Censorship as a Human Dynamic: An International Perspective

By their very nature, democracies around the world affirm belief in intellectual freedom of thought, speech and written word. In every such society, however, a counterforce exists that would limit such freedom and impose restrictions and sanctions against material viewed by some as anti-moral or anti-social. Free speech and censorship are opponents on a battlefield where each side to the conflict feels a righteous and indignant claim on behalf on its own cause. This paper presents a psychological perspective which tries to understand censorship - where it comes from, who "has it" and why, and how it functions in all human beings to keep them psychologically safe and sane. Based on personality theory, this paper explores the psychological indications for censorship as a human dynamic and its bases in family ideology, social group norms, demographic factors and individual personality development. This paper does not consider the legal, moral or politcal aspects of censorship, nor does it recount the may blatant subtle censorship events and conditions in countries around the world. Rather, it considers the individual and group conditions underlying personality development that are likely to result in the individual's inclination to assume legal, moreal and political censorship activities.