;
The ‘‘Participating Victim’’ in the Study of Erotic Experiences Between Children and Adults: An Historical Analysis;
Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2009
During the 20th century, erotic experiences between minors and adults occupied a position of increasing interest, both public as well as scientific. In this area of research, one of the most notable evolutions in how these experiences are treated has been the progressive disappearance and/or the intense redefinition of what earlier researchers called ‘‘participating victims,’’ i.e.,minors apparently interested in accepting and/or sustaining these relationships.
The present work, through a comparative analysis of the literature, seeks to substantiate this transformation during the second third of the 20th century. It will also argue that this evolution can be fundamentally explained in terms of the intense emotional, moral, and ideological importance that is ascribed to these experiences in the rise of the current victimological paradigm.
Finally, this study endeavors to contribute to the understanding of childhood and the scientific study of child sexuality as well as of these experiences
with adults.
During the 20th century, erotic experiences between minors and adults occupied a position of increasing interest, both public as well as scientific. In this area of research, one of the most notable evolutions in how these experiences are treated has been the progressive disappearance and/or the intense redefinition of what earlier researchers called ‘‘participating victims,’’ i.e.,minors apparently interested in accepting and/or sustaining these relationships.
The present work, through a comparative analysis of the literature, seeks to substantiate this transformation during the second third of the 20th century. It will also argue that this evolution can be fundamentally explained in terms of the intense emotional, moral, and ideological importance that is ascribed to these experiences in the rise of the current victimological paradigm.
Finally, this study endeavors to contribute to the understanding of childhood and the scientific study of child sexuality as well as of these experiences
with adults.
;
The Public Policy Implications of ‘‘Hebephilia’’: A Response to Blanchard et al. (2008);
Archives of Sexual Behavior;
38, 319-320,
Oct 16 2008
Blanchard et al. (2008) present their article on "hebephilia" as an objective analysis of research data. In fact, it is a textbook example of subjective values masquerading as science. Avoiding the crucial public policy implications of their argument, Blanchard et al. advance hebephilia as if it exists in a cultural vacuum. Their recommendations are even more troubling in light of their study's methodological flaws.
Blanchard et al. (2008) present their article on "hebephilia" as an objective analysis of research data. In fact, it is a textbook example of subjective values masquerading as science. Avoiding the crucial public policy implications of their argument, Blanchard et al. advance hebephilia as if it exists in a cultural vacuum. Their recommendations are even more troubling in light of their study's methodological flaws.
;
Sex Offender Residency Restrictions,
Jan 01 2009
Sex offenders, as a group, incite the public's fear and hatred, and politicians seeking to curry electorate favor often support increasingly harsh sanctions against these "political pariahs of our day." Most recently, in an attempt to keep communities safe, at least twenty two states and hundreds of local municipalities have placed severe restrictions on where sex offenders may live after being released from prison. These restrictions typically exclude sex offenders from living within 1000 to 2500 feet of schools, parks, day care centers, and other areas where children congregate.
However, research indicates that these fear-driven laws are ill-advised policy choices based on faulty reasoning. They aggravate recidivism risk factors, and hence may actually make communities less safe.
Sex offenders, as a group, incite the public's fear and hatred, and politicians seeking to curry electorate favor often support increasingly harsh sanctions against these "political pariahs of our day." Most recently, in an attempt to keep communities safe, at least twenty two states and hundreds of local municipalities have placed severe restrictions on where sex offenders may live after being released from prison. These restrictions typically exclude sex offenders from living within 1000 to 2500 feet of schools, parks, day care centers, and other areas where children congregate.
However, research indicates that these fear-driven laws are ill-advised policy choices based on faulty reasoning. They aggravate recidivism risk factors, and hence may actually make communities less safe.
;
The Myth of Rampant Teenage Promiscuity;
New York Times,
Jan 27 2009
The myth of the rampant teenage promiscuity is simply not true. Teens are more conservative now, less busy with sex, and far more careful in preventing unwanted births. In the long term, those births are lessened. Frequently, oral sex replaces genital sex.
The myth of the rampant teenage promiscuity is simply not true. Teens are more conservative now, less busy with sex, and far more careful in preventing unwanted births. In the long term, those births are lessened. Frequently, oral sex replaces genital sex.
;
The Myth of Lost Innocence;
A New York Times Blog,
Jan 29 2009
At a journalism conference a couple of years ago, I met Linda Perlstein, the author of “Not Much Just Chillin’: The Hidden Lives of Middle Schoolers.” This meeting occurred right in the middle of the “rainbow party” craze – that is to say, the media frenzy around the alleged oral activities of oversexed (and lipsticked) tweens.[...]
I found myself thinking about Perlstein’s media follies this week, when I read Tara Parker-Pope’s article “The Myth of Rampant Teenage Promiscuity” in Science Times on Tuesday. For me it not only raised the issue of myth and reality (teens are, in truth, having sex less and later than they did a decade or two ago), but also brought to mind the stories that we tell and what people are willing to hear. [...]
Certain kinds of children have certain kinds of vulnerabilities that make them particularly susceptible to the toxic elements of our culture. This is true of those who do or don’t fall victim to stress and anxiety, and it’s true of those who do or don’t engage in too-early, too-risky sex. Certain kinds of policies can help children. (Abstinence-only sexual education clearly does not help in combating teen pregnancy.)
Certain kinds of parenting can help or hurt, too.
At a journalism conference a couple of years ago, I met Linda Perlstein, the author of “Not Much Just Chillin’: The Hidden Lives of Middle Schoolers.” This meeting occurred right in the middle of the “rainbow party” craze – that is to say, the media frenzy around the alleged oral activities of oversexed (and lipsticked) tweens.[...]
I found myself thinking about Perlstein’s media follies this week, when I read Tara Parker-Pope’s article “The Myth of Rampant Teenage Promiscuity” in Science Times on Tuesday. For me it not only raised the issue of myth and reality (teens are, in truth, having sex less and later than they did a decade or two ago), but also brought to mind the stories that we tell and what people are willing to hear. [...]
Certain kinds of children have certain kinds of vulnerabilities that make them particularly susceptible to the toxic elements of our culture. This is true of those who do or don’t fall victim to stress and anxiety, and it’s true of those who do or don’t engage in too-early, too-risky sex. Certain kinds of policies can help children. (Abstinence-only sexual education clearly does not help in combating teen pregnancy.)
Certain kinds of parenting can help or hurt, too.
;
The making of a modern-day witch hunt: Book review - Richard Webster’s The Secret of Bryn Estyn,
Jan 30 2009
The making of a modern-day witch hunt
The publication of the paperback version of Richard Webster’s The Secret of Bryn Estyn is a powerful reminder of who is driving today’s hysterical anti-paedophile witch hunts: police, judges, politicians… the elite, not the mob.
The making of a modern-day witch hunt
The publication of the paperback version of Richard Webster’s The Secret of Bryn Estyn is a powerful reminder of who is driving today’s hysterical anti-paedophile witch hunts: police, judges, politicians… the elite, not the mob.
;
The Science Of Sexual Orientation,
Feb 11 2009
There are few issues as hotly contested — and as poorly understood — as the question of what makes a person gay or straight. It's not only a political, social, and religious question but also a scientific question, one that might someday have an actual, provable answer.
The handful of scientists who work in this under-funded and politically charged field will tell you: That answer is a long way off. But as Lesley Stahl reports, their efforts are already yielding tantalizing clues. One focus of their research is twins.
There are few issues as hotly contested — and as poorly understood — as the question of what makes a person gay or straight. It's not only a political, social, and religious question but also a scientific question, one that might someday have an actual, provable answer.
The handful of scientists who work in this under-funded and politically charged field will tell you: That answer is a long way off. But as Lesley Stahl reports, their efforts are already yielding tantalizing clues. One focus of their research is twins.
;
An insight into child porn,
Feb 26 2009
In recent months, I have followed closely the debate on the topic of filtering of child pornography in Germany. There have been various suggestions about how the Internet should be censored and filtered - not only by the Federal Government (...) but also by federal countries (...).
Discussions on this topic have lasted for months and have triggered a strong polemic which is also reflected in various forums. For the first time ever, I will present the "flip side" of the issue and give you an insight from the other side. I will describe controversial and possibly - from today's perspective - immoral things and technologies.
...
In order to systematically describe the situation, I decided to do this in a theme-oriented fashion.
In recent months, I have followed closely the debate on the topic of filtering of child pornography in Germany. There have been various suggestions about how the Internet should be censored and filtered - not only by the Federal Government (...) but also by federal countries (...).
Discussions on this topic have lasted for months and have triggered a strong polemic which is also reflected in various forums. For the first time ever, I will present the "flip side" of the issue and give you an insight from the other side. I will describe controversial and possibly - from today's perspective - immoral things and technologies.
...
In order to systematically describe the situation, I decided to do this in a theme-oriented fashion.
;
Hikind Retreating On Tough Tactics Against Molesters;
,
Mar 25 2009
Assemblyman Dov Hikind of Brooklyn, a leading voice in the fight to end child sexual abuse in Orthodox communities, is backing down from some of his previous claims and backing away from one of his most confrontational stands against an alleged pedophile.
Assemblyman Dov Hikind of Brooklyn, a leading voice in the fight to end child sexual abuse in Orthodox communities, is backing down from some of his previous claims and backing away from one of his most confrontational stands against an alleged pedophile.
;
Sex Offenders: The Modern Day Leper,
Mar 27 2009
I want to tell you about Scott, a friend of mine who lives in the upstate of South Carolina. After a year and a half of being a modern day leper, he finally agreed to my interview. No, Scott does not have Hansen's disease. However, he has been shunned and forced to live on the edges of society, similar to the lepers of Biblical times.
I want to tell you about Scott, a friend of mine who lives in the upstate of South Carolina. After a year and a half of being a modern day leper, he finally agreed to my interview. No, Scott does not have Hansen's disease. However, he has been shunned and forced to live on the edges of society, similar to the lepers of Biblical times.
;
Are there women paedophiles?,
Apr 29 2009
Paedophiles are invariably thought of as men and they mostly are. But do women commit sexual abuse against children, and if so, why is it rarely discussed?
However, a Comment of Ipce says about this article:
This article is a textbook example of disinformation. From the title it purports to be about pedophilia, then nearly all the cases it discusses are of incest, something which is bound to have more serious sequelae. The effect is to sensationalize the concept of pedophilia in the mind of the reader.
Paedophiles are invariably thought of as men and they mostly are. But do women commit sexual abuse against children, and if so, why is it rarely discussed?
However, a Comment of Ipce says about this article:
This article is a textbook example of disinformation. From the title it purports to be about pedophilia, then nearly all the cases it discusses are of incest, something which is bound to have more serious sequelae. The effect is to sensationalize the concept of pedophilia in the mind of the reader.
;
Decent Exposure?,
Apr 29 2009
I’ve been peeved all month about the latest panic: “sexting.”
More and more states are bringing child-porn charges against teenagers who take racy pictures of themselves and send them electronically to lovers or pals.You might call sexting a dunderheaded act — who knows where your immortalized nipples might end up — but also a victimless “crime.”
Yet here is the amazing part: Child-porn law is based on the minor’s inability to consent to being photographed; the model is ipso facto a victim of the photographer. Sexting, in which the model is also the photographer, is a crime in which a person can be both perpetrator and victim at the same time.
U.S. sex law is like a black hole: Once reason falls in, it can never re-emerge.
Can all this get any stupider?
I’ve been peeved all month about the latest panic: “sexting.”
More and more states are bringing child-porn charges against teenagers who take racy pictures of themselves and send them electronically to lovers or pals.You might call sexting a dunderheaded act — who knows where your immortalized nipples might end up — but also a victimless “crime.”
Yet here is the amazing part: Child-porn law is based on the minor’s inability to consent to being photographed; the model is ipso facto a victim of the photographer. Sexting, in which the model is also the photographer, is a crime in which a person can be both perpetrator and victim at the same time.
U.S. sex law is like a black hole: Once reason falls in, it can never re-emerge.
Can all this get any stupider?
;
Orthodox Jewish Community Struggles With Abuse Allegations;
Alleged Victims and Advocates Say Sex Abuse Common, Rarely Discussed;
,
May 05 2009
When Joel Engelman was 8 years old, he says, he was called from his Hebrew class to the principal's office at his Brooklyn yeshiva, a Jewish religious school. [... ...]
When Engelman arrived at the principal's office, he says, Reichman told him to close the door. He told the boy to sit on his lap and began swiveling his chair back and forth, Engelman says. Reichman then touched him, moving from his shoulders down, Engelman claims.
The same kind of abuse went on twice a week for several months before he left the school, Engelman claims in a civil lawsuit filed against the yeshiva, the United Talmudical Academy.
When Joel Engelman was 8 years old, he says, he was called from his Hebrew class to the principal's office at his Brooklyn yeshiva, a Jewish religious school. [... ...]
When Engelman arrived at the principal's office, he says, Reichman told him to close the door. He told the boy to sit on his lap and began swiveling his chair back and forth, Engelman says. Reichman then touched him, moving from his shoulders down, Engelman claims.
The same kind of abuse went on twice a week for several months before he left the school, Engelman claims in a civil lawsuit filed against the yeshiva, the United Talmudical Academy.
;
Pedophiles, Hebephiles and Ephebophiles ...,
Jul 01 2009
In this column presented by Scientific American Mind magazine, research psychologist Jesse Bering of Queen's University Belfast ponders some of the more obscure aspects of everyday human behavior. Ever wonder why yawning is contagious, why we point with our index fingers instead of our thumbs or whether being breastfed as an infant influences your sexual preferences as an adult? Get a closer look at the latest data as "bering in Mind" tackles these and other quirky questions about human nature.
"Michael Jackson probably wasn’t a pedophile — at least, not in the strict, biological sense of the word. It’s a morally loaded term, pedophile, that has become synonymous with the very basest of evils. (...) But according to sex researchers, it’s also a grossly misused term."
In this column presented by Scientific American Mind magazine, research psychologist Jesse Bering of Queen's University Belfast ponders some of the more obscure aspects of everyday human behavior. Ever wonder why yawning is contagious, why we point with our index fingers instead of our thumbs or whether being breastfed as an infant influences your sexual preferences as an adult? Get a closer look at the latest data as "bering in Mind" tackles these and other quirky questions about human nature.
"Michael Jackson probably wasn’t a pedophile — at least, not in the strict, biological sense of the word. It’s a morally loaded term, pedophile, that has become synonymous with the very basest of evils. (...) But according to sex researchers, it’s also a grossly misused term."
;
New US Sentencing Commission report on the history of federal child porn guidelines,
Oct 30 2009
This report provides a history of the child pornography guidelines, which were initially promulgated in 1987 and substantively revised nine times in the following 22 years. [...]
Congress has demonstrated its continued interest in deterring and punishing child pornography offenses, prompting the Commission to respond to multiple public laws that created new child pornography offenses, increased criminal penalties, directly (and uniquely) amended the child pornography guidelines, and required the Commission to consider offender and offense characteristics for the child pornography guidelines.
Sentencing courts have also expressed comment on the perceived severity of the child pornography guidelines through increased below-guidelines variance and downward departure rates. Consistent with the Commission’s duties to review and revise the guidelines, and the Supreme Court’s direction, the Commission has established a review of the child pornography guidelines [...]
This report provides a history of the child pornography guidelines, which were initially promulgated in 1987 and substantively revised nine times in the following 22 years. [...]
Congress has demonstrated its continued interest in deterring and punishing child pornography offenses, prompting the Commission to respond to multiple public laws that created new child pornography offenses, increased criminal penalties, directly (and uniquely) amended the child pornography guidelines, and required the Commission to consider offender and offense characteristics for the child pornography guidelines.
Sentencing courts have also expressed comment on the perceived severity of the child pornography guidelines through increased below-guidelines variance and downward departure rates. Consistent with the Commission’s duties to review and revise the guidelines, and the Supreme Court’s direction, the Commission has established a review of the child pornography guidelines [...]
;
Of Myths And Monsters;
The Cypress Times,
Nov 24 2009
Most of what our society believes about sex offenders is not true. Below are just a few of the beliefs we were taught that are either misleading or completely untrue: [... ... ... ...]
We need to seriously consider what truly works, not what simply feeds our anger and fear and makes us “feel good. [...] There are ways to address this issue from a realistic standpoint. [...]
In our narrow focus on the “Registered Sex Offender,” we tend to forget the big picture. Appeals to emotion rather than reason helped create a legal system of perpetual brokenness for victims, offenders, and the community alike.
Most of what our society believes about sex offenders is not true. Below are just a few of the beliefs we were taught that are either misleading or completely untrue: [... ... ... ...]
We need to seriously consider what truly works, not what simply feeds our anger and fear and makes us “feel good. [...] There are ways to address this issue from a realistic standpoint. [...]
In our narrow focus on the “Registered Sex Offender,” we tend to forget the big picture. Appeals to emotion rather than reason helped create a legal system of perpetual brokenness for victims, offenders, and the community alike.
Priest In Boston Clergy Scandal Denied New Trial;
,
Nov 27 2009
One of the central figures in Boston's clergy sex abuse scandal [Paul Shanley] lost his bid for a new trial yesterday when a judge ruled a victim's repressed memories were rightly used against the defrocked priest.
One of the central figures in Boston's clergy sex abuse scandal [Paul Shanley] lost his bid for a new trial yesterday when a judge ruled a victim's repressed memories were rightly used against the defrocked priest.
;
(Self-)abusive prophecies, rigorous science, and discursive templates: commentary on Malón (2009);
Archives of Sexual Behavior;
39, 213-215
;
Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800;
Archives of Sexual Behavior;
39(6), 1475-6
;
Bibliography of Homosexuality 1984–2010 (link)
This bibliography is a listing of items catalogued by libraries on Worldcat under the Descriptor Term “homosexuality”. Descriptor is a wider term than Subject Term “homosexuality” but also includes Subject Term: that is, it refers to works catalogued under both the Subject Term “homosexuality” and the Descriptor Term “homosexuality”. It was downloaded in the Digital Humanities Center at Columbia University from 22 to 24 December 2010; I acknowledge the help of Bob Scott of the Center in compiling it. It is made public in accordance with Worldcat use conditions that such works can be made public provided no fee is charged. “Homosexuality” was chosen as it is a long used term in its subject area; “gay” and latterly “queer” increasingly yield items as well.
The work supplements the annotated bibliographies of Wayne Dynes Homosexuality; a research guide (New York, 1987), 823 pages, now available free on the internet on the sexological web site of Erwin Haeberle in Berlin, and Gary Simes, A Bibliography of homosexuality: a research guide to the University of Sydney Library (Sydney, 1998), 371 pages. Gary Simes’s Bibliography, to which I contributed many items. was modelled on that of Wayne Dynes and, despite its title, is a general work, including listing many works not in the University of Sydney Library. It lists 6,129 items and Wayne Dynes’s work 4,858; both works include periodical article.
There are 15,418 items listed in the bibliography below which shows the enormous growth of the subject; most items are books and periodicals though film, for instance, is represented. Most are in English but many other languages are represented. Readers are referred to my Bibliography of Homosexuality: the non-English sources on Erwin Haeberle’s site for a breakdown of works in non-English languages to 2010, listed by language from Arabic to Urdu.
The sequence is arranged by year from 1984. Each year is in two sequences, firstly works without authors (such as gay periodicals) arranged from A to Z then the second sequence, works with authors arranged by author from A to Z. The number of items in each year is given in brackets after the year.
This document comes to 814 pages in 10 point Times Roman.
This bibliography is a listing of items catalogued by libraries on Worldcat under the Descriptor Term “homosexuality”. Descriptor is a wider term than Subject Term “homosexuality” but also includes Subject Term: that is, it refers to works catalogued under both the Subject Term “homosexuality” and the Descriptor Term “homosexuality”. It was downloaded in the Digital Humanities Center at Columbia University from 22 to 24 December 2010; I acknowledge the help of Bob Scott of the Center in compiling it. It is made public in accordance with Worldcat use conditions that such works can be made public provided no fee is charged. “Homosexuality” was chosen as it is a long used term in its subject area; “gay” and latterly “queer” increasingly yield items as well.
The work supplements the annotated bibliographies of Wayne Dynes Homosexuality; a research guide (New York, 1987), 823 pages, now available free on the internet on the sexological web site of Erwin Haeberle in Berlin, and Gary Simes, A Bibliography of homosexuality: a research guide to the University of Sydney Library (Sydney, 1998), 371 pages. Gary Simes’s Bibliography, to which I contributed many items. was modelled on that of Wayne Dynes and, despite its title, is a general work, including listing many works not in the University of Sydney Library. It lists 6,129 items and Wayne Dynes’s work 4,858; both works include periodical article.
There are 15,418 items listed in the bibliography below which shows the enormous growth of the subject; most items are books and periodicals though film, for instance, is represented. Most are in English but many other languages are represented. Readers are referred to my Bibliography of Homosexuality: the non-English sources on Erwin Haeberle’s site for a breakdown of works in non-English languages to 2010, listed by language from Arabic to Urdu.
The sequence is arranged by year from 1984. Each year is in two sequences, firstly works without authors (such as gay periodicals) arranged from A to Z then the second sequence, works with authors arranged by author from A to Z. The number of items in each year is given in brackets after the year.
This document comes to 814 pages in 10 point Times Roman.
;
Child Sexual Abuse in the Etiology of Depression;
Depression and Anxiety;
27(2010), 631 - 642
This article addresses the best available scienti?c evidence on the topic, by providing a systematic review of the several reviews that have investigated the literature on the issue.
Seven databases were searched, supplemented with hand search of reference lists from retrieved papers.
Four reviews, including about 60,000 subjects from 160 studies and having no limitations that could invalidate their results, were analyzed.
There is evidence that child sexual abuse is a signi?cant, although general and nonspeci?c, risk factor for depression.
Additional variables may either act independently to promote depression in people with a history of sexual abuse or interact with such traumatic experience to increase the likelihood of depression in child abuse survivors.
For all victims of abuse, programs should focus not only on treating symptoms, but also on reducing additional risk factors. Depressed adults who seek psychiatric treatment should be enquired about early abuse within admission procedures.
This article addresses the best available scienti?c evidence on the topic, by providing a systematic review of the several reviews that have investigated the literature on the issue.
Seven databases were searched, supplemented with hand search of reference lists from retrieved papers.
Four reviews, including about 60,000 subjects from 160 studies and having no limitations that could invalidate their results, were analyzed.
There is evidence that child sexual abuse is a signi?cant, although general and nonspeci?c, risk factor for depression.
Additional variables may either act independently to promote depression in people with a history of sexual abuse or interact with such traumatic experience to increase the likelihood of depression in child abuse survivors.
For all victims of abuse, programs should focus not only on treating symptoms, but also on reducing additional risk factors. Depressed adults who seek psychiatric treatment should be enquired about early abuse within admission procedures.
;
Contact Sexual Offending by Men With Online Sexual Offenses;
Annals of Sex Research · December 2010
Abstract
There is much concern about the likelihood that online sexual offenders particularly online child pornography offenders) have either committed or will commit offline sexual offenses involving contact with a victim. This study addresses this question in two metaanalyses:
[1] the first examined the contact sexual offense histories of online offenders,
whereas
[2] the second examined the recidivism rates from follow-up studies of online
offenders.
[1] The first meta-analysis found that approximately 1 in 8 online offenders (12%)
have an officially known contact sexual offense history at the time of their index offense (k = 21, N = 4,464). Approximately one in two (55%) online offenders admitted to a contact sexual offense in the six studies that had self-report data (N = 523).
[2] The second meta-analysis revealed that 4.6% of online offenders committed a new sexual offense of some kind during a 1.5- to 6-year follow-up (k = 9, N = 2,630); 2.0% committed a contact sexual offense and 3.4% committed a new child pornography offense.
The results of these two quantitative reviews suggest that there may be a distinct subgroup of online-only offenders who pose relatively low risk of committing
contact sexual offenses in the future.
Abstract
There is much concern about the likelihood that online sexual offenders particularly online child pornography offenders) have either committed or will commit offline sexual offenses involving contact with a victim. This study addresses this question in two metaanalyses:
[1] the first examined the contact sexual offense histories of online offenders,
whereas
[2] the second examined the recidivism rates from follow-up studies of online
offenders.
[1] The first meta-analysis found that approximately 1 in 8 online offenders (12%)
have an officially known contact sexual offense history at the time of their index offense (k = 21, N = 4,464). Approximately one in two (55%) online offenders admitted to a contact sexual offense in the six studies that had self-report data (N = 523).
[2] The second meta-analysis revealed that 4.6% of online offenders committed a new sexual offense of some kind during a 1.5- to 6-year follow-up (k = 9, N = 2,630); 2.0% committed a contact sexual offense and 3.4% committed a new child pornography offense.
The results of these two quantitative reviews suggest that there may be a distinct subgroup of online-only offenders who pose relatively low risk of committing
contact sexual offenses in the future.
;
Deciphering the Ambiguous Menace of Sexuality for the Innocence of Childhood
This article examines how late modern Western society/culture deals with the utterly despised phenomenon of paedophilia. It will be argued there are ambiguous factors and forces, which are an inherent part of mainstream culture and the wider social fabric, that make an unequivocal stand against sexuality interfering with children somewhat hypocritical. The zealous efforts in battling sexual child molesters as the primordial danger for the innocence of childhood are seen as a strategy for overt redemption. A hidden agenda is detected by recovering complicit support from a diverse range of adjacent sources that defies the genuineness of guarding the sexual innocence of children.
The perversions that command the greatest attention and/or intensity of response are those whose incomprehensibility is lessened by a diminishing of differences that certify their very status as perversion. In other words, attention is paid to those perversions that begin to appear on the shadowy borders of plausibility and, as a result, where the increased scrutiny for signs of such taint in others occasions a similar scrutiny of the self.
This article examines how late modern Western society/culture deals with the utterly despised phenomenon of paedophilia. It will be argued there are ambiguous factors and forces, which are an inherent part of mainstream culture and the wider social fabric, that make an unequivocal stand against sexuality interfering with children somewhat hypocritical. The zealous efforts in battling sexual child molesters as the primordial danger for the innocence of childhood are seen as a strategy for overt redemption. A hidden agenda is detected by recovering complicit support from a diverse range of adjacent sources that defies the genuineness of guarding the sexual innocence of children.
The perversions that command the greatest attention and/or intensity of response are those whose incomprehensibility is lessened by a diminishing of differences that certify their very status as perversion. In other words, attention is paid to those perversions that begin to appear on the shadowy borders of plausibility and, as a result, where the increased scrutiny for signs of such taint in others occasions a similar scrutiny of the self.
;
Defining Paraphilia: Excluding Exclusion;
Open Access Journal of Forensic Psychology;
2010(2), 241-272
The development of the classification of the paraphilias is considered, with emphasis on justifications for their inclusion in DSM-III in light of the declassification of homosexuality. These justifications are found to be tenuous and do not work for the paraphilias in DSM-III-R because of changes made. Rationale for these changes is discussed based on inquiries made to DSM-III-R paraphilias committee members. Changes in DSM-IV and DSM-IV-TR are also discussed. After considering and critiquing more recent arguments for including the paraphilias in the DSM, recommendations are made for proposals in the DSM-5, whether the paraphilias belong in the DSM, and whether they should be used in SVP commitment.
The development of the classification of the paraphilias is considered, with emphasis on justifications for their inclusion in DSM-III in light of the declassification of homosexuality. These justifications are found to be tenuous and do not work for the paraphilias in DSM-III-R because of changes made. Rationale for these changes is discussed based on inquiries made to DSM-III-R paraphilias committee members. Changes in DSM-IV and DSM-IV-TR are also discussed. After considering and critiquing more recent arguments for including the paraphilias in the DSM, recommendations are made for proposals in the DSM-5, whether the paraphilias belong in the DSM, and whether they should be used in SVP commitment.
;
Deviants and Dissidents;
184 pp
My dissertation takes the child as its focus to understand both liberation politics and social conservative movements in the postwar United States. I reveal that, even as leftist social movements viewed children as possessing “sexuality” and argued for the liberation of children’s sexual expression, they simultaneously invoked the child as a vulnerable figure who must be protected from sexual abuse and violence in a dangerous postwar culture.
Ultimately, the protectionist rhetoric about children’s sexuality proved more powerful and influential than the libratory rhetoric, in large part because it shared features with the burgeoning rhetoric of the religious right, who found political power in a broad call to “save the children.”
My analysis of these competing rhetorical frameworks reveals the ways in which the child came to structure late-20th-century political discourse by marking the limits of liberation. Using children’s sexuality as a point of entry into postwar political activism, my dissertation sheds light on the evolution of political identities. Ultimately, my work highlights the shrinking of progressive political possibilities and the emergence of a consolidated conservative political discourse.
My dissertation takes the child as its focus to understand both liberation politics and social conservative movements in the postwar United States. I reveal that, even as leftist social movements viewed children as possessing “sexuality” and argued for the liberation of children’s sexual expression, they simultaneously invoked the child as a vulnerable figure who must be protected from sexual abuse and violence in a dangerous postwar culture.
Ultimately, the protectionist rhetoric about children’s sexuality proved more powerful and influential than the libratory rhetoric, in large part because it shared features with the burgeoning rhetoric of the religious right, who found political power in a broad call to “save the children.”
My analysis of these competing rhetorical frameworks reveals the ways in which the child came to structure late-20th-century political discourse by marking the limits of liberation. Using children’s sexuality as a point of entry into postwar political activism, my dissertation sheds light on the evolution of political identities. Ultimately, my work highlights the shrinking of progressive political possibilities and the emergence of a consolidated conservative political discourse.