Citation

Fisher WA, Kohut T, Di Gioacchino LA, Fedoroff P. Curr. Psychiatry Rep. 2013; 15(6): 362.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology and Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Social Science Centre 7428, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5C2, fisher@uwo.ca.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s11920-013-0362-7

PMID

23636986

Abstract

The current paper reviews research findings concerning the association of pornography with sexual violence and paraphilic interests. Little clarity concerning the causal impact of pornography on sexual aggression or child-oriented sexual behavior has been achieved in the scientific literature. Laboratory experimentation demonstrates that violent pornography may contribute to antiwoman aggression, but the artificiality and constraints of the experimental setting severely limit generalization of these findings to real-world situations, and observational studies in natural settings consistently find no association or an inverse association of pornography with sexual aggression. In addition, although pedophiles often use child pornography, the causal impact of child pornography on child sexual offending is not conclusive. The current analysis considers the confluence of predisposing factors and pornography use as issues requiring clinical judgment in the reduction of sexual aggression and management of paraphilic interest in children.

Language: en