Civil Liberties and Research on the Effects of Pornography

Americans are concerned about the problem of pornography (The term "pornography" is used herein to refer to sexually explicit media without any pejorative meaning necessarily intended. Terms such as "violent pornography" and "sexually violent media" are used to refer to media that combine sexual and violent content. We also sometimes use the term "sexually violent media" to refer to materials that fuse sex and violence but do not necessarily have a high degree of sexual explicitness.), particularly violent pornography. A total of 73% of Americans say they would ban magazines that show sexual violence, 68% would bar theaters from showing movies that depict sexual violence, and 63% would bar the sale or rental of video cassettes that feature sexual violence (Burton, 1989). For the last seven years, policy advocates from the conservative right and the traditional left and many feminists have engaged in a fierce debate about the appropriate legal solution to the problem of pornography, in both violent and nonviolent forms. Research and expert testimony from social psychologists in one form or another has been used by virtually all parties involved in the debate.