Pornography Use and Sexual Scripts Among Men Who Have Committed Sexual Offenses

Abstract

Drawing from sexual scripting theory, the present study employed semi-structured interviews with 101 individuals incarcerated for sexual offenses in a Midwestern minimum-security prison to explore: (1) Do individuals who have committed sexual offenses report that porn scripts influenced or informed their sexual behavior? and (2) How do participants understand the norms and values inherent in porn? Through a qualitative analysis, several themes were identified which included living the porn, transforming sex, porn as grooming and offending, and porn as risk. For some individuals, porn serves as a salient factor in how they navigate their sexual behaviors and relationships, however, most did not report relying on these scripts in their offenses. We discuss treatment and supervision implications related to pornography use.