The Pros And Cons Of Pedophiles

Further exploration discovered that the choice of sexual expression correlates more to the child’s age then the offenders (Sanford, 87). Offenders do not form intimate relationships with other adults (Henderson, 39). Eight-five percent of sexual activity was nonorgasmic with one-fourth of activity ending before any stimulation occurred by the offender (Sanford, 83). Now that we know some offenders characteristics, it is paramount that we learn to identify traits that may be common to youthful victims.

Throughout the ages, media and society have been concerned over children. Instead of youth as folk devils, children nowadays serve as the victims of folk devils (Critcher, 2002, p.532). With these trigger events popping up, stereotypes are gradually formed. In recent British history, Paedophile had become one of the most terrifying folk-devils (Jenkins, 1992, p.99). Paedophile behaviour is a moral panic one legal case and the panic is generally fuelled by the sensationalism of media in

Federal laws like the Adam Walsh Act and the Wetterling Act, which mandated long registration periods and the online posting of information including pictures and current addresses under the posting ‘Sex Offender and/or Crimes Against Children’, have resulted in a social stigma and humiliation for young people across America. Not to mention the cost of registration--fair for the true pedophile but not for the young person lacking a job or real place to call home.

The atypical sexual behavior that I cannot wrap my head around is pedophilia. I have tried to educate myself on this topic and read a book on treating the offender but my opinion has remained the same. I just cannot understand how or why this occurs and I really don’t think I want to.

States control how long they must register for, what types of crimes make them a sex-offender, and what all information must be made public. Juveniles can also be considered sex-offenders, these records are often expunged, but according to the state they can be registered until they are eighteen or even longer (2011). A law with so many layers is bound to cause controversy among the public; although enacting Megan’s Law was done with good intentions it has caused a negative social stigma towards sex offenders with low risk of

In recent years our newspapers, televisions, and radios have been inundated with news stories about sexual offenders and sexual predators. Stories such as the kidnapping and murder of Polly Klass, Carlie Brucia, Amber Hagerman, and Jessica Lunsford have shocked the nation. Sex offenders and predators commit despicable acts; however, their acts seem more despicable when they are committed upon the most venerable members of our society, our children. Even with the new Jessica Lunsford legislation in Florida some citizens feel that it is not enough to keep their communities safe. Many cities are now looking at limiting the areas in which sex offenders and predators can live in hopes of protecting children. Many

The crime thriller Hard Candy by, Brian Nelson showcase the sociology and criminal of pedophile. A pedophile according to Webster dictionary, is a person with an intense sexual arousal fantasy, sexual urges or behaviors that involves children, nonhuman subjects or non-consenting adults. The movie is about a young teenager 14 years old age who lures a 32 year old man who she believes is a pedophile. The encounter will lead to punishment, abuse, enlightenment and death.

Pedophilia is a medical diagnosis, which is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or older adolescents, ranging from ages 16 and older. Pedophilia is characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent

After comparing his first sexual experience with a prepubescent child and prostitutes, he concluded that he preferred to have sex with young girls, but he did not have any sexually arousing fantasies or urges towards children. With that being said, Respondent Hansen engaged in sexual behavior with his three-year-old daughter only for sexual satisfaction. In contrast to the Respondent, a person diagnosed with a Pedophilic Disorder is only sexually attracted to children and he/she is unable to control his urges or feelings. For this reason, Respondent Hansen does not meet the criteria to be diagnosed with a Pedophilic

     Harding wrote an article on pedophilia stating that pedophilia is a subcategory of a larger group of sexual disorders commonly classified as paraphilias. “These are defined as recurrent, intense, aphrodisiac fantasies, sexual urges,

The irony of life is that people abhor crime because it affects the peace everyone tries to achieve; however, they still praise the toughest person among the group even when this one resorts to violence. People worries about murderers, but they don’t target them as they target sex offenders. The humiliation, pain, and desperation that the victim suffers while this offense occurs create a terror and hatred toward the offender, especially if a child is involved.

When properly defining pedophile, one must understand the characteristics of a pedophile. Pedophiles target prepubescent children with a general age limit of about thirteen. In the book Moral Panic: Changing concepts of the Child Molester, Phillip Jenkins writes, “Pedophile is properly defined as someone sexually interested ‘in a prepubescent child (generally age thirteen years or younger) the word is popularly extended to a man who carries out a sexual act with an adolescent, making him a ‘molester’, a ‘baby-raper’”(8). A pedophile’s sexual actions target children and not specifically those of the same sex.

Pedophilia is more or less a paraphilia, which can be described as a disorder involving the recurrent sexual tendencies involving a number of things, the most relevant to this paper being children. Many may interpret “children” as those under the age of 18, but others interpret it as those under the age 0f 13. Interpret how you please, but this paper is based off of children under the age of 13 who are in their early stages of puberty.

In 2002 the Catholic Church was rocked with scandalous reports of Priests sexually molesting young children and particularly boys. The scandal is the result of numerous investigations, allegations, arrests, trials, convictions and imprisonment of Catholic Priests. It became largely reported that once trusted and respected Catholic Priests were pedophiles. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) categorizes pedophilia as a mental disorder if the sexual fantasies or urges involve prepubescent children , if they last six months or longer, if the individual has acted on them, or if they cause marked distress” (American Psychiatric Association, 2000).

The American Psychiatric Association has declared that pedophilia is no longer thought of as a mental disorder. In early studies, (DSM-III-R), pedophilia was characterized as a disorder if "the person acted out on the urges, or was markedly distressed by them" (Medinger 2). Nowadays, the diagnostic description is that pedophilia is a disorder if the offender is mentally impaired, agitated, or experiencing guilt as a result of what he is doing. In other words, a pedophile can "play" all he wants until he becomes irrational about it. Outwardly, the pedophile may, in today's society, seem to be a perfectly normal human being. Pedophilia, like homosexuality and transvestitism, is just a sexual preference (APA).