Pedophilia and Deviant Behavior
Pedophilia and Deviant Behavior
Sonja Johnson
Sociology of Deviant Behavior
Professor Grant
Pikes Peak Community College
August 3, 2014
There exists a group of people possessing what some refer to as a mental disorder, while others refer to it as a personality or behavioral disorder characterized by the urge to have sexual relations with those of a non-consenting age. Initially this paper will examine why exactly this is a deviant behavior. We will then go on to analyze their structural organization. Why people would want membership in such a group will then be scrutinized. An in-depth examination of what causative factors exist that contribute to this form of deviance will then ensue. We will conclude with the various theories of deviance that could further explain the actions of the group.
The group known as pedophiliacs is deviant because sexual interactions with those younger than the age of consent is by its own right considered to be a non-consensual encounter. Prepubescent children and teens are not properly informed or physically developed well enough to engage in sexual activity without it having a damaging effects on them mentally, psychologically, and sexually. Many times the direct impact of child sexual abuse is not made manifest until well in to adulthood. Depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, alcohol and or drug abuse, hypertension, obesity, sexually transmitted diseases, lack of trust and marital problems are all more frequent in the demographic of adults who were sexually abused or coerced as children (Child Sexual Abuse I: An Overview).
Pedophiles were previously known to be organized under a group known as the “North American Man/Boy Love Association” which was founded in 1978 and used to have regular national meetings (NAMbLA: Who We Are). As of the late 1990s the group either ceased to meet or simply made their meetings more subversive so as to avoid police involvement. In 1995 it was
Sonja Johnson
Sociology of Deviant Behavior
Professor Grant
Pikes Peak Community College
August 3, 2014
There exists a group of people possessing what some refer to as a mental disorder, while others refer to it as a personality or behavioral disorder characterized by the urge to have sexual relations with those of a non-consenting age. Initially this paper will examine why exactly this is a deviant behavior. We will then go on to analyze their structural organization. Why people would want membership in such a group will then be scrutinized. An in-depth examination of what causative factors exist that contribute to this form of deviance will then ensue. We will conclude with the various theories of deviance that could further explain the actions of the group.
The group known as pedophiliacs is deviant because sexual interactions with those younger than the age of consent is by its own right considered to be a non-consensual encounter. Prepubescent children and teens are not properly informed or physically developed well enough to engage in sexual activity without it having a damaging effects on them mentally, psychologically, and sexually. Many times the direct impact of child sexual abuse is not made manifest until well in to adulthood. Depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, alcohol and or drug abuse, hypertension, obesity, sexually transmitted diseases, lack of trust and marital problems are all more frequent in the demographic of adults who were sexually abused or coerced as children (Child Sexual Abuse I: An Overview).
Pedophiles were previously known to be organized under a group known as the “North American Man/Boy Love Association” which was founded in 1978 and used to have regular national meetings (NAMbLA: Who We Are). As of the late 1990s the group either ceased to meet or simply made their meetings more subversive so as to avoid police involvement. In 1995 it was
Bibliography: Bailey, S. Invited commentaries on: Cycle of child sexual abuse: links between being a victim and becoming a perpetrator. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 179, 496-497. Retrieved July 13, 2014, from http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/179/6/496.full Cantor, J. (2012, June 21). Do Pedophiles Deserve Sympathy? . Retrieved July 28, 2014, from http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/21/opinion/cantor-pedophila-sandusky/ Child Sexual Abuse I: An Overview. (n.d.). Child Sexual Abuse I: An Overview. Retrieved July 28, 2014, from http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/publications-a-z/410- child-sexual-abuse-i-an-overview Glasser, M. Cycle of child sexual abuse: links between being a victim and becoming a perpetrator. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 179, 482-494. Retrieved July 13, 2014, from http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/179/6.toc McCartan, K. (n.d.). Current understandings of paedophilia and the resulting crisis in modern society.- UWE Research Repository. Retrieved July 14, 2014, from http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/13608/ NAMbLA: Who We Are. (2011, January 1). . Retrieved July 28, 2014, from http://www.nambla.org/welcome.htm Quayle, E., & Taylor, M. Child Pornography and the Internet: perpetuating a cycle of abuse. Deviant Behavior, 23, 331-361. Retrieved July 13, 2014, from file:///C:/Users/Sonja/Downloads/Quayle%20and%20Taylor%20%20Deviant%20Behavi or%20(2002).pdf Thio, A., Taylor, J., & Schwartz, M. (2013). Deviant Behavior (11 ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Woods, J. (2012, April 26). Jamie is 13 and hasn 't even kissed a girl. But he 's now on the Sex Offender Register after online porn warped his mind.... Mail Online. Retrieved July 13, 2014, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2135203/Jamie-13-kissed-girl-But- hes-Sex-Offender-Register-online-porn-warped-mind-.html