• Is Pedophilia a Mental Illness/Disorder?
    240 replies, posted
"Pedophile" is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "a person who is sexually attracted to children. " This means that most people have at some point been a pedophile. I know that I have been sexually attracted to people who were legally children on many occasions. This is perfectly normal and is not dangerous. The difference between a pedophile and a sex offender is that a normal person who is sexually attracted to children does not act on that attraction. People have fantasies and urges all the time that, if they were to act on them, would get them into trouble. Pedophillia is no different.
I think the important part to differentiate is when actual pedophilia is taking place. In a sense there's defeinitely a difference between biologically normal and abnormal aproaches. The difference lies in the target the pedophile is attracted to. Imagine someone who is attracted to and has intercourse with a thirteen year old. While both are morally just as bad and both are illegal the thirteen year old can be of two kinds. a) the child can either look like a child - in this case we get standard abnormal pedophilia b) the child can look like a young adult or older teen - fairly common. While mentally still a child, bodilly not. In this case I wouldn't call the perpetrator a mentally ill individual, but merely one who had a lapse in judgment. As attraction to a youthfull, but not childlike person is natural. The one that is attracted to children though is mentally ill.
[QUOTE=Man Without Hat;32680308]All child molesters are paedophiles. Sure, not all paedophiles are child molesters, but chances are they will become one.[/QUOTE] In a thread in the past about this sort of thing, I tried to get an estimate of how often they actually do commit crimes. I came up with 1-3% likely, with 5-6% as the upper bound. Not quite the "chances are they will become one" you're implying.
Disorder or no, you gotta have some control over your fucking fantasies, jesus! I mean hurting a child sexually or whatever, that just won't do. And those who seek to do it are some horny assholes who deserve some time in prison.. if they ever go as far as doing the horrible act.
[QUOTE=Thy Reaper;32682314]In a thread in the past about this sort of thing, I tried to get an estimate of how often they actually do commit crimes. I came up with 1-3% likely, with 5-6% as the upper bound. Not quite the "chances are they will become one" you're implying.[/QUOTE] How did you come up with that figure? [editline]8th October 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Gekkosan;32682324]Disorder or no, you gotta have some control over your fucking fantasies, jesus! I mean hurting a child sexually or whatever, that just won't do. And those who seek to do it are some horny assholes who deserve some time in prison.. if they ever go as far as doing the horrible act.[/QUOTE] I don't think anyone here would advocate the rape of children, so you're not going to encounter much argument here. Nonetheless, we're attempting to have a bit more of a nuanced conversation than just 'child rape is bad'.
[QUOTE=devotchkade;32682330]I don't think anyone here would advocate the rape of children, so you're not going to encounter much argument here. Nonetheless, we're attempting to have a bit more of a nuanced conversation than just 'child rape is bad'.[/QUOTE] What else is there? It's bad, it's unnecessary and evil. Those who do that are dumb fuck psychos. And if it only takes a highly educated psychiatrist's words to make a pedophile learn it's NOT okay, then so be it.. And this debating should lead to a conclusion of some sort, right?
No, it's a sexual preference.
[QUOTE=devotchkade;32682330]How did you come up with that figure?[/QUOTE] Here's my post about it in In the News: (Context is a bit different, but the numbers are still applicable) [url]http://www.facepunch.com/threads/1110679?p=31326251&highlight=#post31326251[/url]
[QUOTE=Gekkosan;32682936]What else is there? It's bad, it's unnecessary and evil. Those who do that are dumb fuck psychos. And if it only takes a highly educated psychiatrist's words to make a pedophile learn it's NOT okay, then so be it.. And this debating should lead to a conclusion of some sort, right?[/QUOTE] I think you're missing the point of this debate. Like basically all things in life, there's no consensus on this; that's what the thread is all about. Whilst you might think this issue is black-and-white, many of us believe that the subject is infinitely more complex than that. For starters, you're conflating paedophilia with child rape/molestation, which is just not the case. My point was that all us - insofar as I can tell, so I may well be wrong - believe that child rape is a morally abhorrent thing, so your post didn't add anything to the discussion. However, we're not just talking about child rape, so... [editline]9th October 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Thy Reaper;32683292]Here's my post about it in In the News: (Context is a bit different, but the numbers are still applicable) [url]http://www.facepunch.com/threads/1110679?p=31326251&highlight=#post31326251[/url][/QUOTE] Thanks!
[QUOTE=Gekkosan;32682936] Those who do that are dumb fuck psychos.[/QUOTE] [B]It's okay guys, we can stop arguing now. Thanks Gekkosan![/B] Fortunately Gekkosan has ended this debate conclusively, with his wise words. Clearly pedophilia is a mental illness because they are dumb fuck psychos because they are dumb fuck psychos who are dumb fuck psychos.
[QUOTE=devotchkade;32683543]However, we're not just talking about child rape, so...[/QUOTE] Then what? Like fingering and shit, molestation? It's still horrible. [QUOTE=Contag;32683944][B]It's okay guys, we can stop arguing now. Thanks Gekkosan![/B] Fortunately Gekkosan has ended this debate conclusively, with his wise words. Clearly pedophilia is a mental illness because they are dumb fuck psychos because they are dumb fuck psychos who are dumb fuck psychos.[/QUOTE] No it's not necessarily a mental illness, truth is some of them are just horny, dumb fuck psychos. :P
[QUOTE=Gekkosan;32683958]Then what? Like fingering and shit, molestation? It's still horrible. [/QUOTE] No. That would still go under the banner of 'child rape'. Have you even read this thread?
In my opinion pedophilia is a sexual identity disorder which needs to be treated psychologically BEFORE someone actually does something to a child, if they ever plan to do it. Better be safe than sorry.
[QUOTE=SlayerFin;32684104]In my opinion pedophilia is a sexual identity disorder which needs to be treated psychologically BEFORE someone actually does something to a child, if they ever plan to do it. Better be safe than sorry.[/QUOTE] Pedophilia likely can't be "treated" any more than homosexuality can. The latter used to be considered a sexual identity disorder as well, you know. These days we have governments passing laws banning illustrated child pornography, other laws trying to ban pictures with child's faces on adult bodies, stuff like that. It's the wrong approach to take. All society is doing is making it harder for pedophiles to satisfy their needs in a manner that doesn't harm anyone. There's quite a lot of fear and ignorance surrounding pedophilia and frankly it's causing more children to be hurt. It's a shame any pedophile advocacy group would likely be raided by the FBI before it had a chance to go anywhere, either. The whole thing is tantamount to thoughtcrime.
Its called a fetish. [quote]A fetish is a strong sexual attachment to an object or part of a person. People with fetishes rarely have sex without at least thinking about the object of the fetish. Sex between people who share a fetish (for shoes, for example) can be very satisfying. A sexual encounter when only one person has the fetish may seem somehow "incomplete" to the participants. It can be hard to distinguish between a fetish and sex that is merely uncommon. A man may be aroused by a woman who is not traditionally "sexy;" a woman may find elderly men sexy; men may be attracted to men and women to women, but none of these are fetishes. [/quote]
No, it's not a fetish, we went over the definitions already.
[QUOTE=Ban Camp;32688517]Its called a fetish.[/QUOTE] Look at what your definition says. Are kids objects or "parts" of people?
It's nothing more than a fetish, like being homosexual, it's just a preference.
[QUOTE=Man Without Hat;32680308]All child molesters are paedophiles. Sure, not all paedophiles are child molesters, but chances are they will become one.[/QUOTE] talk about a baseless assertion [QUOTE=Man Without Hat;32680439]I got kicked out the student union last night for drinking underage. That is illegal, but I still did it. Laws are often disregarded.[/QUOTE] now you're comparing child molestation to underage drinking. Pedophiles aren't automatically mentally unsound. Like most other people, they have the presence of mind to avoid hurting others.
Let's just have a big pedophile parade.
[QUOTE=Cows Rule;32688900]It's nothing more than a fetish, like being homosexual, it's just a preference.[/QUOTE] Homosexuality isn't a fetish either.
[QUOTE=Gekkosan;32683958]Then what? Like fingering and shit, molestation? It's still horrible. No it's not necessarily a mental illness, truth is some of them are just horny, dumb fuck psychos. :P[/QUOTE] Pedophilia is the sexual attraction to children, not the molestation of them. [editline]9th October 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Zeke129;32689588]Homosexuality isn't a fetish either.[/QUOTE] I think you missed that he implied homosexuality was a preference.
[QUOTE=Jookia;32689616] I think you missed that he implied homosexuality was a preference.[/QUOTE] I was fine with that. Preference doesn't imply choice (my preference is pizza over dogshit, doesn't mean I made the choice to like pizza more than dogshit, I just do), not that it matters if it's a choice or not anyway.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;32689886]I was fine with that. Preference doesn't imply choice (my preference is pizza over dogshit, doesn't mean I made the choice to like pizza more than dogshit, I just do), not that it matters if it's a choice or not anyway.[/QUOTE] Preference implies it can be changed. I dunno. Back on topic!
preference doesn't necessarily imply that but yea
[QUOTE=Zeke129;32689588]Homosexuality isn't a fetish either.[/QUOTE] Sure about that?
[QUOTE=Gekkosan;32694849]Sure about that?[/QUOTE] Yes.
[QUOTE=Gekkosan;32694849]Sure about that?[/QUOTE] Yes, absolutely sure. Go look at what the definition of fetish is, it's only been posted a million times already
[QUOTE=Zeke129;32695491]Yes, absolutely sure. Go look at what the definition of fetish is, it's only been posted a million times already[/QUOTE] Fetish basically liking something. But yeah whatever :P
I was taught in psychology that men are programmed to like younger, healthier women (who are more likely to be able to survive childbirth). The average caveman lived to be around 20 years of age. So it was actually pretty natural for humans to be having sex at age 12. I think that we're all designed to be attracted to younger girls (maybe not necessarily 6 year olds), but society has made it taboo.
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