Not all paedophiles molest children
2 March 2008As should be obvious from the paedophiles molest children:
Although one-in-seven men expressed a sexual interest in children, it is likely that a significantly smaller number of men actually sexually abuse children. Empirical evidence indicates that inhibitors are effective in preventing a sexual interest in children becoming actual perpetration. […] Research suggests the presence of socio-cultural inhibitors in the male population. If someone is fully inhibited from sexually abusing children, no amount of emotional congruence, sexual arousal, or blockage will lead them to abuse children.
~ Mike Freel, in Child Sexual Abuse and the Male Monopoly (British Journal of Social Work)
The current results suggest that sexual arousal to pedophilic stimuli occurs among a sizable minority of normal men who report no pedophilic behavior and is not necessarily associated with pedophilic behavior.
~ Gordon Hall, et al., in Sexual Arousal and Arousability to Pedophilic Stimuli in a Community Sample of Normal Men (Behavior Therapy)
Terms such as ‘child sexual abuse’, ‘incest’, ‘child molestation’ and ‘pederasty’ are not equivalent to pedophilia. Terms that denote sex with minors are criminal actions; pedophilia is the sexual attraction to children. Not all who sexually abuse minors are pedophilic. For example, some who sexually abuse minors may opportunistically select minors simply because they are available. Sex with a minor is not, ipso facto a determination of pedophilia. Also, not all individuals who fulfill the diagnostic criteria for pedophilia actually abuse children.
~ Peter Fagan, et al., in Pedophilia (Journal of the American Medical Association)
Although the terms are often used interchangeably, a distinction must be made between “sex offender against a minor” and “pedophile.” The former refers to a criminal sexual behavior and the latter to an anomalous sexual preference. Many pedophiles never act on their impulses. The DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) defines pedophilia in terms of recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children, and requires that the fantasies, urges, or behaviors cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. It is therefore possible for an individual who meets these criteria to have never engaged in illegal sexual behaviors. At the same time, not all sex offenders against a minor are pedophiles. All mental health professionals acting in an expert witness capacity should know this distinction.
~ Ralph Underwager and Hollida Wakefield, in Coping With Psychiatric and Psychological Testimony (Institute for Psychological Therapies)
3 Responses to “Not all paedophiles molest children”
March 2nd, 2008 at 7:13 pm
“As should be obvious from the prevalence of pedophilia in the general population, not all paedophiles molest children”
Critics would argue that your claim is incorrect, stating that “one in four [or one in five] children are sexually abused before the age of 16″. Those critics would of course be wrong….
Before any critics provide that argument here, it should be noted that the number of abused children is actually inflated by a bizarre definition of abuse - http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/26/1322248. It is not the case that 1 in 4 (or 1 in 5) children are sexually touched by an adult.
Furthermore, studies suggest that convicted contact child sex offenders with paedophilia molest a large number of children before their conviction. While it is easy to assume that one offender has one victim, such an assumption would be untrue; there is often a very large number of victims for only one offender. This means that if there were 100,000 abused children and 100,000 paedophiles - and every child molester were actually a paedophile - it would still be the case that the majority of paedophiles do not molest children.
Finally, as the quotes in the above post also show, most contact child sex offenders are not paedophiles.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:13 am
I am a pedophile and I dont molest children
November 28th, 2008 at 12:41 am
You are all gross!