The Pedophilia reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Pedophilia

pedophilia (American English) (greek pais boy, child, and philia friendship, ICD-10 F65.4) is the primary sexual attraction toward prepubescent children. Alternative spellings in British English are paedophilia or pædophilia. Pedosexuality is used as a synonym.

Table of contents

1 Definitions 2 Clinical pedophilia 3 Underage sex 4 External links

Definitions

The term "Paedophilia erotica" was coined in 1896 by the Vienna psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing in his writing Psychopathia sexualis. His definition is basically still valid. 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 orientation often develops during puberty or childhood. (See causes of sexual orientation)

A person is not pedophile if he can be sexually aroused by children, but his primary sexual attraction is not towards them. There is empirical proof that this is the case for at least a quarter of all adult men (Freund & Costell 1970, Hall et al. 1995, Quinsey et al. 1975).

Contrary to the scientific definition, the common (and incorrect) usage of the term "pedophilia" has a different meaning:

1. The assumption is that a perpetrator committing child sexual abuse is always a pedophile, though there can be other motivations; in fact, most perpetrators are not pedophiles primarily interested in children.
2. The term is used not only for affection toward children, but also adolescents.

The first case is sometimes referred to as pseudo-pedophilia, whereas pedophiles primarily affected toward children are called structured pedophiles, as their orientation is fixed by the structure of their personality.

In the second case, the term ephebophilia should be used. It is defined as the primary attraction toward adolescents, whereas pederasty is only attraction toward male adolescents.

Pedophiles often refer to themself as boylovers or girllovers. (Most of them are not bisexual.) This emphasizes emotional affection rather than sexual acts.

Clinical pedophilia

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.

Clinical 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. Pedophilia is not a legal category or term, and although the acts pedophiles desire to carry out are criminal in some jurisdictions, they are not legally referred to as "pedophilia".

Sometimes a clinical distinction is made between pedophiles and "situational offenders" -- a distinction, however, which is not reflected in the APA's definition above. A pedophile, according to this distinction, is a person whose primary sexual attraction is to children, while a situational offender is 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.

Underage sex

Most pedophiles avoid sexual contact with children, probably because of statutory consequences. International studies indicate a recidivism rate for pedophiles of 40-50 percent, as opposed to only 22 percent for all sexual offenders (Egg 2001). The probability is much higher for boylovers, as compared to girllovers.

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 (5 percent of sex offenders rearrested for another sex crime within 3 years of prison release) indicate that whilst sex offenders in general reoffend 5.3 percent of the time, child molesters reoffend only 3.3 percent of the time (However the last number only counts child sexual abuse as opposed to all sex crimes).

The terms hebephilia and ephebophilia are sometimes used to describe attraction to youths or adolescents, as distinct from attraction to children, since a high age of consent may also forbid sex with adolescents. Sexual desires including youths are quite common among people with a heterosexual and homosexual orientation, though their attraction is not specifically to persons that young. Only when that is the case it can be reasonably labeled ephebophilia as a sexual orientation.

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 caused by the withdrawal of the mother (often due to mental illness) from the family; this withdrawal is more than purely sexual.

Modern western cultures in general strongly condemn underage sex and regard it as a very serious crime, based on the idea that children are not sufficiently mature to be able to provide informed consent to sex and that sex with children is therefore statutory rape.

The North American Man-Boy Love Association advocates legalization of consensual sexual relationships between boys and men.

The Human Face of Pedophilia also advocates legalization of adult-child sex and proposes a set of guidelines to govern such relationships.

See also:

• Child pornography
• Child sex tourism
• Child sexual abuse
• Child sexuality
• List of pedophiles and pederasts
• Edward Brongersma
• Harmful to Minors, a book by Judith Levine which, among other issues of sexual morality, discusses the perception and reality of pedophilia
• Moral panic
• Movies:
  • Capturing the Friedmans, documentary about a single case

External links

• 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.
• Study: Young men 'download illegal porn' BBC article about a study of people who download child pornography
• Attempt to explain how non-sexual nudity helps protecting children from sexual abuse
• Pedosexual Resources Directory Contains a broad collection of scientific texts on the subject. The site takes a pro pedophile viewpoint, but uses a rationale approach.
• Archives of sexual behavior vol. 31 no. 6 December 2002 - Scientific journal. Discussion among scientists about whether pedophilia really is a disorder, and a discussion of the moral aspects of child sexual abuse.

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