Do you think that Pedophilia (sp?) is a disease? Has it been categorized as an official disease?

Question

I was the victim of a pedophiles attacks on children, but unlike so many others I've been able to move past that point in my lif. My attacker has since died, but every now and then little memories of what happened to me still pop up. My mother thinks that pedophiles prey on children intentionally but my sister was trying to explain to me that pedophilia (sp?) is a disease. I could never fathom how/why she would say it. But I was thinking about it. I don't know for sure if I agree with her but I don't know if a person who would prey on a child could be mentally sound. I'd love to know other people's thoughts on this subject.

Answer 1

First, I am happy that you have moved past what might be considered to many a dreadful trauma.

Your Mum is right about the deliberate and calculating nature of paedophilia, but it's not a disease as you'd think of it - not something transmitted like a flu virus.

The desire to molest children is a mental disease, a corruption of a person's moral core. Even the thought that someone can prey on children in this way makes me shudder just typing in the words.

Most of all, though, paedophilia is, at least in part, a matter of /choice/. It can't be forced on someone, like contracting influenza from contact with an infected person. Even paranoid schizophrenia, in comparison, is a mental disease which is forced upon the sufferer - they don't have any say of when they get it or not, they just have it thrust upon them.

A paedophile, on the other hand, at some point /chooses/ to go down this depraved path. There are those who are otherwise healthy people, except that at some point there is a flaw inside them which opens, and they turn into criminals. Others are just plain born flawed, sociopaths who don't even understand that what they're spreading is suffering. They're the worst - the Roy Whitings, the Ian Huntleys of the world. True evil.

In a way, the threat of paedophiles is, in itself, like a disease - a social disease, which infects whole communities. Even a whiff of scandal in the area, and streets and playgrounds empty as mothers and fathers lock their children indoors. Hawk eyed teachers come out in force during breaktime, kids in stores are welded to the sides of their parents, strangers are greeted with fear and suspicion, and vigilante mob wannabes gather and mutter darkly in pubs.

It is a horrible condition, and the worst part of it is, it sours whole communities.

Worst of all, there's no really effective cure, short of executing the very worst ones - and hanging's been abolished, so society's stuck with them.

I can't give you a happy ending to this. All I can do is give you an answer and tell you that your sister said what she said in order to help you to form a framework to understand what happened to you, so you can begin to understand. Perhaps in order that SHE can begin to understand.

And perhaps to help you to sleep at night without fear.

Answer 2

I personally think anyone who sexually abuses a child should be put in prison for life, or worse.
I don't care if it's a disease.. They are still able to KNOW what they do is wrong, since they try to cover it up. So, while the craving may be a disease, the choice to act upon it is their own.

Answer 3

I can't believe that it is a disease. I am more inclined to believe that it is a psychological problem. After watching some interviews with prisoners for this crime it supports my opinion.

These people all say the same thing and that is that they cannot achieve sexual satisfaction any other way. Therefore it must be a psychological problem and not a disease.

Jerry
:o)

Answer 4

by and large I believe it to be a learned behavior.
I dont think it has been established as a diSEase yet-per se.
I do think that many were either molested as children and or befriended,and seduced into something that would not become a lifestyle,but would reemerge after many long years in fond thoughts of their youth,thus Their past kindling a fire within them of a sort of madness,which evolved to what is called pedophillia.

Answer 5

It is not a disease. A pedophile is a demented, selfish, cruel, sadistic animal. He is very deliberate in selecting his prey. He does not deserve to live.

Your sister is wrong and that is a cruel thing for her to say to you. I'm so sorry for what happened to you.

Answer 6

I think it is an illness/disease, but not one that can be cured. I don't say that to excuse what they do, but obviously they're not mentally stable if they get pleasure from molesting a child.

Answer 7

I don't think it is a disease, it's probably just a fantasy based on controlling somebody who is helpless physically and mentally. I don't think the offenders are evil...they probably just have evil fantasies that they have not dealt with properly. Maybe I'm wrong.

Answer 8

Anyone who hurts a child should be horsewhipped!

Answer 9

its not a disease, its just disgusting, i hat those people, they need to find people around their ages.

Answer 10

it is more like PTSD