Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So I was reading through this article, and what fascinates me the most is how there is a lot of science saying that pedophilia is hardwired in the womb before birth. Most people confuse pedophiles with child molesters, which is why it is often used as the ultimate insult of disgust among society.
If pedophilia is hardwired like other sexual orientations, this begs the question: is there a way to tell that a child will become a pedophile when they get older? Are there certain bizarre behaviors that future pedophile children exhibit? Is the attraction only dormant when they are children and become active when they grow up? I really want to know!
Some neuroscientists claim to have demonstrated by brain imaging studies that the brains of pedophiles are wired differently to non-pedophiles.
So, I guess it's possible to find out from the brain image.
If we could see it coming, we could offer help to pedophiles, and save children who might have been abused.
When I see those reality midget shows, I have always wondered if there was a [good] way to prevent someone into children from committing a crime by trying to set people up with adult midgets.
Some neuroscientists claim to have demonstrated by brain imaging studies that the brains of pedophiles are wired differently to non-pedophiles.
So, I guess it's possible to find out from the brain image.
If we could see it coming, we could offer help to pedophiles, and save children who might have been abused.
This definitely needs to be explored.
The problem is a person admitting that they're a pedophile to a doctor or researcher is tough, because of the societal disgust towards the condition.
I can also imagine some parents freaking out if their baby had a brain scan that was consistent with pedophilia, especially if that parent was abused as a child.
Pedophilia really is the wild wild west of psychology.
When I see those reality midget shows, I have always wondered if there was a [good] way to prevent someone into children from committing a crime by trying to set people up with adult midgets.
You mean dwarfs? I mean they are small like children, but still have the facial features and body structures of adults.
The problem is a person admitting that they're a pedophile to a doctor or researcher is tough, because of the societal disgust towards the condition.
I can also imagine some parents freaking out if their baby had a brain scan that was consistent with pedophilia, especially if that parent was abused as a child.
Pedophilia really is the wild wild west of psychology.
I read an article a while back where the journalist interviewed people who were technically pedophiles but had never acted on their urges. It's very easy to condemn these people as monsters, but they didn't know who to talk to or where they could go to get help. They didn't want this for themselves or know how to deal with it. So they live with this sense of secrecy and deep shame.
I admit that it's challenging to set aside the horror of it, but it would be good to have real information on the subject. I would like questions to get answered (maybe they have been but I just have not had the stomach to look for the information, and I really don't want to Google it and end up on some government list)...such as:
What element drives the attraction and impulse? Is it that the person is unable to see themselves as an adult and therefore feels comfort with children? Is it simply the difference in physiology and appearance? Is it the sense of innocence? Is there a component of a need for control or a fear of the agency of a fellow adult? Fear that another adult would have an ability to judge them or shame them or harm them if they made themselves vulnerable, but a child wouldn't do that? I'm just curious what they are reaching for psychologically that is present in a child and not an other adult. Or is it largely the intense taboo-factor? I am aware of people who had porn addiction who got into more and more extreme and taboo material over time, as they became desensitized to wave after wave of content...I've spoken to men who started young looking at underwear ads in department store catalogs but wound up eventually into some rather shockingly hardcore stuff. Including, if not actual kids, then animated or drawn depictions that tread really close to that line or over it.
And what is the difference, I would wonder, between a person who is able to engage in fantasy and play with the idea of a thing, without feeling any need at all to explore it in a hypothetically harmful, immoral, or illegal kind of reality scenario, someone who can keep whatever deviance they've got going on in a mental box, and secretly play with the ideas/fantasies, but feel no impulse to experience them in real life...versus someone who commits acts of harm?
I knew a man once who was a forensic analyst and had government contracting jobs and he got roped into helping a police force try to track down one of these porn rings. He said that some of the images he had to look at just to do that job were more traumatizing than the years he spent deployed to an actual war zone. I can believe it.
When we had all the discussion years ago about what made people gay, nature or nurture, it ended up being pretty aggravating because either way, it should not be looked at as a dysfunction to be remedied. Those who claimed it was a choice were saying so because they wanted people to choose NOT to be that way, and those who claimed it was a "born this way" situation were asking, "OK then can we cure it?" That's pretty offensive to someone like me who does not see homosexuality as inherently bad or wrong. But I don't think that there's anybody who can justify the ongoing existence of people who are attracted to (especially pre-pubescent) children. I think that if we can find some sort of physiological or neurological indicators, then it would absolutely follow to hope that it could be corrected early in affected individuals.
If I read the link correctly, a distinction is made between someone who is attracted to children and someone who sexually abuses them out of anger or because they can't relate to an adult. I don't know that the distinction matters to a victim, but it may have use when looking at treatment or prevention. I infer from the article that those who are not attracted to their victims may not have an identifiable brain structure or response, meaning they may not be identified until after they offend.
If we get to the point where we can determine a brain "type" that strongly correlates with attraction to children, what do we do with that ability? Test everyone? At what age? A fair amount of abuse occurs between older and younger children.
And whoever we test, what do we do when someone's test shows that they're attracted to kids? How do we respect their humanity and ours? And further if the data seems convincing, how do we allow any real risk that they'll offend? Is there some level of child sexual abuse we can tolerate to stay true to our beliefs? I'm asking myself that one, but maybe someone else can relate.
Like so many things where we know how to do things we're not prepared to do safely, I suspect we'll get quite good at identifying who poses more than a theoretical risk long before we know what to do with that information.
Some neuroscientists claim to have demonstrated by brain imaging studies that the brains of pedophiles are wired differently to non-pedophiles. .
Probably useless for all practical purposes. Even if they can see differences in the brains of pedophiles, they already know they are pedophiles. They can't "diagnose" or predict pedophilia any more than they can "diagnose" a musician or mathematician or schizophrenic, despite having observed "differences" in the brains of those groups.
You can identify those at high risk to reoffend, and you can treat people who sincerely want to control their impulses, but there is no practical way to predict and treat someone who hasn't offended yet and doesn't want help. Human behavior is too unpredictable and complicated by too many ever-changing factors.
If I read the link correctly, a distinction is made between someone who is attracted to children and someone who sexually abuses them out of anger or because they can't relate to an adult. I don't know that the distinction matters to a victim, but it may have use when looking at treatment or prevention. I infer from the article that those who are not attracted to their victims may not have an identifiable brain structure or response, meaning they may not be identified until after they offend.
If we get to the point where we can determine a brain "type" that strongly correlates with attraction to children, what do we do with that ability? Test everyone? At what age? A fair amount of abuse occurs between older and younger children.
And whoever we test, what do we do when someone's test shows that they're attracted to kids? How do we respect their humanity and ours? And further if the data seems convincing, how do we allow any real risk that they'll offend? Is there some level of child sexual abuse we can tolerate to stay true to our beliefs? I'm asking myself that one, but maybe someone else can relate.
Like so many things where we know how to do things we're not prepared to do safely, I suspect we'll get quite good at identifying who poses more than a theoretical risk long before we know what to do with that information.
Absolutely.
There will be correlations found between pedophiles and normal individuals that likely have nothing to do with the actual pedophilia - but everyone with similar traits will get lumped in during a frenzy.
That doesn't mean they are all attracted to children.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
