The Skinner Box Effect: Sexual Addiction and Online Pornography

First, I recommend, if possible, going to a book store and viewing any book before you consider purchasing it online to save money. Amazon.com only allows you to view a few pages of certain books and this really isnt sufficient for those trying to evaluate the contents of a book, particular an informative book like a self help book.

The Skinner Box Effect is 153 pages long, 8 chapters divided into 3 sections - Discovery, Recovery, and In Our Own Words, and include 4 appendixes - A List of National Twelve Step Groups (by address, phone and website with a total of 9), The Twelve Traditions of SLAA, Further Reading (recommended reading by the author on the subject with a total of 19), and a list of online resources (by website with a total of 17). The appendix portion comprises only about 10 of the 153 pages of this book.

Section 1 Discovery is made up of 3 chapters and like the title suggest, it walks you into the subject matter assuming that you, the reader, is a potential sex addict. So it provides material for the reader to evaluate the degree of their addiction. It discusses lightly why internet pornography is so potent and uses the skinner box effect to explain (if youre just interested in the title I suggest googling skinner box on the internet). The explanation is rather enlightening, but only one chapter is devoted to it and is never mentioned again throughout the rest of the book.
Section 2 Recovery is made up of 4 chapters and contains pretty much all the same things you'd find on the internet if you were to do a search on recovery for sex addiction. It has the twelve step program, the meditation, praying etc.
Section 3 In Our Own Words is actually just one chapter devoted to personal stories of sex addicts and how their addiction has destroyed their lives.

I purchased this book because the title caught my attention. It was scientific and I purchased this book thinking that the content would address the issue mostly if not strictly in a scientific manner. Unfortunately, The Skinner Box Effect did not meet my expectation, particularly in terms of dealing with sex addiction, where the author brings nothing new to the table rather he restates what treatments are currently available.

This book is written for sex addicts and their spouses. It is an easy read, user friendly - there a headers within each chapter, so its a page turner. If you've done research on the subject matter already, then purchasing this book would probably be a waste of money for you. If this is the first time you've ever investigated this subject, then this book is definitely a good start.

This book is an excellent resource for both clinicians with porn-addicted clients, and for the clients themselves. It clearly answers the question "Why" in terms that anyone can understand. I routinely assign this book as homework for my porn addicted clients.

Books on sexual addiction/Internet porn addiction tend to be alike. The information presented is general and more descriptive rather than prescriptive. Most people interested in these books, including me, already buy into the addiction/dependence theory; what we really want to learn are some effective strategies to break the cycle. In this regard, "The Skinner Box Effect" falls short. There's a great implied metaphor there: men going to the net for porn are like laboratory rodents conditioned to getting pellets for good behavior. A missed opportunity to explore this metaphor and the reductive behavior of those trapped in the rodent's box of Internet porn.

Finding a book which moralizes about Internet porn is easy. Finding one with pseudo-scientific speculation (that takes you no where) also is easy. This is the only book I've seen which actually explains WHY Internet-based pornography is such a powerful draw to so many (the Skinner Box Effect), and explains how to get out of it. It was not just useful to me; it was a major eye-opener. If you only get one book on this subject--it should be THIS one.

I 'm still wondering who had the bright idea of inserting an AOL disk for 1,000 free hours behind the front cover of this book! Hello? As for help this book suggests getting rid of your computer and modem. Right. I suggest reading "In the Shadows of the Net"....an excellent book for help and support for this addiction.