Pedophilia

Encyclopedia of Psychology, Apr 06, 2001 by Lauri R. Harding

Behavioral treatment of pedophilia does not affect recidivism, nor apparently does incarceration. The condition remains chronic, and for this reason, societal interest in incarceration prevails over what is generally seen as equivocal behavior treatment.

Although most practitioners believe that the etiology of pedophilia is psychologically oriented, a report published in the Journal of Neuro Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience suggested that bilateral anterior temporal disease, affecting more right than left temporal lobe, could increase sexual interest. The authors' study was limited to two adult professional patients with late-life homosexual pedophilia. Therefore, further observation and research is necessary to assess diagnostic and treatment implications for all neurologically based paraphilias.

In late 1999, Israeli researchers published a report on the discovery of the drug triptorelin as an effective treatment for males sex offenders in general. The drug regulates the production of testosterone. Of interest is that it can be injected once a month, compared to other similar anti-androgen drugs, which must be administered more often and have more serious side effects.

The effective diagnosis and treatment of pedophilia is threatened by three key developments going into the new century. The 1994 (Fourth) edition of the professional therapists' bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), adds another (controversial) criterion for diagnosing pedophilia. It includes, in its diagnostic definitional criteria, that the fantasies, urges, or behaviors "...cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning." This latest definitional criterion has met with considerable resistance, due to the fact that so many pedophiles deny that their conduct is harmful. The denial serves to assuage any guilt, and therefore may significantly mask or otherwise repress any distress or impairment on the part of the perpetrator.

Secondly, there has been marked pervasiveness and proliferation of child pornographic materials on the Internet and international websites. In a 1998 Interpol raid (the latest data available), a total of 500,000 child pornographic images were found on computers in the United States alone. According to one study, as much as 45 percent of child pornography on the Internet comes from Japan, where child pornography is not an offense. The second largest concentration of child pornographic sites come from Russia. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in cooperation with the Interpol, continue to police global websites and shut down operations.

Another area of controversy was the late 1998 American Psychological Association's publication of a study entitled, "A MetaAnalytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples." The study's authors advised practitioners not to assume that sexual activity between non-related adults and children was harmful. The study, which was limited to interviews with college students, further posited that if the involved child/victim consented to the sexual activity, little or no harm was done to the child's adult life or personality. Most of the research in the study had not been subjected to peer review. The study caused an immediate reaction in professional, family, and media entities. On July 12, 1999, the U.S. House of Representatives voted a shut-out 355-0 to condemn the study. As Representative Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) stated to the press, "Children are not capable of giving consent to sexual encounters with adults."