Pedophilia is defined as “an ongoing sexual attraction toward prepubescent children” (Tenbergen et al., 2015, p. 1). People with pedophilia are often described as a dangerous criminal. People among this category were considered as a category of offenders, by the criminal justice system, among the highest priority for the system to manage and maintain (Lynch, 2002). The differing views between psychologists and the criminal justice system has been a long drawn out debate. Pedophilia is considered a disorder in the DSM V, but by the criminal justice system it is viewed as one of the worst crimes a human being could commit, needing the most severe punishment. The concern with pedophilia for people is the fear that their child will be victim. …show more content…
The Central Administration Committee for Pedophilia by the NVSH in 1973 decided to send out a questionnaire to try to learn about the various aspects of pedophilia itself and the composition of the group (Bernard, 1975). The questions asked concerned personal things such as age, education, etc, questions concerning their pedophilia, questions on substitutes to help combat the problem, and finally questions concerning conflicts with society and the criminal justice system. Most of the people participating in the questionnaire were under 40. This is surprising due to the image the criminal justice and media points out for us. We typically tend to see a man who is much older than 40 who is senile. Ninety percent of pedophiles were found to be unmarried and with no children. Their job profiles also varied widely from office jobs to academic professions. Overwhelming, when going back to the diagnosis criteria about when to diagnose someone with pedophilic disorder we usually do not diagnose someone in adolescence due to puberty. In the questionnaire, those with the disorder realized their disorder between the ages of 10 and 20 years old. This is shocking to the fact that at the age of ten they have not gone through puberty and many do not know what sex is. Most children have homorelationships as friends, aka girls think boys are gross. They grow out of this once they hit puberty. This question brings into question how much research should be done on adolescence to inquire about when pedophilia really can begin. What is even more shocking and brings into question more research, is the fact that the age when individuals had their first pedophile contact with a child was between the ages of 11 and 20 years old. Eleven years old is pretty young to even know about sex and sexual connotations. The ages of which individuals were most interested in varied. The highest percentage was those in puberty, ages
Worling, J .(2012). The assessment and treatment of deviant sexual arousal with adolescents who have offended sexually. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 18(1), 36-63. doi: 10.1080/13552600.2011.630152
When a late adolescent or adult is primarily or exclusively attracted to a minor child sexually they become diagnosed with the psychiatric disorder pedophilia. Mostly a person is not diagnosed with this disorder unless they have had this attraction for six months or longer. This attraction can be in the form of fantasies which are sexually arousing to the perpetrator, or the urge to engage in sexual activities with a minor child. In addition, in order to be diagnosed the molester will have to have acted on these urges or suffered from some type of distress, which will be result from having these feelings. Also the molester should be at least sixteen years old with the victim being younger than them by a minimum of five years.
“...an individual with [pedophilia] has the same ingrained attraction that a heterosexual female may feel towards a male, or a homosexual feels towards their same gender.” (Johnston, Pg. 1). Pedophilia - “the fantasy or act of sexual activity with children who are generally age 13 years or younger” (American Psychiatric Association, p.1) - a word that holds multiple negative connotations, is often seen as aberrant thought process or behavior, and is under debate as to whether or not it’s a sexual orientation. But can it be considered a sexual orientation? As a member of the LGBT community, this issue has surfaced among us and shocked the majority.
Also note that I am using the term ‘child molester’ almost exclusively. This is because there is a difference between a pedophile and a child molester. Pedophilia is a psychological disorder in which a sexually mature adult is attracted, either preferentially or exclusively, to pre-pubescent childr...
It is a common stereotype that all sex offenders have some form of psychopathy, and therefore they cannot be treated, however most sexual offenders do not have major mental illness or psychological maladjustment (Ward, Polaschek and Busch, 2006), therefore it is not impossible to treat them. Finkelhor’s (1984) precondition model was made with the assumption that the psychopathology of an individual will only take us so far in explaining sexually abusive behaviour, Finkelhor states that 4 stages of preconditions must exist before sexual abuse can take place, these are; Primary motivation to abuse a child sexually, overcoming of internal and external inhibitions and dealing with a child’s resistance to sexual abuse, for each subsequent precondition to occur the previous one must be achieved. Finkelhor argues th...
Have you ever asked the question, how we know if a pedophile or sex offender can ever be cured or rehabilitated. Would I be comfortable with them living in my neighborhood? If you have you are just like the rest of the world. Pedophilia is a true illness, and not just in my opinion it also in the DSMIV 302.2. We may never truly be comfortable with the thought that researchers say Pedophiles can not be cured, but they can be rehabilitated in time with and they have test to prove it,
A small town sheriff, who’s half Native American, tries to protect an illegal mother and her children from a corrupt judge.
Paraphilia has evolved as a term generally referenced as sexually deviant behavior to a broader term and divided into a disorder by the DSM-5. Paraphilia’s are often misconstrued as sexually deviant behavior that is misunderstood by the general public. In this paper, I will attempt to have a better grasp of what a paraphilia is, how to treat paraphilia from a therapeutic standpoint and attempt to discern when a paraphilia may need additional referrals and/or treatment. This paper will also examine the difference between a paraphilia that may be treated through cognitive behavioral therapy and paraphilic disorders, in which distress is found and may need further intensive treatment. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one method of psychotherapy
There are many topics nowadays that are still hard to talk about openly. Though we’ve opened the door on many controversies, some of the simplest parts of life can be the hardest to discuss. For most of us, sex in particular can be a taboo topic, which may be the reason why so many children and teens are misinformed on the inner workings of sexual relationships and how they develop as we grow and mature. For some adolescents, this can lead to an unhealthy fixation on the concept of sex, and in some cases, lead them to take action on a situation they do not fully understand. Sexual offenses are perceived as some of the most heinous crimes, but how could our views be affected if those acts were performed by a teenager? We may sometimes consider that they are the same as adult sex offenders; however our judgment can often be clouded by our lack of understanding. Adolescent sex offenders are different from adult sex offenders, are treated in a different way, and often have very different circumstances of their crime.
Sex offenders come across every race, age, gender, socio-economic status, and mental health status (CSG, n.d.). According to CSOM (n.d.) many scholars do not take into consideration the age, gender and socio-economic status as far as the criminal behavior itself, however many scholars look at factors that may have caused these sexual deviant behaviors. These theories or factors are attachment, sociocultural, intimacy, behavioral, and biological (CSOM, n.d.). It is also worthy to note, that the difference between juveniles and adult are there recidivism rate. According to CSOM (n.d.), juveniles are more likely to reoffend than adult sex
Are we bothered by the fact that in the current social climate, the rights of convicted pedophiles are routinely violated and nobody cares. Rules of evidence are stretched, and terms of punishment are increased. The danger of this precedent is impossible to ignore.
There is no “standard” sexual offender. Child molesters and rapists come from a multitude of backgrounds and are most often seen as law abiding individuals. In most cases, offenders are male; however, there have been cases of females committing sexual offences reported in the past (Schaffer, Jeglic, Moster & Wnuk, 2010). This treatment manual will focus on the male sexual offender population; they may vary in age, from youth to senior citizens. In fact, more than half of the adult male sexual offender population began offending in their teens (Terry, 2004). This program will feature a ‘rolling group’, this allows individuals to be at different stages in the program which will allow for patients to ease into the program at their own pace.
Early exposure of pornography to the children leads to premature conversations. These conversations consisting not only the act of sex itself, but also the consequences of it. Children who witness pornography’s “hatred of women” (69) and its determination to “humiliate, degrade and dehumanize the female body for the purpose of erotic stimulation and pleasure,” (69) view this as normal and acceptable behavior, according to Brownmiller. Another large issue that comes with this early exposure is act of pre experimenting. When young children are exposed to these pornographic acts their minds begin to get curious. They want to experience things that children should not yet experience and Brownmiller argues that by “puting pornography back in the closet we can avoid these major
Throughout the world, the protection of children is the main priority. When it comes to the United States, pedophiles are recognized as a threat to the wellbeing of kids of ages of 13 and under. Pedophilia is a mental disorder that can be treated; however, there is no cure for it. This means that pedophiles could be aided in a manner that protects both the pedophile and the youth. In the United States pedophilia is viewed more as a criminal case than a mental disorder resulting in criminal cases of pedophilia not decreasing and the endangerment of the pedophile and their mental health.
Childhood is supposed to be a time of discovery and play, not abuse. Was there ever such a world? Sexual predators have been lurking this planet for decades; now they're being marked for life because of there actions. Neighbors and the home towns of sexual predators are being alerted of their crimes and whereabouts by local police. Such towns have responded by putting up signs in their town, "CHILD MOLESTER TWO DOORS DOWN" (Popkin, pg 73). Others responded by burning or flooding their new neighbors out (Popkin). What did these convicted criminals do to deserve such punishment? They violated the most precious living creature on this planet, a child. Communities definitely have a right to know that a dangerous child molester is moving to their town.