Summary

A book which examines the difficulties associated with pornography use including factors which increase pornography use as well as factors that will inhibit a person’s use.

Type of intervention

Book/guide

Target groups, level of prevention and subgroups

• (Potential) Offenders | Secondary prevention | Young Adults (18-20 years), Adults (21+ years) | Male and female | Book/guide | English
• (Potential) Offenders | Tertiary prevention | Young Adults (18-20 years), Adults (21+ years) | Male and female | Book/guide | English

 

Target population

Adults concerned that their use of legal, adult pornography has been out of control and led to accessing child pornography. This book can also be read by their partner and other family members.

Delivery organisation

-

Mode and context of delivery

The book is available in paperback, hard cover and e-reader (Kindle edition) formats.

Level/nature of staff expertise required

Self-help book for use by the reader.
 

Intensity/extent of engagement with target group(s)

For use as required by those seeking to understand their problematic use of pornography and to manage this.

Description of intervention

The Porn Trap examines the difficulties associated with pornography use. It looks at the factors which can increase pornography use and encourage people to continue viewing, as well as those which might inhibit a person’s use. The book discusses strategies to implement change, as well as recognising and dealing with potential relapse. It ends with exploring issues to help rebuild intimate relationships. The book includes exercises throughout, designed to help readers to think about and reflect on their own situation. Case examples are used throughout the book.

The chapters focus on the following information:

What pornography is and its appeal for some individuals. It examines changes in the ways that pornography can be accessed. It covers the potential positive aspects of pornography use, including sexual gratification, feelings of power and control and the fact that people can form a ‘relationship’ with pornography. The book highlights that the negative aspects of pornography outweigh the positive, such as conflicting with values, upsetting a partner and harming mental and physical health.

The book looks at first contact with pornography and the effect this can have. It discusses contact with pornography as a child and the different ways people may react to this. It discusses the reasons why some children may continue to seek out pornography, which include learning about sex, belonging to a group, sexual pleasure and coping with emotional stress.

The Porn Trap highlights factors that may inhibit pornography use and factors that might contribute to someone continuing to access pornography. The negative consequences of pornography use are examined, including irritability or depression, isolation and sexual problems. It also focuses on partners, including the stages that non-pornographyusing partners may go through and the effect that their partner’s pornography use can have on them.

The book includes the types of situations and events that can cause users of pornography to realise that their habit may be problematic. It illustrates some of the different examples of ‘hitting bottom’, such as getting caught viewing at work and losing a job, getting arrested, putting themselves in a risky position, i.e. meeting someone from the Internet for sex and feeling unsafe.

Strategies individuals can use to help them become motivated to address their pornography use are discussed, together with steps individuals can take to help them to deal with pornography-related issues. The book discusses relapse; why some people experience this and the progression it can take. It looks at strategies that can be used to reverse relapse and how relapse can be prevented, by raising awareness of limits and triggers.

The book focuses on the role of the pornography user’s partner in the recovery process. It looks at rebuilding trust, understanding the partner’s experience, and improving communication and intimacy, including exercises to help reengage with a partner on an intimate level.

Evaluations

Positive feedback has been received from children, parents/carers and teaching staff. This, along with observations of the children’s increase in comprehension throughout the programme and schools deciding to continue the use of the Confidence Box in classrooms, indicates achievement of the programme’s objectives. The programme tends to complement rather than duplicate existing school practices and it appears that, without the programme, there would be large gaps in children’s learning. With respect to future evaluations some areas would require attention, such as including a pre- and post-programme test of children’s knowledge.

References

Reviews can be found at:

• http://lifestarstgeorge.com/blog/?p=410
• http://timhillpsychotherapy.com/for-therapists/152-the-porn-trap.html
• http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10720160802289173 (only those with subscription access to this journal can see the full review featured on this link)

 

Contact details

Authors: Maltz, W., & Maltz, L.
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022.  

INFORMATION CORRECT AT JULY 2021

RATING: Book