as Kendall paraphrases it, states that "pornography is a complement for masturbation or consensual sex, which are themselves substitutes for rape, making pornography a net substitute for rape" (Kendall, 2006, p. 4).

Social scientists continue to debate the causal relationship between exposure to pornography and sexual violence. Neil Malamuth's research suggests that people may find sexual violence more acceptable when exposed to violent sexual material, while Todd Kendall's implies that pornographic material may actually serve as a substitute for sexual aggression and even rape. Sociologists on both sides of the debate admit that further research is needed to determine the effects that repeated exposure to pornography has on rates of sexual violence.

Feminist Views of Pornography

Sexual assaults and rape are societal ills that are particularly destructive and damaging, especially to women, who are overwhelmingly the victims. Feminists universally decry rape and violent crime against women, but not all feminists are convinced that pornography leads to sexual violence or that all pornography is harmful.

Radical Feminism

Radical, or cultural, feminists believe pornography portrays women as "objects merely to serve and submit to male sexual pressure" (Hudson, 2006, p. 72). Radical feminist views during the 1970s and 1980s described sexuality as a form of male violence and saw any act of sexuality as a form of male domination and control over women. In their total condemnation of pornography, these feminists found themselves part of an unlikely coalition. Conservative Christian groups like the Moral Majority agreed with the radical feminist view of pornography and, with them, supported a total ban. Feminist and conservative Christian opposition to pornography failed to make pornography illegal, but their efforts did result in a schism within the feminist movement. More liberal feminists objected to the complete ban on pornographic material: they claimed that many women experience sexual pleasure by viewing pornography and believe this experience to be liberating.

One of the most vocal radical feminists to support a total ban on pornography was attorney Catherine MacKinnon. She equated all sex acts to forcible rape in that, through sex, women are made subordinate to men and further ratified the idea that all sexuality results in men's control over women (Hudson, 2006). In the ideology of radical feminism, the "personal is political," meaning that the oppression of women through sex has a cascading effect on other issues such as health care, reproductive rights, employment, and politics (Hudson, 2006). In MacKinnon's view, all sexuality is violent and represents subordination, and pornography perpetuates this violence and subordination by portraying women as submissive and "asking for violence" to be inflicted upon them (Hudson, 2006).

Perhaps the most famous example of the radical feminist response to pornography is the anti-porn legislation MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin proposed in Minneapolis in 1980. Arguing pornography violates women's First Amendment rights by forcing them to speak in such a way as to undermine their dignity, the proposed legislation resulted in civil action against the makers, sellers, distributors, and exhibitors of porn. The resulting ordinance was considered "civil rights legislation," and specified that pornography does actual harm and offers "victims of pornography" the right to sue the producers of sexual materials (Pollard, 1994; The New York Times, 1983).

Liberal Feminism

Female partners are often consumers of pornography along with their male partners. Women who view some aspects of pornography as positive "frequently distinguish between 'pornography,' which is harmful, and 'erotica,' which is not; 'erotica' would be sexual representations 'premised on equality.' However, these women are in wide disagreement about which materials fall into each of these categories" (Pollard, 1994, p. 2). One study of 340 women whose partners use pornography found that greater honesty regarding its use was correlated with higher relationship satisfaction, while mutual use lowered levels of distress, though it did not affect satisfaction (Resch & Alderson, 2014).

More liberal feminists believe that the presence of sexual material in society enables women to explore their sexuality and removes guilt about the experience and expression of sexuality (Pollard, 1994). Male and female progressives are more likely to view the suppression of sexual material as a form of censorship that deprives individuals of knowledge about sexuality. Liberal feminists take a similar view: the suppression of pornography is one way of preventing women from learning about sexuality and keeping them under the control of men. Liberal feminists see the ability of women to use pornography not just to explore their sexuality, but as a way to make a living of their own choice as progress in women’s rights.

Liberals do not see sex as the dangerous territory that conservatives and radical feminists do. Rather, they tend to oppose strong control over morality and perceive censorship as harmful.

Issues

Children & Youths as Consumers of Pornography

Research by the Pew Research Center suggested that the Internet was accessible to 95 percent of twelve- to seventeen-year-olds in the early 2010s (Madden et al., 2013). This number has only increased as teenagers have unlimited and instant access to the Internet through mobile devices. Further, social media has become a factor as well (Pew Research Center, 2022). With this nearly ubiquitous access, researchers have turned their attention to exploring how actively this age group seeks out pornography on the Internet and how exposure to pornography, whether intentional or accidental, affects their development.

While it is clear that the Internet and social media greatly reduced the barriers to accessing pornographic material, "concerns about the large numbers of young children exposing themselves to pornography may be overstated" (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2005). Because of the ethical and legal considerations that surround research on minors and pornography, most studies on the effects of pornography have been conducted on adult populations. The handful of adolescent surveys that have been done suggest that there is no relationship between pornography and behavior, but, as Ybarra and Mitchell (2005) noted, access to pornography through the Internet will logically need to be studied in much greater depth.

Studies conducted in the early 2000s of older teens revealed that:

• 59 percent believed that viewing pornography encouraged young people to have sex at an earlier age

• 49 percent believed that the Internet promoted negative attitudes toward women

• 49 percent believed that pornographic images promoted the idea that having unprotected sex was "safe" (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2005).

A study conducted in 2021 in European countries showed that 59 percent of adolescents aged 14-17 had been exposed to pornography while 24 percent were exposed weekly. Viewership was greater in males, especially those who had shown a tendency for deviant Internet behavior. The viewing of pornography, however, was associated with the development of positive and negative behaviors in adolescents (Andrie et al., 2021). There are still gaps in the literature regarding the potential effects of pornography on youth. Future studies will need to assess demographic characteristics as well as the specific characteristics of kids who seek out pornography, as this data is not widely available. A comparison of those actively seeking porn to their non-porn-seeking peers will be necessary to gain greater insights into youth interaction with online and offline pornography.

In the early 2000s, researchers Ybarra and Mitchell (2005) set out to discover some characteristics of youth who reported that they had sought out pornography. The authors compiled their findings from the Youth Internet Safety Survey. The survey was conducted through telephone interviews with 1501 youths who "self-reported" their pornography-seeking experiences.

Demographic characteristics compiled during the survey, suggested the following:

• seekers were far more likely to be male,

• older youth reported higher rates of intentional exposure, and

• older youth reported seeking out online sources, while younger youth had more commonly been exposed through magazines or movies. (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2005).

Many of these findings continued to be relevant in the 2020s with the exception of the means of exposure for younger youth which had become predominately from the Internet (Andrie, 2021). Many of these youths who sought out pornography also reported instances of delinquency and substance abuse in the prior year. Those who had sought it out online also reported clinical features associated with depression and lower emotional bonding with caregivers (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2005). However, the authors stated that these psychosocial characteristics were unlikely to have been caused by exposure to pornography (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2005). One question that remains unanswered by this research and previous research is whether young people are using the Internet because they are socially isolated or because they have fewer social demands. Furthermore, neither study explains the factors that spur online users to seek out pornography.

Ybarra and Mitchell (2005) admitted, along with many other social scientists, that the relationship between pornography and sexual violence was complex. On the one hand, pornography appeared to have no effect on men who had never been convicted of a sexual offense, even when it was viewed frequently. On the other, when men with predispositions toward aggressive sexual behavior were repeatedly exposed to pornography, their level of sexual aggression was four times higher than that of similarly predisposed men who were exposed to less pornography (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2005). Given these findings, it was possible that young people who sought out pornography did so as a symptom of an underlying cause. More research is needed.

Conclusion

The sale and distribution of pornographic materials nets billions of dollars across the globe each year. It is a divisive topic, with religious and social conservatives as well as radical feminists favoring its prohibition and other liberal groups viewing it as something to be tolerated, enjoyed, and celebrated.

Some research suggests that exposure to sexually violent pornography may increase instances of sexual aggression, particularly toward women. Newer studies continue to investigate the impact of the Internet in delivering pornography less expensively and to a much wider audience. The effects of Internet pornography will be the subject of much study by sociologists and other social scientists for many years to come. Of particular interest will be the effects of exposure to pornography on children.

Social scientists, parents, and legislators are all concerned about how many children can access sexually explicit content via the Internet. Data on how many children actively seek out pornography is not well documented. Research suggests that older youth are often "active" seekers of porn, while younger children are often exposed via email solicitations or by accident. What is of concern to these researchers is the ease with which children may have access to sexually explicit materials. The barriers to access have fallen to all consumers of porn - adults and children alike. The effects of this increased access on young children are not well known.

Terms & Concepts

Child Online Protection Act (COPA): Legislation passed in 1998 meant to protect children from harmful sexual material on the Internet.

Child Exploitation Pornography: A crime involving the possession or distribution of pornographic material portraying juveniles.

Erotica: Literature or art explicitly portraying sex. Sometimes distinguished from pornography in that it contains sexual representations "premised on equality."

Non-Pecuniary Costs: Refers to costs or damages that are not monetary.

Peer to Peer Networks: Electronic networks that allow users to connect with one another directly without mediation through a central server. Typically, peer-to-peer (sometimes known as P2P) connections are used for file sharing in both business and personal environments.

Prurient: Marked by or arousing an immoderate or unwholesome sexual interest or desire.

Social Mores: Established practices and beliefs of a society. They consist of shared understandings about the kinds of behavior likely to evoke approval, disapproval, toleration, or sanction within particular contexts.

Bibliography

Andrie, E. K., Sakou, I. I., Tzavela, E. C., Richardson, C., & Tsitsika, A. K. (2021). Adolescents' Online Pornography Exposure and Its Relationship to Sociodemographic and Psychopathological Correlates: A Cross-Sectional Study in Six European Countries. Children (Basel, Switzerland), 8 (10), 925. https://doi.org/10.3390/children8100925

Dugan, A. (2018, June 5). More Americans say pornography is morally acceptable. Gallup News. Retrieved June 8, 2023, from https://news.gallup.com/poll/235280/americans-say-pornography-morally-acceptable.aspx

Egan, V., & Parmar, R. (2013). Dirty habits? Online pornography use, personality, obsessionality, and compulsivity. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 39, 394–409. Retrieved date from EBSCO online database, SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=88070975&site=ehost-live

Finkelhor, D., & Ormrod, R. (2004). Child pornography patterns from NIBRS. Department of Justice Bulletin. Retrieved March 27, 2008, from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/204911.pdf

Hudson, D. (2008). Pornography and obscenity. Firstamendement.org. Retrieved March 28, 2008, from http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/speech/adultent/topic.aspx?topic=pornography

Hudson, M. (2006). The pornography wars. Elements, 2 , 71–76. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from http://www.bc.edu/research/elements/issues/2006s/elements-spring06-article8.pdf

Kendall, T, (2006). Pornography, rape and the Internet. Free Speech Coalition. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from http://www.freespeechcoalition.com/webdocs/Kendallpaper.pdf

Krause, J. (2008). The end of the net porn wars. ABA Journal, 94 , 52–56. Retrieved March 25, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=30032684&site=ehost-live

Madden, M., Lenhard, A., Duggan, M., Cortesi, S., & Gasser, U. (2013, March 13). Teens and technology 2013. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved January 7, 2015, from http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media//Files/Reports/2013/PIP5%FTeensandTechnology2013.pdf

Malamuth, N. M., Martin, G., & Koss, M. (2012). Pornography, individual differences in risk and men’a Acceptance of violence aagainstwWomen in a representative sample. Sex Roles 66, 427-429. https://dpi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-0082-6

Malamuth, N., Reisin, I., & Spinner, B. (1979). Exposure to pornography and reactions to rape. University of California. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from http://repositories.cdlib.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=commstudies

Minneapolis gets rights law to ban pornographyy. (1983, Dec 31). The New York Times. Retrieved June 8, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/31/us/minneapolis-gets-rights-law-to-ban-pornography.html

Owens, E. W., Behun, R. J., Manning, J. C., & Reid, R. C. (2012). The impact of internet pornography on adolescents: a review of the research. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 19(1/2), 99–122. Retrieved date from EBSCO online database, SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=74101238&site=ehost-live

Pollard, N. (1993). The modern pornography debate. Media Law and Practice, 14 , 1–4. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/lapam/lapam022.pdf

Prosecuting obscenity - pornography in the U.S. Supreme Court (n.d.). PBS. Retrieved June 8, 2023, from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/porn/prosecuting/supreme.html

Resch, M. N., & Alderson, K. G. (2014). Female partners of men who use pornography: Are honesty and mutual use associated with relationship satisfaction?. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 40, 410–424. Retrieved January 7, 2015 from EBSCO online database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=96104958&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Teens, social media and technology 2022. (2022, Aug. 10). Pew Research Center. Retrieved June 8, 2023, from https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022

Weber, M., Quiring, O., & Daschmann, G. (2012). Peers, parents and pornography: Exploring adolescents' exposure to sexually explicit material and its developmental correlates. Sexuality & Culture, 16, 408–427. Retrieved January 7, 2015 from EBSCO online database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=82067865&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Ybarra, M., & Mitchell, K. (2005). Exposure to Internet pornography among children and adolescents: A national survey. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 8 , 473–486. Retrieved March 28, 2008, from http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cpb.2005.8.473?cookieSet=1&journalCode=cpb

Suggested Reading

Andrews, D. (2012). Toward a more valid definition of 'pornography'. Journal of Popular Culture, 45, 457–477. Retrieved date from EBSCO online database, SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=76170484&site=ehost-live

Hutson, M. (2008). Vice or virtue?. Psychology Today, 41 , 18. Retrieved March 25, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Complete database. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=28067743&site=ehost-live

Krause, J. (2008). The end of the net porn wars. ABA Journal, 94 , 52–56. Retrieved March 25, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=30032684&site=ehost-live

Johansson, T., & HammarÉn, N. (2007). Hegemonic masculinity and pornography: Young people's attitudes toward and relations to pornography. Journal of Men's Studies, 15 , 57–70. Retrieved March 25, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database Gender Studies Database. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fmh&AN=24159715&site=ehost-live

Owens, E. W., Behun, R. J., Manning, J. C., & Reid, R. C. (2012). The impact of internet pornography on adolescents: A review of the research. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 19(1/2), 99–122. Retrieved January 7, 2015 from EBSCO online database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=74101238&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Sinkovi?, M., Štulhofer, A., & Boži?, J. (2013). Revisiting the association between pornography use and risky sexual behaviors: The role of early exposure to pornography and sexual sensation seeking. Journal of Sex Research, 50, 633–641. Retrieved October 30, 2013 from EBSCO online database, SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=89660451&site=ehost-live

Technology and pornography. (2007). Brigham Young University Law Review, 6, 1535–1584. Retrieved March 25, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=31310203&site=ehost-live

Wright, P. J. (2013). U.S. males and pornography, 1973–2010: consumption, predictors, correlates. Journal Of Sex Research, 50, 60–71. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=84139881&site=ehost-live