Prohibited Sexual Behavior and Sexual Violence

Adult Sexual Contact with Children: Pedophilia 2

In addition to using the criteria just mentioned, a psychiatric diagnosis also specifies whether the adult is sexually attracted to females, males, or both. It also distinguishes between an “exclusive type” of pedophile, i.e. one who feels attracted exclusively to children, and a “nonexclusive type”, i.e. a pedophile who is also attracted to adults. Finally, it has to be established whether the case is limited to incest.
There is no “typical pedophile”. However, we know that most pedophiles are men, and that many of them are married. Their sexual interests usually begin to manifest themselves in adolescence, in rare cases in adulthood. When pedophiles approach children, they initially hide their erotic motivation, but, as a rule, are otherwise quite sensitive to their interests and needs. They rarely use force, but try to gain the children’s confidence and to obtain their consent to some sexual contact, usually short of oral, genital or anal intercourse. Violence, force and sexual penetration occur only in relatively few cases. Child murders with sexual connotations are much rarer still. Violent sexual offenders against children manifest severe personality disorders in addition to a possibly present pedophilia.
The causes of pedophilia are unknown. Some researchers suspect a biological cause, others a combination of psychosocial causes. It is also unknown how many pedophiles there are in any given population. In any case, as already mentioned, most sexual offenses against children are committed not by pedophiles, but by non-pedophilic men.