A 19 year-old man was recently jailed for 4 years for having sex with a girl who was one year below the age of consent (i.e. 15 years-old in the UK). The judge and media considered him a "paedophile" and "sexual predator" who "posed a risk to young, vulnerable girls". The girl was a willing participant in the act until he ended their relationship and she regretted having sex with him.
I was shocked by this story as I personally do not consider a 19 year-old man a "paedophile" for having "consensual" sex with a girl of 15. Would you consider him to be a paedophile? If so, if the age of consent was raised to 21, would you still consider a 24 year-old man a paedophile for having sex with a 20 year-old, or is the term "paedophile" defined more by social opinion?
What do you consider a "paedophile" to be? And is it defined more by social opinion or the law?
As the age of consent was raised during the Victorian era from 13 to 16 I suppose that the present problems have been rather man made, as are most, so using the original age of consent as 13 then this condition would only be reached by approaching a child under 13. So the condition with older children is made by society. It seems to me that regardless of the law several girls have successfully mated and had children before they reached 13 and probably had sex with an under age boy. So the question is if two underage children have sex and a child is conceived is the older one a paedophile?
Reply:I think that the mentality of the 15 should be considered. I was married a 15 and had my own house. I think now a days the law is twisted to fit the needs of the "victim". I am now remarried and there is 22 years difference between me and my husband. We have been together for 5 years. He was a "minor" am I a pedafile....i think not because he's acts more like a man than most men my age.
Reply:a child is a child pedophile is sex children
Reply:We can all debate about situations in the press, however, the Percieved law of England relates to the "my castle theory" :
A peadophile, is someone who dates your 16 year old daughter. . A pervert, is someone who dates your 18 year old daughter,
A stalker, is someone who talks to your wife.
A home wrecker is someone who dates your wife/husband
A commy is someone with a different opinion
A peadophfile is any man with a camera in a public place
A pervert is a man who does not look at the ground should your wife wear a bikkini/short skirt in public.
A pervert is a man/male, near a swimming pool, without children.
A pedo/pervert is any male above 40, bald, with glasses.
A pervert is any male without friends.
A sicko, even discusses the issue.
A peadophile is any male within a 10 meter radius of your kids.
All men, are rapeists, alcaholics, wife beaters, peadophiles, and letches, until proved otherwise...even then?
Reply:At 15 years of age the girl knew what she was doing, however at 19 the young man should have know he was playing with someone considered " Jail Bate" as a volunteer in a prison system this happens often adult legal age man has sex with under age girl, gets reported by parents of under age girl, or scared girl yells rape when her parents find out.. Young men that are legal age need to smarten up and stay away from anyone under the age of 18.. or be prepared to be considered a sexual predator for the rest of his life. No 15 year old is worth a sentance in prison, or a life sentance of being called a sexual predator.
Reply:Yes, I see your point and it's very valid. Unless this man has previous convictions for having sex with underaged girls, I think this was an incredibly harsh sentence. When I was 15, my bf was 18 and we did have a sexual relationship, to call him a paedophile is absurd.
Reply:What kind of question is this? They're the scum of the earth. How's that?
Reply:I doubt if hes a paedophile he did use bad judgement though.
Reply:He was stupid, the judge and the media were strong in calling him a pedophile as that normally applies to children who are not mature in any way. However, sexual predator may have applied. I do not know what the judge heard to say these things, but then I am not a judge either.
Reply:Here is my opinion of a paedophile someone who should be killed slowly and painfully as for the girl she should do the 4 years young girls should learn at 15 to keep they're virtue! its not like he raped her parents should also vet their child's friends its all a difficult subject but young ladies at 14 and 15 are getting sex all over the country parents be warned and men be warned don't go there!
Reply:that story in particular, I would not consider the young man as a pedophile,,, according to the law he was having sex with a minor, that is true, but it would be extreme, in my opinion a pedophile would be a an adult who is attracted sexually rather to small children,,,,not "teenagers",,,,,, but still laws in every state and country are deffrent regarding legal age,, but still any adult attracted by a small child is definetely a criminal
Reply:Pedophilia
Pedophilia (American English) or p椯philia/paedophilia (British English), from the Greek παιδοφιλια (paidophilia) %26lt; παις (pais) "boy, child" and φιλια (philia) "friendship", (ICD-10 F65.4) is the condition of people (either adult or adolescent) whose primary sexual attraction is toward prepubescent children. Pedosexuality is used as a synonym. The term is sometimes used informally (and incorrectly) to describe sex offenders or child pornographers. It is one form of Paraphilia, a mental health term recently used to indicate a sexual condition that is considered "abnormal".
In the United States and some other countries, the term is also sometimes used (incorrectly) to describe people attracted to adolescents, and usually reflects the age at which a minor becomes an adult legally — especially in regards to sexual activies. In cultures or countries where love relationships or dates between adults and adolescents are socially or legally accepted (at least with parental consent) or are viewed with tolerance, such as France or Brazil, the word pedophilia is almost never used in this sense, either formally or informally.
In most countries of the world, adolescents above a certain age can be legally emancipated through marriage, economic self-sufficiency, pregnancy or by other means. The marriageable age is generally below the age of majority and in some cases below the legal age of consent. Having sexual relations with emancipated minors is not considered pedophilia.
Definitions
The term Paedophilia erotica was coined in 1896 by the Vienna psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing in his writing Psychopathia sexualis. The following characteristics are given:
the sexual interest is toward children, either prepubescent or at the beginning of puberty
the sexual interest is the primary one, i. e. exclusively or mainly toward children
the sexual interest remains over time
Occasionally definitions additionally require an age difference of at least five years. On the other hand, a pedophilic sexual inclination often develops during puberty or childhood. See causes of sexual orientation; note, however, that while some individuals assert sexual attraction to children to be a sexual orientation, this is very much a minority view. In fact, it is diametrically opposed to the standard (conservative) definition of sexual orientation as solely a question of sexual attraction between individuals based upon the characteristic sexes (or physical genders) of the parties.
Some sexologists such as Dr. John Money assert that not only adults but also any postpubescent adolescents may qualify as possible pedophiles.
A person is not necessarily a pedophile simply because he can be sexually aroused by children; rather, a pedophile is defined as someone whose primary sexual attraction is toward children, however this is mostly ignored in any such matters, and usually someone is classified as a Pedophile if they are found to be sexually aroused by children. There is evidence that at least a quarter of all adult men may have feelings of sexual arousal in connection with children (Freund %26amp; Costell 1970, Hall et al. 1995, Quinsey et al. 1975). Note that 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, and indeed "Pedophilia" is not a legal term, it describes no act.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition, Text Revision, American Psychiatric Association includes a 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 person has acted on these urges, or the sexual urges or fantasies cause marked distress or interpersonal difficulty.
* 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.
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 20 years of age.
Pedophiles often refer to themselves as boylovers or girllovers, though most of them are not both; collectively they are sometimes referred to as childlovers. The term childlover however is an affront to some who are attracted to adolescents, or attracted to girls and boys undergoing puberty - and therefore the term "Minor Attracted Adult" can be preferred.
Related terms
Child sexual abuse
A perpetrator committing child sexual abuse is commonly (and often but not always mistakenly) assumed to be a pedophile, and referred to as such, but there are often other motivations, much as adult rape can have non-sexual motivations. Most perpetrators of child sexual abuse are not primarily interested in children - a fact which has been recognized by law enforcement (Lanning: Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis) They are sometimes referred to as pseudo-pedophilies or situational offenders, whereas pedophiles primarily attracted toward children are called structured pedophiles or fixated pedophiles, as their orientation is fixed by the structure of their personality.
Pedophile is not a legal category or term. Although the acts that molesters carry out are criminal in most jurisdictions, they are not legally referred to as pedophilia. However, newspapers and other news media frequently make erroneous use of the terms accused pedophile or convicted pedophile in reference to individuals accused or convicted of sexual abuse of children. Sometimes the terms used are almost humourus, such as "Serial Pedophilia", or such.
Ephebophilia
Ephebophilia, also known as hebephilia, is the condition in which adults are dependent on the sexual attraction to postpubescent adolescents. Pederasty refers to attraction toward male adolescents. Attraction to female adolescents is sometimes referred to as "Lolita syndrome" or "Lolita Complex" (an equivalent term for males is the uncommon "Shota Complex"). 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, i.e. any person younger than the legal age of consent.
Sexual desires including youths are common among adults with a heterosexual or homosexual orientation, though their attraction is not specifically to persons that young. Only when it is a specific and exclusive attraction, is it labeled ephebophilia as a sexual condition or orientation. It should also be noted that unlike pedophilia, attraction to adolescents has never been regarded by psychologists as pathological. In fact, it has often been considered normative in some societies, such as those in which adolescent girls have been married to adult men. Nonetheless, it is often illegal for adults to act on an attraction to adolescents below a certain age, and such activity is disapproved of in many societies.
Nepiophilia
Some researchers have suggested a distinction between pedophilia and infantophilia (also called nepiophilia), because interest in a 10-year old and a 2-year old seem rather different preferences. At the same time it is unusual for pedophiles to prefer toddlers.
Cultural norms
In Japanese society the attraction towards teenage girls (high-school students) is a widespread cultural phenomenon. The manifestations of such attraction, such as lolicon art, school uniform fetishes and sexual relations with teenage girls (e.g. enjo kosai) are more tolerated by society than in the West, but are often illegal.
In France and in most of the Francophone world, this kind of relationship is also accepted. Movies like Brodeuses ("A common thread") (2003) usually show these relationships in a casual way, not giving much importance or attention to the difference of age. Nabokov?s "Lolita" - the book - was first released in France (1955), while Adrian Lyne?s "Lolita" (1997) - the movie - faced no restrictions in Europe, including France; and Celine Dion's "Lolita" - the song - was released only in French by the Canadian bilingual singer. The movie "Pretty baby" (1978) - depicting 13-year old Brooke Shields playing a preteen prostitute - was filmed by a Frenchman, Louis Malle.
In Brazilian culture tolerance sets the tone as well. In 1999 28-year old Marcio Garcia, a nationally famous and good-looking actor, dated 14-year old model Daniella Sarahyba for over a year and the relationship was assimilated by the Brazilian mainstream media and by the TV network which he worked for. Also in the nineties 13-year old Kelly Key, who would become a famous singer, started dating 23-year old singer Latino, whom she married later on. Before that, in 1982, 40-year-old Caetano Veloso - a very famous Brazilian singer and composer - began a love relationship with 13-year-old Paula Lavigne, though at the time he was married to someone else. Soon he divorced and 3 years later they married. Their marriage lasted 19 years, ending only in 2004. The relationship was respected and he was never persecuted by the media nor by the phonographic industry or boycotted by radio stations. None of them was ever called a pedophile, an accusation that could be construed as slander in Brazil.
Reactions to adult-adolescent relationships may be considered by some as a prejudice like racism or the hatred against immigrants : ageism. In the 80s, 15-year-old Brazilian student Eliane Maciel searched for judicial help against her conservative parents. She wanted the judge to rule that she had the right to date a 33-year old man with whom she was in love, and she won. They eventually married. Her drama was told in the self-biographical best-seller "Com licen硬 eu vou ࠬuta - ɠilegal ser menor ?" ("Excuse me, I'm gonna fight - Is it illegal to be a minor ?") (1983), which turned into a prize-winning homonymous movie (1986). Since 1988 prejudice on the grounds of age has been forbidden by the Brazilian Constitution. Ageism is considered a form of discrimination.
In many countries, sexual attraction, desires or fantasies in adults towards underage adolescents is quite common. A sign of this is that, in the adult porn industry, a reasonable market share goes to movies that show young women dressed in uniforms, characterized as high-school students. Some of these movies are regularly aired on adult channels like Playboy TV and others.
Underage sex and criminality
Sexual acts between adults and prepubescent children are both a taboo and a crime in many cultures because, among other reasons:
children are seen as unable to understand the physical, emotional, and social consequences of sexual acts and are therefore unable to give informed consent;
sexual acts can involve coercion and abuse of power, which can break bonds of trust;
sexual acts can, for girls at puberty, lead to pregnancy, a condition for which they may well be unprepared emotionally; and
religious or pseudo-religious faith often prevents scientific inquiry, as illustrated when the U.S. Congress voted unanimously to condemn Rind et al.
There are other also other medical reasons that sex (especially for pre-pubescent females) is more dangerous:
the lining of the uterus and other parts of a pre-pubertal female's reproductive organs does not contain the same bacteria as an adult female's would, thus leaving them more prone to infection.
It must be stated however that the term "child" varies from culture to culture. Some set the upper limit of this figure at puberty, while others set it higher, to coincide with legal definitions of "majority" for their country, which is usually around 18 or 21.
Sexual acts between adults and postpubescent adolescents are also seen as a taboo in some cultures, while in others they are viewed naturally or with tolerance. Cultures are influenced by the local age of consent, religion and language.
The percentage of pedophile perpetrators in cases of child sexual abuse is estimated to be 2 to 10 percent (Kinsey-Report, Lautmann, Brongersma, Groth). Abuse is mainly a phenomenon of heterosexual and homosexual orientation. Statistics from the United States Bureau of Justice Statistics (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/press/r... "5 percent of sex offenders rearrested for another sex crime within 3 years of prison release") indicate that while sex offenders in general reoffend 5.3 percent of the time, child molesters reoffend only 3.3 percent of the time (though the latter statistic only counts child sexual abuse as opposed to all sex crimes).
Most cases of father-daughter incest are believed to involve fathers who are situational offenders, rather than pedophiles. Some have argued that these cases are triggered by the withdrawal of the mother from the family, often due to physical or mental illness.
Other legal aspects
Legally, relationships between adults and adolescents do not necessarily include sex. Most of them involve sexual attraction. Just dating a teenager below the age of consent is legal in some jurisdictions, specially when the adolescent's age is above the marriageable age. In other jurisdictions, this may be illegal.
Advocacy of pedophilia
There are a number of organizations and web-based communities together referred to as the childlove movement that seek to remove the stigma from pedophilia. Goals for these organisations and communities range from wanting to legalize sexual relationships between adults and children or teenagers, to merely offering a place for support and advice to those with a sexual attraction to children.
The North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) advocates legalization of consensual sexual relationships between boys and men.
MARTIJN is a Netherlands-based advocate of adult-child sex.
BoyChat is a support forum for male-attracted pedophiles.
Girl Chat is a support forum for female-attracted pedophiles.
Pedophiles Against Child Molestation (PACM) is an organization of conscientious pedophiles opposed to child abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
tkGL.net is a support forum like Girl Chat featuring personal testimonies, on-topic debates (both pro and anti), and coverage of related news/media.
See pedophilia and homosexuality for the historical relationship between pedophilia advocates and the gay rights movement.
Literature
There is quite a large amount of literature related to child sexual abuse, and sex offenders. However, what is lacking is proper authoritative peer-reviewed research into pedophiles in general, who may not have offended. Such information is of course hard to gather given the controversial nature of such research, and the fact that any research that gives a pro-adult/child sex outcome being condemned at large by various governing bodies, and children's charities.
Ames, A. %26amp; Houston, D.A. "Legal, social, and biological definitions of pedophilia." Archives of Sexual Behavior, vol. 19, 1990, pp. 333-342.
Pedophilia Fagan PJ, Wise TN, et al, JAMA. 2002; 288: 2458-2465 Full text (requires registration)
Archives of sexual behavior vol. 31 no. 6 December 2002, Is pedophilia a mental disorder?, summary - Discussion among scientists about whether pedophilia really is a disorder, and a discussion of the moral aspects of child sexual abuse
Rind et al., a controversial 1998 study of the effects of child sexual abuse
Capturing the Friedmans, a film documentary about a family troubled by pedophilia
Harmful to Minors, a book by Judith Levine which, among other issues of sexual morality, discusses the perception and reality of pedophilia
Paul Wilson: The Man They Called a Monster. Book about a court reporter who had sexual relationships with 2500 adolescent males; includes interviews with the later adults who reflect on these relationships.
French movies (showing normal love relationships between adults and adolescents) - are available (usually for free) at the cultural center of the French Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Special Problems with Sexual Abuse Cases In J. Ziskin (ed.), Coping With Psychiatric and Psychological Testimony, Fifth Edition (Out of Print) (pp. 1315-1370). Los Angeles, CA: Law and Psychology Press. Ralph Underwager and Hollida Wakefield (f1)
Movies
The Woodsman (2004) - tries to present a balanced and multifaceted approach to the issue of pedophilia. Kevin Bacon plays a 45-year old man that is attracted to 10-to-12 year-old prepubescent girls, trying to wrestle with his past offences.
External links
Antipedofilia - Italian Association fighting against child molestation, sexual abuse and child pornography on the web.
Internet pedophilia - Article regarding child sexual abuse, and related threats over the internet.
Study: Young men 'download illegal porn' - BBC article.
Ipce - A discussion forum of pedophilia. Takes a pro-pedophilia viewpoint.
Stop It Now - A campaign to prevent child sexual abuse by calling on potential abusers to seek help.
Psychological roots of pedophilia
Dictionary of Sexology - Based on the books of Dr. John Money, sexologist.
Mad, Bad or Sad? - A sexuality support forum.
ASFAR.org - Americans for a Society Free from Age Restrictions.
Vatican's official position on tolerance (section "cultural norms").
Logical Reality - includes articles relating to pedophilia from a tolerant perspective, and a large discussion forum.
See also
age disparity in sexual relationships
child sexual abuse
Child pornography
child sexuality
grooming a child
moral panic (e.g., Brass Eye#2001 paedophilia special)
paraphilia, chronophilia, ephebophilia
Girl Moment
Reply:Nope I wouldn't consider him a paedophile
Reply:pedophilia, psychosexual disorder in which there is a preference for sexual activity with prepubertal children. Pedophiles are almost always males. The children are more often of the opposite sex (about twice as often) and are typically 13 years or age or younger; they may be within or outside the pedophile's family. Sexual fantasies, looking, or fondling are more common than genital contact. Sexual offenses against children make up a significant proportion of reported criminal sex acts.
The cause or causes of pedophilia are not well understood. Personality problems may be evident, and the pedophile often shows little or no concern for the effects of his sexual behavior on the child. Researchers have reported that psychotherapy in conjunction with the use of testosterone-lowering drugs has substantially reduced the desire in male pedophiles to molest children.
Reply:Yes I would, 15 year olds are too young to give consent and 19 year olds should know that . So called consensual sex with an under age person almost always has a coersive element when the other party is older Normal 19 year olds are not interested in 15 year old girls
. levels of maturity differ and in some cases there may be a gray area but I think in the case of sexual crimes we must take a hjhard line. I am sure the Judge took the details of the particular case into consideration A 20 year old is usually mature enough to make decisions so your example would not apply
Reply:A pedophile preys on pre-pubescent victims.
Your 19-year old is a statutory rapist.
The judge is not thinking before he opens his mouth.
Reply:It's someone who attack and sexually rapes children. Ped philes never target adults, just like pediatricians never work with adults. Peda and pedia means childhood. It's often defined by social law and or social opinion but it's more accurate to define it by the literal and most obvious translation.
Reply:He's not a pedophile. He is, in the eyes of a law, a statutory rapist; that judge went too far with the "pedophile" judgment.
And even I wouldn't call him a rapist; I'd call him a jerk.
Reply:It's a difficult question...because I would say it depends on the 15 year old involved..I think anyone pre or going through puberty is definitely being preyed upon...11-14 maybe...but some of the 14 year olds that I see now are far more sexually aware than I was at 21...also a 15 year old and a 55 year old sounds strange ....but..I don't think that a 19year old male and a vindictive 15year old female constitutes a paedophilic(is there such a word) relationship...but I think that we allow society to define the rules by arbitrary ages and numbers.
Reply:You have to draw a line somewhere..... when I was 18, a nicely developed 13 year old liked me..... she wanted me, but I said no..... toooooo young!
I'm still free!
Reply:It's a hard question, but knowing many young girls, friends of my daughter, they are willing to have sex and look older than they are. I do not condone this in any way but sometimes the guy does not realise the age of the girl and alot of the girls do make the first move then cry wolf, it's a difficult situation
Reply:Yes, I believe he is a predator. Even if a 15 year old girl does give consent she is not old enough to make that decision. That's why there are laws protecting them. 15 year old girls are vulnerable and do get taken advantage of.
Reply:Right lets get ot the bottom of this it is AGAINST the law to have sex with a under 16 so why does a person over 16 who obviously knows this law wana do it???
When they do they have committed an offence DO YOU GET MY POINT regardless of one year under they have broken the law
Reply:The man was an adult and the girl technically a child, so he is technical a paedophile. I work with 14 to 18 year olds and see young girls falling for older men regularly, more often than not I can see that the girl is being manipulated and often abused by their "boyfriends" but they believe they are in love and cannot see how they are being used. Most girls under sixteen, and many older, are not mature enough emotionally for a sexual relationship. In the case in question maybe the girl didn't realise how she had been used till she was able to distance herself from the man.
Reply:Sex with anyone below the LEGAL age of consent in most civilized countries is not only Statutory Rape but also recognised as Paedophillia - whether the underage partner consents or not is not legally valid.By definition they cannot LEGALLY give consent.
Reply:In a way, you answer your own question. A "padeophile" can be an individual who either rapes or even engages in consensual sex with a minor. It is defined more by the law.
Reply:You have put your finger right on the problem. Feminists, have pushed for legislation relating to 'Paedophilia and Rape' to be widened, to the point where it embraces the 'minor with the serious'. Presumably, as a wider attack on male sexuality and behaviour.
I entirely agree with what you have stated above and, we have to remind ourselves, that it could be our brother, father, son, or maybe a female, who finds themselves accused and labelled a "Paedophile", following the commission of one of the more minor aspects of current Paedophile/Rape legislation.
I don't like labels, because they provide an excuse to thugs, who welcome the opportunity to go around dishing out their own punishment. It is also difficult to discuss this subject in a calm sensible way, because public attitude has been whipped up into a frenzy. More heat than light.
You cite an example above, of how dangerous and grossly unfair this law can be. I think that the relevant law, before it was 'played around with and personalised' was, "unlawful sex with a minor/child", ages thirteen to sixteen were not considered as serious, and they were a seperately defined group under the law.
There are other examples, in addition to the one you have cited, where I am uncomfortable with the label "Paedophile/Rapist". A woman can claim to have not given consent to sex, whilst drunk, (subjective term) even if she actually did, but a man cannot claim to be too drunk to understand what she wanted. Also downloading from the internet isn't in the same league.So called "Date Rape" is another one which causes difficulties. Sex with an ex partner or spouse can't possibly be as traumatic as sex with a stranger, somebody who might also kill you. Also, the most incredible thing of all, if I am correct, is that a woman can retrospectively accuse a man of rape and, guess what, he has to find a way of proving that he did have consent. The onus is on him to prove he is innocent.
I know that I have brought rape and Paedophilia legislation together, but I think that they overlap in terms of there potential unfairness.
A final point. Very few females would have bothered to point out what you have pointed out, but wait for the responses from the usual 'man haters', and the castration/hang em high lobby. In fact, those are the people who make words like "Paedophile" dangerous.
Also, aren't we taking these man made lines in the sand (under 16 say) a little too seriously around the margins. Fifteen years and 364 days, and you are beneath contempt: Two days later, cor! your a bit of a lad. Finally, I don't think that the average woman, has any idea how difficult it is for young males to resist them, sexually that is. Woman manipulate this to their advantage all the time, but want a whole raft of legislation (some of it unreasonable) to protect them from the downside.
Reply: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 adolescents[1], as well as those who have sexually abused a child.
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).[2]
The term paedophilia erotica was coined in 1886 by the Vienna psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing in his writing Psychopathia Sexualis.[3] He gave the following characteristics:
the sexual interest is toward children, either prepubescent or at the beginning of puberty
the sexual interest is the primary one, that is, exclusively or mainly toward children
the sexual interest remains over time
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.[4] See entry for sexologist Dr. John Money.
Use of the term pedophile to describe all child sexual offenders is seen as problematic by some people[5][6][7], 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.[8][9][10] Nevertheless, some researchers, such as Howard E. Barbaree [11], 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 individuals[12][13], such as Dr. Fred S. Berlin[14][15], 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."[16] 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." [17]
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"[18] :
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).
The person has acted on these urges, or the sexual urges or fantasies cause marked distress or interpersonal difficulty.
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.
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 age[19], 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.[20] 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.[21] 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."[22]
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."[23]
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[11] (such as stress, marital problems, or the unavailability of an adult partner[24]), 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.[25]
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 Becker[26] (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
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."[28] Others, such as Dr. Fred Berlin, believe pedophilia can "indeed be successfully treated," if only the medical community would give it more attention.[14] The reported success rate of modern "reparative" treatment on pedophiles is very low.[28] A study by the Council on Scientific Affairs found that the success rate of aversion therapy was parallel to that of homosexual reparative therapy.[29]
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. [30] These methods are rarely used on pedophiles who have not offended.
Reply:In most states of America the age of consent is 18. I do agree with that, I don't think that most children below the age of 18 have the maturity or stability in their lives to engage in a sexual relationship with an adult - or anyone else for that matter.
There are states which 16 is the age of consent. In those states, you won't be labeled a Pedophile. However, in most communities this behavior is not encouraged, and there can be a social backlash.
Reply:well, a pedophile, being that the prefix ped suggests children, is someone who has or wants sex with children. there is some debate about consentual sex with people of certain age groups.
one of the best ways to look at it is this.... would you want YOUR 15 year old having sex? and what is the maturity level of a 15 year old? it varies, naturally. Also, how able would a 15 year old be to raise a child by themselves?? There is virtually no possibility that they can raise this child themselves.
Most if not all 15 year olds are not mantally equipt to have intimate relations with someone much less someone who is much more mature than themselves. They are not able to consent. Can you justify a 15year old consenting to have incestous relations with a father? no that is molestation. EVEN IF SHE WANTS IT! Every predator would say that, and usually do. Almost all rapists say "no man she wanted it" so that is not a good excuse.
The fact that this girl later regreted this and charges were filed suggest that she knows she made a poor decision and that she was unable to make the correct decision at the time. This is why people this age should not have sex. They do not usually consider the ramifications of their decision. However, the gentleman in question KNEW what the law says and made that decision anyway.
There are many psychological reasons for these preditors to make this decision, both for their own satisfaction and type of victim.
A girl at that age is more easily talked into various activities that she may not feel comfortable with because she feels like he loves her and she does not want to loose him. They know this a prey on these girls. The control they get over these women they cannot get over more mature women who know what they want and will stand up for themselves.
Younger women are also less likely to report abuse. It is a control issue for most of these men. And yes they ARE preditors. They will usually have many relationships with younger women.
The fact is, where is a 15 year old having sex? Where are they meeting? and where are her parents?
The laws are there for a reason, and there is no justification for not following them. Anyone who says "but i love her and i cannot stop that" is having a compulsion and that means they are SICK.
I deal with sex offenders and pedophiles everyday. They are sick and most all will admit that. There is not a known cure for this, so my guess is that this man will come out of whatever trouble he was in and do this all over again, if not with the same girl, than another.
That is what the statistics say--- sadly!
Reply:The definition of peadophile is one who is sexually attracted to children. Since this crime did involve sex, then the sex regulations are to be considered, which state a child is under 16 (or 18 in the USA).
Therefore, this person had sex with a child, making him a child molestor, and as he did it with attraction, thus makes him a paedophile.
Thats the legal definition, and it fits our perp, so it is a legal judgement that was called.
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