Pedophilia is a term that is loosely used by many people and is continuously confused with other disorders or crimes. A pedophile is a person, who is usually a man, whose sexual interest in prepubescent children exceeds his sexual interest in physically mature adults. Pedophiles are constantly confused with child molesters and epherbophile. An epherbophile is an adult that is attracted to postpubescent teenagers ages 13-17 years of age. A child molester or sexual offender against children is any adult who has had sexual contact with a prepubescent child. The difference between pedophiles and epherbophiles is merely an attraction issue. In the text book attractiveness was discussed and although a baby face is considered attractiveness the female body is more attractive to males. It has been found that there is a desired waist to hip ratio when talking about attractiveness.
[...] Child Molester A child molester can be a pedophile but a pedophile is not necessarily a child molester. A child molester has come into sexual contact either by actual intercourse or just the grabbing of buttock of prepubescent children. A child molester is a criminal but a pedophile isn't. A pedophile is more of a psychiatric disorder that people suffer from. These people are sexually interested in children but may not necessarily act on their interest. Also the reasons for child molesters' actions are not necessarily because of sexual attraction but it can be due to the lack of availability to older partners, to cause harm to their parents (Levay & Valente 2009). [...]
[...] Cambell et al (2001) did a study on this theory to see if this was actually true. They went to a specialist forensic psychotherapy center in north London that provide psychotherapeutic services for sexual deviants and offenders. They reviewed 843 subjects' files out of this were males. Out of the 747 men 159 of them were men who were pedophiles of these men were victims of sexual abuse with 82 of the men being victims of pedophilia. high percentage of male subjects abused in childhood by a female relative became perpetrators. [...]
[...] On a CT pedophiles compared to nonviolent, nonsexual offenders actually demonstrated left and bilateral temporal abnormalities and smaller left temporal volumes (Cohen & Galynker 2008). In Cohen & Galynker (2008) research focused on 22 heterosexual male pedophiles and compared them to 24 demographically similar healthy controls. They theorized that sexual abuse lead to neurodevelopment abnormalities in the participants who were pedophiles. The neurodevelopment abnormality affected their temporal regions which is the area that mediates sexual arousal and erotic discrimination. Also they believe there was damage to the frontal regions which affected sexual desire and behavioral inhibition. [...]
[...] Explanations of pedophilia: A four factor model. The Journal of Sex Research 145-161. Berlin, F. S., Fagan, P. J., Schmidt, C. W. & Wise, T (2002). Pedophile. Jama 2465. Cambell, D., Farrelly, S., Glasser, A., Glasser, M., & Kolvin, I (2001). Cycle of child sexual abuse: links being a victim and becoming a perpetrator. British Journal of Psychiatry 482-494. Cohen, L. J., & Galynker, I. I.Clinical features of pedophilia and implications for treatment (2002). Journal of Psychiatric Practice 276-289. Cohen, [...]
[...] The current definition for pedophilia in the DSM IV is; over a period of at least six months, recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children, the person has acted on these sexual urges, or the sexual urges or fantasies cause marked distress or interpersonal difficulty, the person is at least age 16 years and at least five years older than the child or children (Naba & Phillips). Before it was very easy for pedophiles to satisfy their urges because of the easy access to children but because of laws, stigmas, and increase crime in child molesters many pedophiles resort to the internet and child pornography to satisfy their urges (Pedophilia). [...]
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