;
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.
;
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.
;
Turning Points and Chains of Changings …
I will highlight some turning points and the changes that have followed within the Netherlands during the last ten decades.
First: liberalization. Then: some severe incidents > Moral Panic > magnifying the incident > more rules and laws > gradually fading out the panic.
More and more severe rules and laws followed.
Pro- and Contra Groups appeared.
Two contrasting trends are visible. Contra groups, but also more nuanced ideas of professional helpers, researchers and even the popular press: the difference between pedophilia (feeling) and pedosexuality (acts) is acknowledged. The ‘pedophiles’ themselves have developed a new ethical code [...]
Here appears [...] the “NOMAP”, the Non Offending Minor Attracted person. He or she might become welcome in society, no longer as a ‘distorted patient’, but as a person with a less common (sexual) orientation, which is not dangerous as long as the person has the self-discipline to control his or her impulses, just as every (sexual) orientation demands to every person.
I will highlight some turning points and the changes that have followed within the Netherlands during the last ten decades.
First: liberalization. Then: some severe incidents > Moral Panic > magnifying the incident > more rules and laws > gradually fading out the panic.
More and more severe rules and laws followed.
Pro- and Contra Groups appeared.
Two contrasting trends are visible. Contra groups, but also more nuanced ideas of professional helpers, researchers and even the popular press: the difference between pedophilia (feeling) and pedosexuality (acts) is acknowledged. The ‘pedophiles’ themselves have developed a new ethical code [...]
Here appears [...] the “NOMAP”, the Non Offending Minor Attracted person. He or she might become welcome in society, no longer as a ‘distorted patient’, but as a person with a less common (sexual) orientation, which is not dangerous as long as the person has the self-discipline to control his or her impulses, just as every (sexual) orientation demands to every person.
;
The Unfair Criminalization of Gay and Transgender Youth,
Jun 29 2012
Gay, transgender, and gender nonconforming youth are significantly over-represented in the juvenile justice system [...]. These high rates of involvement in the juvenile justice system are a result of gay and transgender youth abandonment by their families and communities, and victimization in their schools—sad realities that place this group of young people at a heightened risk of entering the school-to-prison pipeline. [...]
Angela Irvine of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency in conjunction with the Equity Project, which works to ensure gay and transgender youth in the juvenile justice system are treated with fairness and respect, have both generated groundbreaking research on the experiences of these youth in the system over the past few years.
This issue brief offers a high-level summary of some of their findings, as well as others, to explain the disproportionate pipelining of gay and transgender youth into the juvenile justice system, the bias and discrimination they face once within the system, and the steps that the federal government and state and local juvenile courts can take to ensure that gay and transgender youth are treated with dignity and respect.
Gay, transgender, and gender nonconforming youth are significantly over-represented in the juvenile justice system [...]. These high rates of involvement in the juvenile justice system are a result of gay and transgender youth abandonment by their families and communities, and victimization in their schools—sad realities that place this group of young people at a heightened risk of entering the school-to-prison pipeline. [...]
Angela Irvine of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency in conjunction with the Equity Project, which works to ensure gay and transgender youth in the juvenile justice system are treated with fairness and respect, have both generated groundbreaking research on the experiences of these youth in the system over the past few years.
This issue brief offers a high-level summary of some of their findings, as well as others, to explain the disproportionate pipelining of gay and transgender youth into the juvenile justice system, the bias and discrimination they face once within the system, and the steps that the federal government and state and local juvenile courts can take to ensure that gay and transgender youth are treated with dignity and respect.
;
US juries get verdict wrong in one of six cases: study,
Jun 27 2007
So much for US justice: juries get the verdict wrong in one out of six criminal cases and judges don't do much better, a new study has found.
And when they make those mistakes, both judges and juries are far more likely to send an innocent person to jail than to let a guilty person go free, according to an upcoming study out of Northwestern University.
So much for US justice: juries get the verdict wrong in one out of six criminal cases and judges don't do much better, a new study has found.
And when they make those mistakes, both judges and juries are far more likely to send an innocent person to jail than to let a guilty person go free, according to an upcoming study out of Northwestern University.
;
Villain Journalism
There are two recent anti-"pedophilic" murders, one Russian and one Ukrainian, seemingly influenced by pro-"pedophilic" propaganda, mine and of the Right-To-Love Internet portal, which published the story of a Belarussian man Roman Tsiro buried alive because of his platonic relations with a high school girl on the 22th of April 2019. This pro-"pedophilic" propaganda seems to inspire the Russian police to invent the news about bloody revenge in the Tutaev city ...
Tenths of fictious details circulate in the city about this story…
In short, the Tutaev anti-"pedophilic" murder was invented by Russian policemen to mock the death of Roman Tsiro. ...
Another anti-"pedophilic" murder, one in my city (...), was invented by the Ukrainian police and journalists on May 18th 2020. ...
Wherever this story is posted, some hints are added about so-called pedophiles "raping" children in another cities, so that murders are invented by journalists in order to heroize anti-"pedophilic" villains as the only force that can save children.
There are two recent anti-"pedophilic" murders, one Russian and one Ukrainian, seemingly influenced by pro-"pedophilic" propaganda, mine and of the Right-To-Love Internet portal, which published the story of a Belarussian man Roman Tsiro buried alive because of his platonic relations with a high school girl on the 22th of April 2019. This pro-"pedophilic" propaganda seems to inspire the Russian police to invent the news about bloody revenge in the Tutaev city ...
Tenths of fictious details circulate in the city about this story…
In short, the Tutaev anti-"pedophilic" murder was invented by Russian policemen to mock the death of Roman Tsiro. ...
Another anti-"pedophilic" murder, one in my city (...), was invented by the Ukrainian police and journalists on May 18th 2020. ...
Wherever this story is posted, some hints are added about so-called pedophiles "raping" children in another cities, so that murders are invented by journalists in order to heroize anti-"pedophilic" villains as the only force that can save children.
;
The war on paedos: grooming the public’s fears
The British government has just announced that paedophiles are to be treated in the same way as terrorists.
According to several sources, new legislation targeting paedophiles will be included in the Queen’s Speech. It appears that the UK prime minister, David Cameron, is determined to close a ‘loophole’ that permits paedophiles to publish and possess ‘manuals’ that offer tips to would-be predators on children about how to identify and groom their targets.
The new law would authorise the use of the kind of extraordinary sanctions used to target terrorists who download bomb-making manuals.
The adoption of the tactics and strategy of the war on terror for the crusade against paedophiles is symptomatic of a worldview in which the capacity to distinguish between fantasy and reality has been lost.
The Lib-Con coalition government and many of its security advisers actually believe that the behaviour of terrorists and that of paedophiles share many common attributes.
The British government has just announced that paedophiles are to be treated in the same way as terrorists.
According to several sources, new legislation targeting paedophiles will be included in the Queen’s Speech. It appears that the UK prime minister, David Cameron, is determined to close a ‘loophole’ that permits paedophiles to publish and possess ‘manuals’ that offer tips to would-be predators on children about how to identify and groom their targets.
The new law would authorise the use of the kind of extraordinary sanctions used to target terrorists who download bomb-making manuals.
The adoption of the tactics and strategy of the war on terror for the crusade against paedophiles is symptomatic of a worldview in which the capacity to distinguish between fantasy and reality has been lost.
The Lib-Con coalition government and many of its security advisers actually believe that the behaviour of terrorists and that of paedophiles share many common attributes.
;
Was JFK a Pedophile?,
Aug 28 2007
You can level many accusations at John F. Kennedy, our 35th president. But, there is one self-evident truth you cannot deny: JFK was a loving and doting father. You can feel it by looking at the many photos of him with his children.
[...]
So, it is with great pain that I watch the state of Virginia destroying that critical father-child bond by callously vilifying fathers, presuming them to be pedophiles. Not only is such a campaign -- funded by Virginia taxpayers -- preposterous, outrageous, and immoral, it is unconstitutional. Furthermore, it hurts children by teaching them to fear their fathers [...]
You can level many accusations at John F. Kennedy, our 35th president. But, there is one self-evident truth you cannot deny: JFK was a loving and doting father. You can feel it by looking at the many photos of him with his children.
[...]
So, it is with great pain that I watch the state of Virginia destroying that critical father-child bond by callously vilifying fathers, presuming them to be pedophiles. Not only is such a campaign -- funded by Virginia taxpayers -- preposterous, outrageous, and immoral, it is unconstitutional. Furthermore, it hurts children by teaching them to fear their fathers [...]
;
What are 'moral panics'?
This document will examine not only the essence and origin of the term 'moral panic' but the very important nature of the media's involvement in the whole process of creating a 'moral panic'.
"More moral panics will be generated and other, as yet nameless, folk devils will be created. This is not because such developments have an inexorable inner logic, but because our society as present structured will continue to generate problems for some of its members ... and then condemn whatever solution these groups find."
This document will examine not only the essence and origin of the term 'moral panic' but the very important nature of the media's involvement in the whole process of creating a 'moral panic'.
"More moral panics will be generated and other, as yet nameless, folk devils will be created. This is not because such developments have an inexorable inner logic, but because our society as present structured will continue to generate problems for some of its members ... and then condemn whatever solution these groups find."
;
What is doxxing (with examples) and how do you avoid it,
Mar 05 2018
Doxxing (also written as “doxing”) is an online threat to your privacy. Although this fad has been around in the hacker community since the 1990s, it is now become a major threat to anyone who uses the internet.
Doxxing involves researching the details of people’s lives. The purpose of this practice is either to expose that person to legal prosecution, to embarrass the victim, to draw criticism towards that person, or to cause them physical harm.
People’s lives have been ruined by doxxing. Some doxxing attacks lead to a mass campaign of public shaming, the online equivalent of mobbing. The effects can cause people to lose their jobs, their families, and even their homes. Targets of major doxxing attacks have been forced into hiding and have had to delete all of their online accounts and change their identities.
So, let’s find out more about doxxing and how to avoid it.
Doxxing (also written as “doxing”) is an online threat to your privacy. Although this fad has been around in the hacker community since the 1990s, it is now become a major threat to anyone who uses the internet.
Doxxing involves researching the details of people’s lives. The purpose of this practice is either to expose that person to legal prosecution, to embarrass the victim, to draw criticism towards that person, or to cause them physical harm.
People’s lives have been ruined by doxxing. Some doxxing attacks lead to a mass campaign of public shaming, the online equivalent of mobbing. The effects can cause people to lose their jobs, their families, and even their homes. Targets of major doxxing attacks have been forced into hiding and have had to delete all of their online accounts and change their identities.
So, let’s find out more about doxxing and how to avoid it.
;
Whatever happened to false memory syndrome?
False memory syndrome, where therapists encourage patients in the mistaken belief that they were abused as children, may have been exposed. But the dangerous assumptions behind the quest for repressed memories have yet to be challenged, says Jennie Bristow. [...]
Recovered memory therapy took off at a time when society was becoming increasingly concerned about the prevalence of child abuse, particularly within the family, and the lasting effect of such abuse on its victims. [...]
From the widely accepted notion that the childhood experience of abuse can explain your problems in later life, it was only a small jump to the recovery of false memories.
False memory syndrome, where therapists encourage patients in the mistaken belief that they were abused as children, may have been exposed. But the dangerous assumptions behind the quest for repressed memories have yet to be challenged, says Jennie Bristow. [...]
Recovered memory therapy took off at a time when society was becoming increasingly concerned about the prevalence of child abuse, particularly within the family, and the lasting effect of such abuse on its victims. [...]
From the widely accepted notion that the childhood experience of abuse can explain your problems in later life, it was only a small jump to the recovery of false memories.
;
Who needs repression?;
The Science Review of Mental health Practice, Vol. 4, Number 2, Fall-winter 2005-2006, pp 66 - 73. ,
Dec 01 2005
Who needs repression? Normal memory processes can explain 'forgetting' of childhood sexual abuse
Conclusions in short:
(1) CSA is not necessarily traumatic at the time it occurs,
(2) CSA can be forgotten via normal forgetting mechanisms, and
(3) it may be the retrospective interpretation of the event, rather than the event itself, that mediates its subsequent impact.
This article is in Ipce's Library 3 (because of the dubble frame needed for text and references) - here is the abstract and a link to the article.
Who needs repression? Normal memory processes can explain 'forgetting' of childhood sexual abuse
Conclusions in short:
(1) CSA is not necessarily traumatic at the time it occurs,
(2) CSA can be forgotten via normal forgetting mechanisms, and
(3) it may be the retrospective interpretation of the event, rather than the event itself, that mediates its subsequent impact.
This article is in Ipce's Library 3 (because of the dubble frame needed for text and references) - here is the abstract and a link to the article.
;
Will "revolutionary" Diana Screen End Pedophile Menace?
Anxious to mend its reputation and plug the money drain, the Vatican just announced a new fix: Candidates for the priesthood will undergo psychological screening to determine their suitability for the job. Painting a pseudo-scientific veneer on the campaign, the Vatican said "expert" psychologists will screen select candidates on a case-by-case basis.
Gene Abel is a psychiatrist who invented the controversial Abel Screen, which measures sexual proclivities based on how long men look at visual images of different types of models. Abel is promoting a new "pass/fail" test called the Diana Screen as a "breakthrough in technology" that can accurately identify men who have molested children.
In the blogosphere I bumped into a group of sex offenders discussing how easy it is to beat the test.
The author finds a false positive rate of at least 50 percent. Even if it is just a screening test, psychologists should be cautious in administering a test with such a high false-positive rate and no published, peer-reviewed data on its reliability or validity.
More fundamentally, this type of testing raises philosophical issues about how far society should go in the name of protecting children, especially when most victimization is done not by teachers or amusement park workers but by family members.
Anxious to mend its reputation and plug the money drain, the Vatican just announced a new fix: Candidates for the priesthood will undergo psychological screening to determine their suitability for the job. Painting a pseudo-scientific veneer on the campaign, the Vatican said "expert" psychologists will screen select candidates on a case-by-case basis.
Gene Abel is a psychiatrist who invented the controversial Abel Screen, which measures sexual proclivities based on how long men look at visual images of different types of models. Abel is promoting a new "pass/fail" test called the Diana Screen as a "breakthrough in technology" that can accurately identify men who have molested children.
In the blogosphere I bumped into a group of sex offenders discussing how easy it is to beat the test.
The author finds a false positive rate of at least 50 percent. Even if it is just a screening test, psychologists should be cautious in administering a test with such a high false-positive rate and no published, peer-reviewed data on its reliability or validity.
More fundamentally, this type of testing raises philosophical issues about how far society should go in the name of protecting children, especially when most victimization is done not by teachers or amusement park workers but by family members.
;
The Witch-Burning of Abgail Simon
On Nov. 26, [2014 ?] in Grand Rapids, MI, Abigail (a former tutor at a Catholic high school) was convicted at trial of three counts of
- "first-degree criminal sexual conduct," a felony with a maximum sentence of 25-years to life in prison and a mandatory minimum of 8-25 years,
- for allegedly having sex with a student who she claimed was not only the aggressor in their sexual intrigue but also forced himself on her 3 times; and
- also the felony of "accosting a minor for immoral purposes" for exchanging hundreds of emails and text-messages with her "victim," a 6'3", 220 lb. biological man of 15 and football star who initially confessed to the authorities and also testified under oath at a pretrial hearing that Abigail's version of what occurred was true but later recanted and claimed not only that he didn't force himself on her but also that she was the initiator of their liaison and controlled the action and relationship. [...]
On Jan. 14, 2015, the judge was "merciful," imposing the mandatory-minimum sentence of "only" 8-25 years in prison. [...]
He didn't have the discretion to impose a sane and "just" and condign and rational sentence. [...]
Even if he had such discretion, however, he probably would have sentenced her to 4-6 years in prison if not longer rather than "only" 6-12 months in jail or 1-2 years in prison, knowing the hysteria and outrage such "leniency" would incite not only in Grand Rapids and Michigan but nationwide [...].
On Nov. 26, [2014 ?] in Grand Rapids, MI, Abigail (a former tutor at a Catholic high school) was convicted at trial of three counts of
- "first-degree criminal sexual conduct," a felony with a maximum sentence of 25-years to life in prison and a mandatory minimum of 8-25 years,
- for allegedly having sex with a student who she claimed was not only the aggressor in their sexual intrigue but also forced himself on her 3 times; and
- also the felony of "accosting a minor for immoral purposes" for exchanging hundreds of emails and text-messages with her "victim," a 6'3", 220 lb. biological man of 15 and football star who initially confessed to the authorities and also testified under oath at a pretrial hearing that Abigail's version of what occurred was true but later recanted and claimed not only that he didn't force himself on her but also that she was the initiator of their liaison and controlled the action and relationship. [...]
On Jan. 14, 2015, the judge was "merciful," imposing the mandatory-minimum sentence of "only" 8-25 years in prison. [...]
He didn't have the discretion to impose a sane and "just" and condign and rational sentence. [...]
Even if he had such discretion, however, he probably would have sentenced her to 4-6 years in prison if not longer rather than "only" 6-12 months in jail or 1-2 years in prison, knowing the hysteria and outrage such "leniency" would incite not only in Grand Rapids and Michigan but nationwide [...].
;
Woman as 'Rapists'
"The male can rape the female, the female cannot rape the male," so wrote Diana Trilling long ago. Her point is that rape entails not only the use of violence/force or threats of same to compel the submission of a victim but also the penile violation/penetration of the victim by the assailant.
For obvious anatomical reasons, woman can't rape anyone, male or female, in the pure and literal sense of the word. But we now live in a society in which adult women are vilified as "rapists" for allowing biological men under age 18 to penetrate them in factually consensual relationships, a grotesque and ludicrous perversion of language used to distort and invert reality for ideological, political, economic, moral, and personal reasons.
"The male can rape the female, the female cannot rape the male," so wrote Diana Trilling long ago. Her point is that rape entails not only the use of violence/force or threats of same to compel the submission of a victim but also the penile violation/penetration of the victim by the assailant.
For obvious anatomical reasons, woman can't rape anyone, male or female, in the pure and literal sense of the word. But we now live in a society in which adult women are vilified as "rapists" for allowing biological men under age 18 to penetrate them in factually consensual relationships, a grotesque and ludicrous perversion of language used to distort and invert reality for ideological, political, economic, moral, and personal reasons.
;
Zero Tolerance For Six Year Old Predators,
Apr 27 2008
Critic column about a news item that told that a six year young child is branded as a "sex offender".
Critic column about a news item that told that a six year young child is branded as a "sex offender".
;
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.
;
Early Childhood Sex Education;
How Do Dutch Parents Educate Their Young Children About Sex, Sexuality, and Pedophilia?,
Nov 01 2007
In this research study, parents from in and around Amsterdam were
interviewed and filled out surveys about how they educate or have educated their young children about sex, sexuality and pedophilia. Seven parents were interviewed in 40 minute to hour sessions and 20 parents of primary school students filled out two-page surveys about the topic of early sex education. It was found that most Dutch parents educate their young children openly about sex; however, they do not discuss sexuality and sexual feelings and desires with their children. They speak with their children about sexuality during or after puberty. Many parents speak with their young children about pedophilia, but limit their conversation to talking about the danger of strangers.
In this research study, parents from in and around Amsterdam were
interviewed and filled out surveys about how they educate or have educated their young children about sex, sexuality and pedophilia. Seven parents were interviewed in 40 minute to hour sessions and 20 parents of primary school students filled out two-page surveys about the topic of early sex education. It was found that most Dutch parents educate their young children openly about sex; however, they do not discuss sexuality and sexual feelings and desires with their children. They speak with their children about sexuality during or after puberty. Many parents speak with their young children about pedophilia, but limit their conversation to talking about the danger of strangers.
;
A Generation Silenced: The Role of Children as Seen Through the Discourse on Age ofConsent Legislation;
Psychology Department,
Dec 03 2007
Age of consent laws have been the source of a major debate between those that
believe children need to be protected from predators, and those that believe children should have rights, and that the harm caused by a sexual relationship between a child and an adult has been dramatically sensationalized.
However, among those involved in this dispute, no children can be found arguing for either perspective.
This study was initially intended to reveal the opinions of children on the issue
of age of consent laws. Then I was informed that this was next to impossible given the various types of legal authorization I would be required to get. The issue of authorization is what ultimately led to the focus of this study – questioning what devices are put in place by society to prevent children from expressing their opinions?
Also in this study, I examine whether there is a prevalent feeling that children should be able to express their opinions, and finally, in what forms would this expression be considered acceptable?
To explore these questions, the views of university students as well as
professionals were utilized as tools by which to understand the societal constructs that have silenced children, relating specifically to the Netherlands, but relevant outside of the Netherlands as well.
Finally, there is a discussion of whether or not it is necessary that these constructs exist, and the ways in which it would possible to transcend them.
Age of consent laws have been the source of a major debate between those that
believe children need to be protected from predators, and those that believe children should have rights, and that the harm caused by a sexual relationship between a child and an adult has been dramatically sensationalized.
However, among those involved in this dispute, no children can be found arguing for either perspective.
This study was initially intended to reveal the opinions of children on the issue
of age of consent laws. Then I was informed that this was next to impossible given the various types of legal authorization I would be required to get. The issue of authorization is what ultimately led to the focus of this study – questioning what devices are put in place by society to prevent children from expressing their opinions?
Also in this study, I examine whether there is a prevalent feeling that children should be able to express their opinions, and finally, in what forms would this expression be considered acceptable?
To explore these questions, the views of university students as well as
professionals were utilized as tools by which to understand the societal constructs that have silenced children, relating specifically to the Netherlands, but relevant outside of the Netherlands as well.
Finally, there is a discussion of whether or not it is necessary that these constructs exist, and the ways in which it would possible to transcend them.
;
Pedophilia and Conflict
This research is centered on pedophiles and their place in Dutch society and based on the question: To what extent is there a conflict due to the presence of pedophiles in Dutch society?
Data was gathered and analyzed through
a qualitative content analysis of newspaper articles and
semi-structured interviews with pedophiles.
In this research pedophiles are defined as people with a sexual age orientation directed towards children younger than sixteen years old. A sexual orientation does not only revolve around sexual feelings, but romantic feelings as well.
Two main results were found.
First, newspapers present a generalized image of pedophiles as people who have engaged or are likely to engage in a form of pedosexuality. This overgeneralization leads to the formation of a stigmatized stereotype, that of a criminal sexual child abuser.
Second, the respondents experience that stigma in their daily life, since they do not feel accepted by society. Instead they experience structural conflict to some extent in the form of unequal life chances. The fact that they are unable to speak out about their sexual identity can lead to difficulties in the social life, in asking for protection and professional help, and in living without fear of discovery. The latter is a form of latent violence.
This research builds further on both classic and recent literature, yet is innovating in the sense that it connects conflict studies to the concept of pedophilia. Conflict is being used as a fluid and broad concept, instead of keeping it static and narrow. This research shows how conflict studies can be relevant in addressing conflict that is not directly visible, since it helps in understanding societal developments and structures.
This research is centered on pedophiles and their place in Dutch society and based on the question: To what extent is there a conflict due to the presence of pedophiles in Dutch society?
Data was gathered and analyzed through
a qualitative content analysis of newspaper articles and
semi-structured interviews with pedophiles.
In this research pedophiles are defined as people with a sexual age orientation directed towards children younger than sixteen years old. A sexual orientation does not only revolve around sexual feelings, but romantic feelings as well.
Two main results were found.
First, newspapers present a generalized image of pedophiles as people who have engaged or are likely to engage in a form of pedosexuality. This overgeneralization leads to the formation of a stigmatized stereotype, that of a criminal sexual child abuser.
Second, the respondents experience that stigma in their daily life, since they do not feel accepted by society. Instead they experience structural conflict to some extent in the form of unequal life chances. The fact that they are unable to speak out about their sexual identity can lead to difficulties in the social life, in asking for protection and professional help, and in living without fear of discovery. The latter is a form of latent violence.
This research builds further on both classic and recent literature, yet is innovating in the sense that it connects conflict studies to the concept of pedophilia. Conflict is being used as a fluid and broad concept, instead of keeping it static and narrow. This research shows how conflict studies can be relevant in addressing conflict that is not directly visible, since it helps in understanding societal developments and structures.
;
Self-identifications, sexual development and well-being in minor-attracted people: an exploratory study
Most research on sexual attraction to minor children and adolescents has viewed this phenomenon as a pathology, and has used clinical and forensic study populations. This study seeks to conceptualize minor attraction as a sexual orientation, and uses a sample of minor- attracted people recruited from the internet (N = 160). Participants’ sexual identities, sexual attractions, disclosures, and well-being are investigated.
Results indicate that minor-attracted people have varied experiences, but common themes that emerged in these areas are discussed. Regarding well-being, minor-attracted people in general had higher loneliness and lower self- esteem than the general public. But positive disclosure experiences and having some level of attraction towards adults were related to lower loneliness, and more accepting attitudes towards sex between adults and children were found to be related to higher self-esteem. In general, findings supported the conceptualization of minor attraction as a sexual orientation. [... ... ...]
Most research on sexual attraction to minor children and adolescents has viewed this phenomenon as a pathology, and has used clinical and forensic study populations. This study seeks to conceptualize minor attraction as a sexual orientation, and uses a sample of minor- attracted people recruited from the internet (N = 160). Participants’ sexual identities, sexual attractions, disclosures, and well-being are investigated.
Results indicate that minor-attracted people have varied experiences, but common themes that emerged in these areas are discussed. Regarding well-being, minor-attracted people in general had higher loneliness and lower self- esteem than the general public. But positive disclosure experiences and having some level of attraction towards adults were related to lower loneliness, and more accepting attitudes towards sex between adults and children were found to be related to higher self-esteem. In general, findings supported the conceptualization of minor attraction as a sexual orientation. [... ... ...]
;
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.
;
Understanding and Challenging Stigmatization of People With Pedophilia;
Fakultät Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften der Technischen Universität Dresden;
208 pp.,
Feb 06 2015
In summary, this thesis shows that stigma against pedophilia is a serious and widespread problem, and offers concrete propositions to promote a more realistic and empathetic view of this group. By approaching the emotionally charged concept of pedophilia from a stigma perspective, the research presented in this thesis challenges the way in which not only people from the general public, but also scientists and health care professionals think about pedophilia, and corroborates the importance of stigma reduction within the wider context of child sexual abuse prevention.
In summary, this thesis shows that stigma against pedophilia is a serious and widespread problem, and offers concrete propositions to promote a more realistic and empathetic view of this group. By approaching the emotionally charged concept of pedophilia from a stigma perspective, the research presented in this thesis challenges the way in which not only people from the general public, but also scientists and health care professionals think about pedophilia, and corroborates the importance of stigma reduction within the wider context of child sexual abuse prevention.
;
„Ich fühle mich nicht diskrimineert, ich werde diskrimineert" - Social Stigmatization of Paedophiles in Germany;
MSC Medical Antropology and Sociology,
Jun 29 2015
The focus in this thesis lies on the personal perception of self-identifying paedophiles concerning the stigmatization of their sexual preferences. In the literature there is a lack of emic perspectives regarding the stigma of paedophilia. Thus this study aims to contribute to the filling of this gap. The research is limited to a German context.
[...]
The findings of the research suggest that paedophiles do perceive a stigmatizing environment in Germany. The best solution to fight the growing stigmatization appears to be educating the German society about paedophilia.
The focus in this thesis lies on the personal perception of self-identifying paedophiles concerning the stigmatization of their sexual preferences. In the literature there is a lack of emic perspectives regarding the stigma of paedophilia. Thus this study aims to contribute to the filling of this gap. The research is limited to a German context.
[...]
The findings of the research suggest that paedophiles do perceive a stigmatizing environment in Germany. The best solution to fight the growing stigmatization appears to be educating the German society about paedophilia.
;
Child Abuse Increases Risk,
Oct 21 2008
Boys who experienced childhood physical or sexual abuse are more likely to use sexually coercive behavior against an unwilling female partner when they are adolescents and young adults.
The study also found that 55 percent of the men who reported coercive behavior did not experience any childhood sexual or physical abuse.
"There is a lot of evidence indicating sexual coercion and aggression is a complex behavior with an array of risk factors. There is this whole group of men for whom we have yet to fully understand what their risk factors are. They are relatively 'average' men without terrible childhood histories, but who engage in this hurtful behavior,"
Boys who experienced childhood physical or sexual abuse are more likely to use sexually coercive behavior against an unwilling female partner when they are adolescents and young adults.
The study also found that 55 percent of the men who reported coercive behavior did not experience any childhood sexual or physical abuse.
"There is a lot of evidence indicating sexual coercion and aggression is a complex behavior with an array of risk factors. There is this whole group of men for whom we have yet to fully understand what their risk factors are. They are relatively 'average' men without terrible childhood histories, but who engage in this hurtful behavior,"