Running head: Sexual Deviance, pornography Tyreka Batts Ashford University SOC 402 Pornography The fact, if it is one, which the majority of people in a society prefer that pornography be banned because they regard it as immoral or offensive is not a legitimate reason for interfering with (pornographers) freedom of speech or for preventing consenting adults from consuming it in private. The consumption of pornography is bad for society. It undermines and destabilizes the moral fabric of a decent and stable society, by encouraging sexual promiscuity, deviant sexual practices and other attitudes and behavior that threaten traditional family and religious morally wrong. Furthermore, pornography is bad for those who consume it, corrupting their character and preventing them from leading a good and worthwhile life in accordance with family and religious values. According to conservatives, the state is justified in using its coercive power to uphold and enforce a community’s moral convictions and to prevent citizens from engaging in activities that offend prevailing community standards of morality and engaging in activities that offend prevailing community standards of morality and decency. Governments have a responsibility to prevent citizens from harming themselves. Even where the citizens is not a child, but a mature adult who is voluntary engaged in an activity which they judge to be a desirable and which causes no harm to others. Child pornography is defined as material that visually depicts sexual conduct by children below a specified age (Wikepedia, 2007). References Pornography. Retrieved Jan 11, 2009, from Wikepedia: from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography. Pornography. (2009) . In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved Jan, 11, 2009 from http://search.eb.com Senn, C.Y., & Radtke, H.L. (1990). _Women’s evaluation of an affective reaction to main stream _violent pornography. Violence & Victims, 15. 143-155.