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Pornography

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532 Pornography
the investment. Some do not distribute any
information at all, but rather, they rely on
controlling any verbal or electronic communication
used to disseminate information.
Conclusion
Ponzi schemes appear to offer the promise of sta-
ble, high-return investments at a time when little
is certain in the financial marketplace. Yet the lure
of these schemes is overshadowed by the fact that
investors may never see their funds returned to
them. Many Ponzi schemes remain out of the public
eye because the investors bilked out of their money
are too embarrassed to report the crime to authori-
ties. If an investor does receive a full, or partial,
return on investment in a Ponzi scheme, the federal
government may later “clawback” these funds when
looking to redress defrauded parties. As a result, the
ultimate losers in Ponzi schemes are the individual
investors, who oftentimes lose many times over—at
least once at the hands of the fraudster and again,
potentially, at the hands of authorities.
Ponzi schemes also take a toll on the overall finan-
cial marketplace. The funds investors sink into Ponzi
schemes typically do not make their way into the
open market. As such, there is less money available
for investment in legitimate vehicles such as stocks,
bonds, and venture capital offerings. While it can be
argued that, because of the relatively small nature
of most Ponzi schemes, the impact on the finan-
cial markets as a whole is minimal, several recent
large-scale Ponzi schemes support the idea that these
frauds remove a significant amount of wealth from
the market. Finally, it can never be forgotten that
irrespective of the potential losses within the market
as a whole, individual investors lose a considerable
amount of their own net worth as a result of these
schemes. While the long history of the Ponzi scheme
suggests that it may never be prevented or disappear
from the financial and criminal landscape, the abil-
ity of fraudsters to ruin an investor financially can
be mitigated if potential investors are cognizant of
the typical warning signs of Ponzi schemes.
Jay P. Kennedy
See also Fraud; White-Collar Crime
Further Readings
Barasch, S. C., & Chesnut, S. J. (2009). Controversial uses
of the “clawback” remedy in the current financial crisis.
Texas Law Journal, 72(11), 922–928.
(c) 2014 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Drew, J. M., & Drew, M. E. (2010). The identification of
Ponzi schemes: Can a picture tell a thousand frauds?
(Griffith University Business School Discussion Papers
No. 2010–08). Brisbane, Queensland, Australia: Griffith
University Business School.
Greenspan, S. (2009, June). Fooled by Madoff: The
psychology of Ponzi scheme [Online]. Madconomist
.com. Retrieved from http://madconomist.com/
fooled-by-madoff-the-psychology-of-ponzi-scheme
Jacobs, P., & Schain, L. (2011). The never ending attraction
of the Ponzi scheme. Journal of Comprehensive
Research, 9, 40–46.
Larsen, J., & Hinton, P. (2009). SEC settlements in Ponzi
scheme cases: Putting Madoff and Stanford in context.
New York, NY: NERA Economic Consulting.
Trahan, A., Marquart, J. W., & Mullins, J. (2005). Fraud
and the American dream: Toward an understanding of
fraud victimization. Deviant Behavior, 26, 601–620.
Wilkins, A. M., Scuff, W. W., & Hermanson, D. R. (2012).
Understanding a Ponzi scheme: Victims’ perspectives.
Journal of Forensic and Investigative Accounting, 4, 1–19.
PORNOGRAPHY
Definitions of pornography vary from time to time
and place to place: Something defined as porno-
graphic 50 years ago may now be considered erotic,
or even literature. Drawings, paintings, and sculp-
ture depicting sexual behavior have always been
part of human history and have even been used in
religious rituals. The term and concept of pornog-
raphy is relatively recent. The French pornographie
was used in the 1800s, and it found its way into
the English language via New Orleans, Louisiana, in
1842, becoming part of the vernacular in 1857. The
term itself is derived from the Greek words porno-
graphia, meaning “prostitute,” and graphien, mean-
ing “written or an illustration.” Pornography began
as drawings of prostitutes. In the past 150 or so
years, many books, movies, and works of art have
been defined as pornographic simply because they
portray nudism and sexual activity. Medical text-
books, anthropological works, and even National
Geographic have been banned in some areas as
obscene. The Miller test, created and applied by the
Supreme Court in Miller v. California (1973), devel-
oped a definition of obscenity (which may or may
not include pornography). According to the Miller
test, material can be judged obscene if it appeals to
a prurient interest in sex and lacks literary, artistic,
political, or scientific value. Since Miller, however,

there has been considerable debate as to what con-
stitutes literary, artistic, political, and scientific value.
Pornography can be described as an explicit descrip-
tion or image intended to stimulate sexual feelings.
Thus, pornography may or may not be obscene;
as long as the pornographer can successfully argue
that his or her work has literary, artistic, political, or
scientific value, it is not obscene. Literature such as
the Joy of Sex and the art of Robert Mapplethorpe
(or even “feature porn” utilizing parodies of titles
from legitimate movies and loosely following the
plot) can be considered scientific, artistic, or literary.
Pornography is not necessarily obscene, and some
pornographic films (Last Tango in Paris), books
(Fifty Shades of Grey), and artwork can be argued
to have significant artistic merit. Before further
examining the constitutionality and criminality of
pornography, this entry discusses pornography’s his-
tory and its effects on society.
History
Erotic art has been a part of human history since
the Paleolithic era. Carvings of voluptuous preg-
nant women, carved out of wood or stone, have
been found by archeologists and are believed to be
fertility symbols or religious icons. Ancient Greeks
and Romans created paintings and sculpture fea-
turing a wide variety of sexual behavior, including
gay sex, three-way sex, and oral sex. Art at the site
of Pompeii was so explicit that the Victorians who
unearthed Pompeii went to great lengths to hide
the ancient brothels and bedrooms featuring the
artwork. The Kama Sutra was published in India
during the 2nd century. Featuring explicit draw-
ings of a variety of sexual practices and positions,
it was meant to enhance the sexual and spiritual
facets of human relationships. In Western nations
what would now be considered pornographic was
most often political in nature, with politicians and
royal families being portrayed as sexual deviants or
in other unsavory situations. The Marquise de Sade,
part philosopher and part pornographer, skewered
the Catholic Church and European governments
with his libertine novels about violence, sadomas-
ochism, and pedophilia.
The first true pornographic novel (appearing in
1748) was Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, also
known as Fanny Hill. Not surprisingly, technological
advances spurred the creation of pornography, and the
first “porn” picture is dated 1846—just seven years
after the invention of the daguerreotype. Not just
(c) 2014 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Pornography 533
erotic, this daguerreotype featured an explicit depic-
tion of intercourse. The first soft-core porn video,
Le Coucher de la Marie (Bed With Marie) was pro-
duced in 1896 and featured a striptease. Hard-core
porn, featuring real (rather than simulated) sex, fol-
lowed in the very early 1900s. Until the 1970s, porn
was mainly for men and did not change much in
content or style for some 70 years. However, in the
1970s and 1980s, the porn industry, spurred on by
changing sexual mores, blossomed, becoming what
is known as the Golden Age of Porn. Videos intro-
duced plot and sets, and many movies were mar-
keted not just to men but to couples too. Some of
the most famous adult films of this era include Deep
Throat, The Devil in Miss Jones, Behind the Green
Door, Emmanuelle, The Story of O, and Debbie
Does Dallas. Many of the stars of these films, such
as Linda Lovelace, Marilyn Chambers, and John
Holmes, became household names. Mainstream
movies also flirted with pornography; films like Last
Tango in Paris and Midnight Cowboy received an
X rating from the Motion Picture Association of
America. The Golden Age of Porn was dramatized
in the 1997 movie Boogie Nights.
In the past 40 years, pornography has contin-
ued to evolve. Contemporary pornography is not
a homogeneous subgenre of the entertainment
industry. Pornography can typically be classified
as either soft core (no genitalia visible, no penetra-
tion) or hard core (visible genitalia and penetration).
Subgenres of pornography are classified on the
basis of characteristics of the participants (e.g., gay,
ethnic, teen, chubby) and/or on the basis of the
type of sexual activity (e.g., oral, anal, gangbang).
A fairly recent phenomenon, amateur pornogra-
phy has become very popular on the Internet, with
free sites such as youporn.com and others featur-
ing videos made, without pay, by nonprofessionals.
Inspired by amateur pornography, Gonzo pornog-
raphy is a pornographic film shot by one or more
participants, rather than by a third (outside) person.
A recent addition to the soft-core or erotica subgenre
is mommy porn—raunchy romance novels and
videos catering to 30-something and 40-something
women, described as X-rated Cinderella stories. One
of the most popular products in this line is the novel
Fifty Shades of Grey.
Effects
The effect of pornography on society has been
widely debated, and with no clear consensus in the
534 Pornography
United States. Academic research has suggested that
exposure to pornography, particularly as an adoles-
cent, leads to increased sexual violence by adults.
A Swedish study suggests that young men who are
frequent users of pornography are more likely to
sell sex themselves. Others have linked exposure to
pornography with adolescent sex abuse of a sibling.
Apart from apparently leading to increased violent
sexual behavior and sex abuse, use of pornography
has been described as not only addictive but also an
escalating addiction, with the porn addict requiring
increasingly extreme depictions of sexual acts and
subsequent decreased ability to interact with others
and/or maintain a normal sexual relationship. The
rise of cyberporn has escalated this trend, leaving
the user with all the characteristics of an addiction—
even though the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
for Mental Disorders as yet does not define pornog-
raphy as an addiction.
In recent years, pornography has become less
marginalized and is less likely to be considered a
deviant behavior. Researchers have begun to study
pornography from the point of view of its consum-
ers, rather than just its supporters and opponents.
Nearly 20 years ago, Harold Leitenberg and Kris
Henning stated that fantasy (presumably facilitated
by pornography) allows one to imagine whatever
one wanted, without the fear of embarrassment,
rejection, or legal restrictions. Others have found that
viewing pornography expanded consumers’ sexual
scripts, and at least in the case of female viewers, it did
not lead them to seek partners outside their relation-
ship, but it did expand their sexual horizons. Their
review of the literature also found that pornography
made both men and women more willing to experi-
ment, although a causal link could not be proven.
Pornography has even become part of the pop culture
mainstream, from music (indie rock band The New
Pornographers and quasi-pornographic and true por-
nographic music videos such as “Pussy” by German
Metal Band Rammstein) to fashion (T-shirts with
*Porn Star* emblazoned across the front) to personal
hygiene (Brazilian waxes and “manscaping”).
Criminalization and Constitutionality
Pornography, while not necessarily considered nor-
mative (although many ancient societies did con-
sider pornography normal and in fact beneficial),
was not criminalized in England until the Obscene
Publications Act in 1857. In the United States, the
Hayes Code (January 1, 1930) was the first attempt
(c) 2014 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
to regulate the movie industry, restricting contact
that may have been considered sexual in nature.
Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964) was an early “free speech”
case involving a theater’s right to show an “obscene”
film: The state of Ohio fined a theater owner for
showing an erotic French film; the U.S. Supreme
Court reversed the decision. While the court did
not explicitly state that the First Amendment right
of free speech protected pornography, it did reject
the labeling of a film under the Hayes Code, pav-
ing the way for later court cases that would attempt
to define both pornography (or obscenity) and the
application of the First Amendment to the public
display of erotica. In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled, in the case of Stanley v. Georgia, that the First
and Fourteenth Amendments prohibit making mere
private possession of obscene material a crime.
Miller v. California (1973) was the first case to
test the applicability of the First Amendment to por-
nography. Marvin Miller operated an “adult” mail
order business, and was convicted of a misdemeanor
for distributing obscene materials. The U.S. Supreme
Court upheld the conviction, arguing that pornog-
raphy was not protected by the Constitution. The
Miller case also helped define pornography, stating
that material can be judged obscene if it appeals to
a prurient interest in sex and lacks literary, artistic,
political, or scientific value (the Miller test). With the
exception of child pornography, the rise of Internet
pornography has added another layer of complex-
ity to the legal issues surrounding the production,
distribution, and consumption of pornography. The
laws of an individual’s home nation apply to the cre-
ation and distribution of pornography: A distributor
may be well within his or her rights to produce and
distribute porn; however, if a consumer lives in a
country that prohibits the use of that particular type
of pornography (e.g., age of consent variations), the
consumer can be prosecuted.
So is pornography protected by the Constitution
or not? Material that is considered obscene is not
protected by the First Amendment. Pornography,
assuming it fails the Miller test, is not protected by
the First Amendment. Hence, pornography may or
may not be obscene. It may or may not be protected
by the Constitution. Given the vagueness inherent in
the definition of obscenity under Miller, many in the
business of pornography could easily argue the case
that what they do is art, not obscenity; however,
one’s private possession of obscene material does
not constitute a crime.
Pamela Black

See also Erotica Versus Pornography; Fetishes;
Masturbation; Sexual Addiction
Further Readings
Bloem, F. (2006). Pornography and obscene material. In
E. W. Hickey (Ed.), Sex crimes and paraphilia (pp. 45–54).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Hall, A. C., & Bishop, M. J. (2007). Pop-porn:
Pornography in America’s culture. Westport, CT:
Praeger.
Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184 (1964).
Latzman, N. E., Viljoen, J. L., Scalora, M. J., & Ullman, D.
(2011). Sexual offending in adolescence: A comparison
of sibling offenders and nonsibling offenders across
domains of risk and treatment need. Journal of Child
Sexual Abuse, 20(3), 245–263. doi:10.1080/10538712.2
011.571233
Leitenberg, H., & Henning, K. (1995). Sexual fantasy.
Psychological Bulletin, 17, 469–496.
Mancini, C., Reckdenwald, A., & Beauregard, E. (2012).
Pornographic exposure over the life course and the
severity of sexual offenses: Imitation and cathartic
effects. Journal of Criminal Justice, 40(41), 21–30.
doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2011.11.004
Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973).
Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U.S. 557 (1969).
Svedin, C. G., Aakerman, I., & Priebe, G. (2011). Frequent
users of pornography. A population based
epidemiological study of Swedish male adolescents.
Journal of Adolescence, 34(4), 779–788.
Weinberg, M. S., Williams, C. J., Kleiner, S., & Irizarry, Y.
(2010). Pornography, normalization, and empowerment.
Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39(6), 1389–1401.
POSITIVE DEVIANCE
The word deviance and acts of deviant behav-
ior are overwhelmingly associated with negativ-
ity. Although most sociologists would argue that
deviance is socially constructed and that a deviant
behavior is one that is misaligned with a society,
culture, or other group’s norms, the word conjures
up delinquency, weirdness, or other undesirable or
unconventional behavior. However, nontraditional
behavior is not always negative. In fact, some non-
normative behaviors are quite positive. For example,
although safety is a public norm, some individuals
run into burning buildings to save lives. Therefore,
even though this goes against all rules of safety
enforced by parents, peers, and public safety offi-
cials, these individuals deviate from the safety norm
(c) 2014 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Positive Deviance 535
in a positive way. There has been a debate among
sociologists as to whether the term positive deviance
is useful. Nonetheless, to understand the full spec-
trum of human behavior, studying this type of devia-
tion from the norm is necessary.
All categories of deviance are some combination
of the interaction between norms and the reaction to
the violation of these norms. That is, the concept of
deviance is not only characterized by a violation of
normative expectations but also by the reaction
of audiences, specifically the people’s evaluation of
the behavior. That is, an individual may conform,
overconform, underconform, or not conform at all
(nonconformity) to the norms of a group or society.
In addition, the level of conformity a person adheres
to can be met with positive or negative social
evaluations.
When individuals conform, they change an action
or belief due to real or imagined group pressure.
This does not necessarily involve private accep-
tance of the norm. That is, individuals can conform
behaviorally (often without consciously recognizing
the change in themselves), yet they may not inter-
nalize the change in their attitudes. An example of
this is the behavior of teenagers in high school. Boys
and girls often change their behaviors to fit into a
particular clique, but the individual may privately
reject the change. Conformity levels vary greatly
from person to person and among different situa-
tions, actions, and beliefs.
Most underconformists or nonconformists,
such as the thief or the illicit drug user, are judged
negatively in our culture. However, there are some
underconformists or nonconformists who, depend-
ing on the audience, might be viewed positively.
A gang member in a particular community, who
breaks the law to provide for his or her community,
is an example of this type of deviant.
Most sociological research on deviance has been
conducted on underconformists or nonconformists.
There are relatively fewer studies conducted on over-
conformity. Overconformity involves going beyond
societal normative expectations. An example of neg-
atively valued overconformity in American society
is the school overachiever, sometimes referred to as
a dork or geek. This student is an incessantly studi-
ous person and is often ridiculed by his or her peers.
Alternatively, some individuals overconform to the
delight of an audience. Positive deviance is overcon-
formity that is positively evaluated. When an indi-
vidual’s behavior exceeds the expectations of others
in ways that people admire, it fits the definition of