In the news today we frequently hear about pedophiles and child molesters. We have heard the horror stories of priest and bishops molesting boys, public school teachers having sex with students, and family members molesting children. While it is still taboo, the public view of a child molester has changed in the past years. It used to be that when we thought of a pedophile, we thought of a scary man lurking behind the bushes. This is not the case today, most of the cases of child molestation are by a person known to the child, whether it be a family member or a family friend.(Herkov, 2012) A pedophile is a person who is significantly older and has conscious sexual interests in prepubescent children. There are two kinds of pedophiles, the violent offenders and the non-violent offenders. The violent offenders are the minority of offenders. These are the one that pose the greatest risk to the victim and the public. Violent offenders are also known as child rapists. They use threat, intimidation, and physical force to overpower their victims. In most cases the child relinquishes sex for survival.(Bridges, 2012) The non-violent offenders are the most prevalent of all molesters. These are the people who use deception and enticement to lure their victims into submission. In a way, these offenders are using a form of sexual extortion. Sex is often rewarded or exchanged for acceptance, recognition, attention, or material gain. Often times the victim will resist, and since these are non-violent predators, they will increase the efforts to get the victim to accept their advances. If the child is persistent, the offender will most likely move to a more vulnerable target. If the offender does start sexually abusing the victim, the sexual... ... middle of paper ... ...July, 2004. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. http://www.transformationsjournal.org/journal/issue_08/article_01.shtml Bridges, Debbie. "Sexual Addiction Treatment, Signs,Causes, Symptoms." MedicineNet. MedicineNet, 28 July 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. D’Amora, David and Burns-Smith, Gail. How Offender Treatment and Victim Advocacy can Work Together in Response to Sexual Violence," Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, The Official Journal of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers,11 (October 1999), 296-297. Deirmenjian, JM. “Pedophilia on the Internet.” Journal of Forensic Sciences, 47.5 (2002): 1090-1092. Herkov, Michael. "What Is Sexual Addiction?" Psych Central. Psych Central, July 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. Lamberg, Lynne. “Researchers Seek Roots of Pedophilia.” JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, 294.5 (2005): 546.
Our text describes pedophilia as a person who “gains sexual gratification by watching, touching, or engaging in sexual acts with prepubescent children, usually 13 years old or younger” (Comer, 2013, p. 411). The movie, The Woodsman describes the story of a convicted sex offender recently released from prison. Walter, depicted by Kevin Bacon shed some insight into the motivations and thought processes that a sex offender, specifically a pedophile might have.
on how to help those who suffer from sexual addiction and to prevent it from occurring.
“...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.
Generally, the public views women as nurturers, motherly and incapable of harming a child. Research indicates that female sex offenders capable of committing such acts have serious psychiatric and psychological problems. In comparison, research indicates male sex offenders are more callous, more antisocial, and promiscuous, involved in the criminal justice system, and have more victims (Miccio-Fenseca, 2012, slide 7). The consensus is that men commit their acts for sexual pleasure while women commit their acts due to psychiatric and psychological problems. Law enforcement, juries, and judges tend to empathize more when there are additional mitigating factors, such as emotional or psychological problems.
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...
Pedophiles are men whose sexual wishes and desires for relationship bonds and love are focused either primarily or exclusively on children who have not reached puberty, whereby the relative importance of each of these three areas—sexuality, relationship, and love— may vary, as it does with other people as well. (Schmidt 473)
... Resiliency in the victim-offender cycle in male sexual abuse. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 14(1).
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.
Before anything can be said about the treatment for a child molester, a proper definition must be defined as a person who has involvement with a child in sexual activity that he or she does not fully comprehend, is unable to give informed consent to, or that violate the laws or social taboos of society. Some reasons individuals commit these sexual acts towards minors is due to the facts that they are experiencing sexual inadequacy. Some of these deficiencies arise from primary impotence of “males who have never experienced satisfactory coitus, with orgasms” or primary premature ejaculation where “fast ejaculatory responses are frequent.” There are numerous reasons why these disturb individuals perform such acts of violence, but we have to remember that what these people have is a disease that needs to be treated with medication and time.
Sex offenders have been a serious problem for our legal system at all levels, not to mention those who have been their victims. There are 43,000 inmates in prison for sexual offenses while each year in this country over 510,000 children are sexually assaulted(Oakes 99). The latter statistic, in its context, does not convey the severity of the situation. Each year 510,000 children have their childhood's destroyed, possibly on more than one occasion, and are faced with dealing with the assault for the rest of their lives. Sadly, many of those assaults are perpetrated by people who have already been through the correctional system only to victimize again. Sex offenders, as a class of criminals, are nine times more likely to repeat their crimes(Oakes 99). This presents a
One of the most hated, reviled, and public enraging individuals in society is a pedophile. Most equate pedophilia with a sexual molester of children or some sort of perverted freak. There is considerable misunderstanding about pedophilia. In a 1990 research study, the authors state “there is widespread belief among professionals the general public that sexual abuse causes sexual abuse.” The theory is referred to as “abused/abuser hypothesis of child and adolescent sexual abuse” (Garland & Dougher, 1990, p. 448). Fact is the face of a pedophile is not some monster lurking in our neighborhoods ready to pounce on the first child available. He is not necessarily a “dirty old man” either. A pedophile could be anyone: a next door neighbor, a lawyer, school teacher or a relative (Wylie, 1998). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) categorizes pedophilia as a disorder only if the sexual fantasies or urges involve prepubescent children , if they last at least six months, if the individual has acted on them, or if they cause marked distress” (American Psychiatric Association, 2000).
For a behaviour or action to be labelled as deviant, it will need to violate a social rule or norm, and invoke a negative reaction in the community (Goode 2014). The behaviour associated with paedophilia invokes a negative reaction in majority of Western cultures, as it disregards the accepted structures of a relationships and sexual orientation. For the purpose of this project, this behaviour was observed through a documentary called Danielův svĕt (2014), which follows the life of a self-proclaimed exclusive paedophile and his struggle in the community. Currently, there are various theories to explain the cause of the behaviour but as each theory is unable to give a full explanation; there is no definitive answer.
Since they are so attracted to children and they can relate well with them. They are usually in lines of work that deal with children, but there are special cases where they do not work in an area with children. These perpetrators are usually male adults, but there is a small percentage they are a female perpetrator. On the Whatcom County Sheriffs Office, they list out specific characteristics that indicate a pedophile. They are pretty extremely secretive about their fantasies, due to the fact that they do not socialize with other adults their age. These perpetrators have a way of manipulating people. Since they are have a way with words they are usually non-violent with the children, they use other forms of
Paedophilia: comes from the Greek word; paidophilia, which means friendship. But such a meaning denies the true horror of their beliefs and actions. A paedophile is a person who fantasies about having a relationship with young children. It is a person with a dark, destructive and a disturbed mind. Society in general is revolted by these people but they are encouraged to view it with understanding. Many health officials describe it as a mental illness that has no known cure. This is why they have to hide their tendencies from public view. But who in there right frame of mind would send off their young, helpless child and pass them into the hands of a horrifying, mentally unstable babysitter? Would you leave your child alone? Defenceless and unable to fight them off? No, Of course you wouldn’t.
Crimes against individuals are nothing new. These crimes are in society from the Greek and Egyptian to the present time. With the creation of computer and Internet, typical personal crimes have been substituted for high-tech crimes (i.e. online sex crimes against children). One of the most hideous criminals against children are those individuals identified as pedophiles. Pedophile is defined as “an adult who is sexually attracted to children” (Knetzger & Muraski, 2008). Because this is a crime with an alarming increase rate, law enforcement authorities must be well-educated with typical profile of pedophiles and methods of operation.