§ Mr. LeighTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research his Department has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the link between the viewing of pornography and the committing of sex offences. [35725]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyIn 1990 the Home Office commissioned a review of available research evidence on the effects of pornography. The report by Howitt and Cumberbatch entitled "Pornography: impacts and influences: A review of available research evidence on the effects of pornography" was published in 1990.
The review evaluated existing literature and concluded that there was no convincing evidence for a link between pornography and sex offending. It found that trends in sex offending were not clearly linked to the availability of pornography. Also, use of pornography often appeared to post-date the emergence of deviance. However, one of the difficulties of research in this area is that sex offenders are not a homogenous group, and it is therefore difficult to try and establish consistent relationships with external factors (ie in this case availability of pornography) and offending behaviour.