We could make up “just-so” stories for that one all day.
A pedophile who forms a bond with a pre-pubescent girl may impregnate her before she shows outward signs of sexual maturity and become attractive (reproductive competition) to other people. Reproductive advantage.
A pedophile who forms a bond with a pre-pubescent boy may have a young, healthy, strong coparent for her offspring when he reaches maturity, at a younger age than his peers, giving the mating couple a longer fertile window. Reproductive advantage.
Being attracted to children may make one more protective of children not one’s offspring, but genetically related, like nephews and nieces. If that individual has no children of their own, they may still provide for those close to them. Reproductive advantage not for the individual, but the family tree.
Again, just in case anyone thinks I’m defending the behavior in today’s day and age, I’m most decidedly not. But it’s not hard to think of ways in which getting an early start on social bonds and breeding would help perpetuate the gene line.
I really don’t like the whole “born this way” argument. We’re all affected by our genetic makeup, and even without getting into sexual orientation, there’s plenty of things that we all have urges to do that we don’t as part of being a part of society. So this whole thing is a red herring. I think we’ve seen a lot of headway in gay rights recently, not because of an argument that it isn’t a choice, but rather the opposite that society is changing to have a greater deal of respect for the choices people make, that it’s consentual. Society sees children as more innocent and less able to make those choices and so we reject it, and rightfully so in my opinion.
What the “born this way” argument should be about isn’t about whether or not certain behaviors should be allowed, but in recognizing that we should sympathize people that may have urges that most of us don’t, or may feel certain urges to greater or lesser degrees. For instance, as I understand there are genetic components to addictions like alcohol, but yet our society is going in the opposite direction, towards greater intolerance for irresponsible use for alcohol. Or, similarly, psychopathy can lead to a number of depraved acts, or they can lead relatively normal lives. We should, as a society, have greater sympathy and offer help for people who are willing and able to recognize these things and get them the help they need to heal and avoid hurting others.
Not in the least. The question about whether pedophilic impulses are to some extent “normal/genetic/natural/born this way” has nothing to do with whether they should be condoned or acted upon—of course they shouldn’t, and nobody is arguing that they should.
Rather, this question is key to whether pedophilic impulses can be cured. If we just automatically relegate pedophilia to the status of mental illness or trauma-induced malfunction, then we naturally think in terms of trying to make pedophiles “normal” or “cured” with appropriate treatment (as well as punishing them if they actually commit crimes, of course).
But if being sexually attracted to children is in fact a natural though rare variant of innate human sexuality, then the whole concept of “curing” it is misguided, at least for those individuals who happen to be “born that way”. Such “natural-born pedophiles” may be able to manage their condition and avoid abusing children, but they’ll never be “cured” or “normal”, any more than it makes sense to speak of gay people being “cured” of homosexuality to enjoy “normal” (i.e., heteronormative) sexuality.
We actually had a discussion about this in a Sociology class I took last year. It was clear that the class unanimously felt that a pedophile was the most stigmatized class if people in our society. Part of the discussion was whether or not this stigma was in society’s best interest. The instructor suggested, that perhaps, if we lightened up the stigma, it would be more beneficial. Of course, this went over like a lead brick with most of the class. But as has been mentioned in this thread, it’s this huge stigma that stops most pedophiles from seeking mental help. In our society, being accused of pedophilia, even if it’s been proven to be false, can pretty much screw your life over.
What makes it worse, is that even going to see a therapist can ruin your life. Since psychiatrists are mandated reporters, they might need to alert the authorities if a pedophile seeks help from them. That alone is enough to scare them away from seeking help. I mean, if you were at serious risk of losing your family, friends, job, everything, if you went to see a therapist, most people wouldn’t take the chance. And so a lot of pedophiles are pretty much forced to try and deal with their urges on their own. Obviously, it usually doesn’t end well.
Of course, being so stigmatized, even the act of even suggesting that we ‘ease up’ on pedophiles a bit, doesn’t go over well. When we talked about it in class, a majority of people were absolutely disgusted. Those of us who were suggesting it, were definitely getting the stink-eye from classmates. I remember one person suggesting that we offer free ‘euthanasia’ services for pedophiles, so that they get what they deserve.
If I’m not mistaken some countries treat pedophiles with some dignity. I live in the U.S. and it treats them with utter contempt for the most part from my perspective.
That’s not to say that the majority of the population in countries that treat them with some respect don’t have the same attitude but the U.S. is not the place for a person who is attracted to children to seek help it would appear.
I agree that this is a red herring. There is no equivalency between pedophilia and any other form of attraction, because of the unique vulnerability of children. It is misleading and dangerous to draw an analogy.
If a criminal’s impulses arise from biological roots, that only confirms that they will always be dangerous to those around them and should never be let off their leash. If brain chemistry is to blame, I have even less sympathy for them because I know no amount of deterrence or rehabilitation can cure them of their criminality. Better that they be imprisoned for life than allowed to run loose in the wild with the rest of us!
So what? They diddle children. If anything, it is the rest of the world that is too lenient.
As best I can make out from the article (though I’m still not clear what conclusions can be drawn since the research discussed seems to be only with subjects who are both offenders and pedophiles) the point is not to compare pedophilia with acceptable variations of human behavior, i.e. attraction to the same sex.
Rather, the takeaway is I think that if it’s a sexual orientation, albeit a pathological one, it can’t be changed, by therapy or anything else, but possibly people with pedophilia can be conditioned through therapy to not offend.
The perception that this is what the article’s first paragraph implies is not helped by the fact that this is the exact argument most pedos use to justify their behavior.
I hadn’t heard or read that, but it sort of relates towhat I was trying to express earlier.
Since we don’t really know how many child sex offenders are actually pedophiles (versus people who prefer to have sex with children because it’s easier than having an adult relationship, people who prefer vulnerable partners, people who enjoy inflicting trauma, sociopaths or I suppose other possibilities) and definitely don’t know how many true pedophiles offend, it’s hard to draw any conclusions.
I mean, maybe there are some substantial number of pedophiles but only a small percentage actually molest kids (which requires conscious exploiation of people who cannot consent), and only the offenders have the left-handedness and different brain reactions.
Nobody’s trying to draw any moral equivalency between pedophilia and any other form of attraction. We’re just making the scientifically reasonable observation that there might be some biological similarity between pedophilia and other forms of attraction.
Irrelevant. Just because some people illegitimately try to excuse unacceptable behavior based on a certain claim does not automatically make the claim false.
In other words, everyone agrees that it would be wrong for pedophiles to argue that if sexual attraction to children is natural and innate for them, then it must be okay for them to molest children. But it still might be true that sexual attraction to children is natural and innate for at least some pedophiles.
Just because we’re all agreed that pedophilic behavior is immoral and impermissible doesn’t mean that pedophilic impulses aren’t a biologically normal (though fortunately rare) part of naturally occurring human sexuality.
To sum up, for those who seem to have a hard time grasping the fundamental point: Biology and morality are two different things. Not everything that’s natural is good, and not everything that is evil is unnatural.
solosam, for the sake of the argument, we’re merely talking about people who are attracted to children – they don’t necessarily have to have actually molested anyone. I’m NOT saying I’m not outright disgusted by the idea, but like I said, trying to understand is where prevention comes in.
To put it bluntly, a person can be a pedophile (attracted to children) without being a child molestor.
Think again. In fact, we had a poster here who did just that. Granted, he claimed he never touched a child. shudder He was creepy as all get out.
You’d think so, but it’s not, actually.
I’m all for understanding and finding out the causes of pedophilia, and finding a way to help people. BUT, when people start advocating it, or simply supporting a group simply because “they shouldn’t be oppressed for their beliefs”, that’s where it ends.
I wonder thou if its going to turn out that its more of an Asperger’s/extreme OCD thing. Or even something like the result of being extremely emotionally stunted and psychotic.
I agree, when someone acts on their desire to have sex with children they dehumanize themselves but those who make sincere efforts to reform themselves and yet are still shunned by society are not treated fairly. God forbid if any of your family members ever became a part of this group of people. To experience never being forgiven shows that society chooses to dehumanize rather then treat and offer the offenders help.
I don’t see how or why Asberger’s or OCD would relate to pedophilia, but again the observations about left-hadnedness and different brain wave patterns appear fromt he article ot have been from studies done on child sex offenders, some of whom are pedophiles, i.e. have a demonstrated sexual response to children. So the research doesn’t tell us anything about pedophiles who have not offended, assuming there are such people, and the biological differences might only be present in those who actually do molest children, i.e. who have ignored social and moral constraints and actually assaulted children.
As I read some of these comment my stomach turned. Having been a victim I can tell you that it really doesn’t matter to me what the article or any study says. just as I don’t buy into the addiction being a genetic trait. Its a choice simply and plainly put. They could study dog crap and find a link to cancer doesn’t mean I buy into it. A child molester deserves nothing but jail time if he/she repeats they deserve chemical castration if that doesn’t work find an island somewhere and throw them all together to diddle each other. I am positive that for every child that is molested and the pervert convicted there are many many more who are not. They choose to pray on children period. The molester picks his/her victims they lure them, cojole them get the adults trust and then violate the child. Thats premeditation in anyones book. Most of the perverts are friends or relatives and most befriend the parents because they want to get to the child. I don’t date red heads or anyone more than 5 yrs older than myself. Thats a preference. Wanting to have sex with a child is thats just pure evil.
B/c Asperger’s can result in an obsessive compulsive fixtation. I think pedophilia is most likely the result of Asperger’s like behavior and mentality.