What is Pedophilia?
The term pedophilia erotica was coined in 1896 by the Vienna psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing in his writing Psychopathia Sexualis. He gives the following characteristics:
- the sexual interest is toward children, either prepubescent or at the beginning of puberty
- the sexual interest is the primary one, that is, exclusively or mainly toward children
- the sexual interest remains over time
Some other definitions of pedophilia require an age difference of at least five years. These, however, may overlook the tendency of pedophilic sexual inclination to develop during puberty or childhood[1]. Some sexologists such as Dr. John Money assert that not only adults but also postpubescent adolescents may qualify as pedophiles.
Some individuals assert sexual attraction to children to be a sexual orientation in itself. This is at odds with the current acceptance that the term sexual orientation only subsumes attraction to one’s own sex, the opposite sex, or both. The proponents of such a view point out that homosexuality, heterosexuality and bisexuality are not normally associated with attraction to children and that children are physically and mentally different enough from adults to warrant categorizing attraction toward them as a completely different sexual orientation.
Strictly speaking, a person is not necessarily a pedophile simply because he or she is sexually aroused by children; rather, a pedophile is defined as someone whose primary sexual attraction is toward children. In most cases, however, pedophilia is used in a looser sense to describe anyone found to be sexually aroused by children and is often diagnosed solely in the presence of fantasies or sexual urges on the subject’s part — it need not involve sexual acts with children. In this regard, there is evidence that at least a quarter of all adult men may have feelings of sexual arousal in connection with children.
The APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition, Text Revision has in its “Diagnostic criteria for 302.2 Pedophilia”:
- 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).
- The person has acted on these urges, or the sexual urges or fantasies cause marked distress or interpersonal difficulty.
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.
The actual boundaries between childhood and adolescence may vary in individual cases and are difficult to define in rigid terms of age. The World Health Organization, for instance, defines adolescence as the period of life between 10 and 20 years of age, though it is most often defined as the period of life between the ages of 13 and 18.
Pedophiles sometimes refer to themselves as boylovers or girllovers to provide a distinction between what gender they are attracted to (many are not attracted to both); collectively, they are sometimes generalised as “childlovers.” The term childlover, however, is considered offensive to some who are attracted to adolescents, or attracted to girls and boys undergoing puberty—and therefore the term “minor attracted adult” is sometimes preferred.
A perpetrator committing child sexual abuse is commonly (and often, but not always, mistakenly) assumed to be a pedophile, and referred to as such; however, there may often be other motivations, much as adult rape can sometimes have non-sexual reasons. Most perpetrators of child sexual abuse are not primarily interested in children—a fact which has been recognized by law enforcement. They are sometimes referred to as pseudo-pedophilies or situational offenders, whereas pedophiles primarily attracted toward children are called structured pedophiles or fixated pedophiles, as their orientation is fixed by the structure of their personality.
The term pedophile is not used legally, and is not a legal category; an act by a child molester of molesting children is not legally referred to as pedophilia. However, newspapers and other news media frequently make erroneous use of the terms accused pedophile or convicted pedophile in reference to individuals accused or convicted of sexual abuse of children; other perplexing terms such as “serial pedophilia” have also come into use.
Lisa Angelettie, M.S.W., is a psychotherapist, author, and life coach. She has been helping people make smarter life choices since 1998. Get more free tips like this when you subscribe to the GirlShrink newsletter .
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