Griffin
Perhaps no single act causes such strong emotions as the act of child sexual abuse. Child molesters can not even find refuge in prisons where rapists and murderers are commonplace. These offenders are shunned in every aspect of our society, yet there is no consensus as to the causes of this behavior.
Sexual abuse of children is not new, and has not always been socially taboo. The ancient Greeks and Romans used children for sexual gratification. In Greece, it was commonplace for adolescent males to be forced into sexual relationships with mature males. This behavior was normal and not objected to by the child’s parents or the Greek government. The Romans encouraged adolescent boys and girls not to protest being sold into prostitution. The Roman government even went so far as to declare a public holiday honoring young prostitutes. Sex with children in the modern era is alive and well, the power of an older person is so great that their young victims often never tell of the horrors that they have endured. There is also a pedophile enhancement movement, with confessed pedophiles insisting that their behavior is not wrong or immoral. Organizations dedicated to the social acceptance of sex with children are not new, yet have had a large upstart in membership since the early 1970’s.
Because of the extreme sensitivity of the subject, research in this field is quite underdeveloped. Researchers have even had trouble in agreeing what to call the phenomenon. Much research on the victims has dubbed the act as child sexual abuse; most research on the offenders has labeled it as child molesting or pedophilia. The term pedophilia has some utility since it suggests a predisposition for the act separate from the act itself. The vagueness of this term however, is what causes confusion. Pedophilia can mean child sexual abuse ranging from an arousal to children with no or little action, to sexual penetration of the child. For the purposes of this paper the terms pedophilia, child sexual abuse, and child molestation will be used interchangeably.
Pedophiles can be classified into different categories by several issues, the most common of which are causation, and victim-relationship. Using different classifications to isolate pedophiliac behavior can help us to understand this behavior and begin to find methods in which it may be contained. Pedophile classification is a hotly debated topic that varies significantly in its origins. There are a few standards however; pedophiles can be separated by those who sexually abuse members of there own family or step-families, and those who abuse non-family members. Even this simple distinction is not always accurate though, often familial offenders have previously offended non-family members. Some common causes of pedophilia have found much popular and scholarly support, and these etiologies can give a general profile of some of the origins of child sexual abuse. While the names of these etiologies vary greatly, the descriptions of each remain essentially intact.
Some researchers have maintained that the pedophile becomes conditioned to respond to young, sexually under-developed bodies. It has been suggested that boys begin masturbating to fantasies that involve sexually immature bodies, and then become so conditioned to these images that they need them to create sexual gratification. Garland and Dougher theorized two reasons for this behavior leading to the development of pedophiliac behavior 🙁 1) and adolescent’s sexual activity with persons his or her own age could condition sexual arousal to pubescent children, and (2) through memory distortions that have occur with the passage of time, the child or adolescent who was sexually victimized by an adult developed a fantasy that places him or her in the role of the aggressor rather than in the role of the victim. As a result of this recurrent fantasy, he or she then becomes sexually conditioned to respond to children. Learned behavior closely resembles the conditioned response theory. Pedophilia as a learned behavior is due to sexual abuse of the abuser as a child. The pedophile then begins to imitate this behavior later in life.
Pedophilia has often been linked with previous emotional, physical, or sexual trauma. This trauma becomes so painful that it results in underdevelopment or a stifling of future development. According to this line of reasoning this underdevelopment will not allow a person to mature emotionally as his or her body matures. The pedophile is the emotional equivalent of a child, and thus depends on them and begins to view them as sexual objects as well. Using children in a sexual manner to cope with anxiety is reinforced and becomes a normal behavior pattern.
Most pedophiles are usually males over 30 years of age. Notice that the key word is most not all pedophiles there is a small population that is female. These men seduce their victims by giving them gifts and filling them with affection and attention. Generally, they know how vulnerable their victims are by simply planning and experience. In performing daily activities most if not all will focus around children, if adults are present they are used as a luring method to get close to their child. Pedophiles tend to have a specific age or gender they target. Being that they are very specific their surroundings will usually reflect the age group in which they target. What is meant by surroundings is their home decorations and the like. Social activities do not involve any adults and most have no adult acquaintances. Usually when adults are involved in their life they are pedophiles themselves. Also, pedophiles may hold a sexually abusive background where they were the victims as a child. Some hold criminal records were sexual abuse is the main offense or in other cases petty crime such as forgery, impersonation, and the like may be the core offense. The idea that children are innocent, pure, and clean is the ideology most fit to believe.
Works Cited:
“Pedophilia: Causes And Typologies” psychology11.com. 20 Mar 2000
Tracy Carson “Pedophiles” Atlanta Journal-Constitution 25 Sept. 2008: J1
“Pedophile”. New Encyclopedia Britannica. 1997 ed.
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