Wilfred Owen

Section 1: Summarize what you have read:

Pedophilia is a psychological disorder in which a person is primarily or exclusively attracted to children who have not undergone puberty. A pedophile, the term for a person with this condition, is not necessarily one who engages in sexual activities with children. However, they have strong urges and sexually arousing fantasies about having sex with a child. Generally, pedophiles are attracted to children under the age of thirteen years. In our society the term pedophile is more broadly used for anyone who is attracted to a minor or someone that's under the age of consent. However, there are different terms used for different types of paraphilias involving minors. A paraphilia is a psychosexual disorder in which a person feels strong urges and fantasizes about sexual activity with an object, a non-consenting partner, or inflicting pain on themselves or their partner. Pedophilia refers to adults who have a sexual attraction towards children between the ages of 5-12 years of age. They are attracted to the undeveloped features of a child, and in many cases, once a child begins to show signs of puberty the pedophile loses attraction for such child. There's another term that is used to refer to a person with an attraction towards adolescents. The term is ephebophilia and it's been mainly used for an adult man who is primarily or exclusively attracted to post-puberty boys, but it can refer to either sex. Furthermore, Nepiophilia is the term used for an individual with an attraction for toddlers and/or infants. Since it is very rare for a pedophile to feel an attraction towards toddlers and loses attraction for kids going into puberty, a pedophile falls into its own category. I will refer to the pedophile as a male from here forward being that the vast majority of them are males. But keep in mind that women pedophiles do exist and it should not be ignored. It's hard to pin a number, but studies show anywhere between 75-90% of offenders are male.

There are three categories for pedophiles: the closet pedophile, the isolated pedophile, and the sharing pedophile. The closet pedophile is aroused by the thought or fantasy of engaging in sexual activity with a child but never acts on these fantasies or urges. He usually leads a married life, giving him the sense that he's covering these feelings from himself. The isolated pedophile will engage in some type of child molestation but will keep it a secret and demand that the child keeps the secret as well. Sometimes he attempts to gain the child's trust by offering his love, friendship and even gifts. This type of pedophile usually collects child pornography of some sort but keeps it well hidden. Sometimes he uses his pornographic material to show a child in his attempt to attract his victim. The sharing pedophile feels the need to share his desires to the fullest extent possible without consequences but often gets caught. This type will purchase and exchange pornographic material over the internet. This pedophile is somewhat of an activist and believes that pedophilia is merely a sexual fetish and that it isn't wrong. This pedophile firmly believes that society will someday come to accept this condition. They define pedophilia as "love for children" and insist that even the child can benefit from such experience. There's a support group called the North American Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) in which the members dedicate themselves to promoting and condoning pedophilia over the internet. This organization's goal is to "to end oppression of men and boys who have freely chosen mutual, consensual relationships" (nambla.org). Amazingly, they have a page on this website where supposed consensual pre-teen and teenage boys "speak up" and defend their adult male "lovers." It's hard to comprehend the existence of such relationships, but it's very common for child victims of sexual assault to be "brainwashed" into believing that what they are doing is perfectly normal and it isn't hurting anyone. After all, a twelve year old boy does not have the capacity to have a mature adult relationship; much less understand that what they are doing is harmful. All in all, a pedophile will attempt any avenue of approach possible just to get to a child.

Once a pedophile acts on his sexual urges and molests a child, he becomes a sexual offender or predator. Sexual offenders are usually quite normal in everyday life and it's very common that it's someone the child loves and trusts. According to Identifying Child Molesters by Carla van Dam, PhD, a study showed that fifty-seven percent of all child molestation cases involved committed family members. Twenty-one percent of all molests were committed by natural fathers. Only twelve percent of child molesters were step-fathers. Still, a child in a step-family is more likely to be molested overall due to the large number of extended family members and close family friends, not necessarily the step-father. However, molestation isn't limited within the child's family. Anyone to whom the child is exposed is a potential predator, and most of the time this person will not give off any clue as to what their intentions are. It could be anyone ranging from school teachers, church leaders, coaches, counselors, therapists, scout leaders, etc. They usually hold a position that will gain the child's trust or even admiration. Sometimes, even if the child feels that what he or she is doing is wrong, they will give in just to please that person. This type of behavior is sometimes referred to as Stockholm Syndrome. This is when a victim forms an attachment or bond with their attacker.

Compulsive pedophiles will act upon their urges at any costs despite of the consequences they may have to face. In Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists, and Other Sex Offenders, a pedophile explains his uncontrollable desire, "I didn't suspend my conscience, I carried right into the action with me . . . if I had believed with all of my mind and heart that the earth was going to open up and swallow me in hell, I would have went ahead and done it anyway." This man was a minister and was convicted for molesting his grandchildren. He knew with all his conscience that it was wrong, yet he would have faced any consequence if it meant he would get to touch a child. The mind of a pedophiles acts similarly to that of a drug addict. Even if they know what the consequences are, they will stop at nothing to get what they desire.

All pedophiles are not the same, and not all pedophiles are sex offenders. As a matter of fact, a sex offender is not always a pedophile. A man who rapes a little girl could just be a psychopath and