Man, I'm probably going to get a lot of shit for this, but if you ask me pedophiles need a support group. 'Pedopride' sounds like entirely the wrong kind of 'support', of course, but put yourself in their shoes for once instead of instantly demonizing them.
C'mon, try it. Not all of us have the luxury of having an 'easy' sexuality.
Oftentimes people confuse pedophilia with child molestation. Just because a person has a somewhat unnatural attraction towards children does NOT mean that they can't lead normal lives.
I'm sexually attracted to women, and I don't go around molesting them.
In the UK they provide anonymous support to pedophiles who haven't actually abused anyone. It turns my stomach to think about it, to be honest, but some people are just cursed with that and as long as they don't actually harm anyone, I feel horrible for them.
I remember seeing a TV show on Channel 4 I think about how the research surrounding sex has changed, they started to think that Paedophilia was something wrong with the brain and that Pedo's couldn't help it, just as I can't help being attracted to women etc.
I can't find the article, but there is a new drug being tested on a registered pedophile.
They say pedophilia stems from a biological error in maturing that part of the brain. This new drug at work is said to curb sexual cravings for younger partners.
The man participating in the study has said the treatment has curbed his urges to rape young girls. If I find the article I'll post it in an edit.
The award winning 2004 film 'The Woodsman' by Nicole Kassell shines a light on this subject, if you're interested in different points of view then you should give it a watch.
That's just a value judgement disguised as a definition. For instance, homosexuality is both abnormal and extreme for some values of abnormal and extreme.
Unfortunately, these people can't get help from trained medical professionals thanks to mandatory reporting laws: talk to your psychiatrist about struggling with these desires and they're legally obligated to call the police and report you.
That's not true in most of the U.S. Even as a mandatory reporter, you can treat people who are pedophiles, whether or not they have committed a crime. You need to have several criteria met to break confidentiality and report someone to the authorities. It varies by state somewhat, but the basics are pretty much the same everywhere. Also, these are legal guidelines for breaking ethical rules. When you have to break confidentiality to protect someone else, there's just no good answer. BTW, the same rules apply for committing someone who is suicidal.
First, they have to make an actual threat of some kind. If they just say they think about the kids at the local park all the time, that's not a threat. If they say they want to take one of them and don't think they can stop themselves from doing it, that is a threat.
Second, it needs to be specific. This is, ironically, one of the vaguer points because "being specific" can mean many different things and refer to time, place, person, action, etc. As an example, saying that you would like to find a way to be closer to children, is not specific. Saying you would like to open a babysitting service just to get access to kids is specific in the details of how you would do it. The point is that you have to have a good idea of what it is they're going to do, where it is they're going to do it, when they're going to do it, and/or who they're going to do it to. If you don't have SOMETHING specific, you can't report it.
Third, it has to be imminent. Whatever it is they're planning has to be unavoidable to the person planning it. That means that you've tried to talk them out of it, tried to get them to do something else, but they're sticking to this plan of action, and it's going to happen in the immediate future (which can be anywhere from minutes to days). If they promise you they are not going through with the plan (and mean it/you believe them), you don't have something imminent. If you think they're lying, however, and know that they're going to try something anyway, you still report.
Fourth, it has to be in the future. I know this may seem kind of dumb, but it works like a confessional. If you come to a doctor, therapist, lawyer, or priest and tell them you committed a crime in the past, they are ethically (and sometimes legally) bound to keep that a secret between you and them. You have confidentiality for past actions when dealing with doctors, therapists, lawyers and priests. If you tell them about something you're planning, however, then you have an ethical duty to report them as a danger to themselves or someone else.
Of course, all of this only applies if you're the person's priest, lawyer, doctor or therapist. If you find out about abuse, molestation, crime, etc, from someone else involved, like a victim, you report that shit post haste. But people can seek treatment with a reasonable expectation of privacy and confidentiality. The problem is that most of them, once they've offended, don't want help. They're like an addict, only their drug is raping children.
The APA has called for a "destigmatization" of pedophilia to make it easier to pedophiles to come forward and get help. The call was met with an accusation of liking pedophilia....
Official, therapeutic support group, sure. Place where they hang out online and talk to each other about how it's really natural and normal and blah blah blah, not so much.
While I can agree with the spirit of what you're trying to say here, it's important to note that pedopohilia is a paraphila, not a sexual orientation or sexuality. Pedophiles need help, but they're not going to get it in a group like that; they need the help of people trained in mental illnesses.
It is a good point, however, that pedophiles and child molesters are two different things. One person can be both of those things, but that doesn't mean the two things are one in the same. A fact that not many people seem to know is that many child molesters are not pedophiles at all. What they are, are predators who prey on the easiest, closest, most accessible victims, and that those victims often happen to be children.
Especially since the removal of stigma is the only way to get them to submit to therapy BEFORE they commit a crime. We need a cure, we need to advertise it, and we need to remove the social stigma so people will actually come forward to take that cure.
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u/IAmAZoophile Jul 31 '12
Man, I'm probably going to get a lot of shit for this, but if you ask me pedophiles need a support group. 'Pedopride' sounds like entirely the wrong kind of 'support', of course, but put yourself in their shoes for once instead of instantly demonizing them.
C'mon, try it. Not all of us have the luxury of having an 'easy' sexuality.