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University of Utrecht
Journal of Homosexuality 20 - 1/2, 1990
Clinical experiences with 36 males, between the ages of 21 and 60 are described. All of them felt an enduring sexual attraction for boys. Sixteen males were treated for sexual identity conflicts. For eight of them this ended in a positive self-labeling as pedophile, the others had severe problems with accepting sexuality as positive and lustful. Twenty males were treated for identity management problems and counseled how to handle their relationships with boys. Several modalities of interpersonal interaction in man-boy relationships are proposed and the ways conflicts can arise within these frames of reference are explored in counseling and psychotherapy.
* Alex van
Naersscn is Research Coordinator of Social Sexology, Department of Clinical
Psychology and Health, University of Utrccht, Hcidclbcrglaan 1, Postbus 80140,
3508 TC Utrecht, Netherlands. Correspondence may be sent to the author at
the above address.
The
Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Utrecht, started sexual
counseling in 1974. Until 1980 most people came for the treatment of sexual
dysfunctions and only a few for gender dysphoria problems or problems around
paraphilia. I was contacted by the police department of Utrecht. According to
the penal law in The Netherlands, any form of sexual behavior between an adult
and a minor under the age of 16 is considered a criminal act for the adult
(Article 247 of the Dutch Penal Code that dates from 1886). In 1950 84% of all
punished sex crimes involved a minor under the age of 16, this figure was 51% in
1971, and 28% 1982.
The police
recognized that in many cases involving sexual contact with boys and girls
between the ages of 11 to 15, the youths were consenting participants. The
police department asked if referral to our clinic was possible. An agreement
based on three points was reached:
(1) the adult must request psychological advice or treatment,
(2) the court case must be non-violent,
(3) no manifestation of severe psychiatric symptoms as delusions or depression.
During 1980-1985
nine men were referred. As the opportunity for counseling and psychotherapy
became known, other men not involved in court cases came to the clinic. This
article is based on clinical experiences with 36 males between the age of 21 and
60. Of the total, 31 felt exclusively attracted to boys, the others felt
attracted to both boys and girls but their attraction to boys was stronger. This
article describcs assessment, counseling and psychotherapy with these men. A
theoretical outline is given for each procedure.
The definition of
man-boy relationships differs in penal law, moral and ethical discussion, and in
psychiatric classification. The penal code concentrates on the ages of those
involved and on the question of what precisely is sexual in their contact. The
moral and ethical discussion centers around dimensions of responsibility , power
and abuse and around the relationships of adults and children from a general
perspective. And when the term pedophilia is used in psychiatric
classifications, the onset of the biological puberty divides the child from the
no longer child. To understand the psychological meaning of any sexual contact
however, we need other criteria.
Sexual contact
between two adult men is homosexual, but if one of them, deliberately and
skillfully "plays the female," it's a situation that is
psychologically different from sexual contact in which both "play the
male." And if two 11 year-old boys masturbate each other out of curiosity,
the psychological meaning of this behavior is quite different from the situation
in which they do the same thing, playing "mom and dad."
The problem of
naming and classifying sexual relationships is described in Michael Ross's
article, "A theory of normal homosexuality" (1987) in which he names
16 different aspects and meanings of sexual relationships. We can argue about
the number of meanings we want to consider, but it is inevitable that we use
some psychological frame of reference if we want to evaluate a particular sexual
desire. Otherwise we come to circular definitions in that a sexual desire is a
desire for sex and that a pedophiliac desire is a desire for children,
definitions that arc interesting but not illuminating. Starting from a
subjective point of view, we can ask what meaning a person attaches to
sexuality.
Some people see
their sexual behavior as the consequence of sexual desire. They have no specific
sexual orientation, in fact they like all kinds of people, male and female,
child and adult, and if they have the opportunity, they will have sexual contact
or a sexual relationship with a person they feel attracted to. On the other end
of the continuum are people who see their sexual behavior as the consequence of
a more specific sexual desire, either innate, acquired, or a mixture of both.
Scientific theories arc mostly on the side of people in the latter category,
following Freud's (19O5, 1953) idea of a polymorphous sexual instinct (desire)
that differentiates in the course of life and fixates on certain objects (male,
female, child) or certain behaviors (sadism, masochism).
Most psychosexual
development theories take heterosexual desires and commitments as the norm. What
happens in a boy's mind that leads him to become interested in girls and want to
have emotional, erotic and sexually meaningful relationships with al least one
of them? This process is poorly understood. Psychodynamic, behavioral and
cognitive explanations differ considerably. Nevertheless it seems that if the
outcome is successful, most boys become interested in girls at a certain age and
implicitly or explicitly this heterosexual interest is the "natural"
outcome of the process. But why do some persons become homosexual, pedophile,
sado-masochistic and so on?
The theories on
homosexual identity development (see Minton and McDonald, 1984 for an overview)
agree on one point: preho
For some men this
structuring process is without internal conflicts: they accept their feelings at
an early age, only slightly confused by the fact that others see them as sinful,
psychologically or socially deviant. But for a considerable number becoming
homosexual is not that easy and there are different ways to cope with the fact
that one feels attracted to men or boys and to integrate this feeling in one's
self concept. I agree with Minton and McDonald that unity, consistency and
continuity of a person's perception of himself are the criteria a counselor
should make to decide if there is an identity conflict.
Tec reasons for
identity conflicts can be diverse. It is the insecurity, the often chaotic
memory of things, the inconsistency in partner choice and the general disorder
in speaking and thinking of the meaning of sexuality that are clinical
indications for an identity conflict. Some men succeed in effectively using
systems of denial (Tripp, 1975) by practicing homosexuality without having to
admit to themselves or to others that they are homosexual and in doing so deny
the existence of an identity conflict. The man who always, in his sexual
contacts with other men, acts as a masculine male in a male-female relationship
can have a consistent idea of himself as heterosexual up to the moment he meets
a partner he likes who does not want to accept that role. The identity conflict
can come up after years of an undisturbed bisexual life.
Developing a sexual identity is in fact making sense of one's behavior , fantasies, intellectual, and emotional attachments. What counts s, the structuring of behavior and desire. The labels used in common and scientific language (hetero-homo-bisexual, pedophile, sado-masochist) are frames of reference a person uses in his lifetime to give unity, consistency and continuity to his sexuality. We have to realize that there are probably a lot of people who structure their behavior and desire without any label of sexual preference.
I used the
criteria of unity, consistency and continuity in the intake procedure with these
36 males. I asked them to explain in their own words how they saw themselves
sexually and what, in their view, were their problems. Although all males
reported sexual attraction to adolescent boys, their self-labeling was
different. Twenty males saw themselves us pedophiles, 14 were hesitant and two
saw themselves definitely as not pedophile. Those who considered themselves
pedophiles gave self-definitions strongly linked to their sexual desire. In
their psychosexual development most of them had had sexual experiences with
females or other males, but they found these experiences sexually unsatisfying
and were, at the beginning of therapy, motivated to have intimate relationships
only with adolescent boys. None of them felt attracted to pre pubertal boys; in
fact, most of them considered this kind of desire highly abnormal.
The 14 males who
were hesitant were more heterosexual. Some of them were sexually
experienced, both homo-, heterosexual, with adults and boys. In the sexual
biography of others we found only incidental contacts with a boy and no sexual
contacts with adults. Some males were married and found the contacts with their
female partners and the adolescent boys equally satisfying although different.
In this category were al 10 males who felt attracted to both prepubertal and
adolescent boys, one male who felt attraction to prepubertal boys and three who
experienced only attraction to adolescent boys. The two males who did not
consider themselves pedophiles were the ones who wanted conversion therapy. They
strongly condemned their sexual desires and wanted to be rid of them.
There was an
almost perfect correlation between the problems
In line with the
ideas on homosexual identity development, I diagnosed those 16 males who didn't
see themselves as pedophiles and who didn't want conversion of their desires as
having an identity conflict. They all were confused, some mildly, some very
strongly, about their feelings towards boys. I tried to structure their thoughts
and feelings by asking them to describe as accurately as possible the
interactions they had had with boys and the feelings they had experienced in the
relationships. All males reported feelings of guilt, low self-esteem and
depressive moods. Another characteristic was an extreme concern about their
erotic and sexual feelings being found out. Often the therapist was the first
person with whom they spoke about pedophilia. They carefully avoided public
situations where there preference could be detected.
I presented some
affirmative models of man-boy love by giving them biographies in which both men
and boys spoke about their relationships in a positive way and asked them to
discuss these models with me. For eight men this strategy was successful
within 10 therapy sessions, leading to positive self-labeling as a
pedophile. For eight others this method didn't change their negative feelings
and confusion. It was remarkable that they all had had s strong sexnegative
upbringing that seemed to influence all thoughts about their sexual self. They
made a severe distinction between sex and love, seeing sex as essentially dirty
or degrading and defining love in a very romantic way. With these we set the
primary goal of therapy not as coming to terms with pedophilia but in overcoming
negative feelings concerning sexuality and sexual relationships. We were only
partially successful in this strategy as five males discontinued therapy. The
remaining three became more positive on sexuality but still found it difficult
to structure their feeling on man-boy interactions. In fact, all three thought
of themselves as homosexuals after the confrontation with the biographies. We
think these results were possible within the conceptual framework presented to
them, in which sexual identity was defined as the subjective perception of one's
self. In all cases we ended the identity formation phase as soon as the client
had coherence in his positive feelings on what sexuality meant for him.
Although the men
with sexual identity conflicts were remarkably similar in their insecurity and
in the fact that of association of sexual feelings from other parts of their
personality, the counseling sessions affirmed that identity conflicts arc
diverse. A sex-negative upbringing is very destructive in building a sexual
identity, while sex, especially the sensual enjoyment of one's own body and that
of the partner, is seen as sinful and against nature. This idea is often
internalized at a very young age and expresses itself later in life in many
ways: fear of touching and being touched, all kinds of defense mechanisms, a
strong desire to control interpersonal relationships, especially as emotions
enter, and so on. Regardless of the fact that these men feel attracted to boys,
they are sexually dysfunctional. Disorders in desire, arousal and orgasm
have a high frequency in this group.
Some of these men
are afraid to enter the adult world. They exhibit Pctcr Pan complex, and
idealize youth. Sex with a boy one likes and admires is for them an unhealthy
affair for which one ought to be punished. I noticed a lot of sex fetishism in
these men (sec Hoffman, 1968, for an analysis of this phenomenon in the gay
world) - sexual excitement by either a part of his sexual partner's body (the
boy's buttocks) or by an object or situation that has an over importance of
fantasies and desires (boy's clothes or shoes). A certain degree of fetishism is
present in everybody, but clinically it's rather easy to differentiate between a
preference for something from an obsession with it.
Do these men use
their fetishes as a defense against sensual emotions in a much broader context,
or is it the taboo on these emotions that produces the fetishes? I'm inclined to
accept the latter interpretation purely on a speculative base. A sex-negative
upbringing can result in all kinds of psychological stress, the main problem
being
If an adult male
wants sexual contact with a boy under the age of 16 (the age of consent in The
Netherlands), he is confronted with two problems. One is the legal situation
makes him conceal these contacts and relationships. The other is that there arc
almost no role models for adult men on how to interact with boys and vice versa.
A lot of pedophiles live in a constant tear of being arrested or blackmailed.
Especially after detection and arrest, they often suffer shock und severe
depression. Counseling in these cases means that one tries to restore their
self-esteem He is treated as a criminal for contacts and relationships that he
doesn't see as criminal and the confrontation with the legal reality is often
painful: it hurts one's self concept and more specifically one's self-esteem. As
one of my clients said, after he was arrested: "They want a criminal, not a
boy-lover, but a child-molester. Sometimes I consider a rape, so they can be
really satisfied." I sometimes played the devil's advocate by telling them.
"Okay, you say you had a good relationship with this boy and I think you
arc a child-molester. Tell me about that relationship, what was so good about
it?" They were forced to think over the meaning of the relationship and had
to reflect on it's non-sexual aspects. I also used this method with men not
arrested or convicted because I think that even if the legal situation is
changed and man-boy relationships are permitted, every pedophile is confronted
with the fact that he desires contact that is uncommon and condemned in our
society. A man-boy relationship is doubly stigmatized in that it is a homosexual
affair and ignores the generation gap, which is as great a taboo in our society.
In fact, unless they are your own children, an adult is expected not to be
emotional interested in children. The school system is based on the idea that
the relationship between a teacher and a pupil is instrumental, not emotional.
One of the men was
a teacher of mathematics and often had outside contact with hoys from his
classes. He had no intention of having sexual contacts with these boys for fear
of losing his job. His colleagues protested against these contacts from from
fear not of pedophilia, but because such contacts undermined their
authority. Outside the family system, emotional ties between adults and
children are not reinforced but frowned upon. I confronted the men about this.
How can one manage an emotional relationship with a boy in a social context when
its value is not seen? Three studies (Rossman, 1976; Sandfort, 1981; and Reeves,
1983) have shown that man-boy relationships exist in our society and that they
can be enjoyed by both partners.
From these studies
I extracted four modes of interpersonal interaction:
Fun and games.
This relationship gives a person the opportunity to realize the sensation of
sexual pleasures in a context that is playful and non-committed.
The affective.
In the relationship, love, friendship, or other forms of emotional
attachment are important to a person and he tries to get as much
satisfaction as possible.
The economic.
The interactions are regulated by means of a financial agreement. The boy
defines his role as a prostitute, the man sees sex as a commodity he has to
pay for .
Sexual identity
formation or exploration.
One or both partners explore what sexuality means to them. The sexual
interaction can be casual and not very important, or the most meaningful way
to develop emotional bonding with a person and to define oneself as a sexual
being.
Men who had
a certain coherence in their self-concept as a pedophile or a boy-lover would
unconsciously realize this in the context of the relationships described above.
We have no data on the boys, but we suppose, on basis of the research described
above, that these models were present in their minds too. Conflicts in a
manboy relationship can arise in several ways:
The partners in a
relationship see the situation in completely different ways. What for the
adult is a very passionate, intense feeling, is for the boy just fun. Or the
adult is focused on playful, non-committed sex, while the boy is hungry for
affection and attachment.
A person
consciously structures the relationship on a certain modality, while
expecting that the expression of his feelings on another modality would be
more satisfying. We find this situation in relationships which on the
surface appear to be all fun and games, with one or both of the partners
denying the affective components of their interactions, not knowing how to
express them.
The men were first
encouraged to talk as freely as possible in detail about an actual relationship
they had with a boy. They were also asked to tell as much as possible about
meaningful relationships they had had in the past, both with boys and with
adults. I structured what was said in the modalities described. I then analyzed
with the men how conflicts between partners arise. First by misunderstanding the
others motives, second by wanting to get something in a relationship but not
being able to realize this. I explained the man-boy interaction as a form of
social skill based on a pattern of expectations of what one wants from an
interaction. In fact I tried to analyze the sexual scripts the men used in their
interactions and to contrast these with the ideas they had on interactions.
1. Eight males
defined the actual relationships they had had only within the fun and games
modality, describing in detail how important it was that the boys be playful,
sexually active, good-looking and extroverted. All these men had problems with
attachment and found it difficult to manage a long-term relationship with a boy.
They described the ideal relationship in terms of attachment, but they thought
it impossible to realize this with boys. It was explained to them how difficult
it is to realize emotional commitment in a relationship if one is only focused
on the sexual aspects of social interactions. They were asked to pay more
attention to the motives of the boys, and given examples of conflicts that can
arise between an adult
2. The other 12
men gave a lot of meaning to the affective modality in their relationships but
often felt frustrated because boys could not handle such a situation. I
explained to them the psychosexual development of adolescent boys and the way
most boys discover their sexual feelings and code them as heterosexual. So, it
was not strange that most boys had difficulty in relating sexuality and
affection in a man-boy relationship. I then presented possible conflicts to
them. This proved to be more successful with these men, as 10 reported that they
got more satisfaction out of their relationships; the other two were very
passionate in their feeling. Conflicts between them and their partners continued
because they expected the boys to return the feelings in the same way.
I believed that
with the procedures described it is possible to help a person get a coherent
sense of personal identity and to realize interactions with adolescent boys that
are satisfactory to both. At the same time. we have to realize that the social
stigma in sexual contacts between man and hoys makes it very difficult for both
to integrate this kind of relationship in their self-concept simply because the
partners must hide their motives and acts (sexual and nonsexual) from the
outside world. For, although non-sexual contacts are not forbidden, men and boys
often dare not do things together for fear that others will code all affective
behavior as queer, sissy or pedophile. Counseling and psychotherapy with
pedophiles are severely restricted by society's legal and moral views that
positive relationships between men and boys are not possible. This, of course,
is not a very pleasant conclusion for one who tries to help a person understand
and manage problems experienced as the most intense expression of their personal
being. One can only hope that in the course of time emotional relationships
between adults and children become socially accepted.
Although highly
speculative, it is necessary to rethink the meanings of sexuality , especially
if words such as homosexual find pedophile become global. As Tripp states in an
analysis of the homosexual matrix: "In the final analysis, what does it all
mean? - or does homosexuality have any special meaning'? Probably not. It is a
fact of life; the rest is interpretation and consequence" ('I'ripp, 1975,
p. 268).
Man-boy
relationships exist. They exist in many societies, in some severely tabooed, in
others freely admitted. Why do they continue to exist in our society despite
legal, moral and ethical sanctions'? In looking over my files and notes made
during the course of counseling, I realize the difference between these
relationships and heterosexual and homosexual relationships: All the men were
once boys and all these boys will be men in a couple of years. Tripp's
hypothesis states that there must be some tension between partners in order to
find each other interesting, fascinating and sexually attractive (Tripp,
p. 36). In the case of man-boy relationships, this tension is provided by the
completely different perspective of two different generations.
The boys are
fascinated by the idea of what it is to be a man and the man's fascination is
over what he lost in becoming an adult. This can function as a trigger for an
emotional relationship that eventually is expressed sexually. Regardless of the
moral, ethical or legal context, this tension is present in all man-boy
encounters, or, in a broader context, in all encounters between persons who
differ considerably in age. Although in our society emotional relationships
between generations are not reinforced, the tension and the fascination exists
and man-boy relationships arc just one way of resolving it.
If this line of reasoning is correct, sex researchers should not only concentrate on the possible damage of a "pedophile" relationship, but should also take into account the (non-sexual) profits for both partners involved.
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