The History, Significance And Effects Of Pedophilia

Abstract

Pedophilia is a serious issue all over the world and is a threat to everyone. Children are the victims and are highly vulnerable to this issue. Currently, the child protection associations in the United States and the United Kingdom are active all over the world and are acting against pedophilia. The person who acts sexually towards a child is known as the perpetrator, and he has the disorder of pedophilia. Kids are their victims. The issue was observed in the history of many developed areas of the world, including the United States, which caused a sense of insecurity for the parents because of their children. Currently, the world only recognizes 1-2% of people having pedophilia disorder, but it is expected that the number would be very high with respect to the victim’s number. Many people are recognized to be pedophilias, but after their counseling, it was recognized that they were normal, and because of the lack of availability of their partners, they used to perform their sexual activities over the children. Many governments have laws against people having pedophilia, and they follow the ways to get pleasure from children.

Introduction

The concern about children’s care and protection is raised so rapidly that everyone is considering all the concerning issues very seriously> among a number of issues, including child labor, child abuse, drugs, and misconduct, pedophilia is also considered one of the most important issues among many. Pedophilia is a sexual feeling which directs an individual towards the children. It is one of the most unethical and uncommon feelings and leads to actions that cause a sense of insecurity in society. The feeling of getting sexually attracted is unintentional, and people usually don’t fall into practice. Very uncommonly, adults try to do sexual activity with the kids around. Currently, the child protection associations in the United States and the United Kingdom are active all over the world and are acting against pedophilia. The government of the United States has conducted sessions all over the world. Many governments have laws against people having pedophilia, and they follow the ways to get pleasure from children. This paper is a brief discussion about the child abuse due to pedophilia. The main aim of the overall articulation is to discuss and elaborate on the history, significance and effects of pedophilia.

Discussion

The issue is recognized as a highly important and hot topic among news journalists in the current situation of the world. There are many hidden as well as exposed cases of people with high profiles who are predicted to have pedophilia disorder and would have relationships with young boys. The article has a discussion about the history of the topic from the 19th century until now. Some definitions are also added, which would be helpful in finalizing the understanding of this issue and some important terms used in the paper. Moreover, there is a discussion about the effects of this problem on society, specifically on children, which is highly important. The presence of this issue in almost all societies is as certain as the certainty of human sexual desire. The current situation of the world is worst with respect to this issue and it is also added. Furthermore, there are some statistics that are recognized to be authentic with respect to the identified cases only. An outnumbered children have faced this issue and are counted in the victim list (Officially, 20% of US citizen children are affected by this issue).

Definitions

The overall concept of pedophilia is related to the psychological and psychiatric disorder in which an adult is found experiencing an exclusive sexual attraction to children who are not really sexually oriented. The children who are prepubescent are not allowed to get involved or view even sexual activities. The pornography is officially made hide from them so that they would not even get any kind of sexual exposure at all. The word pedophilia is mostly used and applied to every kind of sexual interest in kids or an act of child sexual abuse. The person who acts sexually towards a child is known as the perpetrator, and he has the disorder of pedophilia. The child involved in this activity is usually the victim. The bystander effect could be explained as apathy or a social psychological phenomenon in which the perpetrator tries to bully or make a sexual attempt on the child, and the others offer help to the victim to get back to normal. In the bystander effect or bystander apathy, if the number of bystanders is less compared to the other group, then help is rarely found, and silence is adopted.

It is usual that people are not in favor of pedophilia, and they are more likely to avoid this kind of activity as well as protect their children from people having pedophilia. Sociopathy is considered a term used when people avoid pedophilia emotion, and the individual has such attention. Sociopathy is a term used for the antisocial behavior of the people towards the archetype people. Here, archetype individuals are the people having pedophilia and are specifically differentiated from the normal community because of their disorder (Burns & Swerdlow, 2003). They are supposed to be a cause of danger for children and adolescents. Psychologists, psychiatrists and other relevant field experts, researchers and analyzers have discussed this issue in a number of ways through which it can be predicted and evaluated that this issue has great importance in the modern world where globalization, feminism, social work, gender complications and age factor is highly discussed and practiced.

History

Initially, pedophilia is believed to be a concept available since the start of human history. Formally, it was named and studied thoroughly in the nineteenth century. The very first time, it was named pedophilia erotica and officially was used in books, newspapers and journals in 1896 by Richard Von Karfft-Ebing. There were an outnumbered authors after the publishing have also discussed and anticipated Richard’s diagnostic gesture. It was highly appreciated, and for the first time in history, people with pedophilia disorder were supposed to be treated with specific methods. In the Psychopathia Sexualis article, the section of discussion about pedophilia was discussed in the title, “Violation of Individuals under the Age of Fourteen.” This is the very first publication about the concept of pedophilia. In this article, the author has discussed as well as enlightened the forensic psychiatry aspects of adolescent sexual offenders. The discussion was very general, too. Richard also expressed a number of different topologies of sexual offense and divided them among different and collective psychopathological as well as non-psychopathological origins. Furthermore, the hypothesis contained different apparent factors that could be responsible for the sexual abuse of children.

There were a number of different causes of pedophilia. He has discussed pedophilia in women and the abuse of boys by men as extremely rare, but the number of men abusing female children sexually was higher respectively (Seto et al., 2006). He furthermore explained that men who have neurological disorders and used to abuse male kids sexually could not be counted as true pedophilia. In this scenario, the victims of the men are grown and mostly are above the age of fourteen or fifteen (elder adolescents or young adults).

An Austrian Neurologist, Sigmund Fred, has briefly explained this topic in his book “Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality.” The book was published in 1905. He has explained the concept of pedophilia as when an individual is weak or his desire is not fulfilled and is now becoming uncontrollable. He is unable to find any appropriate object to fulfill his desire properly, which forces him to find an inappropriate and accessible source in which the young girls become the most vulnerable pieces for him. These cases are very rare all over the world, as the author stated that this disorder is only in very few people.

In 1908, a Swiss psychiatrist and neuroanatomist named Auguste Forel explained pedophilia by referring to it as Pederosis, the sexual appeal for children. His work was quite similar to Richard’s work. He has described and identified the people with organic brain conditions as well as the exclusive sexual desire for the children. Although his main discussion was similar to Richard’s work, he didn’t agree with his point of non-changeability and ingrained forever (Burns & Swerdlow, 2003).

Later on, from that time until now, psychology has studied a lot about this topic, but since the topic was highly offended by the readers and very little demand for the study was observed, the literature was very low in that period of time. Also, the actions of the people regarding feminism and globalization were extremely at their peak, which resulted in the rare consideration of this topic as well.

Factors To Ignite The Issue

It is common and inhumane to make sexual attempts on children. Almost no society has accepted this fact because of social reasons. In the modern world, to protect children from sexual abuse, the laws of the age of consent are made, which are implemented as well as enforced with keen detail and precision. No individual is allowed to show his sexual desire. The issue was observed in the history of many developed areas of the world, including the United States, which caused a sense of insecurity for the parents because of their children (Seto, 2008). The government has made laws in which the parents are supported to protect the children, and they are given allowances for giving supervision to their children and many other similar approaches. Also, the individuals who are suspected of sexual attempts on the children are arrested, counseled and rehabilitated.

In the United States, there are several surveys and discussions made, but still, most of them have explained that the pedophilia causes are unknown since the male desire for sex is certain, so whenever he is not able to find any appropriate object to fulfill his desire, he looks for an inappropriate choice. Most of the records have explained that the individuals who perform sexual attempts on children are mostly psychologically weak and abnormal. Their sexual orientation is not recognized properly. Some of the men would have difficulty dominating their sexual partners because of equality in their strength (Seto, 2008). To fulfill their frustration, they try their sexual desire over the children as they are weak and nonthreatening potential partners. This is mostly a reason to explain why many of the pedophilias are males rather than females. Many people are recognized to be pedophilias, but after their counseling, it was recognized that they were normal, and because of the lack of availability of their partners, they used to perform their sexual activities over the children.

Important Statistics

Since there is no proper and recognizable way to calculate the number of people having pedophilia disorder, it can be estimated by the number of children affected in different parts of the world. In a survey all over the United States, it is estimated that 20% of the children are grown up with sexual abuse. The attempts are based on looking at the kids with lusty eyes, touching them while changing their dresses or making them sleep.

As per the rules of society and the offensive behavior of the community, this issue is highly personal and secretive, which results in too little or no confessions about pedophilia. The Pope has received a report that counted 2% of the Catholic clergy being pedophiles. Currently, there is no meaningful and ethical way to check if an individual is being diagnosed with this disorder.

After a clear diagnosis and the proper treatment cases found all over the world, there is an estimate that only 1% of the human beings living on the planet have pedophilia disorder (Burns & Swerdlow, 2003). This estimate is only for those individuals who are diagnosed with having a disorder that defines a sexual attraction to children who are even under 10.

This disorder is not restricted to men only. A few women found to have sexual desire towards very young boys were also counted in the people having pedophilia disorder people. 4.2% is the considered number of women. The number drops to 1-2% if the discussion is restricted to under ten age children.

Effects On Society

All over the world, this psychiatric disorder is considered to be highly dangerous to the children of the community. The people who have this disorder are a threat to the kids. The parents in the United States have built fear for their children. Pedophilia is normally considered a controversial topic to discuss while elaborating on its effects on society. The perpetrators of the crime always have a trauma built in their mind that the news about their disorder or the sexual attempts they have made would reach their family, children, spouse or friends. Society has always had a negative impact on the recognition of people having pedophilia disorder. Recently a filmmaker who is now dead had relationships with the young boys, a singer Gary Glitter was also found guilty in abusing very young children in Southeast Asia and lastly a church in the United States was recognized by media as hiding several priests for decades who were pedophile individuals (Burns & Swerdlow, 2003). These three cases have caused the death of all the possible leads in many parts of the world, which led to a number of facts about pedophilia and the people involved in these activities.

There are several social-construct explanations that are elaborating the pedophile people’s issues that are causing them to perform their sexual attempts. An articulation by a psychiatrist was found in which there was a discussion about the individuals who perform sexual activities with the children and their conditions. They don’t find satisfaction unless they attempt to complete their sexual desire by the adolescents of early ages. After they are finished, they feel satisfied and create an illusion in their minds about their dominance and the actions they perform. There are many psychological and psychiatric disorders in which an individual is not beneficial but, on the other side, is also not dangerous for society. People having pedophilia disorder are highly dangerous to society.

In the extremists’ societies, they are even killed, and the issues are dismissed in silence. In the modern world, due to the availability of the media and quick sources to viral the news, the perpetrators, as well as the victims, both keep silent, and the issues are available in society, but behind the doors, the detection is quite impossible. In the United States and the United Kingdom, people are aware of the effects on society because of pedophilia, so they step forward for recognition and treatment purposes. Moreover, the kids are also provided with counseling for their protection from any kind of sexual attempts. In Asian countries, the problem is not solved or recognized. There is a public perception and surveys conducted in the southeast and south Asian countries where the pedophilia issue is very highly observed when they were kids (O’Grady, 2001). This issue resulted in the unconscious and unrecognizable situation of the society. The insecurity level increases if an individual is recognized as the perpetrator of child abuse.

Current Situation

The current situation of the society could be considered as unpredictable and unrecognizable. Currently, there are many parts of the world where child abuse with respect to sexual activities is very high. It is observed that if the society has no response or has not recognized this issue and there is no education available for the children, then they would build negative perceptions towards this issue. It is true that in many parts of the world, this issue is not handled nor recognized in a positive way, and sometimes there is no response from society, and shut-up calls by the adults are given to the children.

Children are developing negative perspectives and effects because of these reactions. They are victims and are not able to explain their issues completely to anyone, including their parents. Due to globalization and modernism in the media industry, the education parents provided to educate their children about this issue resulted in a huge number of children developing a positive reaction towards pedophilic persons (Suchy et al., 2009). They keep away from him if he touches them in awkward ways. Now, because of this help from the developed world, media all over the world have helped the world by saving children from unwanted sexual exposure. The children who face sexual attempts from pedophiles become disturbed and mentally upset. They are unable to complete their goals in education as well as other activities that are necessary to keep up the positive growth in their life.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, it can be explained that pedophilia is an important issue and should be handled positively. The children don’t have the sense to recognize the problem they are facing at a very early age, but with the passage of time, they recognize the awkwardness and the awfulness of this activity, which causes unnecessary and unpredictable behavior in kids towards life. The world is currently working on this issue, and psychiatrists have recognized this issue for treatment purposes. Initially, pedophilia origin in an individual was not recognized, and certain causes are not still found, but there are some perceptions that are discussed above that caused an individual to develop the pedophilia disorder. The effects of this disorder are severe and could cause uncertainty and fear in society. It is not possible to end this issue completely, but good counseling of the children, as well as the pedophilia disorder people, could lead to a good and proper way to handle and end this issue completely.

References

Seto, M. C. (2008). Pedophilia and sexual offending against children: Theory, assessment, and intervention. Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association.

Seto, M. C., Cantor, J. M., & Blanchard, R. (2006). Child pornography offenses are a valid diagnostic indicator of pedophilia. Journal of abnormal psychology, 115(3), 610.

Burns, J. M., & Swerdlow, R. H. (2003). Right orbitofrontal tumor with pedophilia symptom and constructional apraxia sign. Archives of Neurology, 60(3), 437-440.

Suchy, Y., Whittaker, W. J., Strassberg, D. S., & Eastvold, A. (2009). Facial and prosodic affect recognition among pedophilic and nonpedophilic criminal child molesters. Sexual Abuse, 21(1), 93-110.

O’Grady, R. (2001). Eradicating pedophilia: Toward the humanization of society. Journal of International Affairs, 123-140.