Pedophilia

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[[de:P�dophilie]] In medicine, pedophilia, or paedophilia/p�dophilia is sexual attraction of an adult to prepubescent children. In common usage, pedophilia or underage sex is sexual attraction and sexual acts towards children generally, including adolescents who are far beyond a prepubescent level of physical and psychological development. This article will discuss these two concepts seperately.

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Clinical pedophilia

Clinically, pedophilia is defined, to give one definition (from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition, American Psychiatric Association): Diagnostic criteria for 302.2 Pedophilia

  • A. 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).
  • B. The fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning.
  • C. 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.

Clinical pedophilia can be diagnosed solely in the presence of "fantasies" or "sexual urges" on the subject's part -- it need not involve sexual acts with children. (Pedophilia combined with actual sexual contact with children is often called pedosexuality.) Pedophilia is not a legal category or term, and although the acts pedophiles desire to carry out are crimes, these crimes are not legally referred to as "pedophilia". Pedophilia in itself is not a crime -- only acting upon such urges is.

Sometimes a clinical distinction is made between pedophiles and "situational offenders" -- a distinction, however, which is not reflected in the APA's definition above. A pedophile, according to this distinction, is a person whose primary sexual attraction is to children, while a situational offender is someone who engages in sexual activity with children not as their primary sexual preference but due to a particular situation they are faced with, and would not otherwise engage in such activity except for that situation.

Typology of pedosexual offenders

There are two main categories of behavior for pedophiles who commit sexual offenses. These categories are known as the "regressed" pedosexual and the "fixated" pedosexual.

The regressed pedosexual has a primary sexual orientation toward members of the opposite sex who are of the offender's own age. The sexual interest in children typically manifests itself in adulthood in this sort of offender. Due to an inability to maintain adult relationships the offender substitutes a child for an adult sexual partner. The intitial offense is often not planned and often alcohol related. The "regressed" pedosexual is typically capable of a traditional life-style and often married. Social skills of the "regressed" pedosexual are basically normal but with under developed peer relationships. The "regressed" pedosexual typically has no problem making aquaintances or socializing with others, but is not capable of handling the responsibility of long-term relationships. This behavior is a maladaptive attempt to cope with specific life stresses. Females are the primary target of the "regressed" pedosexual.

The fixated pedosexual has a primary sexual orientation toward members of the same sex who are children. The sexual interest in children manifests itself in adolescence for this offender. The offenses are typically planned out ahead of time and are not alcohol or drug related. The "fixated" pedosexual has behavior that is characterized as a lack of maturity and this offender has difficulty with adult sexual and social relationships. This offender identifies with children, in other words considers him or herself to be like a child and thus seeks sexual relationships with what the offender percieves to be other children. The "fixated" offender is often interested in the same activities and interests as the young children who are the offender's victims. Such offenders often collect articles related to small children (clothing, children's books), even if they do not have children. This behavior is a maladaptive resolution to issues with adult maturity. The primary targets of the "fixated" offender are males.

Warning Signs

The following is a list of signs that a person may be a potential sexual predator of children.

  • 1. Someone who engages in the collection, trading, and/or distribution of child pornography, especially a large volume of the material.(It is estimated over 35% of people who view child porn sexually abuse children)
  • 2. Someone who talks constantly about sexual activities of children.
  • 3. A person who spends his (or in the rare exception, her) spare time doing things with children and not adult friends.
  • 4. This person seems to always have a special child friend. And this friend might change from time to time.
  • 5. Someone who will ridicule a child by calling them names with a sexual tone. Names like slut, whore, stud etc.
  • 6. They will ask their adult sexual partner to act or dress like a child during sex.
  • 7. They will tell children to keep secrets and not tell anyone of certain activities.
  • 8. Someone who gives money to children or buys them expensive gifts for no known reason.
  • 9. A person who is overly affectionate with children. This might include kissing, tickling, hugging, wrestling or touching a child even when the child tells them to stop.
  • 10. Someone who walks in on children in the bathroom.
  • 11. A person who becomes defensive when asked about a child's health or they give conflicting stories about injuries.
  • 12. Habitual sexual offenders of children often gravitate toward postions of trust, in which they are in constant contact with the thier victims, children. It is not unusual that habitual offenders are athletic coaches, teachers, or clergy.
  • 13. Pedosexual offenders often target vulnerable children for abuse. To insure that the offender can effectively "program" and "control" the victim there is usually a grooming process in which the offender evaluates the victim and learns how to manipulate the victim's emotions.
  • 14. Under this pretext an offender will say things like, "This is our little secret," and "I am your friend and your are my friend,".
  • 15. Threats of retaliation directed at the victim if that victim should report the perpetrator are common.

Statistics concerning pedosexual offenders and their victims

  • 1. 250,000-500,000 pedophiles reside in the United States. - Source: U.S. Department of Justice
  • 2. Convicted child molesters who abused girls had an average of 52 victims each. Men who molested boys had an astonishing average of 150 victims. - Source: In a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health Dr. Gene G. Abel, Emory University
  • 3. The typical child sex offender molests an average of 60 to 117 children, most of who do not report the offense. - Source: The National Institute of Mental Health, 1988
  • 4. Approximately 95% of teenage prostitutes have been sexually abused. - Source: CT Center for Prevention of Child Abuse, 1992
  • 5. It is estimated that children with disabilities are 4 to 10 times more vulnerable to sexual abuse than their non-disabled peers. - Source: National Resource Center on Child Sexual Abuse 1992
  • 6. Abuse or neglected children are 67 times more likely to be arrested between ages 9-12 then those who aren’t. - Source: The Child Welfare League.
  • 7. Victimized children had IQ’s 13 points below the general average of 100, as well as severely depressed reading abilities. - Source: The National Institute for Justice, 1991 Cathy Spatz Widom

Underage sex

Underage sex, sexual activity with underage adolescents, is not, in general, clinical pedophilia. While such activity may be illegal in a particular jurisdiction, it frequently exemplifies only borderline pedophilia, or far more commonly, no pedophilia at all. The terms hebephilia and ephebophilia are sometimes used to describe attraction to youths or adolescents, distinct from attraction to children.

Most cases of father-daughter incest are believed to involve fathers who are situational offenders, rather than clinical pedophiles. Some have argued that these cases are caused by the withdrawal of the mother (often due to mental illness) from the family -- this withdrawal is more than purely sexual.

Modern cultures in general strongly condemn underage sex and regard it as a very serious crimes, based on the idea that children are not sufficiently mature to be able to consent to sex and that sex with children is therefore rape.

Pederasty is underage sex, especially anal sex, between male adults and male adolescents or children. The North American Man-Boy Love Association advocates pederasty.


See also Child pornography, Child sex tourism, Edward Brongersma

External link

References

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