Definition of Paedophilia/Pedophilia
A paedophile/pedophile is someone who has a sexual attraction/preference for pre-pubescent children. This may or may not involve sexual activity, many pedophiles never have any sexual contact with children. They can be exclusively attracted (meaning that they are only attracted to such ages), and they can be attracted to solely one gender (female, or male), or both.
While often used in reference to an attraction to any person under the Age Of Consent, specifically the term refers to an attraction to children between the ages of 4 and 12. Nepiophilia (attraction to infants and toddlers) and Hebephilia (also Ephebephilia) (attraction to pubescent teenagers) are often overlooked and joined into a broad definition of Pedophilia.
Who are Pedophiles?
Pedophiles come from all walks of life. Doctors, lawyers, judges, Police, athletes, nurses, pilots and more. There is no "defining" requirement to be a pedophile.
What causes Pedophilia?
There is no single event or experiance that can turn someone into a Pedophile. Many pedophiles share the belief they were born that way. Some are able to cite a particular event or moment when they knew they were a pedophile. To be a pedophile requires no mental disability or malfunction, and therefore to say that a pedophile is in any way more dangerous than a non-pedophile is a fallacy.
How can a Pedophile be cured?
There is currently research that proves and disproves the notion that pedophilia is a mental illness.
The most recent definition provided by the American Psychiatric Association, or ASA, in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual DSM-IV-TR.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition, Text Revision, American Psychiatric Association defines pedophilia thus:
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 most recent revision removes the requirement that an individual has acted on these fantasies, or engaged in a sexual relationship with a child.
At the last symposium, in 2003, however, it was suggested that 'pedophilia' be removed from the latest edition of the DSM. Dr. Charles Moser of San Francisco's Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality and co-author Peggy Kleinplatz of the University of Ottawa presented conferees with a paper entitled "DSM-IV-TR and the Paraphilias: An Argument for Removal." Though there was support for the proposal within the psychiatric community, there was also significant public outcry and pressure from child advocacy groups. In the end, the debate was dropped.
Unreliable research
One of the problems surrounding the study of 'pedophilia' is the unreliability of research. Many studies which claim to study 'pedophilia' do not use a representative sample. That is, they often study child sex offenders and claim that their conclusions are representative of 'pedophiles' in general. Such a study does not take into account the 'pedophiles' who do not commit sexual offences against children. It also does not consider that many child sex offenders are not 'pedophiles'. They are often 'situational offenders', or someone who engages in sexual activity with children not as their primary sexual preference but only due to a particular situation they are faced with, and would not otherwise engage in such activity except for that situation. Such research, it would seem, is often not held up to the same rigid requirements of other scientific research.
Types of Therapy
Various types of therapies are often suggested for pedophiles to help them cope with their attractions, and to educate them in ways that keep them safe around children. Many studies have proven however that more often that not, therapy/counselling is ineffective. Radical measures such as chemical/physical castration are ineffective as well, as they do not address the real issue. A person's sexual preference is not driven by their genitalia.
It is quite obvious therefore that Pedophiles cannot be "cured" of their preference any more than a Heterosexual can be given "treatment" to become Homosexual.
Other therms:
Child Lover/Girl Lover/Boy Lover
"Child Lover" is the term coined by pedophiles to define those who have a sexual attraction to both male and female children (Girl lovers and Boy lovers are usually attrected to one gender), however this is only a small part, and indeed is not the main part of their attraction to these children. They love these children, and put their needs first, such as would a good parent for their child.
Infact, there are many similarities between parenthood and child love, warranting some to see child love as merely an excuse to add a sexual element into the bond of parenthood, however there is sufficient difference (for instance, having an attachment to a child who is not your child) to warrant a separate category.
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; however, there may often other motivations, much as adult rape can sometimes have non-sexual reasons. Most perpetrators of child sexual abuse are not primarily interested in childrena fact which has been recognized by law enforcement2. 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.
The term pedophile is not used legally, and is not a legal category; an act by a child molester of molesting children is 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; other strange terms such as "serial pedophilia" have also come into use.
