Theorising sexual media and sexual violence in a forensic setting: Men's talk about pornography and offending

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Abstract

This article reports findings from a discourse analytic study which critically explored the language of mental health nurses, and detained sexual offenders, in relation to pornography in one high-security hospital. It recognised previous empirical investigation, and pro-feminist theorising, into mediated representations and male sexual violence, but situated the research process in a forensic nursing context. Decision-making about access to, or restriction of, commercial sexual literature, as a component of therapeutic intervention and offender management, reveals tensions between service-user rights and treatment goals. The aim was to access nurse and patient talk in a specific culture. Semi-structured interviews with eighteen nursing staff, and nine patients, were used to co-construct accounts of pornography, sexual offending, and treatment. Analysis and data collection were undertaken concurrently. Interviews were audio-taped and transcribed. Data was coded to identify theoretical/conceptual themes and sub-themes representing discursive repertoires. Attention was given to how textual variation positioned respondents in relation to each other and the institution. Findings suggested collective male talk textured the environment, promoted gendered inequality, marginalised female nurses, and undermined rehabilitation. Shared discourse enabled male staff and patients to relate to each other as men, while maintaining distance through constructions of otherness. Discussion focuses on discriminatory discursive-practices, where men's talk about pornography and sexual violence embodied gendered knowledge/experience and contributed to a toxic culture. Consideration is given to ways of resisting institutional impediments and promoting positive therapeutic relations.

Section snippets

Introduction: locating pornography in the cultural context of forensic provision

This research-based paper explores the subject of pornography in the context of one forensic unit for the treatment of personality disordered sexual offenders. Study design acknowledged larger debates, or discourses, about the relationship between sexual imagery and behaviour, but the rationale was situated in the practice domain of mental health nursing. The first author [DM] was previously employed in the high-secure system, and spent a number of years facilitating cognitive–behavioural

Discourse analytic design

Discourse analysis is described as a ‘heterogeneous range of social science research based on the analysis of interviews and texts (Silverman, 2001: 177), which treats the social world as a series of texts that exist independently of those who use them; an understanding of social voices as collective ways of talking that make social life possible (Cameron, 2001). The development of discourse analysis across a number of disciplines means it cannot be understood as a unified approach (Cheek, 2004

Findings

Data analysis illustrated how male staff and patients used language to position themselves in relation to the hospital, and each other, where gendered discourse transcended institutional and professional location. They described the institution as remote and oppressive, and men's talk textured relations at the lowest level of a hierarchical, rule-structured, system. This cultural dynamic permitted men to position themselves in context-specific circumstances, while female nurses were

Discussion

The findings of this study add to a body of work exploring pornography and male sexual violence. Empirical investigation has focused, largely, on the potential effects of viewing particular images, recruiting participants from non-offender populations. Feminist and behavioural science inquiry has framed debate about pornography and harm as a public health issue with political and legislative dimensions (Itzin, 1992). Though complementary to these ideas, the study outlined in this paper

Implications for practice

The study identified a series of context-specific issues that relate to the recent history of English high-secure services, but findings might have wider relevance for the management of pornography in other types of forensic provision. Early concerns were raised about pornography in forensic units (Duff, 1995), as a professional issue for nursing, long before the report of the Fallon Inquiry (Fallon et al., 1999) transformed it into a national problem. It is difficult to conjecture how

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      Interaction among staff plays a crucial role in constructing ward atmosphere, institutional policies – both written and spoken – and affecting the provision of care. A nurse reported “in the staff room and when you go out for a pint and it goes to a different level then because of course we're off duty… we're not on stage at any level and then they're talked about as being sick… horrible… perverted… should never get out… throw away the key” (Mercer & Perkins, 2014). Such interaction can serve to reinforce attitudes and practices.

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      Debates about patriarchy, profession and inequitable relations have long been recognised in nursing (Witz 1992; Carter, 1994; Welch 2011), with men distancing themselves from female co-workers, and feminised representations, to achieve prestige, power and situational dominance (Evans, 1997; Mercer, 2013). In mental health settings, however, a ‘tradition of toughness’ has historically constructed nursing roles in terms of physicality and policing (Morrison, 1990), creating islands of masculinity within professional cultures (Evans, 2004; Mercer & Perkins, 2014). In this sense, UK high-secure hospitals, like other disciplinary components of the carceral network, remain a vestige of the ‘total institution’ (Goffman, 1961; Tracy, 2004).

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