Identifiying Pedophilia

Abstract

Pedophilia, derived from Greek words philia of pedeiktos meaning erotic love of children (Seto, 2002) includes using children as a sexual excitement object to reach gratification. In most cultures children are not deemed as mature enough to make decisions about sexual intercourse. In this regard, child sexual abuse is not only intolerable, but is also sanctioned in many societies. Pedophilia is considered a controversial and unpleasant subject for many clinicians; therefore, most of them avoid conducting research on this topic. In the literature, there is no absolute and consistent classification and also diagnostic criteria of pedophile has changed over time. Although different theories such as psychoanalytic, attachment and Ferenczi’s trauma theory propose some explanations regarding the reasons for pedophilia, there is no satisfactory elucidation about this topic. Pedophilia is a multidisciplinary concern and requires a bio-psycho-socio-legal plan for intervention, it is crucial to conduct research by collaboration of various disciplines and understand this subject is important and necessary to address this issue. This current study is an attempt to understand pedophilia by looking from different perspectives.

Keywords

• pedophilia
• child molesters
• classification
• profile
• DSM