To What Degree Does Society View Pedophilia As A Crime?
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.
Everyone’s childhood is sacred to them and something that everyone can recall upon and make them feel
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When someone is young they are unaware of some of their decisions and are unaware of the things that will scar them for the rest of their lives. In the article by Margo Kaplan, she discusses what pedophilia actually is, the laws that are currently in place, and how a child’s wellbeing is at risk. This article is highly credible considering that the author is a well-known researcher in the field of criminal law with a concentration in sexual crimes. Pedophilia’s recursive nature is to perform harmful acts to children; while pedophiles can put a child in the physical harm they are also prone to psychological harm (Kaplan 43). Kids are the main victims of these heinous acts, but there is no precaution to those that cause the harm resulting in them hurting more children than necessary in the process. While the following article is not that credible seeing that there is no clear citing from where they acquired their research, they were able to assemble a valid point about pedophiles going against a kid’s desire (Duke 5). According to the author, Judith Levine, in the same article, parents have the proper say about whether a child is being molested or not. While this relates to the previous article by Kaplan, it does so in the nature that puts the …show more content…
“The Slippery Slope to Pedophilia.” New American (09956540), vol. 29, no. 19, 7 Oct. 2013, pp. 21–26., EBSCOHost, web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=27&sid=db86a6e1-6532-405a-87b8-724a12314039%40sessionmgr4010.
Kaplan, Margo. “Taking Pedophilia Seriously.” Washington & Lee Law Review, vol. 72, no. 1, 2015, pp. 75–170. Winter2015, EBSCOHost, web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=10&sid=db86a6e1-6532-405a-87b8-724a12314039@sessionmgr4010.
Nugent, Robert. “Meeting a 'Monster'.” Commonweal, vol. 136, no. 10, 22 May 2009, pp. 17–18.EBSCOHost, web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=43&sid=db86a6e1-6532-405a-87b8-724a12314039%40sessionmgr4010.
Pedophiles and Child Molesters: The Differences. www.calcasa.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/pedophiles-and-child-molesters.doc.
“Pessimism about Pedophilia.” Harvard Health, Harvard Health Publishing, July 2010, www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/pessimism-about-pedophilia.
Woodard, Joe. “If It Feels Good, Stop.” Alberta Report/ Newsmagazine, 30 Aug. 1999, pp. 28–29, EBSCOHost,
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.
The United States of America has always supported freedom and privacy for its citizens. More importantly, the United States values the safety of its citizens at a much higher level. Every year more laws are implemented in an attempt to deter general or specific criminal behaviors or prevent recidivism among those who have already committed crimes. One of the most heinous crimes that still occurs very often in the United States is sex offenses against children. Currently, there are over 700,000 registered sex offenders and 265,000 sex offenders who are under correctional supervision. It is estimated that approximately 3% of the offenders who are currently incarcerated will likely commit another sex-related crime upon release (Park & Lee, 2013, p. 26). There are several laws that have been in place regarding sex offenses for decades, including Megan’s Law which was enacted in 1996.
McKittrick, Casey, Shaping Pedophilic Discourse around American Beauty Happiness. Velvet Light Trap, Spring 2001, Issue 47, p 3-12.
“...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.
Zilney, L. J., & Zilney, L. A. (2009). A War on Sexual Offending Laws. Perverts and predators: the making of sexual offending laws (p. 66-74). Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield.
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...
Based on an article by the National Alert Registry by Dr. Herbert Wagemaker, four percent of the population suffers from sexual orientation toward children. In 1999, 93,000 kids were sexually abused. 50% of the abusers were parents of th...
Ryan, G., Leversee, T. and Lane, S. 2014. Juvenile Sexual Offending: Causes, Consequences, and Correction. [online] Available at: http://books.google.ca/books?isbn=0470646942 [Accessed: 14 Mar 2014].
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.
Zieve, David, Juhn, Greg, and Eltz, David R. "Child Abuse-Sexual." New York Times. N.p., 13 Oct. 2008. Web. 12 Jan. 2014.
The publicity about online predators that prey on naive and inexperienced young children using trickery and violence is largely inaccurate. Internet sex crimes involving adults and juveniles more often fit a model of statutory rape which is adult offenders who meet, develop relationships with, and openly seduce underage teenagers than a model of forcible sexual assault or pedophilic child molesting (Wolak et. al., 2008). However, prepubescent children are even less vulnerable because their internet use is generally more supervised by the parents and guardian. In addition, they use the internet less for communication and are for developmental reasons, less interested in sex and relationships than adolescents.
A childhood is the delicate phase of every adolescent's life where they must mature into their own person, with their own responsibilities. Although every individual will eventually bloom with their own personality, morals, and perspectives, the education and values we learn and see along the way add to the fingers that mold. We begin when we are born, and are taken in by strangers. These priceless people show us love, and just how strong attachments can be. Family ties snare us in their loving webs and become the support network to catch us throughout our youthful falls. They are our first real pictures of people, and their actions and emotions immediately become examples.
Sexual deviance is any behavior with a sexual act that goes against the expectations of the society in which the act was performed. To be considered deviant, there are usually consent issues, the people or things involved create a deviant combination, the specific sexual act and anatomy is outside the realm of socially acceptable, or the place involved is unacceptable (Ritzer, 2007). In American society, it appears according to media accounts, billboard advertisements, and daily observation of the people passing by, sex is bought, sold, and traded in the open market; however, just because we see it everywhere, does not mean that it is socially acceptable. As we learned in the Tittle and Paternoster (2000) article, indiscretion is the deviance
To understand how to prevent child sexual abuse, one must begin by understanding what child sex abuse is. When a perpetrator intentionally harms a child physically, psychologically, sexually, or by acts of neglect, this crime is known as child abuse. Child sex abuse consists of any sexual activity that includes a minor. A child cannot consent to any form of sexual activity. More importantly, when a perpetrator engages with a child this way, they are committing a crime that can have lasting effects on the victim for years. Moreover, child sexual abuse does not need to include physical contact between a perpetrator and child, some forms include but not limited to; fondling, intercourse, sex trafficking, exposing oneself to a minor, masturbation
Childhood is the most unforgettable period of my life. Everyone has childhood memories. My childhood memories took place in Eritrea. These memories that are happiest and saddest memories are still in my mind. Sometimes I remember things that have happened in my childhood period and they just make me laugh. Childhood memories can be bad or good, but we can’t forget them. For these reasons, childhood memories are the most important parts of my life. Specifically, also I have some good memories of childhood.