- By Nicky Stanley, Christine Barter and others
- Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2016
The internet and new technologies have led to young people being exposed to material previously subject to greater control and regulation when confined to printed and other formats. This has made pornography increasingly accessible to young people and allows anonymous and private access to it, as well as the potential for it to be widely distributed.
Flood's (2009) non-systematic review identified associations between frequent use of violent pornography and sexually aggressive attitudes among adolescent boys.
A recent UK review found an association between exposure and access to pornography and aggressive behaviour in children and young people. However, the evidence is not strong enough to infer the direction of causality of this relationship.
This study built on an earlier research study that explored young people's online and face-to-face experiences of interpersonal violence and abuse (IPVA) (Barter et al, 2015). It explored whether regular viewing of online pornography is a risk factor for perpetration of sexual coercion and abuse in young people's intimate relationships. It also examined whether the use of pornography is associated with sending or receiving sexual images or messages (sexting).
A survey was conducted with 4,564 young people aged 14 to 17 in five European countries (Bulgaria, Cyprus, England, Italy and Norway). Also, 91 interviews were conducted with young people who had direct experience of IPVA in their relationships (67 young women and 24 young men).
Study findings
This survey study found that boys' perpetration of sexual coercion and abuse was significantly associated with regularly viewing of online pornography. Viewing online pornography was also found to be associated with a significantly increased probability of boys having sent sexual images/messages. Boys who regularly watched online pornography were also significantly more likely to hold negative gender attitudes.
Online pornography was "regularly" viewed by between 19 and 30 per cent of young people, with much higher rates for boys than girls. High rates of experience of sexual coercion and abuse were found for girls in England, Italy and Norway. Most of this took the form of being pressured into intimate touching or sexual intercourse rather than being physically forced. There were large variations between countries in relation to sending and receiving sexual images and messages (between six and 44 per cent of young women, and 15 and 32 per cent of young men).
There was an association between experiencing IPVA and sending/receiving sexual images/messages - young people who had experienced IPVA were twice as likely to have sent or received a sexual image/message than those who had not. Regular viewing of online pornography was associated with an increased likelihood of sending/receiving sexual images or messages.
Young people who were interviewed identified similarities between pornography and sexting. Many described sexting as "normal" and a "safe" way to relieve sexual tension. However, young people also reported that the exchange of sexual images could involve control and, when images were shared, humiliation.
Statistical analyses found that for boys in this sample, regularly watching pornography and sending or receiving sexual images/messages were associated with an increased likelihood of being a perpetrator of sexual coercion. Negative gender attitudes were also positively associated with sexual coercion.
Implications for practice
This study has a number of limitations that need to be taken into account when interpreting the findings:
- The study used a cross-sectional design rather than a random sample, which means it is not possible to identify causal relationships.
- It did not explore the frequency or nature of regularly viewing online pornography. Thus, there may have been variation in the type and amount of viewing of online pornography categorised as "regular viewing".
Notwithstanding these limitations, the authors identify the following messages for practice:
- Regulating and restricting young people's exposure to pornography is unlikely to be effective because of the widespread normalisation of pornography and the ease of access to it (Bryant, 2009).
- Sex and relationships education should promote a critical understanding of pornography. This should include discussions around how pornography does not reflect real-life experiences and its gendered nature.
- Preventive IPVA interventions need to address the relationship between pornography, gender attitudes and abusive behaviour in boys.
- Approaches and interventions to prevent the harms associated with sexting need to take account of the fact that young people consider texting as "normal" and not generally associated with adverse effects.
The research section for this special report is based on a selection of academic studies which have been explored and summarised by Research in Practice, part of the Dartington Hall Trust.
Read more from the E-Safety and Online Safeguarding special report
