THE IMPACT OF PORNOGRAPHIC FILMS ON THE NIGERIAN YOUTHS
CHAPTER ONE
Background of the Study
This study “Impact of Pornographic Materials on Youths” aims at identifying the influence of pornographic materials on the youth, with particular emphasis on the youths in University of Nigeria Nsukka. The study will help to ascertain whether pornographic materials have adverse effect on the moral behaviour of youths. However, this study will be narrowed down to pornographic films only.
In view of the foregoing, films began in the minds of people who came long before the film pioneers themselves. The attempt to capture and recreate motion can be traced to when civilization began. The cave drawing which showed a horse with eight legs, the fleeting arrow from a hunter‟s bow and even carefully detailed drawing of kings with one foot outstretched suggest motion.
Bittner (1989) said that history is somewhat not clear as to who deserved the glory of inventing still motion pictures, but that William Dickson and Thomas Edison were associated with the efforts to create motion pictures.
The earliest forms of pornographic films were seen in France during the 1920s. The development in France brought about fun and all sorts of condemnation from the public. For instance, Dellu cinema owner and also French man said that the exhibition of such pornographic films contributed to melancholy, fatal condition, social and other negative attitudes among the people.
Down here in Nigeria, pornographic films started pervading our country in the late 1960s and became more rampant in the 1970s. Today, pornographic films have become so prevalent that access to them is easy.
“Film, according to Black African greatest film producer Ousmene Senibene is tool or communicator of social change and culture.” He went further to stress that “a film is but a driving belt, a vehicle that conveys an idea and by this we will see that communication and ideas help people make their own decisions about the environment they live in.
Film as a genre of mass communication is therefore, associated with the enormous influence of the mass media. To buttress this, Walter Lippman (1922, p. 588), also said that the media do not only tell the people what to think, but what to think about. That is to say the media shape the picture in our heads. There is no consensus of opinion on the power of the media to propagate sexual abuse, crime, violence etc, among youths by way of projecting such message to them.
The stand which one takes on this issue depends on individual perception towards the controversial topic. But the aim of this research is to investigate this issue scientifically keeping emotion aloof, that is, to find out if there is any relationship between youth exposure to media portrayals of pornographic and sexual perversion among the youth.
Statement of the problem
Undoubtedly, social scientists who are interested in the study of mass media particularly film effects have been involved in the efforts to find out the relationship
between media and anti-social behaviour like crime, violence, sexual behaviour perversion, abuse and rape. There has been series of research works which show that audio-visual media can be described as an all powerful, all pervasive and all manipulative medium capable of producing the most effective emotional reaction through the portrayal of pornography, violence and other immoral acts.
This project is geared towards ascertaining if sexual crimes, perversion and abuse among the youths could be attributed to their exposure to pornographic films. Therefore, in which way can the viewing of pornographic materials be stopped?
Objectives of the study
This study is aimed at the following:
a. To find out the reasons why youths watch pornographic films.
b. To assess the extent youths practice behaviors acquired from viewing pornographic film.
c. To make suggestions and recommendations on what can be done to stem the viewing of pornographic materials.
Research questions
1. What are the reasons why youths watch pornographic films?
2. To what extent do youths practise behaviours acquired from viewing pornographic films?
3. Should the Nigerian government ban pornographic films because of its negative influence on the youths?
Scope of the Study
This study is limited to youths in University of Nigeria Nsukka. But since the characteristics of youths are generally similar in many ways, the findings of the study would therefore be generalized to include all youths in Enugu.
Significance of the study
This study will be of great benefit to Nigerian students in the tertiary level. This study will be of significance to the students because it will help them to know the effects of pornographic films.
Furthermore, it will be of benefit to both governments because it will help the government to understand ways in which they can control and eradicate this social vice.
Operational definition of terms
The variables for this study, “Impact of Pornographic Materials on Youths” are operationally defined as follows:
The Impact Operationally Defined
The operational definition of impact as the powerful effect that something has on somebody.
Pornographic Materials Operational Defined
The operational definition of pornographic materials are films that are made solely for sexual arousal and featuring nudity and explicit sexual acts.
Youths Operational Defined
The operational definition of youths is the time of life when a person is young having the characteristics of the young.
CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Introduction
This chapter is a review of related studies on the topic “Impact of Pornographic Films on Nigerian Youths (A Study of University of Nigeria, Nsukka).”
The chapter is organized under the following headings.
· Concept of Pornography
· Concept of Films
· Concept of Youths
Review of Concept
The Concept of Pornography
Pornography is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purpose of sexual arousal. Pornography may be presented in a variety of media, including books, magazines, postcards, photographs, sculpture, drawing, recording, film, video and video games. The primary subjects of pornographic depictions are pornographic models, who pose for still photographs, and pornographic actors or porn stars who perform in pornographic films.
Various groups within society have considered depictions of a sexual nature immoral, labelling them pornographic and attempting to have them suppressed under obscenity, and other laws with varying degrees of success. The concept of pornography as understood today did not exist until the Victorian era. With the emergence of social attitudes more tolerant of discussion and presentation of sexuality and more limited legal definitions of obscenity, an industry for the production and consumption of pornography
arose in the latter half of the 20th century. The introduction of the home video and internet saw a boom in the worldwide porn industry that generates billions of dollars annually. Sexually explicit films opened producers and distributors to prosecution. Those that were made were produced illicitly by amateurs starting in the 1920s, primarily in France and the United States. Processing the film was risky as was their distribution. Distribution was strictly private.
In 1969, Denmark became the first country to abolish censorship, thereby decriminalizing pornography, which led to an explosion in investment and of commercially produced pornography. However, it continued to be banned in other countries, and had to be smuggled in, where it was sold “under the counter” or sometimes shown in “members only” cinema clubs. The scholarly study of pornography, notably in cultural studies, is limited, perhaps due to the controversy about the topic in feminism. The first peer-reviewed academic journal about the study of pornography, porn studies, was published in 2014. Pornographers have taken advantage of each technological advance in the production and distribution of pornography. They have used lithography. Pornography is considered a driving force in the development of technologies from the printing press, through photography, still and motion, to satellite television, other forms of video, and the internet. With the invention of tiny cameras and wireless equipments voyeur pornography is gaining ground.
Mobile cameras are used to capture pornographic photos or videos, and forwarded as MMS, a practice known as sexting. The legal status of pornography varies widely from country to country. Most countries allow at least some form of pornography. In some countries, soft-core pornography is considered tame enough to be sold in general stores or
to be shown on TV. Hardcore pornography, on the other hand, is usually regulated. The production and sale, and to a slightly lesser degree the possession of child pornography is illegal in almost all countries, and some countries have restrictions on pornography or pornography depicting sex of a human with an animal or both. Most countries attempt to restrict minors‟ access to hardcore materials, limiting availability to sex shops, mail- order, and television channels that parents can restrict, among other means. There is usually an age minimum for entrance to pornographic stores, or the materials are displayed partly covered or not displayed at all. More generally, disseminating pornography to a minor is often illegal. Many of these efforts have been rendered practically irrelevant by widely available internet pornography.
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