;
McMartin Pre-Schooler: 'I Lied'
A long-delayed apology from one of the accusers in the notorious McMartin Pre-School molestation case. ...
My parents would ask questions: "Did the teachers ever do things to you?" They talked about Ray Buckey, whom I had never met. I don't even have any recollection of him attending the school when I was going there. ...
"I'm not going to get out of here unless I tell them what they want to hear." ...
I remember them asking extremely uncomfortable questions about whether Ray touched me and about all the teachers and what they did — and I remember telling them nothing happened to me. ...
Anytime I would give them an answer that they didn't like, they would ask again and encourage me to give them the answer they were looking for. It was really obvious what they wanted. ...
After she [my mother] asked me a hundred times, I probably said yeah ...
I remember breaking down and crying. I felt everyone knew I was lying. ...
"Nothing happened! Nothing ever happened to me at that school." She [my mother] didn't believe me. ... That one night skewed our relationship.
A long-delayed apology from one of the accusers in the notorious McMartin Pre-School molestation case. ...
My parents would ask questions: "Did the teachers ever do things to you?" They talked about Ray Buckey, whom I had never met. I don't even have any recollection of him attending the school when I was going there. ...
"I'm not going to get out of here unless I tell them what they want to hear." ...
I remember them asking extremely uncomfortable questions about whether Ray touched me and about all the teachers and what they did — and I remember telling them nothing happened to me. ...
Anytime I would give them an answer that they didn't like, they would ask again and encourage me to give them the answer they were looking for. It was really obvious what they wanted. ...
After she [my mother] asked me a hundred times, I probably said yeah ...
I remember breaking down and crying. I felt everyone knew I was lying. ...
"Nothing happened! Nothing ever happened to me at that school." She [my mother] didn't believe me. ... That one night skewed our relationship.
;
Pedophiles
The Clogo pamphlet created by child lovers to let the World know about the pedophilia phenomena, once to be found in the now defunct clogo.org website.
This pamphlet is spread all over the world by people who share the hope that more insight into pedophilia and pedophiles and a more realistic attitude towards pedophilia will contribute to a more peaceful world. We encourage everyone who agrees with the content of this pamphlet to spread it.
The Clogo pamphlet created by child lovers to let the World know about the pedophilia phenomena, once to be found in the now defunct clogo.org website.
This pamphlet is spread all over the world by people who share the hope that more insight into pedophilia and pedophiles and a more realistic attitude towards pedophilia will contribute to a more peaceful world. We encourage everyone who agrees with the content of this pamphlet to spread it.
;
Reconstructing Paedophilia;
133 pp
There is a growing need for research to facilitate a better understanding of paedophilia. This study aims to make a contribution in this regard by providing an analysis of current discourses in paedophilia research as well as a phenomenological exploration of how the male paedophile constructs his close relationships with children.
In an attempt to circumvent these obstacles, it is argued that the psychological need to form close relationships is a universal one. On this basis the central components of close relationships are presented as a conceptual framework. These components are then applied to an exploratory phenomenological investigation and analysis of the ways in which three paedophilic men interpret, understand and construct their relationships with children.
There is a growing need for research to facilitate a better understanding of paedophilia. This study aims to make a contribution in this regard by providing an analysis of current discourses in paedophilia research as well as a phenomenological exploration of how the male paedophile constructs his close relationships with children.
In an attempt to circumvent these obstacles, it is argued that the psychological need to form close relationships is a universal one. On this basis the central components of close relationships are presented as a conceptual framework. These components are then applied to an exploratory phenomenological investigation and analysis of the ways in which three paedophilic men interpret, understand and construct their relationships with children.
;
Socrates & I : Reflections On Childhood And Philosophy,
Mar 26 2004
The article explores the childhood of Socrates, born and raised in the ancient Greek culture. It may explain some specific characteristics of Socrates.
The author, born in 1941, reflects her own childhood, and ends with some questions.
The article explores the childhood of Socrates, born and raised in the ancient Greek culture. It may explain some specific characteristics of Socrates.
The author, born in 1941, reflects her own childhood, and ends with some questions.
;
The Nature and Scope of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States,
Feb 01 2004
The study of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests and deacons resulting in this report was authorized and paid for by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) pursuant to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (Charter) unanimously adopted by the USCCB at its June 2002 meeting. The Charter called for many responses to this victimization of minors within the Catholic Church.
Article 9 of the Charter provided for the creation of a lay body, the National Review Board, which was mandated (among other things) to commission a descriptive study of the nature and scope of the problem of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
Accordingly, the Board approached John Jay College of Criminal Justice to conduct such a study. The College assembled an experienced team of researchers with expertise in the areas of forensic psychology, criminology, and human behavior, and, working with the Board, formulated a methodology to address the study mandate.
Data collection commenced in March 2003, and ended in February 2004. The information contained in this report is based upon surveys provided by 195 dioceses, representing 98% all diocesan priests in the United States, and 140 religious communities, representing approximately 60% of religious communities and 80% of all religious priests.
The mandate for the study was to:
1. Examine the number and nature of allegations of sexual abuse of minors under the age of 18 by Catholic priests between 1950 and 2002.
2. Collect information about the alleged abusers, including official status in the church, age, number of victims, responses by the church and legal authorities to the allegations of abuse, and other characteristics of the alleged abusers.
3. Collect information about the characteristics of the alleged victims, the nature of their relationship to the alleged abusers, the nature of the abuse, and the time frame within which the allegations are reported.
4. Accumulate information about the financial impact of the abuse on the Church.
Three surveys provide the data for this study.
The full report contains more detailed and additional analyses related to the information provided above.
This report is descriptive in nature. Future reports will examine the relationships among the variables described here in more detail and will be multivariate and analytic in nature.
The study of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests and deacons resulting in this report was authorized and paid for by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) pursuant to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (Charter) unanimously adopted by the USCCB at its June 2002 meeting. The Charter called for many responses to this victimization of minors within the Catholic Church.
Article 9 of the Charter provided for the creation of a lay body, the National Review Board, which was mandated (among other things) to commission a descriptive study of the nature and scope of the problem of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
Accordingly, the Board approached John Jay College of Criminal Justice to conduct such a study. The College assembled an experienced team of researchers with expertise in the areas of forensic psychology, criminology, and human behavior, and, working with the Board, formulated a methodology to address the study mandate.
Data collection commenced in March 2003, and ended in February 2004. The information contained in this report is based upon surveys provided by 195 dioceses, representing 98% all diocesan priests in the United States, and 140 religious communities, representing approximately 60% of religious communities and 80% of all religious priests.
The mandate for the study was to:
1. Examine the number and nature of allegations of sexual abuse of minors under the age of 18 by Catholic priests between 1950 and 2002.
2. Collect information about the alleged abusers, including official status in the church, age, number of victims, responses by the church and legal authorities to the allegations of abuse, and other characteristics of the alleged abusers.
3. Collect information about the characteristics of the alleged victims, the nature of their relationship to the alleged abusers, the nature of the abuse, and the time frame within which the allegations are reported.
4. Accumulate information about the financial impact of the abuse on the Church.
Three surveys provide the data for this study.
The full report contains more detailed and additional analyses related to the information provided above.
This report is descriptive in nature. Future reports will examine the relationships among the variables described here in more detail and will be multivariate and analytic in nature.
;
Gidean feminist scholarship and victim feminists,
Jan 01 2004
The unknown author criticizes in an unknown source the book of Naomi Segal about André Gide. He or she especially criticizes her view on Greek pedastery, as well on Gide's love and life.
The unknown author criticizes in an unknown source the book of Naomi Segal about André Gide. He or she especially criticizes her view on Greek pedastery, as well on Gide's love and life.
;
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.
;
Childhood, Sexuality and Danger;
235 pp.
It is [...] a book about the modern discourse over sexual dangerousness as it relates to the abuse of minors [...] What is important is that my contributions lead readers to critically re-examine what they have been saying and doing in this field. [...]
My intention with this work is simply to provoke critical reflection -- which at times may be disquieting -- regarding how we see this problem, and how we respond to it. [...]
The majority of the experiences included by researchers in the category of abuse are not
committed by so-called pedophiles; and yet, the latter have been converted into the bogey-men of modernity. Those who love children - and who very rarely attack them -- undoubtedly lead a complicated existence; especially those who are attracted to prepubertal children, since society is not likely to allow them to live out these experiences in relative liberty and tranquility. We have a lot to learn -- as do they -- about how to permit them to live out and express those desires through channels that are more acceptable, and that cause fewer problems for both minors and society.
It is [...] a book about the modern discourse over sexual dangerousness as it relates to the abuse of minors [...] What is important is that my contributions lead readers to critically re-examine what they have been saying and doing in this field. [...]
My intention with this work is simply to provoke critical reflection -- which at times may be disquieting -- regarding how we see this problem, and how we respond to it. [...]
The majority of the experiences included by researchers in the category of abuse are not
committed by so-called pedophiles; and yet, the latter have been converted into the bogey-men of modernity. Those who love children - and who very rarely attack them -- undoubtedly lead a complicated existence; especially those who are attracted to prepubertal children, since society is not likely to allow them to live out these experiences in relative liberty and tranquility. We have a lot to learn -- as do they -- about how to permit them to live out and express those desires through channels that are more acceptable, and that cause fewer problems for both minors and society.
;
Fear: The Emotional Outcome Of Mass Media In America;
Hohonu;
2, 49-52
The mass media in America serves many functions that have had an array of effects on those exposed. Throughout time, technological innovations have given rise to the mass communications and media, leading to an escalation of its effects on the world’s people. The most important effect has been a psychological shift to a constant state of fear due to media exposure.
Fear of black men,
fear of airplane crashes,
fears of violence amongst children, and
fears of cultural domination
The mass media in America serves many functions that have had an array of effects on those exposed. Throughout time, technological innovations have given rise to the mass communications and media, leading to an escalation of its effects on the world’s people. The most important effect has been a psychological shift to a constant state of fear due to media exposure.
Fear of black men,
fear of airplane crashes,
fears of violence amongst children, and
fears of cultural domination
;
Feminism, Child Sexual Abuse, and the Erasure of Child Sexuality;
GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies;
10(2), 141 - 177
In the 1970s the child protection lobby and feminism together spearheaded a painstaking interrogation and politicization of the social problem of child sexual abuse.
...
By the 1980s a powerful discourse of child sexual abuse was working hard to expose the widespread problem of incest in the patriarchal family and was vigorously contesting legal definitions of abuse that ignored or downplayed nonpenetrative sexual acts.
...
The myth of stranger danger was found ....
...
In a significant reversal of the common twentieth-century tendency of victim
blaming, the innocent, powerless, blameless, and unconsenting “victim” and “survivor” of sexual abuse became key cultural terms.
...
The “rediscovery” of child sexual abuse — perhaps more accurately called
a “reinterpretation” — has been profoundly important for Western culture.
...
This essay suggests that, despite admirable efforts to empower children and protect them from the harmful consequences of sexual abuse, they have in one particularly notable way been disempowered and disarmed by the child sexual abuse movement.
...
I argue that the discourse of child sexual abuse has expanded at the expense of a discourse of child sexuality. Rigorous attempts to expose the reality and dynamics of child sexual abuse have been aided, if not in part made possible, by equally rigorous attempts to conceal, repress, or ignore the reality and dynamics of child sexuality.
... ... ... ... ... ...
Queer theory offers an important corrective to the culturally prevailing linear and sequential model of age stratification and sexual development. In its psychoanalytic form, queer theory has inherited from Freud the idea that sexuality involves not a chronological unfolding of distinct stages of sexual development but an interminable interplay between these stages.
...
In a contemporary context of escalating anxiety and panic surrounding pedophilia and child sexual abuse, it is increasingly difficult, and perhaps for this reason all the more imperative, for queer studies to problematize the cultural and relational construction of age, child sexuality, and subjectivity.
In the 1970s the child protection lobby and feminism together spearheaded a painstaking interrogation and politicization of the social problem of child sexual abuse.
...
By the 1980s a powerful discourse of child sexual abuse was working hard to expose the widespread problem of incest in the patriarchal family and was vigorously contesting legal definitions of abuse that ignored or downplayed nonpenetrative sexual acts.
...
The myth of stranger danger was found ....
...
In a significant reversal of the common twentieth-century tendency of victim
blaming, the innocent, powerless, blameless, and unconsenting “victim” and “survivor” of sexual abuse became key cultural terms.
...
The “rediscovery” of child sexual abuse — perhaps more accurately called
a “reinterpretation” — has been profoundly important for Western culture.
...
This essay suggests that, despite admirable efforts to empower children and protect them from the harmful consequences of sexual abuse, they have in one particularly notable way been disempowered and disarmed by the child sexual abuse movement.
...
I argue that the discourse of child sexual abuse has expanded at the expense of a discourse of child sexuality. Rigorous attempts to expose the reality and dynamics of child sexual abuse have been aided, if not in part made possible, by equally rigorous attempts to conceal, repress, or ignore the reality and dynamics of child sexuality.
... ... ... ... ... ...
Queer theory offers an important corrective to the culturally prevailing linear and sequential model of age stratification and sexual development. In its psychoanalytic form, queer theory has inherited from Freud the idea that sexuality involves not a chronological unfolding of distinct stages of sexual development but an interminable interplay between these stages.
...
In a contemporary context of escalating anxiety and panic surrounding pedophilia and child sexual abuse, it is increasingly difficult, and perhaps for this reason all the more imperative, for queer studies to problematize the cultural and relational construction of age, child sexuality, and subjectivity.
;
Gay and Bisexual Men's Age-Discrepant Childhood Sexual Experiences;
The Journal of Sex Research;
41(4), 381-389
This study examined childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in gay and bisexual men. We compared
to evaluate which definition best accounted for problems in adjustment.
The sample consisted of 192 gay and bisexual men recruited from a randomly selected community sample. Men's descriptions of their CSA experiences [id est: CSE] were coded from taped interviews.
Fifty men (26%) reported sexual experiences before age 17 with someone at least 5 years older, constituting CSA according to the age-based definition.
These findings suggest that a perception-based CSA definition [CSE] more accurately represents harmful CSA experiences in gay and bisexual men than the conventional age-based definition [CSA].
In conclusion,
... the standard convention of defining age-based childhood sexual abuse as uniformly negative, harmful, and coercive may not accurately represent gay and bisexual men's sexual experiences.
Combining perception-based CSA experience [id est: CSE] with noncoercive, nonnegative, nonabusive experiences, as the age-based definition does, presents a misleading picture of childhood sexual abuse.
An age-based CSA definition inflates prevalence rates of childhood sexual abuse and inaccurately suggests that the maladjustment associated with perception-based CSA [id est CSE] experiences applies to all childhood age-discrepant sexual encounters.
In contrast, these results suggest that gay men with histories of nonnegative, noncoercive childhood sexual experiences [CSE] with older people are as well adjusted as those without histories of age-discrepant childhood sexual experiences.
However, both definitions of CSA [age-based CSA vs experience based CSE] account for only a very small proportion of the variance in adult adjustment problems.
Contrary to popular belief, negative outcomes do not inevitably follow from gay and bisexual men's childhood age-discrepant sexual encounters.
This study examined childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in gay and bisexual men. We compared
- the conventional definition of CSA based on age difference with
- a modified definition of CSA based on perception [CSE - Child Sexual Experience]
to evaluate which definition best accounted for problems in adjustment.
The sample consisted of 192 gay and bisexual men recruited from a randomly selected community sample. Men's descriptions of their CSA experiences [id est: CSE] were coded from taped interviews.
Fifty men (26%) reported sexual experiences before age 17 with someone at least 5 years older, constituting CSA according to the age-based definition.
- Of these men, 24 (49%) perceived their sexual experiences as negative, coercive, and/or abusive and thus were categorized as perception-based CSA. Participants with perception-based CSA experiences reported higher levels of maladjustment than non-CSA participants.
- Participants with age-based CSA experiences who perceived their sexual experience as non-negative, noncoercive, and nonabusive [51%?] were similar to non-CSA participants in their levels of adjustment.
These findings suggest that a perception-based CSA definition [CSE] more accurately represents harmful CSA experiences in gay and bisexual men than the conventional age-based definition [CSA].
In conclusion,
... the standard convention of defining age-based childhood sexual abuse as uniformly negative, harmful, and coercive may not accurately represent gay and bisexual men's sexual experiences.
Combining perception-based CSA experience [id est: CSE] with noncoercive, nonnegative, nonabusive experiences, as the age-based definition does, presents a misleading picture of childhood sexual abuse.
An age-based CSA definition inflates prevalence rates of childhood sexual abuse and inaccurately suggests that the maladjustment associated with perception-based CSA [id est CSE] experiences applies to all childhood age-discrepant sexual encounters.
In contrast, these results suggest that gay men with histories of nonnegative, noncoercive childhood sexual experiences [CSE] with older people are as well adjusted as those without histories of age-discrepant childhood sexual experiences.
However, both definitions of CSA [age-based CSA vs experience based CSE] account for only a very small proportion of the variance in adult adjustment problems.
Contrary to popular belief, negative outcomes do not inevitably follow from gay and bisexual men's childhood age-discrepant sexual encounters.
;
Intelligence, Memory, and Handedness in Pedophilia
A sample of 473 male patients with pedophilia (assessed by the patients’ sexual history and penile response in the laboratory to standardized, erotic stimuli) or other problematic sexual interests or behaviors received brief neuropsychological assessments. [...]
Pedophilia showed significant negative correlations with IQ and immediate
and delayed recall memory. Pedophilia was also related to non-right-handedness even after covarying age and IQ.
These results suggest that pedophilia is linked to early neurodevelopmental perturbations.
Given is the article in PDF format, and Abstract and some quotes in html format, followed by a Comment by PhD F. Gieles.
A sample of 473 male patients with pedophilia (assessed by the patients’ sexual history and penile response in the laboratory to standardized, erotic stimuli) or other problematic sexual interests or behaviors received brief neuropsychological assessments. [...]
Pedophilia showed significant negative correlations with IQ and immediate
and delayed recall memory. Pedophilia was also related to non-right-handedness even after covarying age and IQ.
These results suggest that pedophilia is linked to early neurodevelopmental perturbations.
Given is the article in PDF format, and Abstract and some quotes in html format, followed by a Comment by PhD F. Gieles.
;
Paedophilia and the Misrecognition of Desire
This article is not concerned with adjudicating the question of whether or not the cultural incidence of paedophilia has increased. It aims instead to interrogate the conceptual ground upon which recent efforts to identify the paedophile and paedophilic activity have pivoted.
The hegemonic domain for the propagation of paedophilia research has been the field of psychopathology. I argue that this field has profoundly 'misrecognised' paedophilia. In outlining this, I propose that the study of abnormal psychology must engage psychoanalytic, feminist, and deconstructive critiques of identity, and that it must resist the temptation to affix an ontological essence to the 'paedophile'. I conclude with the suggestion that only when research methodologies take seriously the question of the prevalence of intergenerational sexual desire in the general population can we even begin to understand paedophilia. [...]
I would argue that the major obstacle in the field of paedophilia research is itself a methodological reliance on an epistemology of identity and a politics of identification ('I am this' / 's/he is that').
The least productive way of approaching the problem is to identify the quintessential paedophile character profile or essentialised 'type'. [...]
Behaviour and desire do not equal identity.
This article is not concerned with adjudicating the question of whether or not the cultural incidence of paedophilia has increased. It aims instead to interrogate the conceptual ground upon which recent efforts to identify the paedophile and paedophilic activity have pivoted.
The hegemonic domain for the propagation of paedophilia research has been the field of psychopathology. I argue that this field has profoundly 'misrecognised' paedophilia. In outlining this, I propose that the study of abnormal psychology must engage psychoanalytic, feminist, and deconstructive critiques of identity, and that it must resist the temptation to affix an ontological essence to the 'paedophile'. I conclude with the suggestion that only when research methodologies take seriously the question of the prevalence of intergenerational sexual desire in the general population can we even begin to understand paedophilia. [...]
I would argue that the major obstacle in the field of paedophilia research is itself a methodological reliance on an epistemology of identity and a politics of identification ('I am this' / 's/he is that').
The least productive way of approaching the problem is to identify the quintessential paedophile character profile or essentialised 'type'. [...]
Behaviour and desire do not equal identity.
;
Who was abused?;
The New York Times
There are several ways to view the small white house on Center Street in Bakersfield, Calif. [...] According to investigators, in the living room with brown carpeting and a TV, boys between the ages of 6 and 8 were made to pose for pornographic photos. [...]
Last January, Sampley and three other former accusers returned to the courthouse where they had testified against Stoll. This time they came to say Stoll never molested them. [...]
Last January, Sampley and three other former accusers returned to the courthouse where they had testified against Stoll. This time they came to say Stoll never molested them. [... ... ...]
Meanwhile, Stoll had spent 15 years in prison. [...]
There are several ways to view the small white house on Center Street in Bakersfield, Calif. [...] According to investigators, in the living room with brown carpeting and a TV, boys between the ages of 6 and 8 were made to pose for pornographic photos. [...]
Last January, Sampley and three other former accusers returned to the courthouse where they had testified against Stoll. This time they came to say Stoll never molested them. [...]
Last January, Sampley and three other former accusers returned to the courthouse where they had testified against Stoll. This time they came to say Stoll never molested them. [... ... ...]
Meanwhile, Stoll had spent 15 years in prison. [...]
;
Child Abuse,
Oct 03 2003
Defining Abuse in Historical Context, Innocence and Abuse, Preventing and Prosecuting Child Abuse
Entry from Gale Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society
Child abuse, as a historical subject, is deeply problematic, since the concept of abuse is inevitably relative and can be only very tentatively applied across cultures and across centuries.
The watershed in the history of child abuse must be dated as recently as 1962, when child abuse received its modern formulation by the American medical establishment as the battered-child syndrome.
The attribution of innocence implied the possibility of violation, and the necessity of protection.
A full generation after "The Battered-Child Syndrome" was first published, there is general public recognition that various forms of child abuse are pervasive – but also an awareness that abuse may remain largely concealed within the domestic walls that protect family privacy.
Furthermore, just as treatment of children in the historical past may appear abusive by current standards, so there is also a divergence of perspectives within contemporary society about what exactly constitutes abuse.
For all these reasons, child abuse is a social problem that has been recognized but by no means resolved.
Defining Abuse in Historical Context, Innocence and Abuse, Preventing and Prosecuting Child Abuse
Entry from Gale Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society
Child abuse, as a historical subject, is deeply problematic, since the concept of abuse is inevitably relative and can be only very tentatively applied across cultures and across centuries.
The watershed in the history of child abuse must be dated as recently as 1962, when child abuse received its modern formulation by the American medical establishment as the battered-child syndrome.
The attribution of innocence implied the possibility of violation, and the necessity of protection.
A full generation after "The Battered-Child Syndrome" was first published, there is general public recognition that various forms of child abuse are pervasive – but also an awareness that abuse may remain largely concealed within the domestic walls that protect family privacy.
Furthermore, just as treatment of children in the historical past may appear abusive by current standards, so there is also a divergence of perspectives within contemporary society about what exactly constitutes abuse.
For all these reasons, child abuse is a social problem that has been recognized but by no means resolved.
;
Is the Pseudoscience Concept Useful for Clinical Psychology?;
The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice;
vol. 2, no. 2 (Fall/Winter 2003), ,
Jan 01 2003
Abstract:Talented entrepreneurs have been developing and marketing novel therapeutic methods, some touted as veritable miracle cures for diverse complaints.
This phenomenon has caught the attention of scientist-practitioners in psychology, many of whom criticize these approaches as “pseudo-scientific.” The purpose of this essay is to sketch a simpler, alternative approach to debunking dubious methods in clinical psychology. When therapeutic entrepreneurs make claims on behalf of their interventions, we should not waste our time trying to determine whether their interventions qualify as pseudo-scientific. Rather, we should ask them: How do you know that your intervention works? What is your evidence?
Abstract:Talented entrepreneurs have been developing and marketing novel therapeutic methods, some touted as veritable miracle cures for diverse complaints.
This phenomenon has caught the attention of scientist-practitioners in psychology, many of whom criticize these approaches as “pseudo-scientific.” The purpose of this essay is to sketch a simpler, alternative approach to debunking dubious methods in clinical psychology. When therapeutic entrepreneurs make claims on behalf of their interventions, we should not waste our time trying to determine whether their interventions qualify as pseudo-scientific. Rather, we should ask them: How do you know that your intervention works? What is your evidence?
;
Ethical Treatment for All Youth (Website)
This site documents how children and teenagers are severely stigmatized by a label that allows adults to do things to them that would be considered abusive and unethical in any other context. This occurs with little knowledge by the general public. Parents of the youth involved are too embarrassed or fearful to discuss it with others. The purpose of this site is to inform the public of what is happening, and to advocate for a much more humane and ethical approach.
This site documents how children and teenagers are severely stigmatized by a label that allows adults to do things to them that would be considered abusive and unethical in any other context. This occurs with little knowledge by the general public. Parents of the youth involved are too embarrassed or fearful to discuss it with others. The purpose of this site is to inform the public of what is happening, and to advocate for a much more humane and ethical approach.
;
Historicizing affect, psychoanalyzing history: pedophilia and the discourse of child sexuality;
Journal of Homosexuality;
46(Februari), 79 - 109
Within the last two decades in Australia, Britain, and the United States, we have seen a veritable explosion of cultural panic regarding the problem of pedophilia. Scarcely a day passes without some mention in the media of predatory pedophiles or organized pedophile networks. Many social constructionist historians and sociologists have described this incitement to discourse as indicative of a moral panic.
[...]
Here, I will suggest a repressed discourse of child sexuality is writ large. I will argue that the hegemonic discourse of pedophilia is contained largely within a neurotic structure and that many of our prevailing responses to pedophilia function as a way to avoid tackling crucial issues about the reality and trauma of childhood sexuality.
The question that concerns me in this article is: If this incitement to discourse is indicative of a moral panic, to what does the panic refer?
Within the last two decades in Australia, Britain, and the United States, we have seen a veritable explosion of cultural panic regarding the problem of pedophilia. Scarcely a day passes without some mention in the media of predatory pedophiles or organized pedophile networks. Many social constructionist historians and sociologists have described this incitement to discourse as indicative of a moral panic.
[...]
Here, I will suggest a repressed discourse of child sexuality is writ large. I will argue that the hegemonic discourse of pedophilia is contained largely within a neurotic structure and that many of our prevailing responses to pedophilia function as a way to avoid tackling crucial issues about the reality and trauma of childhood sexuality.
The question that concerns me in this article is: If this incitement to discourse is indicative of a moral panic, to what does the panic refer?
;
Promoting sexual health and responsible sexual behavior: an introduction.;
The Journal of Sex Research,
Feb 01 2002
We are at a unique juncture in history and have a rare opportunity to develop global, national, and community strategies to promote sexual health for the new century. This opportunity has been created by the fact that the world is experiencing a new sexual revolution and a public health imperative. Much like the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, it is a revolution fueled by incredible scientific advances, as well as dramatic social and economic change (...).
We also face a myriad of sexual health problems, which is creating an enormous burden on societies. These two factors are putting pressure on health ministries to develop comprehensive approaches to sexual health promotion.
We are at a unique juncture in history and have a rare opportunity to develop global, national, and community strategies to promote sexual health for the new century. This opportunity has been created by the fact that the world is experiencing a new sexual revolution and a public health imperative. Much like the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, it is a revolution fueled by incredible scientific advances, as well as dramatic social and economic change (...).
We also face a myriad of sexual health problems, which is creating an enormous burden on societies. These two factors are putting pressure on health ministries to develop comprehensive approaches to sexual health promotion.
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Childhood sexual experiences and the perception of abuse among Latino men who have sex with men;
The Journal of Sex Research;
39(3, 2002),
This paper is based on interviews with men who have had childhood sexual experiences with an older partner (CSEOP). At the time of the interview, some of these men felt that their experiences were childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and some did not.
There is a substantial amount of sexual activity at a young age with older partners that is not perceived to be abusive by the men who experienced it. For this sample of men, a perception of abuse is associated with coercion and the age of the child.
This paper is based on interviews with men who have had childhood sexual experiences with an older partner (CSEOP). At the time of the interview, some of these men felt that their experiences were childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and some did not.
There is a substantial amount of sexual activity at a young age with older partners that is not perceived to be abusive by the men who experienced it. For this sample of men, a perception of abuse is associated with coercion and the age of the child.
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The Dilemma of the Male Pedophile;
Archives of Sexual Behavior;
31(6), 473–477
The public and scientific debate on pedosexuality is heated one.We find urselves involved in a difficult balancing act that demands utmost care if we are to avoid,
on the one hand, playing down the gravity of adult–child sexual acts and, on the other hand, overdramatizing its catastrophic potential. However, the tendency to polarize and overgeneralize is strong. Both, those inclined to deemphasize
the severity of the problem and those bent upon blowing it out of all proportion, distort the reality of children who are drawn into sexual contact with adults, colonizing their experience, their memories, and their own assessments.
It seems to me that one of the prerequisites for a more reasonable discussion is to disentangle the confusion of moral and clinical discourses. This requires that we argue, from a moral standpoint, where morals are at issue and, from a clinical point of view, when it comes to traumatizing effects. Above all, we hould not clothe moral judgments in the garb of clinical “expertocratic” language.
The public and scientific debate on pedosexuality is heated one.We find urselves involved in a difficult balancing act that demands utmost care if we are to avoid,
on the one hand, playing down the gravity of adult–child sexual acts and, on the other hand, overdramatizing its catastrophic potential. However, the tendency to polarize and overgeneralize is strong. Both, those inclined to deemphasize
the severity of the problem and those bent upon blowing it out of all proportion, distort the reality of children who are drawn into sexual contact with adults, colonizing their experience, their memories, and their own assessments.
It seems to me that one of the prerequisites for a more reasonable discussion is to disentangle the confusion of moral and clinical discourses. This requires that we argue, from a moral standpoint, where morals are at issue and, from a clinical point of view, when it comes to traumatizing effects. Above all, we hould not clothe moral judgments in the garb of clinical “expertocratic” language.
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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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Pedophilia from the Chinese perspective;
Archives of Sexual Behavior;
31, 491–492
In traditional Chinese medicine, there has never been a mental disease called pedophilia (or an equivalent term), or homosexuality, or most of the other so-called sexual variations for that matter. Depictions of “child-romance” in ancient or modern Chinese literature are not difficult to find. Children are usually described as natural sexual beings and erotic stimulation and sex-play are seen as beneficial to their healthy development.
[...]
Some writers very vehemently question the capacity of children to give valid consent to sexual activity with adults. Despite their arguments, to the Chinese [...] the focus of discussions on the child consent issue in pedophilic activities is blatantly irrelevant and hypocritical.
[...]
There are certain occasions when the adults do respect the children’s wishes and ask for their consent, but only when the choices are within the adult acceptable range. [...]
Indeed, when it comes to a child’s sexual activity, the debate begins ...
In traditional Chinese medicine, there has never been a mental disease called pedophilia (or an equivalent term), or homosexuality, or most of the other so-called sexual variations for that matter. Depictions of “child-romance” in ancient or modern Chinese literature are not difficult to find. Children are usually described as natural sexual beings and erotic stimulation and sex-play are seen as beneficial to their healthy development.
[...]
Some writers very vehemently question the capacity of children to give valid consent to sexual activity with adults. Despite their arguments, to the Chinese [...] the focus of discussions on the child consent issue in pedophilic activities is blatantly irrelevant and hypocritical.
[...]
There are certain occasions when the adults do respect the children’s wishes and ask for their consent, but only when the choices are within the adult acceptable range. [...]
Indeed, when it comes to a child’s sexual activity, the debate begins ...
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Prohibited Sexual Behavior and Sexual Violence: Adult Sexual Contact with Children
[...] However, it is important to understand two basic facts:
1. Not every adult who has sexual contact with a child is a pedophile, and
2. not every pedophile has sexual contact with a child.
[...] most sexual offenses against children are committed not by pedophiles, but by non-pedophilic men.
[...] Many pedophiles manage to control their urges. Some even deliberately avoid the company of children. This self-control is the goal of preventive therapy
programs for pedophiles, since their sexual interests are not likely to change.
[...] Children are girls and boys before puberty. Only the desire for sexual contact with them should be called “pedophilia”.
[...] Current treatments try, above all, to prevent them from breaking the law. Thus, training a pedophile to live with his fantasies without acting them out protects both him and the children he meets.
[...] Legal Aspects ... Psychological Aspects ... Incest ... Child Protitution ... Chidls Pornography ...
[...] However, it is important to understand two basic facts:
1. Not every adult who has sexual contact with a child is a pedophile, and
2. not every pedophile has sexual contact with a child.
[...] most sexual offenses against children are committed not by pedophiles, but by non-pedophilic men.
[...] Many pedophiles manage to control their urges. Some even deliberately avoid the company of children. This self-control is the goal of preventive therapy
programs for pedophiles, since their sexual interests are not likely to change.
[...] Children are girls and boys before puberty. Only the desire for sexual contact with them should be called “pedophilia”.
[...] Current treatments try, above all, to prevent them from breaking the law. Thus, training a pedophile to live with his fantasies without acting them out protects both him and the children he meets.
[...] Legal Aspects ... Psychological Aspects ... Incest ... Child Protitution ... Chidls Pornography ...
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The Risks of 'Protection': Panic Over Youthful Sexuality Endangers Kids
Review of Judith Levine's book "Harmful for Minors".
Short report about the attacks of the Religious Right.
Levine's book is not dangerous, but there are dangers out there -- dangers that ravage at least as many lives as the pedophiles the cultish Concerned Women want everyone to worry about.
We as a society are way too quick to see aggression, molestation and outright deviance in healthy expressions of youthful sexuality -- and way too quick to shame, criminalize and patholologize healthy children for making all sorts of sexual explorations that are just part of their natural development. - Says Levine.
Review of Judith Levine's book "Harmful for Minors".
Short report about the attacks of the Religious Right.
Levine's book is not dangerous, but there are dangers out there -- dangers that ravage at least as many lives as the pedophiles the cultish Concerned Women want everyone to worry about.
We as a society are way too quick to see aggression, molestation and outright deviance in healthy expressions of youthful sexuality -- and way too quick to shame, criminalize and patholologize healthy children for making all sorts of sexual explorations that are just part of their natural development. - Says Levine.