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Tynisha Pratt
Mrs. Oakes
CLU 3M
June 16th 2014

Pedophilic Disorder

The word Pedophilia derives from the Greek words

pas,
meaning children
and
phila

, meaning friendly love. In that case, arent we all pedophiles? Dont we

all have a friendly love for children? People who suffer from pedophilia are
mentally ill. They take the friendly love we all feel towards children and morph it
into something more, into a need for a relationship with them. Pedophiles are
anyone who is sexually attracted to children 12 years or younger. They know that
these feelings are wrong and wish that they did not feel this way. Yes, the crimes
pedophiles commit (if any) are wrong but punishing them for a disease out of
their own control is worse. Pedophilia is so much more than what you see on the
TV. Pedophilia is a mental disorder, and like any other mental disorder those
suffering need help and support, prison is living hell for pedophiles, and treatment
facilities are successful in the rehabilitation of pedophiles. Pedophilia is a mental
disorder that needs more awareness and treatment instead of harsher and longer
jail sentences.
Pedophilia is a mental disorder, and like any other mental disorder those
suffering need help and support. We tend to regard pedophiles and monsters out
to steal our children away, but at the end of the day they are humans just like

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everyone else. Once upon a time those strange men watching your children at the
park, were once children themselves. Some even have children of their own as
well. In fact, 44% of convicted pedophiles have been or are married (The Week
Staff). And though we often think of pedophiles monstrous way, we never stop to
think that maybe theyre like this because something monstrous happened to
them. In fact, most pedophiles come from unstable home lives or suffered
childhood trauma. 1 out of 3 pedophiles admit to being sexually abused as a child
(The Week Staff). Growing up pedophiles had hard lives. Most pedophiles start
developing inappropriate attraction towards children in early adolescence. They
are frightened by these feeling as they know that they are not normal and wrong.
As teenagers, pedophiles have a low sense of self-worth and are revolted by
themselves (Bleyer). It has been found that there is a biological link between
pedophilia. Most pedophiles have lower IQs and less white matter in the brain.
Scientists have proven that the part of the brain that evokes nurturing emotions
in a normal persons, evokes sexual reactions in a pedophiles brain (Kane). It is
thought that males pedophiles [only 6% of pedophiles are female (The Week
Staff).] have an excessive amount of testosterone that makes them react so
sexually (Cox). The question has been raised: Is pedophilia a sexual orientation?
Well to know that you must first know what a sexual orientation is. Sexual
orientation is defined as being:
a person's sexual identity in relation to the gender
to which they are attracted.
Or in this case,
the age to which they are attracted
.
Someone who is said to be homosexual might explain their unorthodox attraction
to be how they were born. A choice that was not theirs to make. Pedophiles do
not wish to be the villain of society. They do not want to be hated, hunted and

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humiliated. They do not chose to be attracted to children. Majority of pedophiles

are non violent and do not wish to harm children. These pedophiles fall in love
with one specific child and try to become close with them and protect them
(Bleyer). The choice to be attracted to children is a choice that was not theirs to
make. In other words, yes, pedophilia is a sexual orientation. People tend to
believe that pedophiles have no self control, but people do not take into account
that there are many pedophiles that do not act upon their urges. Ethan Edwards
and Nick Devin (pseudonyms)are co-founders of the website
Virtuous Pedophiles
,
a website for pedophiles that do not offend (Kane). They write, The goals of our
organization are to reduce the stigma attached to pedophilia by letting people
know that a substantial number of pedophiles do not molest children, and to
provide peer support and information about available resources to help virtuous
pedophiles remain law-abiding, and lead happy, productive lives. (Noe).
Pedophiles were once children themselves who grew up in unstable homes,
cursed to be biologically and sexually different from the rest of the world, but
even they can support each other and help each other to not harm, but to love.
We need to understand that pedophilia is an unwanted illness that needs more
enlightenment and treatment, not severe incarceration.
Prison is living hell for pedophiles. Some of you may think that they
deserve such heinous treatments, but are your opinions based on stigma or facts?
Well here are some facts; 67,266 children from Canada went missing in 2004
however only
1 fifth of them were for sexual purposes, majority of child sexual assault cases
are done by someone close to the child, not a stranger, and less than 14% of

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Federal inmates are sex offenders and only 21% of them are pedophiles (Coles).
For pedophiles, prison is more than a punishment, it is a death sentence. Over
the years the prisoners have developed a hierarchy based on the severity of the
crimes theyve committed (James). In this case, pedophiles are the peasants of
the kingdom. Unliked and unwanted they are beaten, blackmailed and abused
(physically and sexually) until they beg for death. On top of that, most of
prisoners are parents themselves and feel it is their parental duty make
pedophiles atone for their ways. From 1999-2000 (1 year), 1.3 million prisoner
were killed by other inmates (James). I conducted an interview with Senior Crown
Prosecutor, Bishop Craig Botterill. During this interview he stated that pedophiles
that go to prison without treatment get a hate-on for society, they become even
more depressed and violent because of the time spent in jail. Without treatment
to address what causes them to prey on children, they come out more dangerous
than when they went in.
(Pratt). When you take a person who is sick and

confused and put them in jail without explaining that what theyve done is not
normal and wrong, they become hardened and hate society and the system. You
may believe that pedophiles deserve to rot in jail however your opinion is
probably based on stigma, prison is no place for a sick individual and pedophiles
grow more hateful after being imprisoned without treatment. Pedophilia is a
sickness that needs attention and treatment, not violent imprisonment.
Treatment facilities are successful in the rehabilitation of pedophiles. If
arrested, a pedophile must undergo a series of legal aspects to the treatment.
Civil Commitment is a post-sentence institutional detention of an offender with
the intention to rehabilitate (Cox). Correctional Services Canada runs two sex

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offender programs (Coles), those finished their sentences will be sent to either of
these to complete their treatment. After they are finished with treatment they can
be released back into society under supervision. They must give their name and
information to the RCMP and are enter into the Ontario Sex Offender Registry
under Christophers Law (MCSCS). Unfortunately there are little treatment
facilities available for non offenders. There are many different tactics therapists
use in the treatment of pedophiles, some of the more commonly used are;
electroshock therapy, psychoanalysis and physical or chemical castration (Cox).
Chemical castration is the injection of Estrogen, the female hormone to balance
out the excessive amounts of testosterone in pedophiles. The have discovered
that empathetic tones, rather than harsh ones are more beneficial to getting
through to pedophiles (Cox). Shame Therapy is another helpful tactic in
treatment. Shame Therapy is where peodphiles learn to associate their sexual
feelings towards children with disgust (The Week Staff). During an interview with
Senior Crown Prosecutor, Bishop Craig, I asked if he thought that treatment
facilities were beneficial to the rehabilitation of pedophiles. He stated, Theyre
not only beneficial, theyre essential. This would be a dangerous world if we didnt
have these treatment facilities for [pedophiles] because without treatment they
have no appreciation or understanding of their behavior and will just keep
committing offences against children. (Pratt). Timothy Bynum is a research
scientist who studied sex offender treatment programs. Bynum noted that
sex

offender treatment typically consists

of three principal approaches: the cognitive-behavioral approach, which
emphasizes changing patterns of thinking that are related to sexual offending and

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changing deviant patterns of arousal; the psycho-educational approach, which

stresses increasing the offenders concern for the victim and recognition of
responsibility for their offense; and the pharmacological approach, which is based
upon the use of medication to reduce sexual arousal. (Noe). Bynum conducted a
1988 study between peodphiles without treatment and pedophile that underwent
cognitive-behavioural treatment. Those who received treatment had a 18%
recidivism rate over a three year period while the untreated group had a 43%
recidivism rate (Noe). Many other studies have shown great results of Civil
Commitment treatment programs. A 2004 study showed that people who dropped
out of the treatment program were 6 times more likely to commit another sexual
or violent act than those who completed the treatment (Cox). In a long term
Public Safety Canada study, 73% of pedophiles who underwent treatment had not
reoffended in 20 years (Coles). It has also been proven that Hebephiliacs (people
attracted to children 13-17 years old) can turn their attraction towards adults and
live happy normal lives. Civil Commitment treatment programs help to educate
pedophiles on the harm they are doing, to feel shame in what theyve done and to
healthily rehabilitate pedophiles into society while lowering recidivism rates.
Pedophilic Disorder needs to be recognized as a disorder and treated as one, not
as a crime.
Pedophilic Disorder is a commonly misunderstood and overly judged
disorder. Pedophiles were once children with difficult lives and biologically and
chemically different from everyone else. Their love for children seems completely
natural to them and majority mean no harm. Not all pedophiles act on their urges
and can support each other and help each other understand their disorder. Jail is

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a coffin to any pedophile and punishing them for things they dont understand is
wrong and only makes them more violent and angry. Psychoanalysis, Electric
Shock Therapy, Shame Therapy, Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, Physical and
Chemical castration has been proven to healthily rehabilitate pedophiles. The fact
is that society punishes, but does not try to understand. To protect our kids, we
have to reach the pedophiles preemptively had stop their feelings before they
develop. Reducing stereotypes will encourage pedophiles to come forward about
their disorder and seek help. We must stop punishing and start preventing
(Bleyer). Pedophilia is a mental disorder that needs more awareness and
treatment instead of harsher and longer jail sentences.

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Works Cited
Bleyer, Jenifer. How Can We Stop Pedophiles?
Slate
, 14 Sept 2012. Web. 4 Apr
2014
Coles, Denyse. Point: Sex offender laws do not handle sex offenders
adequately.
EBSCO
, 2014. Web. 4 Apr 2014
Cox, Lauren. Treating Pedophiles: Therapy Can Work, But Its a Challenge.
Live
Science
, 16 Dec 2011. Web. 4 Apr 2014
James, Michael. Prison is Living Hell for pedophiles.
ABC News
, 26 Aug 2003.
Web. 4 Apr 2014
Kane, Laura. Is Pedophilia a Sexual Orientation?
The Toronto Star
, 22Dec 2013.
Web. 4 Apr 2014
Noe, Denise. "Treating Pedophiles: Reasons for Cautious Optimism."
Crime
Library
. 13 June 2013, Web. 20 May 2014
(MCSCS) Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services "Policing
Services."
Ontario Sex Offender Registry
, 12 May 2014. Web. 19 May 2014
Pratt, Tynisha. Interview with Senior Crown Prosecutor, Bishop Craig Botterill
.
YouTube
, 8 Mar 2014. Web. 19 May 2014
The Week Staff. Pedophilia: A Guide to the disorder.
The Week
. 25 Nov 2011.
Web. 4 Apr 2014