The Psychology of Pedophiles Essay -- Child Molesters, Sex Offenders

In the news today we frequently hear about pedophiles and child molesters. We have heard the horror stories of priest and bishops molesting boys, public school teachers having sex with students, and family members molesting children. While it is still taboo, the public view of a child molester has changed in the past years. It used to be that when we thought of a pedophile, we thought of a scary man lurking behind the bushes. This is not the case today, most of the cases of child molestation are by a person known to the child, whether it be a family member or a family friend.(Herkov, 2012) A pedophile is a person who is significantly older and has conscious sexual interests in prepubescent children. There are two kinds of pedophiles, the violent offenders and the non-violent offenders. The violent offenders are the minority of offenders. These are the one that pose the greatest risk to the victim and the public. Violent offenders are also known as child rapists. They use threat, intimidation, and physical force to overpower their victims. In most cases the child relinquishes sex for survival.(Bridges, 2012) The non-violent offenders are the most prevalent of all molesters. These are the people who use deception and enticement to lure their victims into submission. In a way, these offenders are using a form of sexual extortion. Sex is often rewarded or exchanged for acceptance, recognition, attention, or material gain. Often times the victim will resist, and since these are non-violent predators, they will increase the efforts to get the victim to accept their advances . If the child is persistent, the offender will most likely move to a more vulnerable target. If the offender does start sexually abusing the victim, the sexual... ...July, 2004. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. http://www.transformationsjournal.org/journal/issue_08/article_01.shtml Bridges, Debbie. "Sexual Addiction Treatment, Signs,Causes, Symptoms." MedicineNet. MedicineNet, 28 July 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. D’Amora, David and Burns-Smith, Gail. How Offender Treatment and Victim Advocacy can Work Together in Response to Sexual Violence," Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, The Official Journal of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers,11 (October 1999), 296-297. Deirmenjian, JM. â€Å"Pedophilia on the Internet.† Journal of Forensic Sciences, 47.5 (2002): 1090-1092. Herkov, Michael. "What Is Sexual Addiction?" Psych Central. Psych Central, July 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. Lamberg, Lynne. â€Å"Researchers Seek Roots of Pedophilia.† JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, 294.5 (2005): 546.