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Human Rights and the Denial of Sexual Freedom
René Guyon had the following text privately printed in Bangkok in the form of a rather flimsy brochure. He then sent it to all European and American sexologists whose addresses he knew. [...] As a public service, we are here providing the full text of our own copy. - Ipce.
[...] Human dignity is no more affected by sexual acts than it is by individual preferences in food or in recreation. It is an infantile stratagem of the puritans to pretend that there is any "indignity" in living Sexually outside the range of their childish and inexperienced conceptions. [...]
Modern men and women proclaim and loudly repeat that they no longer wish to be slaves. Yet the anti-sexual mores and laws have established for them a servitude from which they suffer at all ages of their lives. They are the slaves of the prohibitory laws that govern them. [...]
The Sexual Freedom which I have proposed is that which rests firmly upon the reciprocal consent of the parties involved in the sexual act or any of its varieties. [...]
René Guyon had the following text privately printed in Bangkok in the form of a rather flimsy brochure. He then sent it to all European and American sexologists whose addresses he knew. [...] As a public service, we are here providing the full text of our own copy. - Ipce.
[...] Human dignity is no more affected by sexual acts than it is by individual preferences in food or in recreation. It is an infantile stratagem of the puritans to pretend that there is any "indignity" in living Sexually outside the range of their childish and inexperienced conceptions. [...]
Modern men and women proclaim and loudly repeat that they no longer wish to be slaves. Yet the anti-sexual mores and laws have established for them a servitude from which they suffer at all ages of their lives. They are the slaves of the prohibitory laws that govern them. [...]
The Sexual Freedom which I have proposed is that which rests firmly upon the reciprocal consent of the parties involved in the sexual act or any of its varieties. [...]
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Architects of Oppression
The history of the child sex abuse witch hunt is chronicled from the times of Anthony Comstock and J. Edgar Hoover to the NCMEC of the present, including the influence of Kenneth Lanting, Ernie Allen and others.
The history of the child sex abuse witch hunt is chronicled from the times of Anthony Comstock and J. Edgar Hoover to the NCMEC of the present, including the influence of Kenneth Lanting, Ernie Allen and others.
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Finding The Right Rehab – A Buyer’s Guide
Do you or a loved one need addiction treatment for alcohol or drugs? Thousands blindly walk into addiction treatment in expensive rehab centres and find that the reality doesn't meet expectations. ...
If you're considering rehab treatment, first check our ultimate guide for complete instructions on how to find the right rehab centre for you. ...
A rehab stay normally follows the sequence Detox > Rehab > Aftercare.
Do you or a loved one need addiction treatment for alcohol or drugs? Thousands blindly walk into addiction treatment in expensive rehab centres and find that the reality doesn't meet expectations. ...
If you're considering rehab treatment, first check our ultimate guide for complete instructions on how to find the right rehab centre for you. ...
A rehab stay normally follows the sequence Detox > Rehab > Aftercare.
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Inside the Battle to Define Mental Illness,
Dec 27 2010
What the battle over DSM-5 should make clear to all of us—professional and layman alike—is that psychiatric diagnosis will probably always be laden with uncertainty, that the labels doctors give us for our suffering will forever be at least as much the product of negotiations around a conference table as investigations at a lab bench.
Allen Frances, lead editor of the fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (universally known as the DSM-IV), [...] wrote the book on mental illness, confessing that “these concepts are virtually impossible to define precisely with bright lines at the boundaries.”
What the battle over DSM-5 should make clear to all of us—professional and layman alike—is that psychiatric diagnosis will probably always be laden with uncertainty, that the labels doctors give us for our suffering will forever be at least as much the product of negotiations around a conference table as investigations at a lab bench.
Allen Frances, lead editor of the fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (universally known as the DSM-IV), [...] wrote the book on mental illness, confessing that “these concepts are virtually impossible to define precisely with bright lines at the boundaries.”
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Is Pedophilia a Mental Disorder?;
Archives of Sexual Behavior;
31(6), 467 - 471
Conclusion:
Sexual arousal patterns to children are subjectively reported and physiologically demonstrable in a substantial minority of “normal” people. Historically, they have been common and accepted in varying cultures at varying times. This does not mean that they must be accepted culturally and legally today.
The question is: Do they constitute a mental illness? Not unless we declare a lot of people in many cultures and in much of the past to be mentally ill. And certainly not by the criteria of DSM.
Conclusion:
Sexual arousal patterns to children are subjectively reported and physiologically demonstrable in a substantial minority of “normal” people. Historically, they have been common and accepted in varying cultures at varying times. This does not mean that they must be accepted culturally and legally today.
The question is: Do they constitute a mental illness? Not unless we declare a lot of people in many cultures and in much of the past to be mentally ill. And certainly not by the criteria of DSM.
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Sexual Preference for 14-Year-Olds as a Mental Disorder: You Can’t Be Serious!!;
Archives of Sexual Behavior (published on line);
2010, March 4,
This letter addresses two papers by the DSM-V Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Workgroup member Ray Blanchard published in this Journal. [...]
A series of biased terms or logically frail arguments are provided for including hebephilia as a mental disorder.
This letter addresses two papers by the DSM-V Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Workgroup member Ray Blanchard published in this Journal. [...]
A series of biased terms or logically frail arguments are provided for including hebephilia as a mental disorder.
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Hebephilia is a Mental Disorder?
The proposed inclusion of a hebephilic sexual orientation (early pubescent males and/or females) in DSM-5 compromises the scientific credibility of psychiatry. Moralism about the age of an acceptable sexual partner drives this proposal. It ignores common patterns of sexual arousal, cultural variability, and historic precedents. It blurs the domains of psychiatry and law. The age of sexual consent is 14 in much of Europe. An example of the new "mentally disordered" would be a 19 year old with a consenting 14 year old. Where sexual interaction is legally accepted, but pathologized as mental disorder, psychiatry attempts to act as an agent of social control.
The proposed inclusion of a hebephilic sexual orientation (early pubescent males and/or females) in DSM-5 compromises the scientific credibility of psychiatry. Moralism about the age of an acceptable sexual partner drives this proposal. It ignores common patterns of sexual arousal, cultural variability, and historic precedents. It blurs the domains of psychiatry and law. The age of sexual consent is 14 in much of Europe. An example of the new "mentally disordered" would be a 19 year old with a consenting 14 year old. Where sexual interaction is legally accepted, but pathologized as mental disorder, psychiatry attempts to act as an agent of social control.
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The Trauma Myth;
Archives of Sexual Behavior
Book review of: The Trauma Myth, By Susan A. Clancy. Basic Books, New York, 2009.
The headline, press release, book title message trumpeted here is: Most children who experience sexual contact with adults are not traumatized at the time of the experience. [...]
Nevertheless, Clancy repeatedly reminds us how evil this non-traumatic (at the time) experience actually is. This moral mantra is identified as the catalyst of later trauma: ‘‘It is the act of sexual abuse and not the damage it causes that makes it wrong’’ (p. 185)
Book review of: The Trauma Myth, By Susan A. Clancy. Basic Books, New York, 2009.
The headline, press release, book title message trumpeted here is: Most children who experience sexual contact with adults are not traumatized at the time of the experience. [...]
Nevertheless, Clancy repeatedly reminds us how evil this non-traumatic (at the time) experience actually is. This moral mantra is identified as the catalyst of later trauma: ‘‘It is the act of sexual abuse and not the damage it causes that makes it wrong’’ (p. 185)
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Goodbye To All That
"The intimacy that frequently took place was very seldom between an older boy and the object of his affection - that would have spoiled the romantic illusion - but almost always between boys of the same age who were not in love, and used each other as convenient sex-instruments. So the atmosphere was always heavy with romance of a conventional early-Victorian type, complicated by cynicism and foulness."
"The school consisted of about six hundred boys, whose chief interests were games [sports] and romantic friendships."
"The intimacy that frequently took place was very seldom between an older boy and the object of his affection - that would have spoiled the romantic illusion - but almost always between boys of the same age who were not in love, and used each other as convenient sex-instruments. So the atmosphere was always heavy with romance of a conventional early-Victorian type, complicated by cynicism and foulness."
"The school consisted of about six hundred boys, whose chief interests were games [sports] and romantic friendships."
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Sexuality, Youth Protection & Human Rights
The study examines the extent to which common sexual offences concerning minors do protect this proposed comprehensive right to sexual self-determination. The analysis is based upon the findings of natural and social science as well as an extensive and detailed international survey of national legal provisions.
The study examines the extent to which common sexual offences concerning minors do protect this proposed comprehensive right to sexual self-determination. The analysis is based upon the findings of natural and social science as well as an extensive and detailed international survey of national legal provisions.
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The 17-year-old Child An Absurdity of the Late 20th Century
No language in the world ever used the term “child” for persons beyond their early teens. No person beyond its early teens is a “child”.
It was the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 which first did away with the distinction between children and adolescents and labelled all minors under 18 “child” (Art. 1).
The European Commission took this concept over into the criminal law area when it proposed an EU-Framework Decision on Combating the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Child Pornography in December 2000. This framework-decision obliges all the member states of the European Union to create certain sexual offences which goes far beyond what is known in that area in any European state so far.
The proposal of the Commission defined as “child” every person up to its 18th birthday (Art. 1 lit. a). It did not differentiate in any way between various age groups, i.e. it did not distinguish between children on the one hand and adolescents on the other. The proposal treated a 17-year-old young man in the same way as a 5 year old child.
This implementation of the same criteria for sexual protection and abuse to a five-year-old child and a 17-year-old adolescent leads to absurd and dangerous consequences.
No language in the world ever used the term “child” for persons beyond their early teens. No person beyond its early teens is a “child”.
It was the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 which first did away with the distinction between children and adolescents and labelled all minors under 18 “child” (Art. 1).
The European Commission took this concept over into the criminal law area when it proposed an EU-Framework Decision on Combating the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Child Pornography in December 2000. This framework-decision obliges all the member states of the European Union to create certain sexual offences which goes far beyond what is known in that area in any European state so far.
The proposal of the Commission defined as “child” every person up to its 18th birthday (Art. 1 lit. a). It did not differentiate in any way between various age groups, i.e. it did not distinguish between children on the one hand and adolescents on the other. The proposal treated a 17-year-old young man in the same way as a 5 year old child.
This implementation of the same criteria for sexual protection and abuse to a five-year-old child and a 17-year-old adolescent leads to absurd and dangerous consequences.
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Sexual consent and human rights;
Thymos;
4(2), 99-102,
Oct 01 2010
The basic human right to sexual autonomy and self-determination encompasses two sides: it enshrines both the right to engage in wanted sexuality on the one hand, and the right to be free and protected from unwanted sexuality, from sexual abuse and sexual violence on the other.
This concept elaborated by the European Court of Human Rights, in the light of European legal consensus, suggests that the age of consent for sexual relations (outside of relationships of authority and outside of pornography and prostitution) should be set between 12 and 16 years. In any event the age of criminal responsibility should be the same as the age of sexual consent.
The basic human right to sexual autonomy and self-determination encompasses two sides: it enshrines both the right to engage in wanted sexuality on the one hand, and the right to be free and protected from unwanted sexuality, from sexual abuse and sexual violence on the other.
This concept elaborated by the European Court of Human Rights, in the light of European legal consensus, suggests that the age of consent for sexual relations (outside of relationships of authority and outside of pornography and prostitution) should be set between 12 and 16 years. In any event the age of criminal responsibility should be the same as the age of sexual consent.
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Statistics Laundering: false and fantastic figures,
Jan 03 2010
A very critical and well documented description of the myths, claimed to be "statistics", about child pornography and child abuse.
A very critical and well documented description of the myths, claimed to be "statistics", about child pornography and child abuse.
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Childhood Sexuality & Paedophilia;
Gay Left A Gay Socialist Journal, Number 8, Summer 1979;
2 pp
I have argued that it is vital to see this issue in its class context, to see its place in the contradictory structures of society as a whole and its relation to the power of the ruling class. Seen in this way, it is evident that the questions of child sexuality and paedophilia cannot be solved except by a massive social and political struggle. This is in the first place the struggle of young people themselves, whose rebellion has made child sexuality a political issue.
The oppression of children and young people, and in a secondary way that of paedophiles, is a cruel oppression, and the struggle against it cannot be 'managed' or postponed.
I have argued that it is vital to see this issue in its class context, to see its place in the contradictory structures of society as a whole and its relation to the power of the ruling class. Seen in this way, it is evident that the questions of child sexuality and paedophilia cannot be solved except by a massive social and political struggle. This is in the first place the struggle of young people themselves, whose rebellion has made child sexuality a political issue.
The oppression of children and young people, and in a secondary way that of paedophiles, is a cruel oppression, and the struggle against it cannot be 'managed' or postponed.
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Deciphering the Ambiguous Menace of Sexuality for the Innocence of Childhood
This article examines how late modern Western society/culture deals with the utterly despised phenomenon of paedophilia. It will be argued there are ambiguous factors and forces, which are an inherent part of mainstream culture and the wider social fabric, that make an unequivocal stand against sexuality interfering with children somewhat hypocritical. The zealous efforts in battling sexual child molesters as the primordial danger for the innocence of childhood are seen as a strategy for overt redemption. A hidden agenda is detected by recovering complicit support from a diverse range of adjacent sources that defies the genuineness of guarding the sexual innocence of children.
The perversions that command the greatest attention and/or intensity of response are those whose incomprehensibility is lessened by a diminishing of differences that certify their very status as perversion. In other words, attention is paid to those perversions that begin to appear on the shadowy borders of plausibility and, as a result, where the increased scrutiny for signs of such taint in others occasions a similar scrutiny of the self.
This article examines how late modern Western society/culture deals with the utterly despised phenomenon of paedophilia. It will be argued there are ambiguous factors and forces, which are an inherent part of mainstream culture and the wider social fabric, that make an unequivocal stand against sexuality interfering with children somewhat hypocritical. The zealous efforts in battling sexual child molesters as the primordial danger for the innocence of childhood are seen as a strategy for overt redemption. A hidden agenda is detected by recovering complicit support from a diverse range of adjacent sources that defies the genuineness of guarding the sexual innocence of children.
The perversions that command the greatest attention and/or intensity of response are those whose incomprehensibility is lessened by a diminishing of differences that certify their very status as perversion. In other words, attention is paid to those perversions that begin to appear on the shadowy borders of plausibility and, as a result, where the increased scrutiny for signs of such taint in others occasions a similar scrutiny of the self.
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Sex Offenders: The Modern Day Leper,
Mar 27 2009
I want to tell you about Scott, a friend of mine who lives in the upstate of South Carolina. After a year and a half of being a modern day leper, he finally agreed to my interview. No, Scott does not have Hansen's disease. However, he has been shunned and forced to live on the edges of society, similar to the lepers of Biblical times.
I want to tell you about Scott, a friend of mine who lives in the upstate of South Carolina. After a year and a half of being a modern day leper, he finally agreed to my interview. No, Scott does not have Hansen's disease. However, he has been shunned and forced to live on the edges of society, similar to the lepers of Biblical times.
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Paedophiles in Society: Reflecting on Sexuality, Abuse and Hope;
243 pp
This book is not like any other book you may have read on paedophiles, or adult sexual attraction to children, or child protection. It is not about the medical, forensic, psychological, psychiatric, legal or criminological aspects of these phenomena.
Those issues are adequately dealt with in other texts. Instead, this book is about ordinariness, about culture and society around us and about how people in everyday life think about and make sense of men being sexually attracted to children
(the book says something too about women sexually attracted to children but the focus is predominantly on men).
This book is not like any other book you may have read on paedophiles, or adult sexual attraction to children, or child protection. It is not about the medical, forensic, psychological, psychiatric, legal or criminological aspects of these phenomena.
Those issues are adequately dealt with in other texts. Instead, this book is about ordinariness, about culture and society around us and about how people in everyday life think about and make sense of men being sexually attracted to children
(the book says something too about women sexually attracted to children but the focus is predominantly on men).
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How can we prevent child abuse if we don't understand paedophilia?;
Independent Voices (UK),
Jan 07 2013
If we want to keep children safe from sexual harm, then surely knowing what we’re dealing with would be a good first step. [...]
What gets a bit more complicated is distinguishing between paedophilia (the sexual attraction) and child sexual abuse (adult sexual contact with children below the legal age of consent). Paedophilia is, strictly speaking, in a separate conceptual category to child sexual abuse, although in everyday life the word ‘paedophile’ is typically taken to mean a person (usually a man) who has sexually offended against a child. [...]
The first step is to try and work out how many paedophiles there are.
[...] we would be therefore looking at around one in five of all the men we know having some degree of sexual attraction to children. [...]
Some people experience such sexual desires but don’t act upon them. Perhaps, for them, in a sex-saturated society, that’s quite an achievement. We need to be able to acknowledge and understand their self-control.
Independent Voices is the Independent newspaper's online blogging site. The article didn't actually appear in the paper (as fas as I know).
If we want to keep children safe from sexual harm, then surely knowing what we’re dealing with would be a good first step. [...]
What gets a bit more complicated is distinguishing between paedophilia (the sexual attraction) and child sexual abuse (adult sexual contact with children below the legal age of consent). Paedophilia is, strictly speaking, in a separate conceptual category to child sexual abuse, although in everyday life the word ‘paedophile’ is typically taken to mean a person (usually a man) who has sexually offended against a child. [...]
The first step is to try and work out how many paedophiles there are.
[...] we would be therefore looking at around one in five of all the men we know having some degree of sexual attraction to children. [...]
Some people experience such sexual desires but don’t act upon them. Perhaps, for them, in a sex-saturated society, that’s quite an achievement. We need to be able to acknowledge and understand their self-control.
Independent Voices is the Independent newspaper's online blogging site. The article didn't actually appear in the paper (as fas as I know).
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Finding Children Sexually Attractive,
Mar 01 2013
This booklet is for anyone who finds that they are sexually attracted to children. In it, people talk in their own words about their own experiences and provide advice on how to handle this situation.
I hope you will find this booklet encouraging, helpful and inspiring! [...]
This booklet will provide you with a route-map for handling this situation, with examples of people who have been dealing competently with their sexual feelings for many years.
This booklet is based on research.
This booklet is for anyone who finds that they are sexually attracted to children. In it, people talk in their own words about their own experiences and provide advice on how to handle this situation.
I hope you will find this booklet encouraging, helpful and inspiring! [...]
This booklet will provide you with a route-map for handling this situation, with examples of people who have been dealing competently with their sexual feelings for many years.
This booklet is based on research.
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Understanding and Addressing Sexual Attraction to Children: A Study of Paedophiles in Contemporary Society;
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This ground-breaking book demystifies the field of adult sexual attraction to children, countering the emotionality surrounding the topic of paedophilia in the popular media by careful presentation of research data and interview material. Addressing how we can work together to reduce sexual offending in this population, this text bridges the gulf in understanding between those who want to protect children and those who feel sexual attraction to children – and recognises that they are sometimes the same people.
This ground-breaking book demystifies the field of adult sexual attraction to children, countering the emotionality surrounding the topic of paedophilia in the popular media by careful presentation of research data and interview material. Addressing how we can work together to reduce sexual offending in this population, this text bridges the gulf in understanding between those who want to protect children and those who feel sexual attraction to children – and recognises that they are sometimes the same people.
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A Secular Trend toward Earlier Male Sexual Maturity
Evidence from Shifting Ages of Male Young Adult Mortality
Improved nutrition and disease environments have generated substantial increases in human body size over recent centuries. A decline in the age of menarche, the measuring point for the onset of female sexual maturity, has also been well documented.
A similar shift to earlier ages of sexual maturity for males has been hypothesized, but evidence of a long-term trend has been elusive. The secular trend toward younger menarche can be documented because individual health records recording first menstruation can be compared over time.
For males, however, no such comparable medical evidence exists.
The research reported here takes an indirect approach to measuring males' age of sexual maturity.
Evidence from Shifting Ages of Male Young Adult Mortality
Improved nutrition and disease environments have generated substantial increases in human body size over recent centuries. A decline in the age of menarche, the measuring point for the onset of female sexual maturity, has also been well documented.
A similar shift to earlier ages of sexual maturity for males has been hypothesized, but evidence of a long-term trend has been elusive. The secular trend toward younger menarche can be documented because individual health records recording first menstruation can be compared over time.
For males, however, no such comparable medical evidence exists.
The research reported here takes an indirect approach to measuring males' age of sexual maturity.
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False memory syndrome: As women bring lawsuits, therapists are having to pay for their mistakes.
Valerie decided to enter therapy. ...
By the end of the first hypnotherapy session, Jenks came to believe that she'd been sexually abused not only by her family but also by friends and strangers. ...
Over the course of six months, Jenks was led through a series of so-called repressed childhood memories that included specific details of being sexually molested. ...
The doctor then drew out further memories, including one of her being a member of her grandparents' satanic cult. She was led to believe she had helped torture and kill babies and children. ...
Valerie decided to enter therapy. ...
By the end of the first hypnotherapy session, Jenks came to believe that she'd been sexually abused not only by her family but also by friends and strangers. ...
Over the course of six months, Jenks was led through a series of so-called repressed childhood memories that included specific details of being sexually molested. ...
The doctor then drew out further memories, including one of her being a member of her grandparents' satanic cult. She was led to believe she had helped torture and kill babies and children. ...
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Thoughts on NAMBLA
Alan Ginsberg describes the reason why he joined NAMBLA. He also describes the task NAMBLA has to fulfil.
Alan Ginsberg describes the reason why he joined NAMBLA. He also describes the task NAMBLA has to fulfil.
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JM Barrie now seen as "a monster",
Aug 10 2008
Comment on (the review of) Faber's book about J M Barrie.
The author refers to the era and the culture J M Barrie lived in. In 'Peter Pan' he broke with the dominant culture that saw children only as angels.
Comment on (the review of) Faber's book about J M Barrie.
The author refers to the era and the culture J M Barrie lived in. In 'Peter Pan' he broke with the dominant culture that saw children only as angels.
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Chemical interventions and ethical side-effects: from pedophilia to depression. Where are the ethical boundaries of treating mental illness by neurochemical means?
Increasing biochemical knowledge of sexual functionality and attraction has allowed researchers to tentatively deduce a chemical cause for pedophilia and initiate various biochemical treatments for this condition. The availability of such knowledge, along with the development of new pharmaceutical treatment options, opens up new legal and ethical questions regarding how to chemically treat sexual criminality and how we, as a society, should reflect upon the use of chemicals in the treatment for other forms of deviant behaviour.
[... D]espite the early evidence of effectiveness in treatment, it is unclear how SSRIs work in relation to the treatment of pedophilia. [...]
A further dilemma raised by the chemical treatment of pedophilia is the expectation of a permanent cure for this form of sexuality. Studies have demonstrated that pharmacological interventions do not change the pedophile's basic sexual orientation toward children. [...]
However, caution is required to make sure that we do not find ourselves dis-enhancing or normalising traits that are simply the tail ends of a normal range of personality traits
Increasing biochemical knowledge of sexual functionality and attraction has allowed researchers to tentatively deduce a chemical cause for pedophilia and initiate various biochemical treatments for this condition. The availability of such knowledge, along with the development of new pharmaceutical treatment options, opens up new legal and ethical questions regarding how to chemically treat sexual criminality and how we, as a society, should reflect upon the use of chemicals in the treatment for other forms of deviant behaviour.
[... D]espite the early evidence of effectiveness in treatment, it is unclear how SSRIs work in relation to the treatment of pedophilia. [...]
A further dilemma raised by the chemical treatment of pedophilia is the expectation of a permanent cure for this form of sexuality. Studies have demonstrated that pharmacological interventions do not change the pedophile's basic sexual orientation toward children. [...]
However, caution is required to make sure that we do not find ourselves dis-enhancing or normalising traits that are simply the tail ends of a normal range of personality traits