Research supporting the notion that many, possibly a majority of pedophiles never molest children in the first place
| Type of Work | Review of Research |
Hall, G.C.N., Hirschman, R., & Oliver, L.L. (1995). "Sexual Arousal and Arousability to Pedophilic Stimuli in a Community Sample of Normal Men," Behavior Therapy, 26, 681-694.
- "The current results suggest that sexual arousal to pedophilic stimuli occurs among a sizable minority of normal men who report no pedophilic behavior and is not necessarily associated with pedophilic behavior."
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Underwager, Ralph and Wakefield, Hollida (1995). "Special Problems with Sexual Abuse Cases," in J. Ziskin (ed.), Coping With Psychiatric and Psychological Testimony, Fifth Edition, pp. 1315-1370. Los Angeles, CA: Law and Psychology Press.
- "Although the terms are often used interchangeably, a distinction must be made between "sex offender against a minor" and "pedophile." The former refers to a criminal sexual behavior and the latter to an anomalous sexual preference. Many pedophiles never act on their impulses."
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Peter J.; Wise, Thomas N.; Schmidt, Chester W.; and Berlin, Fred S. (2002) "Pedophilia," Journal of the American Medical Association, 288, 2458-2465.
- "Also, not all individuals who fulfill the diagnostic criteria for pedophilia actually abuse children."
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Freel, Mike (2003). "Child Sexual Abuse and the Male Monopoly: An Empirical Exploration of Gender and a Sexual Interest in Children ," The British Journal of Social Work, 33, 481-498.
- "If someone is fully inhibited from sexually abusing children, no amount of emotional congruence, sexual arousal, or blockage will lead them to abuse children."
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Jarvik, Elaine (2007). "Teacher gets new accuser in sex case," Deseret Morning News, 17 March.
- "A person can be diagnosed as a pedophile without ever touching a child, [Dr. Mark] Zelig explains. "Our best research shows that the majority of men who have a sexual attraction to children do not act on it.""
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Seto, M. (2009). "Pedophilia," Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 5, 391-407.
- "Yet even after thorough police and child welfare investigations, some pedophiles are found to have no history of sexual contacts with children. [...]
Seto & Eke (2005) followed a sample of child pornography offenders for an average of 2.5 years. The majority of these offenders would likely be diagnosed as pedophiles (Seto et al. 2006). A small proportion (4%) committed a contact sexual offense during this time period.
This suggests that having a sexual interest in children is not a sufficient factor to explain sexual offending against children. In Seto & Eke's (2005) study, child pornography offenders with any kind of prior criminal history were more likely to commit a contact sexual offense, or an offense of any kind, during the follow-up period.
This finding suggests that it is the pedophiles [1] who are more likely to engage in antisocial or criminal behavior of any kind — which would include individuals who are- impulsive,
- callous, and
- willing to take risks;
- individuals who become disinhibited as a result of substance misuse; and
- individuals who endorse antisocial attitudes and beliefs such as a disregard for social norms or the laws —
- who pose the greatest risk of acting upon their sexual interest in children (Seto 2008). [*]
- In contrast, one would predict that pedophiles [2] who are
- reflective,
- sensitive to the feelings of others,
- averse to risk,
- abstain from alcohol or drug use, and
- endorse attitudes and beliefs supportive of norms and the laws
- would be unlikely to commit contact sexual offenses against children."