I mean, gay people like members of their own sex, straight people like members of the opposite sex, bisexuals like everyone, do pedophiles just happen to find children attractive?
And if so, how can we possibly rehabilitate them? Cognitive therapy to 'cure' homosexuality is very controversial and some experts think it actually causes harm to the person. Knowing this, how can we 'cure' pedophilia? Do we ave to just lock them up forever? castrate them? Kill them?
Thoughts?
Update:Oh for....I put this question in this catagory because I knew this is where most people come, should have know I would get this kind of respone.
Your all aswering with your immediate instinct "Pedo's are sick, they need to rot in hell etc etc etc". You never paid atention to what I actually said.
And some people are saying pedophilia isn't like homosexuality because it is a choice. Disregarding the fact that there is no evidence for that, if you think about it logically it doesn't mke a bit of sense.
I'm straight guy so why would I CHOOSE to find a child atractive? Knowing that society says it's wrong, I ill be an outcast if I admitted I CHOSE this and would go to jail if I acted on this CHOICE, why the hell would I do it?
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
Pedophilia in the most basic of terms is preferring children to adults, but it goes deeper then that. Often times pedophiles will molest children of the same sex, though they're not necessarily homosexual. This is because that's the child available or because they see a younger them in that child. Pedophiles were often molested as children themselves and are attracted to the innocence they see in a child.
Acting on any sexual compulsion is a choice. No, a person can't always control their thoughts or preferences, but they can control their actions.
There is no cure for sexual offenders. They cannot be rehabilitated. The only exception to this that I've seen are people accused of "date rape" in which things went way too far, but the person wasn't acting out any violent fantasy and people convicted of L & L when they were 18, 19 or 20 and the "child" was 15-17.
Pedophilia is a fetish. Any fetish is like a phobia, Skinarian type operant conditioning. Common traits among pedophiles are low sexual activity in adolescence and decreasing sexual activity in adulthood. The patient is displaying a link between first sexual encounter and sexuality in a generalized sense. Their schema for something sexy is something like when they touched a breast when they were 14. No sexual stimuli is administered after the event and so the patient remains with the schema that sexy is only in the 14 year old body. object fetishes (feet or other "body" fetishes are considered partialisms) are links between the first sexual stimulation and the object. For example someone may masturbate in the bathroom while their moms panties are drying on the shower rack. The conditioning of panties and sexual stimuli takes place and a fetish is born. Pedophilia is developed the same way. The sexual stimuli is conditioned as a healthy adolescent but without a maturation of stimuli though continued sexual experiences through life the stimuli of the child is locked. Homosexuality is in essence a female brain in a mans body. The latest data says homosexual men perform mental tasks in a way consistent with how heterosexual female subjects preform them. They are "wired" like a woman. If this continues to prove accurate then it would prove one is born gay and nothing can change it. As for therapy for pedophiles in theory it can be cured in similar ways to a phobia. Fetishes and phobias are created the same way, a product of opertant conditioning. and so they can be cured in similar ways. However I don't know of anyone who is conducting therapy in that fashion as the data I mentioned is still very new.
You ask, "why people get angry at the thought of pedophiles?" Because generally they're kidnapping parents children and having their way with them, or getting them without stealing them, exposing them to sexual activity at such a YOUNG age, traumatizing them, making their lives completely ****** up. My mother was molested by her step grandpa when she was eight. So ofcourse i'm going to have something very personal against them. I swear, in the future, if anything EVER happens with my child, I will kill that man. I will kill him. It's disgusting. Homosexuality is a choice between two grown men. Yeah, they're the same in the sense they're born like that, but pedophiles need to get help, homosexuals are grown and can make their own decisions. Do you think an 8 to 12 year old girl or boy chooses to have sex? I don't find it AS disturbing if the girl is 17 or something and the male is 30+. She's almost grown, it's her decision. That's my opinion.
Pure and simple------>>pedophiles CANNOT BE CURED OR REHABILITATED!
Their inner wires are all intertwined, unlike normal people who don't have the uncontrolled urges; their sexual hunger for innocent children are beyond their control. That is why there's no such thing as a cure for these sadistic and sick individuals.
They may want the rest of the world to believe that their sexual attractiveness for children is a form of sickness in that with the appropriate and proper treatments, it will eventually diminished.
Funny how the pedophiles themselves pathetically tries to say their so-called "sickness" could be cured, and if society does not do anything about it, then they can reoffend over and over again---->>because they were improperly neglected.
What a bunch of bull and nonsense crap!
The only solution to solving pedophiles from their sick perversion is to have them incarcerated for life if caught and convicted. That would be the only way for them to NEVER have a chance at reoffending again.
Bottom line!
A gay person can't choose to be not gay - they can only choose not to act on their impulses. Since gays don't hurt anybody they former is probably the better choice.
Pedofiles hurt people badly by acting on their impulses and can and do destroy their own lives as well.
So not acting on it is far better.
Therapy may help AVOID the behavior - you CAN change behavior, even if you can't change the feelings - like Alcholoics Anynoymous - once an alcoholic, always an alcholic - but you CAN learn tactics to not engage in life-destroying behavior.
Not every "pedophile" becomes a child molestor. Lots of poeple are dragging around far darker crap than people realize probably.
God bless.
Pedophilia is a perversion not a preference, thank goodness it's illegal. They are almost always never rehabilitated. Look at all the old ones who continue on although they have been arrested and supposedly "treated" with therapy time and time again. If everyone of them died today I'd have a party.
Oh wow, i've never thought of it that way before.
And unfortunately, this question is too complicated for me to even answer without sounding uneducated. Personally, I would drill the idea that pedophilia is wrong into the person but sadly; most go back out and prey on another minor.
Well first and foremost. The only catagory that needs to be addressed is the PEDO one. And there is NO cure. They need to be shot dead.
It isn't.
It is disgusting.
How can anyone find young children attractive?
Ok some people do,
But it is wrong. You shouldn't be allowed to manipulate children in such ways.
But I do understand your point.
x
NO pedophilia is NOT a preference like homo/hetero/bi/sexuality.
EDIT: Alright well I don't know much about pedophilia, all I know is you can't compare it to the aforementioned, and I do not wish anyone to rot or burn in hell or whatever. You'll have to discuss this in a more educated section sorry.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=200909...