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Stigmatization of People with Pedophilia: Two Comparative Surveys;
Arch Sex Behav
Despite productive research on stigma and its impact on people's lives in the past 20 years, stigmatization of people with pedophilia has received little attention. We conducted two surveys estimating public stigma and determining predictors of social distance from this group.
Both studies revealed that nearly all reactions to people with pedophilia were more negative than those to the other groups, including social distance.
Results strongly indicate that people with pedophilia are a stigmatized group who risk being the target of fierce discrimination. We discuss this particular form of stigmatization with respect to social isolation of persons with pedophilia and indirect negative consequences for child abuse prevention.
Despite productive research on stigma and its impact on people's lives in the past 20 years, stigmatization of people with pedophilia has received little attention. We conducted two surveys estimating public stigma and determining predictors of social distance from this group.
Both studies revealed that nearly all reactions to people with pedophilia were more negative than those to the other groups, including social distance.
Results strongly indicate that people with pedophilia are a stigmatized group who risk being the target of fierce discrimination. We discuss this particular form of stigmatization with respect to social isolation of persons with pedophilia and indirect negative consequences for child abuse prevention.
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Stopping sexual abuse of Russian kids;
The Japan Times,
Sep 11 2007
One of the regrettable consequences of the uneven economic expansion that Russia has experienced in recent times has been the increase in child abuse, particularly child prostitution.
This has been fueled by the significant influx of foreigners coming to Russia for business transactions. Besides the moral and ethical implications, the impact that sexual exploitation has on children's health and future development demands urgent attention. It is a problem that shows no signs of abating.
Sexual abuse of children can take several forms ... ...
One of the regrettable consequences of the uneven economic expansion that Russia has experienced in recent times has been the increase in child abuse, particularly child prostitution.
This has been fueled by the significant influx of foreigners coming to Russia for business transactions. Besides the moral and ethical implications, the impact that sexual exploitation has on children's health and future development demands urgent attention. It is a problem that shows no signs of abating.
Sexual abuse of children can take several forms ... ...
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Subjectivity under Erasure: Adolescent Sexuality, Gender, and Teacher-Student Sex;
The Journal of Men’s Studies, Vol. 15, No. 3, Fall 2007, 347-360.;
15(3, Fall 2007), The Journal of Men’s Studies, Vol. 15, No. 3, Fall 2007, 347-360.
This article offers a reading of a recent Australian teacher-student sex scandal
in order to interrogate the relationship between gendered subjectivity and cultural codes of gender.
The questions of whether gender ought to make a difference to how we understand instances of so-called “intergenerational sex” and whether cultural codes accurately reflect sexual subjectivity are posed.
It is argued that while cultural codes are not external or equivalent to subjectivity, this does not mean that they are not expressive of elements of subjectivity.
The article concludes with the suggestion that the failure to attend to the nexus
of the social and the psychical not only serves to strengthen a very recent and
particular set of historical, political, and ideological forces but also risks creating foundations for misreadings of the history of male adolescent subjectivities.
This article offers a reading of a recent Australian teacher-student sex scandal
in order to interrogate the relationship between gendered subjectivity and cultural codes of gender.
The questions of whether gender ought to make a difference to how we understand instances of so-called “intergenerational sex” and whether cultural codes accurately reflect sexual subjectivity are posed.
It is argued that while cultural codes are not external or equivalent to subjectivity, this does not mean that they are not expressive of elements of subjectivity.
The article concludes with the suggestion that the failure to attend to the nexus
of the social and the psychical not only serves to strengthen a very recent and
particular set of historical, political, and ideological forces but also risks creating foundations for misreadings of the history of male adolescent subjectivities.
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The Suggestibility of Young Children;
Current Directions In Psychological Science;
6(No. 3, Memory as the Theater of the Past (Jun., 1997)), 75-79
Since the beginning of the 1980s, there have been a number of legalcases in which young childrenhave provided uncorroborated testimony involving sexual abuse. Although it seemed from the evidence that the children in many ofthese cases were subjected to anumber of suggestive interviews,the primary issue in deciding guilt or innocence was the degree to which such interviews could actually bring children to make serious allegations. [...]
This empirical vacuum forced a new conceptualization of issues related to children's suggestibility, which, in turn, resulted in an outpouring of new research in the area. In general, two features of the newer research make it more relevant to forensic issues.
First, the studies are designed to examine children's suggestibility about events that are personally salient, that involve bodily touching, and that involve insinuations of sexual abuse.
Second, the concept of suggestive techniques has been expanded from the traditional view of asking a misleading question or planting a piece of misinformation, so that now studies examine the larger structure and the components of suggestive interviews.
In this article, we provide an overview of the results of these newer studies of children's suggestibility. [... ... ...]
In summary, interviewer bias is revealed by a number of suggestive techniques, each of which can conipromise fhe accuracy of young children's reports. In this secfion,we qualify and elaborate on this conclusion by raising several points.
Since the beginning of the 1980s, there have been a number of legalcases in which young childrenhave provided uncorroborated testimony involving sexual abuse. Although it seemed from the evidence that the children in many ofthese cases were subjected to anumber of suggestive interviews,the primary issue in deciding guilt or innocence was the degree to which such interviews could actually bring children to make serious allegations. [...]
This empirical vacuum forced a new conceptualization of issues related to children's suggestibility, which, in turn, resulted in an outpouring of new research in the area. In general, two features of the newer research make it more relevant to forensic issues.
First, the studies are designed to examine children's suggestibility about events that are personally salient, that involve bodily touching, and that involve insinuations of sexual abuse.
Second, the concept of suggestive techniques has been expanded from the traditional view of asking a misleading question or planting a piece of misinformation, so that now studies examine the larger structure and the components of suggestive interviews.
In this article, we provide an overview of the results of these newer studies of children's suggestibility. [... ... ...]
In summary, interviewer bias is revealed by a number of suggestive techniques, each of which can conipromise fhe accuracy of young children's reports. In this secfion,we qualify and elaborate on this conclusion by raising several points.
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Supporting Boys or Girls When the Line Isn’t Clear;
New York Times,
Dec 02 2006
Until recently, many children who did not conform to gender norms in their clothing or behavior and identified intensely with the opposite sex were steered to psychoanalysis or behavior modification.
But as advocates gain ground for what they call gender-identity rights, evidenced most recently by New York City’s decision to let people alter the sex listed on their birth certificates, a major change is taking place among schools and families. Children as young as 5 who display predispositions to dress like the opposite sex are being supported by a growing number of young parents, educators and mental health professionals.
Until recently, many children who did not conform to gender norms in their clothing or behavior and identified intensely with the opposite sex were steered to psychoanalysis or behavior modification.
But as advocates gain ground for what they call gender-identity rights, evidenced most recently by New York City’s decision to let people alter the sex listed on their birth certificates, a major change is taking place among schools and families. Children as young as 5 who display predispositions to dress like the opposite sex are being supported by a growing number of young parents, educators and mental health professionals.
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Susan Clancy's Stake Through The Heart Of The Child Sex Abuse Industry
The most spectacular and debated book on this subject is Clancy's boldly entitled The Trauma Myth. It has driven a stake through the heart of the dogmatic assertion of the child sexual abuse industry that intergenerational sex - even that of infants under 6 and children under 13 with adults over 18 - is automatically traumatic to the younger person. Clancy, who interviewed only victims not hospitalized or in treatment, says that it only traumatizes those 10% compelled by violence and intimidation.
[...] Clancy’s work is not without flaws
The most spectacular and debated book on this subject is Clancy's boldly entitled The Trauma Myth. It has driven a stake through the heart of the dogmatic assertion of the child sexual abuse industry that intergenerational sex - even that of infants under 6 and children under 13 with adults over 18 - is automatically traumatic to the younger person. Clancy, who interviewed only victims not hospitalized or in treatment, says that it only traumatizes those 10% compelled by violence and intimidation.
[...] Clancy’s work is not without flaws
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Sympathetic research in the wrong frame
A renewing view on people with pedophile feelings who massively are willing and able to control themselves … is seen through the spectacles or within the frame of the more familiar ‘good old’ offender-model, just the people that could not control themselves.
A renewing view on people with pedophile feelings who massively are willing and able to control themselves … is seen through the spectacles or within the frame of the more familiar ‘good old’ offender-model, just the people that could not control themselves.
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Taboo Sex Research: Thinking Outside the Box;
10 pp,
Aug 31 2013
Foreword to a collection of essays on Censoring Sex Research, reviewing recent history of sex research censorship.
Foreword to a collection of essays on Censoring Sex Research, reviewing recent history of sex research censorship.
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The tail end of a dachshund
In May 2011, the Martijn Association decided to set up an Ethics Commission. Ethics is concerned with the question of what is good and what is bad; with values, norms and guidelines. [...]
In this article, I aim to place these guidelines in a broader context, namely that of the debate which has taken place in the Netherlands – and far beyond its borders – since the 1990s. The commission does not come up with any revolutionary, new advice, but follows up on a long-standing discussion, like the tail end of a long dachshund.
It shows that, as long as people with paedophilic feelings are allowed to enter into serious discussion, far from ending up in ‘raunchy suggestions’ the end result is an actual ethical code – and a fairly strict one at that.
In May 2011, the Martijn Association decided to set up an Ethics Commission. Ethics is concerned with the question of what is good and what is bad; with values, norms and guidelines. [...]
In this article, I aim to place these guidelines in a broader context, namely that of the debate which has taken place in the Netherlands – and far beyond its borders – since the 1990s. The commission does not come up with any revolutionary, new advice, but follows up on a long-standing discussion, like the tail end of a long dachshund.
It shows that, as long as people with paedophilic feelings are allowed to enter into serious discussion, far from ending up in ‘raunchy suggestions’ the end result is an actual ethical code – and a fairly strict one at that.
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The Tanner Stages and more from Seto 2018
Figures 1.2, 1.3, 2.2., a link in chapter 2 and table 8.2
in Seto's book.
Figures 1.2, 1.3, 2.2., a link in chapter 2 and table 8.2
in Seto's book.
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"The individual can ...": Objectifying consent;
Thymos;
4(2), 103-112,
Oct 01 2010
The issue of age of consent for sexual activities has been bedevilled by the absence of any objective standards or criteria for what is meant by or involved in 'consent'. Despite this absence-or because of it-the social and political response has been to reach for blanket prohibitions on sexual activity by persons under particular ages-ages which have settled in the mid- to late teens.
At the same time, the percentages of persons aged 15 and under who are sexually active in our societies indicate that young people are regularly consenting to sexual activities. Consent to sexual activity has also been a concern in relation to the lives of the cognitively or mentally impaired.
In an attempt to clarify issues surrounding consent there, a significant proposal in regard to objectifying standards for consent was reported by Carrie Hill Kennedy, in her article "Assessing Competency to Consent to Sexual Activity in the Cognitively Impaired Population" (Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology 1:3, 1999), where she developed a two-part scale for ability to consent, including twelve criteria involving knowledge and five criteria involving personal assertiveness and safety. Kennedy herself has maintained that there is no relevance for her research as applied to minors: adults have sexual rights, minors do not.
However, it would seem clear that there is a certain relevance-if not in the use of a similar scale for assessing the competence of a particular minor to consent, then in generally comparing the age at which children attain the developmental level comparable with that implied by Kennedy's five Safety standards, and using that information to critique the present, obviously unrealistic ages of consent. In relation to the Knowledge scale, the importance of sexual education becomes still clearer.
The issue of age of consent for sexual activities has been bedevilled by the absence of any objective standards or criteria for what is meant by or involved in 'consent'. Despite this absence-or because of it-the social and political response has been to reach for blanket prohibitions on sexual activity by persons under particular ages-ages which have settled in the mid- to late teens.
At the same time, the percentages of persons aged 15 and under who are sexually active in our societies indicate that young people are regularly consenting to sexual activities. Consent to sexual activity has also been a concern in relation to the lives of the cognitively or mentally impaired.
In an attempt to clarify issues surrounding consent there, a significant proposal in regard to objectifying standards for consent was reported by Carrie Hill Kennedy, in her article "Assessing Competency to Consent to Sexual Activity in the Cognitively Impaired Population" (Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology 1:3, 1999), where she developed a two-part scale for ability to consent, including twelve criteria involving knowledge and five criteria involving personal assertiveness and safety. Kennedy herself has maintained that there is no relevance for her research as applied to minors: adults have sexual rights, minors do not.
However, it would seem clear that there is a certain relevance-if not in the use of a similar scale for assessing the competence of a particular minor to consent, then in generally comparing the age at which children attain the developmental level comparable with that implied by Kennedy's five Safety standards, and using that information to critique the present, obviously unrealistic ages of consent. In relation to the Knowledge scale, the importance of sexual education becomes still clearer.
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Therapeutic Influence in DID and Recovered Memories of Sexual Abuse;
Issues In Child Abuse Accusations;
8(3/4), 160-169
Dissociative identity disorder (DID, formerly multiple personality disorder, or MPD) remains highly controversial. Some researchers and clinicians believe DID represents a distinct psychiatric disorder with a unique and stable set of symptoms and behaviors; these professionals see a significant connection between DID and severe childhood abuse.
Others maintain DID is an iatrogenic disorder that is heavily dependent upon therapeutic, media, and cultural influences.
Despite this debate, there is general agreement that some patients, with the unwitting encouragement of their therapists, can learn to show symptoms of DID. Two case studies are presented that illustrate how therapists can encourage recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse and the development of alter personalities.
Dissociative identity disorder (DID, formerly multiple personality disorder, or MPD) remains highly controversial. Some researchers and clinicians believe DID represents a distinct psychiatric disorder with a unique and stable set of symptoms and behaviors; these professionals see a significant connection between DID and severe childhood abuse.
Others maintain DID is an iatrogenic disorder that is heavily dependent upon therapeutic, media, and cultural influences.
Despite this debate, there is general agreement that some patients, with the unwitting encouragement of their therapists, can learn to show symptoms of DID. Two case studies are presented that illustrate how therapists can encourage recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse and the development of alter personalities.
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Thinking Sex
Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality; 1984
In this essay, ?rst published in 1984, Rubin argues that in the West, the 1880s, the 1950s, and the contemporary era have been periods of sex panic, periods in which the state, the institutions medicine, and the popular media have mobilized to attach and oppress all whose sexual tastes differ from those allowed by the currently dominative model of sexual correctness.
She also suggests that during the contemporary era the worst brand of the oppression has been borne by those who practice s/m or cross-generational sex.
Rubin maintains that we are to devise a theory to account for the outbreak and direction of sexual panics, we shall need to base the theory on more than just feminist thinking. Although feminist thinking explains gender injustices, it does not and cannot provide by itself a full explanation for the oppression of sexual minorities.
Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality; 1984
In this essay, ?rst published in 1984, Rubin argues that in the West, the 1880s, the 1950s, and the contemporary era have been periods of sex panic, periods in which the state, the institutions medicine, and the popular media have mobilized to attach and oppress all whose sexual tastes differ from those allowed by the currently dominative model of sexual correctness.
She also suggests that during the contemporary era the worst brand of the oppression has been borne by those who practice s/m or cross-generational sex.
Rubin maintains that we are to devise a theory to account for the outbreak and direction of sexual panics, we shall need to base the theory on more than just feminist thinking. Although feminist thinking explains gender injustices, it does not and cannot provide by itself a full explanation for the oppression of sexual minorities.
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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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Three reports and an essay from the Netherlands
In the Netherlands still exists since about fourty years a self-help encounter group, now even two groups of the "NVSH", the Dutch Association for Sexual Reform, now named the "NVSH JORis Groups JON and West".
"JON is a Dutch support group for people that have the ability to fall in love with children, but who do not want to activate those feelings into sexual acts with children.”
Here four links are given: three (half-)annual Reports and an essay.
The essay describes the methodology.
In the Netherlands still exists since about fourty years a self-help encounter group, now even two groups of the "NVSH", the Dutch Association for Sexual Reform, now named the "NVSH JORis Groups JON and West".
"JON is a Dutch support group for people that have the ability to fall in love with children, but who do not want to activate those feelings into sexual acts with children.”
Here four links are given: three (half-)annual Reports and an essay.
The essay describes the methodology.
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Trajectories in online child sexual exploitation offending in Australia;
Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice, No. 524 January 2017
Although the full extent and nature of the sexual exploitation of children is only beginning to be recognised, it is a problem of global significance that requires strong and effective responses. The extent to which the viewing of child exploitation material (CEM) is linked to involvement in producing such material, sharing it and using it to groom and then assault children is a key concern. Most such material is held online, and it is important to understand how offenders use the internet to access CEM and to groom children for sexual exploitation.
This exploratory study examines data relating to a sample of offenders convicted of online child sexual exploitation offences under Australian Commonwealth law, to determine how online forms of child sexual exploitation and offline child sexual exploitation, or contact offending, are related.
The majority of offenders in this study appeared to commit only online offences, although in a minority of cases there was a connection between exploitative material, grooming and contact offending.
This study is an important early step in improving our understanding of offenders and points to the need for further assessment of the nature of online child sexual exploitation and its relationship to other forms of sexual and violent offences.
Although the full extent and nature of the sexual exploitation of children is only beginning to be recognised, it is a problem of global significance that requires strong and effective responses. The extent to which the viewing of child exploitation material (CEM) is linked to involvement in producing such material, sharing it and using it to groom and then assault children is a key concern. Most such material is held online, and it is important to understand how offenders use the internet to access CEM and to groom children for sexual exploitation.
This exploratory study examines data relating to a sample of offenders convicted of online child sexual exploitation offences under Australian Commonwealth law, to determine how online forms of child sexual exploitation and offline child sexual exploitation, or contact offending, are related.
The majority of offenders in this study appeared to commit only online offences, although in a minority of cases there was a connection between exploitative material, grooming and contact offending.
This study is an important early step in improving our understanding of offenders and points to the need for further assessment of the nature of online child sexual exploitation and its relationship to other forms of sexual and violent offences.
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Transforming Diagnosis,
Apr 29 2013
In a few weeks, the American Psychiatric Association will release its new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V).
The weakness is its lack of validity.
The DSM diagnoses are based on a consensus about clusters of clinical symptoms, not any objective laboratory measure.
Patients with mental disorders deserve better.
NIMH has launched the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project to transform diagnosis.
The diagnostic system has to be based on the emerging research data, not on the current symptom-based categories.
In a few weeks, the American Psychiatric Association will release its new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V).
The weakness is its lack of validity.
The DSM diagnoses are based on a consensus about clusters of clinical symptoms, not any objective laboratory measure.
Patients with mental disorders deserve better.
NIMH has launched the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project to transform diagnosis.
The diagnostic system has to be based on the emerging research data, not on the current symptom-based categories.
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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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The Trauma Myth - Susan A. Clancy - (book review)
In her book, The Trauma Myth, Susan Clancy, citing her scientific study, details a finding that anyone who has ever been subjected to non-violent, but unsolicited sexual advances in childhood could have come to on their own. Namely, the experience is seldom traumatic to the individual at the time. Although I have not done any formal research in this area, my own experiences, some of which I will expound on shortly, can attest to the validity of Clancy's astonishing finding.
In her book, The Trauma Myth, Susan Clancy, citing her scientific study, details a finding that anyone who has ever been subjected to non-violent, but unsolicited sexual advances in childhood could have come to on their own. Namely, the experience is seldom traumatic to the individual at the time. Although I have not done any formal research in this area, my own experiences, some of which I will expound on shortly, can attest to the validity of Clancy's astonishing finding.
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The Trauma Myth - Susan Clancy - The Book;
257 pp
Consensual, non-violent/not overtly coercive sexual activity involving adults and minors, contrary to popular belief, does NOT normally cause trauma to young people - even when engaged it at a very early age. Susan Clancy demonstrates this through her research, but fails to reach this (obvious) conclusion in her text.
This file gives some comments and reviews present in Ipce's library, as well as a link to the .PDF version of the book.
Consensual, non-violent/not overtly coercive sexual activity involving adults and minors, contrary to popular belief, does NOT normally cause trauma to young people - even when engaged it at a very early age. Susan Clancy demonstrates this through her research, but fails to reach this (obvious) conclusion in her text.
This file gives some comments and reviews present in Ipce's library, as well as a link to the .PDF version of the book.
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The Trauma Myth by Susan Clancy (book review and commentary by Ray Harris)
Ray notes that many victims are not heared because their story does not fit with the generally accepted trauma model of, among others, David Finkelhor.
He notes that Clancy indeed does listen to the victims, but that she also gives a moral judgement.
"Always, always listen to the victim. If they tell you they thought it was wrong, but liked it and went along with it, then accept what they say and validate their experience.
Whatever you do, don’t become morally outraged on their behalf because then they might to begin to doubt themselves and enter the spiral of negative thoughts that are the real cause of stress.
[...] Dare I suggest that more harm, more trauma has been caused by the self-appointed moral protectors than by the the actual abuse itself."
Ray notes that many victims are not heared because their story does not fit with the generally accepted trauma model of, among others, David Finkelhor.
He notes that Clancy indeed does listen to the victims, but that she also gives a moral judgement.
"Always, always listen to the victim. If they tell you they thought it was wrong, but liked it and went along with it, then accept what they say and validate their experience.
Whatever you do, don’t become morally outraged on their behalf because then they might to begin to doubt themselves and enter the spiral of negative thoughts that are the real cause of stress.
[...] Dare I suggest that more harm, more trauma has been caused by the self-appointed moral protectors than by the the actual abuse itself."
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The Trauma Myth: Understanding the True Dynamics of Sexual Abuse,
Jun 03 2010
Susan Clancy, in a nutshell, describes her theories on why sexual abuse is not seen as such by victims until the therapist has "reconceptualized" fully for the victim how the victims truly were abused and how their trust had been violated, even though the victims originally deny having felt that they had actually been abused.
Susan Clancy, in a nutshell, describes her theories on why sexual abuse is not seen as such by victims until the therapist has "reconceptualized" fully for the victim how the victims truly were abused and how their trust had been violated, even though the victims originally deny having felt that they had actually been abused.
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A tribute to Tony Duvert,
Aug 23 2008
The writer Tony Duvert, 63, was discovered dead on Wednesday, August 20, at home, in the small village of Thoré-la-Rochelle (Loir-et-Cher). He had been dead for about a month. An investigation has been started, but he appears to have died of natural causes.
Tony Duvert had a genuine fervor: for nature, central especially to Quand mourut Jonathan (1978, tr. 1991 by D. R. Roberts as When Jonathan died), which recalls the love of a man and a child. This relationship takes on the appearance and the rhythm of a biological association, as if, by dint of understanding and harmony, they both had become plants mutually emitting harmful poisons to each other until they were destroyed and separated by society.
The writer Tony Duvert, 63, was discovered dead on Wednesday, August 20, at home, in the small village of Thoré-la-Rochelle (Loir-et-Cher). He had been dead for about a month. An investigation has been started, but he appears to have died of natural causes.
Tony Duvert had a genuine fervor: for nature, central especially to Quand mourut Jonathan (1978, tr. 1991 by D. R. Roberts as When Jonathan died), which recalls the love of a man and a child. This relationship takes on the appearance and the rhythm of a biological association, as if, by dint of understanding and harmony, they both had become plants mutually emitting harmful poisons to each other until they were destroyed and separated by society.
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The trouble with boys,
May 10 2006
It is no secret that Britten liked boys, and liked them young. He wrote them into some 30 works. In his operas boys are pivotal, start to finish. [...] There is no masking the composer’s affinity for the puerile, a fascination glossed away as Peter Pannish while he was alive but hedged nowadays by widespread and wholly justified anxieties of paedophilia, a malignant vice borne on internet wings.
It is this love of boys that triggers our squeamishness about Britten and the sooner we get to the root of it the sooner we will be able to embrace the work without qualm. [...]
Yes, he was interested in boys, but they were no more than reflections of the boy in himself, an inner voice that was, as he sometimes hinted, the source of his inspiration, an ideal of beauty and goodness. [...]
The time has come to lay the rumours to rest and concentrate on the benefice of the Britten legacy.
It is no secret that Britten liked boys, and liked them young. He wrote them into some 30 works. In his operas boys are pivotal, start to finish. [...] There is no masking the composer’s affinity for the puerile, a fascination glossed away as Peter Pannish while he was alive but hedged nowadays by widespread and wholly justified anxieties of paedophilia, a malignant vice borne on internet wings.
It is this love of boys that triggers our squeamishness about Britten and the sooner we get to the root of it the sooner we will be able to embrace the work without qualm. [...]
Yes, he was interested in boys, but they were no more than reflections of the boy in himself, an inner voice that was, as he sometimes hinted, the source of his inspiration, an ideal of beauty and goodness. [...]
The time has come to lay the rumours to rest and concentrate on the benefice of the Britten legacy.
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Truth test' to uncover false rape allegations,
Oct 31 2000
A "lie-detector" test to help uncover false allegations of rape is being developed by the police and criminologists.
Between 10 and 41 per cent of allegations of rape are made up by the "victim", according to previous research. In the new test, a claimant's statement is analysed and points are given from a list of set clues - people who have made up a rape allegation get a low score, while genuine complaints get a high score.
A "lie-detector" test to help uncover false allegations of rape is being developed by the police and criminologists.
Between 10 and 41 per cent of allegations of rape are made up by the "victim", according to previous research. In the new test, a claimant's statement is analysed and points are given from a list of set clues - people who have made up a rape allegation get a low score, while genuine complaints get a high score.