Law, Morality and Disgust

The Regulation of ‘Extreme Pornography’ in England and Wales

Bibliographic Data

ID12283564
AuthorsPaul Johnson (0000-0003-3342-3504, University of Surrey, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume19
Issue2
Pages147-163
Publication date2010-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial & Legal Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0964-6639 • E-ISSN: 1461-7390
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0964663909351438
OpenAlexW2124529471
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited24

The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 introduced the new offence of ‘Possession of extreme pornographic images’ (section 63) into English law. One aspect of the framework that section 63 uses to determine which images will fall within its scope is explicitly concerned with questions of morality: images must be deemed ‘grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character’. This article examines some of the justifications for, objections to, and implications of the inclusion of the moral component of section 63 and situates these arguments within long-standing debates about the relationship between law, sexuality and morality. Returning to the influential but much critiqued work of Patrick Devlin, it argues that the framework that section 63 offers for the moral evaluation of extreme images is an imperfect but appropriate method for determining the level of social toleration for the private possession of violent pornographic imagery. After considering some of the arguments made against the moral framework, and in favour of a harm-based approach, it concludes by arguing that the morality component offers both a practical way of evaluating images in relation to contemporary standards of obscenity and provides a protective mechanism for limiting the scope of the law’s application

Criminal law · Criminology · Disgust · Harm · Human sexuality · Morality · Offensive · Political science · Possession (linguistics · Sociology · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Law · Law in Society and Culture · Philosophy · Psychology · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology · Social Psychology