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Recent Advances in DNA & Gene Sequences 2014In recent years, there has been increasing scientific research on possible genetic or heritable influences to the etiology of pedophilia, driven by national and public...
In recent years, there has been increasing scientific research on possible genetic or heritable influences to the etiology of pedophilia, driven by national and public concerns about better understanding the disorder in order to reduce children's vulnerabilities to pedophilic and child sex offenders. This research has corresponded to growing academic dialogue on how advances in genetic research, especially concerning the causes and development of particular mental disorders or behaviors, may affect traditional practices of criminal law and how the justice system views, manages, and adjudicates different types of criminal behavior and offenders. This paper strives to supplement this dialogue by exploring several of the many possible effects and implications of research surrounding genetic or heritable contributions to pedophilia for the five widely accepted objectives that enforce and regulate the punishment of criminal law. These include retribution, incapacitation, deterrence, rehabilitation, and restoration. Although still currently in early stages, genetic and heritability research on the etiology of pedophilia may have the potential moving forward to influence the current and established punitive methods and strategies of how the justice system perceives, adjudicates, regulates, and punishes pedophilic and sex offenders, as well as how to best prevent sexual offending against children by pedophilic offenders in the future.
Topics: Criminal Law; Forensic Genetics; Genetics, Medical; Humans; Pedophilia; Portraits as Topic
PubMed: 25557668
DOI: 10.2174/2352092209666141211233857 -
Frontiers in Psychiatry 2021Child sexual abuse is associated with multiple and often severe consequences for people who are affected by it. From the perspective of indicative prevention, the...
Child sexual abuse is associated with multiple and often severe consequences for people who are affected by it. From the perspective of indicative prevention, the treatment of people who have sexually abused children represents one important strategy, with the assumption that there is often a risk for sexual recidivism. However, there is still very limited knowledge about how men who have not been convicted of child sexual abuse but participate in voluntary treatment (here called non-forensic clients) differ from those who have been convicted and undergo mandated treatment (here called forensic clients). This study compared 22 forensic and 22 non-forensic clients regarding pedophilic interests, static and dynamic risk factors, responsivity features, and treatment progress during an individualized treatment based on the principles of risk, need, and responsivity. We found neither differences in the rates in the DSM-5 diagnosis of pedophilic disorder, nor in risk and responsivity associated scores at the beginning of treatment. In both groups, a low to moderate risk for sexual re-offending was estimated. Both groups improved their functioning on dynamic risk and responsivity factors under treatment, while age at the beginning of therapy also had a positive effect on all outcomes. Non-forensic clients had a higher amount of responsivity associated resources than forensic clients during treatment. The limitations of these results and their implications for further research and prevention approaches are discussed.
PubMed: 34658952
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.708210 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2021In 2013, there were an estimated 50,000 individuals involved in downloading and sharing indecent images of children (IIOC) in the United Kingdom (UK). This poses...
In 2013, there were an estimated 50,000 individuals involved in downloading and sharing indecent images of children (IIOC) in the United Kingdom (UK). This poses challenges for limited police resources. We argue that police officers can make most effective use of limited resources by prioritizing those offenders who pose the greatest risk of contact offending, by nature of demonstrable pedophilia, hebephilia or dual offending status and thus, those at highest risk must be dealt with first. What is currently lacking is a clear idea of the potential scale of the problem in socio-economic terms and why, therefore, it is so important that evidence-based approaches to offender detection and investigation continue to be a top priority for funders and policy makers. A systematic literature review was undertaken to address two related questions. First, what is the scale of the problem in the UK, in terms of the number of pedophilic and hebephilic individuals who pose a risk of contact offending against a child? Second, what is the potential socio-economic burden generated by the national IIOC suspect pool if left unattended to by targeted police action? Applying population estimates of pedophilia and hebephilia to the male population (16-89 years), we estimate there are between 2,365-5,991 males with paedophila and 12,218-30,952 males with hebephilia who are likely contact offenders. Applying average prevalence and incidence based costing methods to a conservative estimate of one victim per offender, the combined socio-economic burden from these persons could amount to £236-£597 million (incident costs) increasing to £2.9-£7.3 billion (lifetime costs; £3.3-£8.3 billion including QALY measures). Applying the same costs to CEOP (2013) estimate of 50,000 IIOC offenders we estimate that between 6,000 and 27,500 dual offenders could have already committed past contact offenses, contributing an economic burden of between £97-£445 million (incident costs) increasing to £1.2-£5.4 billion (lifetime costs; £1.4-£6.2 billion including QALY measures). Future contact offenses could contribute a further burden of £16-£18.6 million (incident costs) increasing to £198-£227 million (lifetime costs; £226-£260 million including QALY measures). Drawing upon these findings, we argue for the benefits of a research-informed prioritization approach to target IIOC offenders.
PubMed: 33633637
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.606731 -
Archives of Sexual Behavior Apr 2018Latency-based measures of sexual interest require additional evidence of validity, as do newer pupil dilation approaches. A total of 102 community men completed six...
Latency-based measures of sexual interest require additional evidence of validity, as do newer pupil dilation approaches. A total of 102 community men completed six latency-based measures of sexual interest. Pupillary responses were recorded during three of these tasks and in an additional task where no participant response was required. For adult stimuli, there was a high degree of intercorrelation between measures, suggesting that tasks may be measuring the same underlying construct (convergent validity). In addition to being correlated with one another, measures also predicted participants' self-reported sexual interest, demonstrating concurrent validity (i.e., the ability of a task to predict a more validated, simultaneously recorded, measure). Latency-based and pupillometric approaches also showed preliminary evidence of concurrent validity in predicting both self-reported interest in child molestation and viewing pornographic material containing children. Taken together, the study findings build on the evidence base for the validity of latency-based and pupillometric measures of sexual interest.
Topics: Adult; Arousal; Child; Erotica; Female; Humans; Male; Pedophilia; Pupil; Reaction Time; Recognition, Psychology; Self Report; Sexual Behavior; Surveys and Questionnaires; Visual Perception
PubMed: 29264845
DOI: 10.1007/s10508-017-1133-z -
Revue Medicale de Liege Apr 2021Paedophilia is a paraphilia characterised by behaviour, drives or sexual fantasies that are intense and recurring and that generally involve children. This sexual...
Paedophilia is a paraphilia characterised by behaviour, drives or sexual fantasies that are intense and recurring and that generally involve children. This sexual deviation is often linked to personal distress, to a significant alteration of personal, family, professional and social life, in a general sense. In our modern Western societies, paedophilia and the perversions associated with it are punishable by law. Paedophilia is a concept that is very ancient, complex and particularly diverse in its many clinical presentations. Its societal impact is very important and contrasts with the real knowledge of this issue among non-specialists, or even among specialists. In this second part of the article, the authors will develop the aetiologies of paedophilia, the therapeutic options and the forensic aspects.
Topics: Child; Humans; Pedophilia
PubMed: 33830691
DOI: No ID Found -
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Feb 2022Child sexual abuse offences (CSOs) represent a severe ethical and socioeconomic burden for society. Juveniles with a sexual preference for prepubescent children (PP)...
Child sexual abuse offences (CSOs) represent a severe ethical and socioeconomic burden for society. Juveniles with a sexual preference for prepubescent children (PP) commit a large percentage of CSOs, but have been widely neglected in neuroscience research. Aberrant neural responses to face stimuli have been observed in men with pedophilic interest. Thus far, it is unknown whether such aberrations exist already in PP. A passive face-viewing paradigm, including the presentation of child and adult faces, was deployed and high-density electroencephalography data were recorded. The study group comprised 25 PP and the control group involved 22 juveniles with age-adequate sexual preference. Attractiveness ratings and evoked brain responses were obtained for the face stimuli. An aberrant pattern of attractiveness ratings for child vs. adult faces was found in the PP group. Moreover, elevated occipital P1 amplitudes were observed for adult vs. child faces in both groups. At longer latency (340-426 ms), a stronger negative deflection to child vs. adult faces, which was source localized in higher visual, parietal and frontal regions, was specifically observed in the PP group. Our study provides evidence for enhanced neural processing of child face stimuli in PP, which might reflect elevated attention capture of face stimuli depicting members from the sexually preferred age group. This study expands our understanding of the neural foundations underlying sexual interest in prepubescent children and provides a promising path for the uncovering of objective biomarkers of sexual responsiveness to childlike body schemes in juveniles.
Topics: Adult; Attention; Child; Electroencephalography; Humans; Male; Pedophilia; Sex Offenses; Sexual Behavior
PubMed: 33230608
DOI: 10.1007/s00787-020-01684-4 -
Frontiers in Psychiatry 2020In Germany, access to outpatient treatment services devoted to the prevention of (further) sexual offenses against minors and child sexual exploitation material (CSEM)...
In Germany, access to outpatient treatment services devoted to the prevention of (further) sexual offenses against minors and child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) offenses is often limited. The therapy project "Prevention of Sexual Abuse" tries to fill this gap by providing treatment to patients with a self-reported sexual interest in children and adolescents, irrespective of whether or not they are pedophilic or prosecuted by the legal justice system. Within the project, a treatment manual was developed which specifically addresses dynamic risk-factors in child sexual abusers and CSEM offenders. The treatment manual was conceived to reduce recidivism risk and to contribute to the enhancement of the patients' personal well-being. In this paper, results of the accompanying scientific research are presented: offense-supportive attitudes ( = 23), self-reported CSEM use ( = 10), emotional distress ( = 24), and participants' subjective risk perception of committing (further) sexual offenses ( = 25) reduced during the course of treatment. A reduction of offense-supportive attitudes was further observed from pre-intervention to 1-year follow-up ( = 8). Changes with regard to self-efficacy, quality of life, participants' self-perceived ability to control sexual impulses toward children and adolescents permanently, and several measures assessing different kinds of sexual recidivism did not, however, reach any level of significance. During an average observation period of 2.4 years, six patients confessed to have conducted new sexual exploitation material offenses, while no further sexual abuse cases were reported ( = 19). Due to the used research design and small sample sizes, treatment effects cannot be inferred and external validity is limited. This notwithstanding, results provide first evidence for a relationship between treatment participation and self-reported recidivism and psychological well-being.
PubMed: 32194447
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00088 -
Sexual Abuse : a Journal of Research... Jun 2023Little is known about distinct factors linked with acting on paraphilic interests or refraining from engaging in paraphilic behaviors. Participants from Canada and the...
Little is known about distinct factors linked with acting on paraphilic interests or refraining from engaging in paraphilic behaviors. Participants from Canada and the United States ( = 744), aged 19-42 years ( = 29.2; = 3.18), were recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Participants completed questionnaires about their paraphilic interests and behaviors, as well as potential key factors linked to behavioral engagement (i.e., perceptions of consent, sexual excitation/inhibition, impulsivity, moral disengagement, empathy). Results indicated that higher moral disengagement and impulsivity, lower sexual control (i.e., high sexual excitation, low sexual inhibition), and maladaptive understandings of consent were best able to differentiate individuals who reported highly stigmatized (e.g., hebephilia, pedophilia, coprophilia) or Bondage and Dicipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism and Masochism(BDSM)/Fetish paraphilic interests and engagement in the paraphilic behaviours associated with these interests relative to individuals who did not report such paraphilic interests or behaviors. Moreover, higher moral disengagement, impulsivity, and maladaptive perceptions of consent were best able to differentiate non-consensual paraphilic interests and behaviours (e.g., voyeurism, exhibitionism) compared to individuals who did not report these paraphilic interests or behaviours. These results provide future directions for the exploration of mechanisms that may contribute to engagement in paraphilic behaviors and may be targets for intervention aimed at preventing engagement in potentially harmful paraphilias.
Topics: Humans; Sexual Behavior; Paraphilic Disorders; Sadism; Masochism; Pedophilia
PubMed: 35699951
DOI: 10.1177/10790632221108949 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2021Some therapists/scientists argue that "acceptance" of sexual interest in minors (SIM), i.e., the integration of the sexual preference into the individual self-concept,...
Some therapists/scientists argue that "acceptance" of sexual interest in minors (SIM), i.e., the integration of the sexual preference into the individual self-concept, is a prerequisite for dealing with SIM in a responsible way. However, if one assumes that - even in some persons - SIM might change over time, "acceptance" could also run counter to therapeutic targets because the motivation to change as well as the specific self-efficacy for modifying SIM might be reduced. This exploratory pilot study analyzes the relationship between acceptance of SIM and (1) dynamic risk for contact sexual reoffending, (2) SIM and frequency of the use of child/adolescent (sexual abuse) imagery, (3) frequency of sexual desire/behavior toward children/adolescents, and (4) the change of the level of acceptance of SIM during the course of treatment. The majority of the participants ( = 79) was not exclusively interested in children (85%) and used child pornography but did not commit child sexual abuse (54%). Acceptance of SIM, frequency of the use of child/adolescent (sexual abuse) imagery and frequency of sexual desire/behavior toward children/adolescents are assessed via self-report questionnaires, dynamic risk for contact sexual reoffending is measured by STABLE-2007. Pretreatment data are analyzed via Spearman's correlation ( = 79). Intragroup analysis compares acceptance of SIM from pre- and posttreatment ( = 35). There was no correlation between acceptance of SIM and dynamic risk for contact sexual reoffending. However, there was a medium, positive correlation between acceptance of SIM and the frequency of the use of legal imagery of children, a positive correlation between the item "My inclination is an integral part of my personality" and the frequency of the use of legal imagery of children, and a positive correlation between acceptance of SIM and the frequency of sexual activities with minors. Acceptance of SIM did not change during the course of treatment. The results suggest that "acceptance" of SIM has to be discussed in a differentiated way, i.e., as possibly being associated with positive and negative outcomes as well.
PubMed: 34803786
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.606797 -
Sexual Medicine Oct 2021Studies on characteristics of self-referred men with sexual interest in minors (SIM) and treatment approaches in this group of patients are still relatively rare.
INTRODUCTION
Studies on characteristics of self-referred men with sexual interest in minors (SIM) and treatment approaches in this group of patients are still relatively rare.
AIM
The aim of this exploratory pilot study was to investigate hypersexuality and impulsivity as 2 dynamic risk factors that could possibly change during treatment in self-referred men with SIM.
METHODS
Data were collected at the "Kein Täter Werden (means: not become an offender)" network site in Hamburg. Using self-report questionnaires, the extent of hypersexuality and impulsivity was analyzed with the samples' pretreatment data via descriptive statistics and compared with nonclinical samples of other studies. The relation between hypersexuality and impulsivity was analyzed via Spearman's correlation coefficient with pretreatment data (N = 77). Intragroup analysis compared hypersexuality and impulsivity from pre- and posttreatment (n = 29).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Hypersexual Behavior Inventory and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale Version 11.
RESULTS
The degree of generalized impulsivity in the SIM group was comparable to that in nonclinical samples while the degree of hypersexuality was considerably higher than in nonclinical samples. Sixty-four percent of the participants were in the range of clinically relevant hypersexuality. Impulsivity and hypersexuality were weakly positively correlated with each other. During treatment hypersexuality significantly decreased while impulsivity did not differ significantly between before beginning treatment and after (partial) completion.
CONCLUSION
Hypersexuality, but not impulsivity, was pronounced in the group of self-referred men with SIM and should be targeted in treatment. In order to improve treatment outcome regarding risk reduction in self-referred men with SIM, a focus on treatment approaches that were developed to treat hypersexuality can be expected to be effective while focusing on generalized impulsivity may be less relevant. Lampalzer U, Tozdan S, von Franqué F, et al. Hypersexuality and Impulsivity in Self-Referred Men With Sexual Interest in Minors: Are They Related? Do They Change During Treatment? An Exploratory Pilot Study. Sex Med 2021;9:100429.
PubMed: 34509753
DOI: 10.1016/j.esxm.2021.100429