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Pornography:
Impacting Your Family
National Alliance of Christian
Leaders - Media Release:
1 September 2007
“The results are clear and
consistent; exposure to pornographic
material puts one at increased
risk for [1] developing sexually
deviant tendencies, [2] committing
sexual offenses, [3] experiencing
difficulties in one’s intimate
relationships, and [4] accepting
the rape myth. In order to
promote a healthy and stable
society, it is time that we
attend to the culmination
of sound empirical research.”
Writing
in the peer-reviewed Italian
medical journal, Medicine,
Mind and Adolescence, 2000
(Vol XII, no 1-2, pp 101-112),
Dr Claudio Violato states
that “research in this area
can now move beyond the question
of whether pornography has
an influence on violence and
family functioning.” A META-ANALYSIS
OF THE PUBLISHED RESEARCH
ON THE EFFECTS OF PORNOGRAPHY
was conducted in order to
“redirect the focus on the
question of pornography’s
potential effects to an empirical
platform.”
Available
from violato@ucalgary.ca
“Four
outcome variables of sexual
deviancy (i.e., non-normative
sexual behaviours such as
early age of first intercourse,
excessive or ritualistic masturbation),
sexual perpetration (i.e.,
aggressive, sexually hostile,
and violent behaviours), attitudes
regarding intimate relationships
(i.e., perceptions of dominance,
submission, courtship, sex
role stereotyping, or viewing
persons as sexual objects),
and belief in the rape myth
(i.e., women cause rape, should
resist or prevent it, and
rapists are normal) were coded
for effect sizes.”
This authoritative study contains
46 empirical investigations
“indicating the consistent
negative effect of exposure
to pornography in each of
these four areas. Consistent
with previous Meta-Analyses…
the results of the present
meta-analysis suggest that
exposure to pornography produces
a variety of substantial negative
outcomes.”
The
New Scientist of 5 May 1990
contains a cover story entitled,
“The Power of Pornography”.
In the article Flesh and Blood,
pp 19-23, students watched
varying amounts of pornographic
film over a 6 week period.
“Following this the students
were asked to do several psychological
tests” including watching
a rape trial re-enactment.
When asked to sentence the
rapist “Men who had not watched
the films suggested sentences
of 7 years 11 months on average,
while those in the ‘massive
exposure’ group (4 hrs 48
min total over 6 weeks) sentenced
the rapist to only 4 years
2 months.” The groups who
were massively exposed to
porn looked upon rape as a
less serious offence. This
same study also documented
that “Students in the massive
exposure group had significantly
higher callousness scores
that those who had seen no
pornography.”
“PORNIFIED: How Pornography
Is Damaging Our Lives, Our
Relationships, and Our Families”,
published by Pamela Paul in
2006 quotes A Systematic Review
of the Effects of Aggressive
and Nonaggresive Pornography
by Drs Lyon and Larson. They
reviewed 81 peer-reviewed
scientific research studies
from 1981 to the present.
Most, if not all, of the important
studies in the field of visual
or audio pornography were
included. Their professional
analysis concluded, “Systematic
research results suggest that
exposure to pornography does
have an important causal impact.”
Drs
Lyon and Larson also found
that studies of so-called
‘non violent’ pornography
also show harmful effects.
“Non-violent pornography contributes
to aggressive and callous
attitudes and behaviour towards
women.”
The
Canadian Fraser Commission
on Pornography and Prostitution
also studied the impact of
violent and non-violent pornography.
Their startling finding was
that when it came to forcing
women into unwanted sex acts
“commonly available, non-violent
pornography had a substantially
greater impact than violent
pornography.” [Pornography:
Research Advances and Policy
Considerations, Lawrence Earlbaum
Assoc, Hillsdale NJ, 1989,
pp 147-151]
Dr
Kelly Ladin L’Engle, Ph.D.
from the University of North
Carolina in Chapel Hill kelly.lengle@unc.edu
published The mass media are
an important context for adolescent’s
sexual behaviour in the March
2006 Journal of Adolescent
Health.
Dr
L’Engle compared the impact
of family, religion, school,
peers and media and found
”media influences made a significant
contribution beyond the effect
from these other contexts.”
She refers to the media as
a “super peer”. http://teenmedia.unc.edu
In her conclusions she states,
“Adolescents who are exposed
to more sexual content in
the media, and who perceive
greater support from the media
for teen sexual behaviour,
report greater intentions
to engage in sexual intercourse
and more sexual activity.
Mass media are an important
context for adolescents’ sexual
socialisation, and media influences
should be considered in research
and interventions with early
adolescents to reduce sexual
activity.”
Dr
L’Engle’s research with the
Department of Sociology at
the University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill, was cited in
current peer-reviewed scientific
journals such as the March
2007 Archives of Pediatrics
and Adolescent Medicine, Dec
2006 Pediatrics, Nov 2006
ANNALS of the New York Academy
of Sciences, Aug 2006 Obstetrics
and Gynecology and several
other prominent scientific
and medical journals.
Although
porn apologists encourage
widespread use of their products
and insist pornography is
harmless, graphic sex films
have for years been used to
recondition sex behaviour.
This simply reinforces our
warning concerning pornography
causing behavioural change.
The Link Between Pornography
and Violent Sex Crimes by
Robert Peters, President of
Morality in Media in Manhattan
quotes Dr Victor Cline’s “Use
of Sexually Explicit Films
to Change Behaviour and Attitudes”
where he states that “… no
responsible sex therapist
would ever say to a patient
who had a specifically focused
sexual problem, ‘Go down to
the adult bookshop and help
yourself to anything you can
find there.’” http://www.moralityinmedia.org/pornsEffects/Porn-Crime-Link-RWP.htm
In her seminal book “Pornified”
(Owl Books 2006) author Pamela
Paul says, “Religious men,
of course, look at pornography
too.” Jonathan Daugherty,
founder of Be Broken Ministries
is quoted as saying, “At least
half of the men in Christian
churches struggle with pornography.
It’s become the leading factor
in divorce. Christianity Today
and Leadership magazines report
about 40% of clergy admitting
to visiting sexually explicit
websites. Another poll, conducted
by Pastors.com in 2002 found
50% of pastors admitting to
viewing pornography in the
previous year. Corporate Chaplain
Henry Rogers says 40% to 70%
of evangelical Christian men
say they struggle with pornography.
A 2000 poll by Focus on the
Family found 18% of those
calling themselves ‘born again’
Christians admit to visiting
porn sites.” As Pamela Paul
correctly states, “It’s not
necessarily the righteous
who abstain.”
Former
Chairman of the Standing Committee
on Social Issues for the New
South Wales government in
Australia, Dr Marlene Goldsmith
commented on the now infamous
cover of the common Aussie
porn magazine, PEOPLE. The
magazine cover features a
naked woman on all fours with
a dog collar on a leash. She
says, “… imagine a naked Aboriginal
man in the same position.
The image becomes appalling
– a legitimisation of racism.
Aboriginal people are entitled
to be treated with dignity.
So, I would argue, are women.”
Along
with the above quote from
QUADRANT magazine, Nov 1993,
Dr Goldsmith rightly says,
“We spend millions on affirmative
action, we profess (at least
publicly) horror at racism,
and yet misogynistic visual
images are, to many, sacrosanct.
Women are being raped, beaten,
murdered, but their right
to life and liberty is considered
less than the right to purchase
or profit from pornography.”
www.dianarussell.com
tells you almost everything
you need to know about the
detrimental effects of pornography
and how to better protect
your families.
After
the recent spate of Aboriginal
sexual atrocities highlighted
in Australia’s Little Children
are Sacred report, Prime Minister
John Howard placed mandatory
bans on X rated pornography
in the Aboriginal communities
in the Northern Territory.
The sale, hire and display
(but not possession) of X
rated pornography is already
prohibited in each Australian
state, it is only available
through a thriving mail order
business in the Territories,
mainly Australia’s Capital
Territory, Canberra.
Due to the fact that the Prime
Minister now recognises pornography
causes harm and armed with
new empirical studies proving
the link between pornography
and imitative criminal behaviour,
AFF is calling on the Prime
Minister to better protect
all Australians by extending
the ban to the rest of Australia.
In an address to the Victorian
Criminal Justice Symposium,
Victorian Barrister and Chairman
of Forensic Psychology at
Melbourne’s Monash University,
Dr Don Thompson states “pornography
is causally related to sexually
violent behaviour” and Victorian
Crown Prosecutor Richard Read
says there “definitely is
a very clear link” between
the two.
Dr
Judith Reisman was responsible
for the banning of X rated
material on Australian Pay
TV and has met with many Australian
state and federal MPs. Her
important work in Australia
has been broadcast on all
of Australia’s most influential
media programs, including
her address to the National
Press Club. Her work was instrumental
in forcing Australian Penthouse,
Playboy and Hustler to stop
using 16 and 17 year-old girls.
She is reportedly due back
in Australia in September
to address the National Marriage
Forum in our federal Parliament
House in Canberra.
Professor
John Murtaugh, Medical Editor
of Australian Family Physician
magazine says “ideas – and
images – have consequences.”
He adds, “We have a major
problem: our society it seems
cannot come to terms with
the widespread concern about
the proliferation of permissive
sex and violence …” Australian
Family Physician Vol. 21,
No 6, June 1992.
Over
the years, Jack Sonnemann,
Director of the Australian
Federation for the Family,
has defeated Playboy magazine
in Australia, raised the age
of girls to appear in porn,
stopped all of the Australian
based Dial-a-Porn phone sex
numbers, led successful boycott
campaigns against the commercial
sponsors of sex and violence
in print and broadcast media
in Australia and has initiated
significant changes in federal
and state legislation all
across the nation.
Sonnemann
has been asked to address
legislators in the Australian
Capital Territory (ACT) in
Canberra on 17 September 2007
concerning his plan to ban
X rated porn in the nation’s
capital.
After
a recent series of highly
successful church and public
meetings, media appearances
and political appointments
in the ACT Assembly as well
as the Federal Parliament,
Jack Sonnemann conducted a
well-attended Powerpoint presentation
in the Assembly Hall.
This
convinced the Liberal (conservative)
Party to adopt his policies
of banning X rated porn in
all of Australia.
He
will address the Liberal Party
Room in the Legislative Assembly
in Canberra on 17 September.
Australia
announced that it would be
the first country in the western
world to ban same-sex marriage
on 27 May 2004 with a media
release by the Attorney General
the Honourable Philip Ruddock
MP titled “Government Defends
Marriage”.
Australia has the real opportunity
to be the first country in
the western world to ban X
rated pornography.
Jack
Sonnemann can be reached through
www.ausfamily.org, password
‘decency’.
NATIONAL
ALLIANCE of CHRISTIAN LEADERS
http://www.nacl.com.au/
http://www.chr.org.au/
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