Internet Porn: Worse Than Crack?

According to clinicians and researchers, Internet pornography is the new crack cocaine, leading to addiction, misogyny, pedophilia, boob jobs and erectile dysfunction. Mary Anne Layden, co-director of the Sexual Trauma and Psychopathology Program at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Cognitive Therapy, called porn the "most concerning thing to psychological health that I know of existing today."

Layden said "the Internet is a perfect drug delivery system because you are anonymous, aroused and have role models for these behaviors." The drug of choice, pornography, can be pumped into the comfort of your own home 24/7, free of charge. With the youth of today’s society being technologically minded, many know how to use the Internet better than their parents. Furthermore as porn is now ubiquitous, it may increase the degree of difficulty for parents in stopping their children from being exposed to such explicit material.

No longer do pornography users need to make an embarrassing trip to a local newsagency, video store or an adult shop to feed their addiction, instead individuals can simply log onto the Internet to receive their fix (which does not discriminate against age, even if it is a legal requirement).

Layden also said “pornography addicts have a more difficult time recovering from their addiction than cocaine addicts, since coke users can get the drug out of their system, but pornographic images stay in the brain forever”. Similarly, Satinover (a psychiatrist) said "pornography really does, unlike other addictions, biologically cause direct release of the most perfect addictive substance”. Pornography causes masturbation, which causes a release of the naturally occurring opioids (doing what heroin can’t do).

Due to pornography’s increasing use, it has been argued that to reduce the prevalence of pornography use, federal money should be allocated to fund brain-mapping studies into the physical effects of pornography and also fund health campaigns to educate the public about the dangers of pornography, by means such as bus signage including “sex with children is not OK”. Many psychologists would like to see more money devoted to research on sex. However this is unlikely as studies intended to show the harmful effects of pornography must contend with ethical rules prohibiting harm to human subjects, while sex researchers have a hard time getting any funding, unless their study is specifically HIV-related.

This being said, there is no consensus among mental health professionals about the dangers of porn or the use of the term "pornography addiction." Many psychologists and most sexologists find the concepts of sex and pornography addiction problematic. Psychologists argue that people who have compulsive and destructive behavior centered on pornography can not be marginalised as this can also happen with other activities such as gambling and shopping.

Pornography is a safer form of sexual activity as, when used alone it has no risks of health issues such as sexually transmitted infections (STI), unlike physical sexual activity which has associated risks such as pregnancy and STI.

At the end of the day pornography use is not illegal (unless it is images of children) for adults to use (aged 18+), unlike cocaine which is illegal. Therefore it is unlikely, even if pornography is addictive, that it will be able to be controlled in the same way in which drug use is controlled.

Extremists’ utilisation of the Internet

An extremist is characterised by dogmatic intolerance, expressed mildly or violently, and inclines towards an inflexible obedience to an accepted authority, shaped by a common ideology or sense of group unity (Gardner, 1997).

Extremist groups were among the very early users of electronic communication network that eventually evolved into the Internet. Like many individuals, extremists have utilised the Internet to recruit new members and to spread their message. The Internet may be an especially powerful tool for extremists (Gerstenfeld, et.al., 2003). The Internet allows eExtremists to become anonymous members, unbound by gender or race or even international boarders. The Internet also allows for the linking of diverse extremist groups and also maximum image control.

By creating a virtual community the basic drives of white extremist groups can be shared including racial purity, political hegemony, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Liberal and Anti-Government

The website Southern Poverty Law Canter Intelligence Project (http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/hate.jsp) has counted 803 active hate groups in the United States of America in 2005. A map is even included to detail how many reside in each state. For example South Carolina holds the majority of hate groups with 46 found. These include Neo-Confederate, Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi, Black Separatist and other groups, with the majority being Neo-Confederate. South Carolinas’ population stands at 4,113,961 people. This is made up of the following races:
White: 67.4%
Black/African American: 28.5%
American Indian/Alaska Native: 0.3%
Asian: 1.1%
Native Hawaiian/other pacific islander: 0.0%
Other: 1.5%
Two or more races: 1.1%
(American Fact Finder, http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en)

Texas, has 43 known hate groups including every type of group (Black Separatist, Christian Identity, Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Confederate, Neo-Nazi, Other and Racist Skinheads).
Texas’ population stands at 41,521 people. This is made up of the following races:
White: 71.9%
Black/African American: 11.0%
American Indian/Alaska Native: 0.5%
Asian: 3.3%
Native Hawaiian/other pacific islander: 0.1%
Other: 11.6%
Two or more races: 1.7%
(American Fact Finder, http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en)

With both states having a high population percentage of white individuals it is easy to see why such large numbers of hate groups associated with race have been found, as the minority groups are out numbered greatly. The website also has a function which can show where particular hate groups are located such as Black Separatist, Christian Identity, Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Confederate, Neo-Nazi, Other and Racist Skinheads. This function could potentially assist in new members sourcing a local hate group to join.

The introduction of the Internet has allowed such groups to spread their messages to anyone who is looking for particular hate groups, or even those individuals surfing the net and just happen to stumble across one of the many hate group sites from around the world.