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Pedophilia

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Pedophilia, paedophilia, or pædophilia (see spelling differences), is the paraphilia of being sexually attracted primarily or exclusively to pre-pubescent children. Persons with this attraction are called pedophiles.

In the United States and some other countries, the term pedophile is frequently used also to denote significantly older adults who are sexually attracted to adolescentsAmes, A. & Houston, D. A. (1990). "Legal, social, and biological definitions of pedophilia." Archives of Sexual Behavior. 19 (4), 333-342., as well as those who have sexually abused a child. In countries where the legal age of consent is lower, like France or Brazil, the mainstream media avoid using the terms pedophilia or pedophile to refer to consensual relationships between adults and adolescents.[[Citing sources citation needed]]

Contents

Definitions

The word comes from the Greek paidophilia (παιδοφιλια)—pais (παις, "child") and philia (φιλια, "love, friendship"). Paidophilia was coined by Greek poets as a substitute for "paiderastia" (pederasty).Liddell, H.G., and Scott, Robert (1959). Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon. ISBN 0199102066.

The term paedophilia erotica was coined in 1886 by the Vienna psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing in his writing Psychopathia Sexualis.Krafft-Ebing, Richard von (1886). Psychopathia Sexualis. English translation: ISBN 155970425X. He gave the following characteristics:

Strictly speaking, this definition would include many adolescents and prepubescents, for whom such an interest might be normal; thus, some experts add the criterion that the interest be toward children at least five years younger than the subject. However, according to some experts, a diagnosis of pedophilia can also be appropriate for a post-pubescent adolescent.Janssen, D. J. (2003). "[Protoparaphilia.]" Unpublished. 23-27. PDF INACTIVE See entry for sexologist Dr. John Money.

Use of the term pedophile to describe all child sexual offenders is seen as problematic by some peopleEdwards, M. (1997) "Treatment for Paedophiles; Treatment for Sex Offenders." Paedophile Policy and Prevention, Australian Institute of Criminology Research and Public Policy Series (12), 74-75.Underwager, Ralph and Wakefield, Hollida (1995). "[Special Problems with Sexual Abuse Cases]: [Assessment of the Accused Adult]." In J. Ziskin (Ed.) Coping With Psychiatric and Psychological Testimony (Fifth Edition). Los Angeles: Law and Psychology Press. pp. 1315-1370. ISBN 1879689073Feierman, J. (1990). "Introduction" and "A Biosocial Overview," Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions, 1-68., especially when viewed from a medical standpoint, as the majority of sex crimes against children are perpetrated by situational offenders rather than people sexually preferring prepubertal children.Joint submission from the Northern Territory Government and Police, 9 March 1995, page 4. Cited in "[Organised Criminal Paedophile Activity]." 14.8% of the sample were assessed to be pedophiles.DiLorenzo, JoAnn (1981). "How a prominent Ware attorney preyed on troubled boys," They Valley Advocate, quoting the FBI's Kenneth Lanning, who estimates that only 10% of child sex offenders are preferential.Marshall, W.L., Barbaree, H.E., and Eccles, A. (1991). "Early onset and deviant sexuality in child molesters," Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 6(3), 323-336. 33.8% of the sample showed arousal to children. Nevertheless, some researchers, such as Howard E. Barbaree Barbaree, H. E., and Seto, M. C. (1997). Pedophilia: Assessment and Treatment. Sexual Deviance: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment. 175-193., have endorsed the use of actions as a sole criterion for the diagnosis of pedophilia as a means of taxonomic simplification, rebuking the American Psychiatric Association's standards as "unsatisfactory".

Some individualsMusk, H., and Swetz, A. (1997). "Pedophilia in the correctional system," Corrections Today, 59(5), 24–28. "Pedophilia is a sexual orientation characterized by sexual attraction to children."Jones, G. (1990). "The Study of Intergenerational Intimacy in North America: Beyond Politics and Pedophilia," Journal of Homosexuality, 20(1-2), 288. "Intergenerational attraction on the part of some adults could constitute a lifestyle 'orientation', rather than a pathological maladjustment.", such as Dr. Fred S. BerlinEdwards, Douglas J. (2004). [Mental Health's Cold Shoulder Treatment of Pedophilia] in Behavioral Health Management, May-June.Berlin, Fred (2000). "Treatments to Change Sexual Orientation," American Journal of Psychiatry, Vol 157., assert sexual attraction to children to be a sexual orientation in itself. Dan Markussen argues that "sexual orientation is defined as a lifelong attraction, which pedophilia obviously is."Flanagan, Russ (2004). "["I'm tired of being forced into the shadows by society,"] The Express-Times, 22 February. This is at odds with the current popular acceptance of the term sexual orientation as meaning attraction to the opposite sex, the same sex, or both.

Diagnosis

The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (F65.4) defines pedophilia as "a sexual preference for children, boys or girls or both, usually of prepubertal or early pubertal age." World Health Organization, International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10. § F65.4

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"American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (fourth edition), § 302.2 :

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 19 years of ageGoodburn, Elizabeth A., and Ross, David A. (1995). "A Picture of Health: A Review and Annotated Bibliography of the Health of Young People in Developing Countries." Published by the World Health Organization and UNICEF., though it is most often defined as the period of life between the ages of 13 and 18.

The APA diagnostic criteria do not require actual sexual activity with a child. The diagnosis can therefore be made based on the presence of fantasies or sexual urges alone, provided the subject meets the remaining criteria.

Extent of occurrence

The extent to which pedophilia occurs is not known with any certainty. Some studies have concluded that at least a quarter of all adult men may have some feelings of sexual arousal in connection with children.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. A study by Hall et al. of Kent State University, for example, found that 32.5% of their sample — consisting of eighty adult males — exhibited sexual arousal to heterosexual pedophilic stimuli that equaled or exceeded their arousal to the adult stimuli.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. Freund et al. (1972) remarked that "with males who have no deviant object preferences, clearly positive sexual reactions occur to [nude] 6- to 8-year old female children."Freund, Kurt; McKnight, C. K.; Langevin, R.; and Cibiri, S. (1972). "The female child as a surrogate object." Archives of Sexual Behavior. 2, (2), 119-133.

In 1989 Briere and Runtz conducted a study on 193 male undergraduate students concerning pedophilia. Of the sample, 21% acknowledged sexual attraction to some small children; 9% reported sexual fantasies involving children; 5% admitted masturbating to these fantasies; and 7% conceded some probability of actually having sex with a child if they could avoid detection and punishment. The authors also noted that "given the probable social undesirability of such admissions, [one could] hypothesize that the actual rates ... were even higher."Briere, J. and Runtz, M. (1989) "University males' sexual interest in children: predicting potential indices of "pedophilia" in a nonforensic sample." Child Abuse & Neglect, 13 (1), 65-67.

Feierman (1990) predicted that 7-10% of men are sexually attracted to prepubescent boys.

Occurrence in child sex offenders

A perpetrator of child sexual abuse is, despite all medical definitions, commonly assumed to be a pedophile, and referred to as such; however, there may be other motivations for the crime (such as stress, marital problems, or the unavailability of an adult partnerHowells, K. (1981). "Adult sexual interest in children: Considerations relevant to theories of aetiology," Adult sexual interest in children, 55-94.), much as adult rape can have non-sexual reasons. Thus, child sexual abuse alone may or may not be an indicator that its perpetrator is a pedophile; most perpetrators of it are in fact not primarily interested in children.Lanning, Kenneth (2001). [Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis] (Third Edition). National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Those who have committed sexual crimes against children, but do not meet the normal diagnosis criteria for pedophilia, are referred to as situational, opportunistic, or regressed offenders, whereas offenders primarily attracted toward children are called structured, preferential, or fixated pedophiles, as their orientation is fixed by the structure of their personality. It is estimated that only 2 to 10 percent of child sexual abuse perpetrators meet the regular criteria for pedophilia. (Kinsey-Report, Lautmann, Brongersma, Groth).

As noted by Abel, Mittleman, and BeckerAbel, G. G., Mittleman, M. S., & Becker, J. V. (1985). "Sex offenders: Results of assessment and recommendations for treatment." In M. H. Ben-Aron, S. J. Hucker, & C. D. Webster (Eds.), Clinical criminology: The assessment and treatment of criminal behavior (pp. 207-220). Toronto, Canada: M & M Graphics. (1985) and Ward et al. (1995), there are generally large characteristical distinctions between the two types of offenders. Situational offenders tend to offend at times of stress; have a later onset of offending; have fewer, often familial victims; and have a general preference for adult partners. Pedophilic offenders, however, often start offending at an early age; often have a large number of victims who are frequently extrafamilial; are more appetitively driven to offend; and have values or beliefs that strongly support an offense lifestyle.

Most cases of father-daughter incest are believed to involve fathers who are situational offenders, rather than pedophiles. Quinsey, V. L. (1977). "The assessment and treatment of child molesters: A review." Canadian Psychological Review. 18, 204-220.

Treatment

A number of proposed treatment techniques for pedophilia have been developed. Many regard pedophilia as highly resistant to psychological interference and have dismissed as ineffective most "reparative strategies."Crawford, David (1981). "Treatment approaches with pedophiles." Adult sexual interest in children. 181-217. Others, such as Dr. Fred Berlin, believe pedophilia can "indeed be successfully treated," if only the medical community would give it more attention. The reported success rate of modern "reparative" treatment on pedophiles is very low. A study by the Council on Scientific Affairs found that the success rate of aversion therapy was parallel to that of homosexual reparative therapy.Council on Scientific Affairs of the American Medical Association (1987). "Aversion therapy," Journal of the American Medical Association, 258(18), 2562-2565.

Treatment strategies for pedophilia include a "12 step support system", parallel to addiction therapy, though such a system is generally 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. ["Can pedophiles be treated?"] Whyfiles.org These methods are rarely used on pedophiles who have not offended.

Related terms

  • 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, generally refers to an attraction in males toward adolescent males.
  • Lolita syndrome is sometimes used to refer to attraction to adolescent females. Shortened to Lolicon, it refers to manga-style pornography depicting neotonous female characters.
  • Shotacon is manga-style pornography depicting neotonous male characters.
  • 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

Pedophilia is itself neither a crime nor a legal term."[Organized Paedophile Group Activity]," Parliament of Australia Joint Committee. It does not describe behavior, but a psychological state. It is, generally speaking, not illegal to be sexually attracted to a child, and not all pedophiles sexually molest children.Fagan, P.J.; Wise, T.N.; Schmidt, C.W.; and Berlin, F.S. (2002). "Pedophilia," Journal of the American Medical Association, 288(19), 2458–2465.Gieles, Frans. "[Helping people with pedophilic feelings]," Lecture at the World Congress of Sexology, Paris, June 2001.

Sexual activity between adults and prepubescent children is almost always considered child sexual abuse, and it is illegal in most countries. The matter can be complicated, however, by varying laws concerning youth marriage, emancipation of minors, and the age of consent, all of which can affect the legality of child sex in certain jurisdictions. Intercourse is typically allowed at the ages of 16 to 18, but can range as high as 21 or as low as 12.

Child pornography, child prostitution, and recruiting or meeting children for sex using the Internet may also be illegal depending on the jurisdiction. Some people with a history of sexual activity with children may be prevented, by court order or by legislation, from associating with children or being employed in a position that may bring them into contact with children, or from owning mobile phones or computers, having the ability to use the Internet or owning childrens' toys.

On March 7, 2005, the 2-year-old son of a self-professed pedophile in Indiana, USA was seized by local Child Protective Services, alleging that the home was an unsuitable environment for the child, in part because the father had identified himself as a pedophile on a radio show (he also had a prior conviction for possession of child pornography).Brown, Kevin (2005). "[Update on my Son's Seizure by the State].""[His art became his life]", Inquisition 21st century.

Pedophile activism

The pedophile activism movement, referred to by some supporters as the childlove movement, is a social movement that encompasses a wide variety of views, but generally advocates one or more of the following: social acceptance of adults' romantic or sexual attraction to children; social acceptance of adults' sexual activity with children; and changes in institutions of concern to pedophiles, such as changing age-of-consent laws and mental illness classifications. The movement is extremely controversial and has made little progress toward these goals. The most high profile pedophile activism group is NAMBLA. NAMBLA advocates sexual relationships between older men and young boys.

See also

Notes and references

  • Ames, A. & Houston, D. A. (1990). "Legal, social, and biological definitions of pedophilia." Archives of Sexual Behavior. 19 (4), 333-342.
  • Scruton, Roger, Sexual Desire: A Moral Philosophy of the Erotic, Free, 1986.
  • Pryor, Douglass, Unspeakable Acts: Why Men Sexually Abuse Children, New York Univ. Press, 1996.
  • 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.)
  • Okami, P. and Goldberg, A. (1992). "Personality Correlates of Pedophilia: Are They Reliable Indicators?", Journal of Sex Research, 29(3), 297-328.
  • Green, Richard (2002). "Is pedophilia a mental disorder?", Archives of Sexual Behavior. 31 (6). 467-471. ([summary])

External links

 

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