OVERVIEW

Purpose of the Report

From certain perspectives, the question of restraining the availability and use of
pornography is a relatively straightforward issue. For the active moralist, for
example, it is an instance in which the government should fulfill its obligation to
provide a healthy public atmosphere for the development of its citizens. For the
ardent feminist, government restrictions can combat 4 system that promotes the
active subjugation of women and the fostering of the public perception that women
actually desire subjugation. For the avid civil libertarian, restrictions in this area
should be resisted as dangerous indicators of a government's capacity to control infor-
mation and thus undercut our basic freedoms. Although the particulars of govern-
mental action are not resolved by any of these general positions, the limits of
acceptable action are clearly set by them.

This report does not attempt to side with, reconcile, or even comment upon the
genera! positions that can be taken on restricting pornography. The aim is much more
modest. This report summarizes the consensus of a group of social scientists and
mental health professionals regarding the nature and extent of evidence about the
effects of pornography, especially the effects on children and adolescents. The pur-
pose of this assessment is not to preseribe public policy. To assume that social
science or clinical practice offers such dispositive wisdom would be to greatly over-
estimate both the scope and accuracy of professional knowledge. Public policy
decisions are better decided by the balancing of tensions engaged in by judges,
legislators, and social critics.

An examination like the present one informs those more central to the policy
Process about the views of a group of social scientists regarding what is known in an
area and what yet needs to be known in order to make more definitive statements. In
performing this function, social scientists help to clarify the evidence that supports or
refutes arguments for certain courses of social action. Expert commentary on the
validity of assumptions of fact or the adequacy of theory is valuable to the policy
formation process because it highlights the line between accepted'social science evi-
dence and values or morality. Ideally, it can thus force discussion of these latter
issues to be done more openly.
Previous Investigations Into the Effects of Pornography

The Surgeon General's workshop that generated this report was not the first govern-
mentally sponsored effort to examine the question of the social effects of pornog-
raphy. In the late 1960's, the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography was formed,
and after funding much research and holding many hearings, released its report in
1970. Its findings were basically summarized in its introduction: "Empirical research
designed to clarify the issue has found no reliable evidence that exposure to sexually
explicit materials plays a significant role in the causation of delinquent or criminal
sexual behavior among youth or adults." The report was criticized by both Commis-
sion members (Cline, 1970) and others (see Krafka, 1985) for flaws in the design of
some commissioned research, misinterpretations of some of the research, limitations
of the scope of much of the research done. Despite critisisms, however, the general
conclusion of the Commission—that pornography has no marked social effects—has
continued to be the generally accepted and often cited wisdom in this area.

In response to a growing concern over child pornography in particular, both
houses of Congress held hearings into the issue of child pornography in 1977. During
these hearings, witnesses estimated that between 300,000 and 600,000 children were
involved in the production of pornography and that more than 260 child pornography
publications were being produced (Pierce, 1984). Subsequent to these hearings, the
federal government and nearly all state governments enacted laws against the pro-
duction, distribution, and possession of child pornography.

In 1979, the British government sponsored the Committee on Obscenity and
Film Censorship. The conclusions of this Committee, based in large part on a research
review by Yaffe and Nelson (1979) were similar to those of the 1970 United States
Commission on Obscenity and Pornography. Like its predecessor, however, this com-
mittee report was also criticized for its failure to include what were considered
relevant research studies (Court, 1980).

The Canadian government convened the Special Committee on Pornography and
Prostitution, which delivered its report in 1985. The Committee found that while
individual research projects had shown some of the effects of pornography, as a whole,
the research was contradictory and inconclusive, and could not be relied upon as a
guide for policy formation.

The United States Attorney General's Commission on Pornography was formed
in 1985 in response to a number of concerns: (a) continuing criticism of the findings of
previous commissions; (b) recent technological advances and changes in social
standards that had allowed both youth and adults easier access to pornography; (c)
recent research (e.g., Malamuth & Spinner, 1980; Smith, 1976) indicating that the
content of both "hardcore" and traditional "softcore" pornography had changed in the
1970's and 1980's to include considerably more sexually violent material; and (d)
preliminary research suggesting that these new forms of pornography had different
effects on viewers’ attitudes and behaviors than the pornography studied earlier.
These developments called for a reassessment of the possible impact of the changes in
the content and patterns of use. Moreover, a new research approach had emerged,
emphasizing that the message communicated by the pornography might have at least
as much effect as the explicitness of the sexual content, and an evaluation of new
findings thus seemed in order.

The mandate of the Commission was in part to "determine the nature, extent,
and impact on society of pornography in the United States, and to make specific
recommendations to the Attorney General concerning more effective ways in which
the spread of pornography could be contained, consistent with constitutional guar-
antees." Although no new research was funded by this Commission, it did undertake
public hearings in which current research was explained and information about the
current manufacture and distribution of pornography was gathered. Numerous wit-
nesses who viewed themselves as victims of pornography also testified.

The Surgeon General of the United States was asked to testify before the
Attorney General's Commission, and subsequently agreed to provide the Attorney
General with a report summarizing the evidence that was available from the scientific
community regarding the effects of pornography on public health. In order to provide
this information, the Surgeon General's Workshop on Pornography was convened, con-
sisting of 20 members from the communications, medical, mental health, and social
science fields. The goal of the Workshop was to provide the Surgeon General and the
U.S Public Health Service, as well as the Attorney General's Commission, with infor-
mation regarding three general questions: (1) what is known, with a reasonable degree
of certainty, about the effects of Pornography on the mental and physical health of
those in the United States, especially on children and young people; (2) what additional
effects are justifiably suspected and how these posited effects could be verified or
refuted ; and (3) what actions could be taken by those in the medical, mental health,
and public health fields in order to combat any negative effects of pornography.

Papers were prepared by five experts who had either conducted research into
the effect of pornography or were familiar with the effects on youth who had par-
ticipated in the production of pornography. These papers and discussant reactions to
the papers served as focal points for the first part of the Workshop. Three consensus
sessions were then held: one to summarize current knowledge about the effects of por-
nography on children and adolescents, a second to suggest prevention and intervention
measures for those who might be or have been affected by pornography (either as con-
sumers or as participants in its production), and the third to outline a course of future
research.

This report captures the essence of the discussions held during the two days of
the Surgeon General's Workshop on Pornography. A general discussion of the process
of research in this area is presented first. Then, the conclusions of the Workshop
participants regarding the effects of pornography are presented, as well as the evi-
dence upon which these conelusions were based. Finally, recommmendations for
prevention and treatment and for future research are given.