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Pedophilia

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Pedophilia (Am. English), or paedophilia (Commonwealth English), is the paraphilia of being sexually attracted primarily or exclusively to prepubescent children. A person diagnosed with pedophilia is called a pedophile.

The term pedophile is also often used for those attracted to children of all ages or the perpetrators of sexual crimes against children of any age. These two broader definitions include many people who do not meet the criteria for a medical diagnosis of pedophilia.

Definition

The word comes from the Greek paidophilia (παιδοφιλια)—pais (παιδί, "boy, child") and philia (φιλια, "love, friendship").

The term paedophilia erotica was coined in 1896 by the Vienna psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing in his writing Psychopathia Sexualis. He gives the following characteristics:

  • the sexual interest is toward children, either prepubescent or at the beginning of puberty
  • the sexual interest is the primary one, that is, exclusively or mainly toward children
  • the sexual interest remains over time

Some other definitions of pedophilia require an age difference of at least five years. These, however, may overlook the tendency of pedophilic sexual inclination to develop during puberty or childhood [1]. Some sexologists such as Dr. John Money assert that not only adults but also postpubescent adolescents may qualify as pedophiles.

The term pedophile is often also used to describe any person who has perpetrated sexual crimes against children; this use, however, is seen as erroneous by some individuals, especially when viewed from a medical standpoint, as the majority of sex crimes against children are perpetrated by situational offenders rather than people sexually attracted to prepubertal children. Nevertheless, some researchers, such as Howard E. Barbaree[2], have endorsed the use of actions as the sole criterion for the diagnosis of pedophilia as a means of taxonomic simplification, rebuking the American Psychiatric Association's standards as "unsatisfactory".

Some individuals, such as Dr. Fred S. Berlin [3], assert sexual attraction to children to be a sexual orientation in itself. [4] This is at odds with the current acceptance that the term sexual orientation only subsumes attraction to one's own sex, the opposite sex, or both. The proponents of such a view point out that homosexuality, heterosexuality and bisexuality are not normally associated with attraction to children, and that children are both physically and mentally different enough from adults to warrant categorising attraction toward them as a completely different sexual orientation.

Diagnosis

The ICD-10 (F65.4) defines it as "a sexual preference for children, boys or girls or both, usually of prepubertal or early pubertal age."

The APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition, Text Revision gives the following as its "Diagnostic criteria for 302.2 Pedophilia":

  • Over a period of at least 6 months, recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children (generally age 13 years or younger).
  • The person has acted on these urges, or the sexual urges or fantasies cause marked distress or interpersonal difficulty.
  • The person is at least age 16 years and at least 5 years older than the child or children in Criterion A.
Note: Do not include an individual in late adolescence involved in an ongoing sexual relationship with a 12 or 13-year-old.

The actual boundaries between childhood and adolescence may vary in individual cases and are difficult to define in rigid terms of age. The World Health Organization, for instance, defines adolescence as the period of life between 10 and 20 years of age, though it is most often defined as the period of life between the ages of 13 and 18.

The diagnosis doesn't necessitate actual sexual acts with children and the diagnosis can be made based on the presence of fantasies or sexual urges alone provided they meet the diagnostic criteria.

There is evidence that at least a quarter of all adult men may have some feelings of sexual arousal in connection with children [5] however under most diagnostic criteria a person is not necessarily a pedophile simply because he or she is sexually aroused by children, rather someone whose primary sexual attraction is toward children.

Cultural issues

As with any psychiatric diagnosis, cultural context is considered when analyzing signs and symptoms. Sexual activity with prepubescent children is almost universally taboo however certain accepted practices may not necessarily be an indication of pedophilia. For example some cultures allow the massage of an infant's genitalia in some contexts[6] and child nudity in some contexts, e.g. skinny dipping, nude photographs and images of breastfeeding, may not be sexual and therefore not signs that would fulfill the criteria for diagnosis.

Criminal acts

Sexual acts between adults and prepubescent children are almost always considered to be the crime of child sexual abuse and sexual activity involving older children is also usually a crime but marriage , minor emancipation and age of consent laws may allow legal sexual relations with an older child.

A criminal act alone may or may not be an indicator of medically defined pedophilia. Those who have commited sexual crimes against children but do not meet the medical criteria for pedophilia are called "situational offenders". It is estimated that only 2 to 10 percent of perpetrators in child sexual abuse cases are medically defined pedophiles. (Kinsey-Report, Lautmann, Brongersma, Groth).

We really do not know what the exact causes of paedophilia are, although there are many theories. Perhaps the most accurate theory was developed by the controversial sexologist John Money.

Money's theory requires considerable education to fully understand, but in layman’s terms it says that paedophilia (at least some types) begins in early childhood after a child experiences the traumatic loss of another child he loved dearly. The child yearns for his lost loved-one with such devotion and energy that this alters his “lovemap.”

A lovemap is like a person's native language. At birth, the child has the potential to speak any language. The same potential exists with lovemaps. Lovemaps are the source of fantasies and desires for the idealised, romantic, erotic, and sexualised relationship.

Hence a paedophile whose lovemap was formed during the period when he lost his loved-one, will spend his entire adult life searching for and idealising children of the same age and physical appearance of the person he lost when he was a child.

Treatment

A number of proposed reorientation techniques for pedophilia have been developed, perhaps analogous to homosexual reparative therapy. Pedophilia, however, is generally regarded as highly resistant to psychological interference and most "reparative strategies" have been dismissed as ineffective [7].

Treatment strategies for pedophilia include a "12 step support system", parallel to addiction therapy, though such a system is regarded as the least efficacious method of treatment. Anti-androgenic medications such as Depo Provera may be used to lower testosterone levels, and are often used in conjunction with other approaches.

More favoured is cognitive-behavioral therapy, in which the subject is taught to associate "pedophilic behavior" with various unpleasantries. Usually, this is done by telling the pedophile to fantasize of "deviant sexual activity", and then, once aroused, they are given instructions to imagine the assumed legal and social consequences of such an action. Other programs induce an association of illegal behavior with pain by means of more controversial "aversion therapy", in which the pedophile is sent an electric shock while fantasizing.[8] These methods are rarely used on pedophiles who have not offended.

  • Ephebophilia, also known as hebephilia, is the condition of being sexually attracted primarily or exclusively to adolescents. These terms are used in contrast with pedophilia; however pedophilia is sometimes used more broadly in the western world to describe both ephebophilia and attraction to younger children, that is, any person younger than the legal age of consent.
    • Pederasty, or the Shotaro complex, generally refers to the attraction toward adolescent or older underage males.
    • Lolita syndrome or Lolita complex are terms sometimes used to refer to attraction to adolescent or older underage females.
  • Nepiophilia, also called infantophilia, is the attraction to toddlers and infants (usually ages 0-3). Some researchers have suggested a distinction between pedophilia and nepiophilia, as it is unusual for pedophiles to prefer toddlers.

Law

Sexual activity between adults and children is now almost always a crime. In the past, however, sex between children and adults was condoned and often encouraged by some cultures. For an example see Pederasty in ancient Greece. [9]. Age of consent laws vary between jurisdictions, most usually allowing intercourse at 16 or 18 but sometimes as young as 12 or as old as 21. In some areas, a lower age of consent is allowed for relationships between an older and a younger adolescent.

Pedophilia itself is not a legal term, as it describes not an act, but a psychological state, and hence no crime.

A perpetrator of child sexual abuse is commonly assumed to be a pedophile, and referred to as such; however, there may be other motivations for the crime, much as adult rape can sometimes have non-sexual reasons [10]. Most perpetrators of child sexual abuse are not primarily interested in children -- a fact which has been recognized by law enforcement [11]. Somewhat diverse results for studies on the sexual preference of child sexual offenders have been reported; typically, it is estimated to be from 2 to 10 percent (Kinsey-Report, Lautmann, Brongersma, Groth). They are sometimes referred to as pseudo-pedophilies or situational offenders, whereas pedophiles primarily attracted toward children are called structured pedophiles or fixated pedophiles, as their orientation is fixed by the structure of their personality.

Most cases of father-daughter incest are believed to involve fathers who are situational offenders, rather than pedophiles [12]. Some have argued that these cases are triggered by the withdrawal of the mother from the family, often due to physical or mental illness.

Advocacy of pedophilia

There are a number of organizations and web-based communities, together referred to as the childlove movement, that seek to remove the stigma from pedophilia. Goals for these organizations and communities range from wanting to legalize sexual relationships between adults and children, to merely offering a place for support and advice to those with a sexual attraction to children.

References

There a large amount of literature related to child sexual abuse, and sex offenders. However, what is lacking is proper authoritative peer-reviewed research into pedophiles in general, who may not have offended. Such information is of course hard to gather given the controversial nature of such research, and the fact that any research that disputes any current assumptions may be seen as advocating the sexual abuse of children resulting in condemnation.

  1. ^ Janssen, D. F. (2003). "Protoparaphilia." Unpublished. 23-27.
  2. ^ Freund, K. and Costell, R. (1970). "The structure of erotic preference in the nondeviant male." Behaviour Research & Therapy 8 (1), 15-20.
    Quinsey, V. L. et al. (1975). "Penile circumference, skin conductance, and ranking responses of child molesters and 'normals' to sexual and nonsexual visual stimuli." Behavior Therapy. 6, 213-219.
    Hall, G. C. N. et al. (1995) "Sexual Arousal and Arousability to Pedophilic Stimuli in a Community Sample of Normal Men" Behavior Therapy. 26, 681-694.
  3. ^ Barbaree, H. E., and Seto, M. C. (1997). Pedophilia: Assessment and Treatment. Sexual Deviance: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment. 175-193.
  4. ^ Crawford, D. (1981). "Treatment approaches with pedophiles." Adult sexual interest in children. 181-217.
  5. ^ Green, Richard (2002). "Is pedophilia a mental disorder?", Archives of Sexual Behavior. Volume 31 (6). 467-471. (summary)
  6. ^ Lanning, Kenneth (2001). Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis (Third Edition). National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
  7. ^ Quinsey, V. L. (1977). "The assessment and treatment of child molesters: A review." Canadian Psychological Review. 18, 204-220.
  • Ames, A. & Houston, D. A. (1990). "Legal, social, and biological definitions of pedophilia." Archives of Sexual Behavior. 19 (4), 333-342.
  • Fagan P. J. et al (2002). "Pedophilia" (requires registration). Journal of the American Medical Association. 288, 2458-2465.
  • Rind et al. (1998). "A meta-analytic examination of assumed properties of child sexual abuse using college samples." Psychological Bulletin. 124 (1), 22-53.
  • Levine, Judith. (2002. Harmful to Minors. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Discusses the perception and reality of pedophilia. ISBN 0816640068.
  • Wilson, Paul R. (1981). Paul Wilson: The Man They Called a Monster. Melbourne: Cassell Australia. ISBN 0726992828. (Book about a court reporter who had sexual relationships with 2500 adolescent males; includes interviews with the later adults who reflect on these relationships.)
  • Underwager, Ralph and Wakefield, Hollida (1995). "Special Problems with Sexual Abuse Cases." In J. Ziskin (Ed.) Coping With Psychiatric and Psychological Testimony (Fifth Edition). Los Angeles: Law and Psychology Press. ISBN 1879689073. 1315-1370.

See also

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