The Detrimental Effects of Pornography Addition on Teenagers Research Proposal

The Detrimental Effects of Pornography Addition on Teenagers - Research Proposal Example The prevalence of pornography addiction amongst the American teenage population appears to be on the rise. Though experts are often divided as to the root cause of these addictive tendencies, there does appear to be issues of both biology and environment which contributes to adolescent addiction. Teenage addiction to pornography does not necessarily have to take the form of Internet-based pornographic materials, but can develop from an unhealthy obsession with sexually-explicit print and video materials. Weiten and Lloyd (2003) suggest that teenagers may develop substantial preoccupations with sex as a coping strategy for unfulfilled needs related to emotional intimacy. Under this presumption, pornography addiction is simply the result of unrewarding environmental conditions which do not adequately contribute to positive mental health. Thus, the preoccupation with sex and pornography becomes a replacement for poor self-esteem reinforcement by peers, family members, or other caretakers in their personal environment. It could simply be, under this premise, that the youth remains so largely unfulfilled emotionally that they latch onto pornography as a means to stimulate themselves amidst an environment where basic frustrations or an unhealthy view of the self lead to distorted views of sexuality. This viewpoint is reinforced by Gunter (2002) who offers that pornography is often used to create a desired mood state. If the youth cannot find personal gratification in their everyday surrou ndings, the enjoyment of sexual activity (i.e. habitual masturbation) would potentially serve as a tool to mask an unhealthy view of the self. For the male teenager, another mental health professional offers that pornography addiction is merely an outcome of unhealthy views related to male supremacy (August, 1995). In today’s culture, teenage men are exposed to specific cultural views regarding what