Pornography addiction, or more broadly overuse of pornography, is excessive pornography use that interferes with daily life. There is no diagnosis of pornography addiction in the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), and as with the broader proposed diagnosis of sexual addiction, there is debate as to whether or not the behaviors indicate an addiction.[1]
Contents |
Diagnosis as an addiction
Dispute about whether or not pornography addiction exists
There is dispute about whether pornography addiction exists. There is further argument as to whether or not it has harmful effects. Some sex therapists argue that it is a real addiction with serious consequences, while others argue it is not comparable to substance addiction and should not be classed as such.[2]
Erick Janssen, PhD, a researcher at the Kinsey Institute, criticizes the application of the term addiction to pornography overuse, arguing that while it describes addiction-like behaviour, treating the users as addicts may not help.[1] Stephen Andert, coauthor of "Web Stalkers: Protect Yourself from Internet Criminals & Psychopaths", states "For many people, pornography is a problem. Like alcohol, gambling or drugs, it can take control of a person's life and drag them kicking and screaming or voluntarily into the gutter. The addictive and progressive (or should that be regressive) nature of pornography is well documented." However, Andert identified no source for the claimed documentation.[3]
Proposed definition
Aviel Goodman, M.D., proposed general characteristics of all types of addictions in 1990.[4] Pornography addiction is defined, by those who argue that it exists, as a psychological addiction to, or dependence upon, pornography, characterized by obsessive viewing, reading, and thinking about pornography and sexual themes to the detriment of other areas of one's own life.
Proposed stages of pornography addiction
Some psychologists and sex therapists (for example Kimberly Young, PhD, and Victor Cline, PhD) have proposed stages in pornography addiction.[5][6][7] [8] [9] [10] [11] Rory C. Reid and Dan Gray note that the stages need not be sequential and not all individuals experience all stages.[5]
Serial killer Ted Bundy stated that his pornography addiction went through stages. As a boy he reported seeing softcore pornography, and that he later viewed hardcore pornography and violent pornography. Ben Shapiro, in his book "Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future", claimed that this played an influencing role in Bundy's crimes.[12] However, Alexander Barnes Dryer, in his review of the book for The New Republic states that it was difficult to cite just one flaw with the book, as there were so many.[13]
Online pornography addiction
Online pornography addiction involves pornography obtained via the Internet. Psychologists who support this concept argue that it is stronger, and more addictive, than ordinary pornography addiction because of its wide availability, explicit nature, and the privacy that online viewing offers. Some claim that "addicts" regularly spend extended periods of time searching the internet for new or increasingly hardcore pornography.[1]
Use of content control and monitoring
Some clinicians and support organizations recommend using voluntary content control mechanisms (also known as "Internet filters" and "censorware"), internet monitoring, or both as a tool in the treatment of purportedly excessive online pornography use.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20]
Sex researcher Alvin Cooper and colleagues suggested several reasons for using filters as a therapeutic measure, including curbing accessibility that facilitates problematic behavior and encouraging clients to develop coping and relapse prevention strategies.[14] Cognitive therapist Mary Anne Layden suggested that filters may be useful in maintaining environmental control.[18] Internet behavior researcher David Delmonico noted that, despite their limitations, filters may serve as a "frontline of protection."[15]
Filters that target pornography have been included in computer operating systems such as Linux and are sold as stand-alone applications and devices.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c Downs, Martin F.; Louise Chang, MD (reviewer) (August 30, 2005). "Is Pornography Addictive? Psychologists debate whether people can have an addiction to pornography.". WebMD. http://men.webmd.com/guide/is-pornography-addictive. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7371171.stm
- ^ Andert, Stephen; Donald K. Burleson (2005). Web Stalkers: Protect Yourself from Internet Criminals & Psychopaths. page 359,: Rampant TechPress. pp. 339. http://books.google.com/books?id=zuqR3KglZfsC&dq=Web+Stalkers&source=gbs_navlinks_s. Retrieved on June 2009.
- ^ Goodman, Aviel (1990). "Addiction: Definition And Implications" (in English). British Journal of Addiction (pages 1403-1408) 85 (11). ISSN 0952-0481. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/119381659/PDFSTART. Retrieved on June 2009.
- ^ a b Rory C. Reid; Dan Gray (2006). "Assessing a Problem: Pornography Questionnaire". Confronting Your Spouse's Pornography Problem. Silverleaf Press. pp. 167–8. ISBN 9781933317434. http://books.google.com/books?id=K-LfGu4syQwC&source=gbs_navlinks_s.
- ^ Cline, Dr. Victor B., Treatment and Healing of Sexual and Pornographic Addictions, http://www.obscenitycrimes.org/vbctreat.cfm
- ^ Cline, Dr. Victor B., Pornography's Effects on Adults and Children, http://www.obscenitycrimes.org/clineart.cfm
- ^ Cline, Dr. Victor (PDF). Victor Cline, Ph.D. Witness Statement, Commission on Child Online Protection. http://www.copacommission.org/meetings/hearing3/cline.test.pdf. "In the case of pedophiles; the overwhelming majority, in my clinical experience use child pornography and/or create it to stimulate and whet their sexual appetites which they masturbate to then later use as a model for their own sexual acting out with children.[...]Other related studies by D.R. Evens and B.T. Jackson support his thesis. They found that deviant masturbatory fantasy very significantly effected the habit strength of the subject’s sexual deviation".
- ^ Cline, Dr. Victor B., Pornography's Effects on Adults and Children, http://www.obscenitycrimes.org/clineart.cfm, "The sexual activity depicted in the pornography (no matter how anti-social or deviant) became legitimized. There was an increasing sense that "everybody does it" and this gave them permission to also do it, even though the activity was possibly illegal and contrary to their previous moral beliefs and personal standards."
- ^ Cline, Dr. Victor B., Pornography's Effects on Adults and Children, http://www.obscenitycrimes.org/clineart.cfm, "Being married or in a relationship with a willing sexual partner did not solve their problem. Their addiction and escalation were mainly due to the powerful sexual imagery in their minds, implanted there by the exposure to pornography."
- ^ Cline, Dr. Victor B., Pornography's Effects on Adults and Children, http://www.obscenitycrimes.org/clineart.cfm, "... an increasing tendency to act out sexually the behaviors viewed in the pornography, including compulsive promiscuity, exhibitionism, group sex, voyeurism, frequenting massage parlors, having sex with minor children, rape, and inflicting pain on themselves or a partner during sex. This behavior frequently grew into a sexual addiction which they found themselves locked into and unable to change or reverse, no matter what the negative consequences were in their life."
- ^ Shapiro, Ben (2005). Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future. Regnery Publishing. pp. 160. ISBN 978-0895260161.
- ^ "Porn Identity:A review by Alexander Barnes Dryer". 30 June 2005. http://www.powells.com/review/2005_06_30.html. Retrieved on February 2009.
- ^ a b Cooper, Alvin; Putnam, Dana E., Planchon, Lynn A., & Boies, Sylvain C. (1999). "Online Sexual Compulsivity: Getting Tangled in the Net". Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention 6 (2): 79–104. doi:.
- ^ a b Delmonico, D.L. (1997). "Cybersex: High Tech Sex Addiction". Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention 4 (2): 159–167. doi:.
- ^ "AAMFT Consumer Update - Sexual Addiction". American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. http://www.aamft.org/families/Consumer_Updates/Sexual%20Addiction.asp. Retrieved on 2007-06-10.
- ^ Corley, M. Deborah, Ph.D. (Winter 2002). "Cybersex Addiction" (PDF). Paradigm: 12, 22. http://www.addictionrecov.org/paradigm/P_PR_W02/W02-composite.pdf.
- ^ a b Layden, Mary Anne, Ph.D. (September 2005). "Cyber Sex Addiction" (PDF). Advances in Cognitive Therapy: 1–2, 4–5. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=2&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.academyofct.org%2FLibrary%2FInfoManage%2FGuide.asp%3FFolderID%3D295%26SessionID%3D&ei=ng-jRtv7PImCgATwws3KDQ&usg=AFQjCNEf86dfie8vIsUfNnNv8F0VGezocA&sig2=2XfdVuPQH5l5A5B3q9A69g.
- ^ Bissette, David C., Psy.D. (February 2004). "Choosing an Internet Filter" (PDF). http://healthymind.com/filters.pdf. Retrieved on 2007-06-10.
- ^ "Recovery Resources". Recovery Path Counselling Services. http://www.recoverypath.ca/therapists_addicts_resources.php. Retrieved on 2007-06-10.
External links
- People who feel victimized by porn: Let's give them sympathy, not a Congressional hearing by sex therapist Marty Klein, Ph. D.
- Statement of Daniel Linz, Ph.D. on The Science Behind Pornography Addiction
- Marriott, Edward. "Men and porn". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/nov/08/gender.weekend7. Retrieved on 2008-10-25.
- Naomi Wolf. "The Porn Myth". New York Magazine. http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/trends/n_9437/. Retrieved on 2008-10-25.
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