Pedophilia Causes And Typologies Essay Example For Students

Pedophilia: Causes And Typologies Essay Pedophilia: Causes and TypologiesPerhaps no single act causes such strong emotions as the act of childsexual abuse. Child molesters can not even find refuge in prisons whererapists and murderers are commonplace.These offenders are shunned in everyaspect of our society, yet there is no consensus as tothe causes of thisbehavior. Sexual abuse of children is not new, and has not always been sociallytaboo.The ancient Greeks and Romans used children for sexualgratification(Langevin, 1983).In Greece, it was commonplace for adolescentmales to be forced into sexual relationships with mature males.This behaviorwas normal and not objected to by the childs parents nor the Greekgovernment(Langevin, 1983).The Romans encouraged adolescent boys and girls notto protest being sold into prostitution.The Roman government even went so faras to declare a public holiday honoring young prostitutes(Kahr, 1991). Sex with children in the modern era is alive and well, the power of anolder person is so great that their young victims often never tell of thehorrors that they have endured.There is also a pedophile enhancement movement,with confessed pedophiles insisting that their behavior is not wrong or immoral. Organizations dedicated to the social acceptance of sex with children are notnew, yet have had a large upstart in membership since the early 1970s(Charon,1979). Because of the extreme sensitivity of the subject, research in thisfield is quite underdeveloped.Researchers have even had trouble in agreeingwhat to call the phenomenon.Much research on the victims has dubbed the act aschild sexual abuse, most research on the offenders has labeled it as childmolesting or pedophilia.The term pedophilia has some utility since it suggestsa predisposition for the act separate from the act itself.The ambiguity ofthis term however, is what causes confusion.Pedophilia can mean child sexualabuse ranging from an arousal to children with no or little action, to sexualpenetration of the child.For the purposes of this paper the terms pedophilia,child sexual abuse, and child molestation will be used interchangeably. This paper will focus on the possible causes of child sexual abuse.Itwill examine several etiologies of pedophiles as suggested by researchers.Toreduce this behavior in offenders, we must first attempt to gain anunderstanding of WHY?This question has no easy answer,and the researchers inthis field have found very little to agree upon.There is is however, commonground which may enable us to combine theories into a workable start to asolution of the unspeakable crime. Pedophiles can be classified into different categories by several issues,the most common of which are causation, and victim-relationship Gary Soto's Guilt EssayThe needs of the child are given very little recognition by the parents. Families have been classified into two general types of units in whichincest is more likely to occur.These include the Chaotic family and the normal-appearing family(Kempe and Kempe, 1984).The chaotic family istypically of low socioeconomic status; is dysfunctional in that the familymembers have histories of substance abuse, incarceration, violence, and mostmembers have very little or no education.Children raised within family unitssuch as this are more likely to become targets of interfamilial sexual abuse. The normal-appearing family gives off the impression that everythingis perfectly normal.Frequently the parents have been married for years, arefinancially secure, and have established roles within the community(Kempe ;Kempe, 1984). Incestuous parents in this type of family are often unable tocare for their children our themselves, either emotionally or physically.Theyare usually quite needy and turn to their children to fulfill those needs. Incest in this type of family is especially troublesome since even if it isreported, a conviction is unlikely without solid physical proof.The adult isan fine upstanding member of the communityintheir eyes.Often theauthorities will side with the adult and punish the child for these attempts tobring pain upon their parents(Kempe ; Kempe, 1984). In both the chaotic and the normal-appearing families, incest isoften carried on from one generation to another.This phenomenon has beendubbed the intergenerational transmission of incest(Kempe ; Kempe, 1984). Researchers have found similarities in families in which this phenomenon ha