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Pedophilia “love of children”

By: Shayna Levenson

Textbook Definition

Pedophilia is a psychosexual illness and paraphilia that is associated with the thought or act of having sexual relations with children who usually have not yet reached puberty as an adult

What is a pedophile? common misconceptions

NOT ALL PEDOPHILES ARE CHILD MOLESTERS-> a pedophile can simply have desires for children they do not act on, while child molesters have committed a crime against the law by engaging in sexual activities with children

NOT ALL PEDOPHILES ARE MEN-> society is less likely to chastise women for being technical pedophiles because it is seen as more consentual or a right of passage for the abused male

PEDOPHILES ARE NOT GENERALLY VIOLENT-> few brutally rape or kill their victims but rather lure them in

Severity of Acts

There is a wide range of acts a pedophile can commit ranging in the harm caused to the child

For example, it can be as innocent as petting the child’s hair

Then there is masturbating while holding the child or encouraging the child to touch his own genitals

The more extreme end of the spectrum is anal, oral, or vaginal penetration

What causes the nature of a pedophile? (nature)

The most popular theory involves males having an excess of the testosterone hormone causing odd sexual behaviors

Pedophilia is often linked with impulse control disorders such as OCD, and it is general knowledge that low serotonin levels cause such diseases-> a pattern of low serotonin is found in pedophiles

What causes the nature of a pedophile? (nurture)

Environment plays a key role pertaining to why an individual may be more likely to become a pedophile

A popular theory is the “victim to abuser” cycle-> in this case the pedophile is often abused or assaulted as a child and then as an effort to gain back control and a new identity, becomes the abuser

Pedophiles in society

Hard to measure pedophiles in society because the only known ones are those criminally convicted

Often pedophiles are known to have personality disorders

Among the most common are narcissism, sociopathic, and anti-social personality disorders

Studies have shown pedophiles have a predominantly lower intelligence level and are largely left-handed

Pharmacological Treatment

Main goal of the pharmaceuticals are to suppress levels of testosterone, therefore, lowering urges and desires towards children

Drawback is the drugs are very expensive ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 dollars a year

Also take three to ten months to actually kick in

Psychotherapy

Both group and individual therapy is employed

Main goal is to prevent further child molestations in the future than to “cure” the person of their pedophilia-> decrease urges

Steps to Therapy

Step 1: have patient realize his distortions and denial regarding the children-> have them stop making excuses for what happened

Step 2: empathy training

Step 3: training to control any sexual urges or impulses

Step 4: training to prevent any relapses

Castration

In extreme cases, some pedophiles will opt for castration-> surgical removal of the testicles so no sperm can be created

The problem is the pedophile can take hormones and molest a child again so it doesn’t correctly stop the urges

Overview of Treatment

A pedophile has to want to control his urges in order for any type of therapy to work

The importance is not to change the ways of the pedophile but protect any future children from being molested

Most affective way to treat pedophile is to combine pharmacological drugs with psychotherapy

Video

http://www.bizarro.us/sick/pedophile_gives_interview.html