Pornography and Public Health: Report of the Surgeon General's Workshop, Arlington, VA

摘要

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 a 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 information and thus undercut our basic freedoms. Although the particulars of governmental 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 general 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 purpose of this assessment is not to prescribe 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.