...
Childhood Trauma?
Mental Illness?
I'm just curious about Human Behavior and why people do the things they do...
2006-12-21 14:22:27 · 30 answers · asked by Anonymous in Social Science ➔ Psychology
A lot of them are insecure about themselves. They don't know how to attract a grown woman, or how to please one. Or they are ashamed of their bodies, some have low IQ s, some had it done to them when they were children... I don't think there's an exact science to who is pedophile. It's often times someone you love. It's your husband who has sex with his children or your father or your brother... Most people never see it coming, my mom sure didn't
2006-12-21 14:26:26 · answer #1 · answered by Smitten_Kitten 4 · 4⤊ 1⤋
At first thought... by definition!!
Oh, just a little humor, please, for a sullen subject...
Childhood trauma and mental illness are good guesses. I can't say that anyone really knows for sure.
There is that whole nature v nurture debate, you know. On the nurture side, most pedophiles were once victims of sexual abuse as children. On the nature side, well I haven't read anything about the 'nature' of pedophiles. But...
Mental illness has support on both sides. On the nurture side, a person with mental illness may have lived in an abusive (mental, emotional, or sexual) household. On the nature side, oh cr*p I can't remember the specific studies, but mental illnesses do respond to medications and medications effect chemicals and chemicals are part of nature, right? (I don't know if I'd buy that last part, but I can't remember more details.)
I do, specifically, remember one theory about the cause of schizophrenia, though. It's called (or at least it was called such in my text book - I've heard the same theory with a different name in other places) the diathesis-stressor model. The theory outlined the way brain chemistry may be wired or miswired to trigger the onset of the symptoms of schizophrenia when a person experiences a traumatic experience. In short, a person has a biological predisposition that surfaces in times of extreme stress. And since every person experiences different stress levels and reacts differently in every situation, the trauma could be anything.
Sorry I couldn't be more specific, but I told you some of what I know on the subject. You may not trust me anyway (this is the internet, you know) but I say I'm not sure when I'm not sure. Like that comment after a theory I may have just made up ;-) .
Anyhow, I hope I didn't satisfy your curiosity. We never know everything, so happy learning trails...
2006-12-21 23:19:08 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Their are many different reasons one turns to pedophileial. For one, pedophilial woudl have to be properly defined first to then go on to define what makes someone choose that path. Is a pedophile someone who looks at under age persons in a sexual manner? If so , then how many people can be accused of looking at the local high school cheerleaders in a sexually wanting manner? Does the fact that they range in age from 14-18 matter (the ones who are 18 are not pedophilia , but they are still in high school)? Is the man who looks at a 16 year old who looks to be 18 a pedophile? If he is, when is he ? Before or after he realizes that the girl is under 18? Is a pedophile only an adult who engages in sexual intercourse with a minor? Is oral sexual gratification enough to qualify (acourding to the 42 President of the USA it would not)? In some countries it is legal to marry at age 14 --- is that pedophila?
2006-12-21 22:38:09 · answer #3 · answered by daddyspanksalot 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
i wonder this too. could be childhood trauma, or mental illness, or something just went wrong in the womb -- like the mother ate too much processed meat or something. you never know what the outcome of a child will be if you don't watch very carefully what you eat when you are pregnant.
i don't think pedophilia should be classified as a mental illness because then some people give these pedophiles an excuse for when they go out and do bad things to kids. unless these people are mentally retarded, they understand that there are rules in our society in which we must all live by, and acting out on their urges --- for whatever reason -- is not acceptable and they should be severly punished.
2006-12-21 22:26:15 · answer #4 · answered by Curious_One 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
I can't make it simple but for me it is getting stuck in emotional growth and unconscious associations. I am sure that the answers differ. I was never abused as a child. I was an abandoned child. It seems like all sex offenders are hung up on some kind of control over others. That control can be sought through anger, manipulation, seduction, begging or just taking. It has to do with images and symbols in the emotional brain rather than conscious decisions in the intelligent brain. Control over something that seemed necessary for our survival at some time in our life.
Things that influence our behavior: Superego, intelligence, id & libido, defenses.
2006-12-21 23:08:58 · answer #5 · answered by Russell W 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
mental illness as a result of childhood trauma. An overwhelmingly large percentage of pedofiles were victims of pedofilia themselves. In most cases the victims are not treated when they are assaulted which can result in many outcomes. Regardless of the victimization aspect, at 18 yrs old the victim is responsible for his/her(yes I said her) own recovery. Most of which have no idea how to handle the psychological damage of being victims which can sometimes lead to a curiosity of "why would someone want a child in that way." If that question goes unanswered long enuff the question becomes an obsession which can lead to performing the same act on other children in order to investigate. Since the person is an adult at this point the person is soley responsible for their actions. Therefore an offer to treat them professionally is nowhere to be found. Rather they are branded by society as monsters. Unfortunately people are too busy seeking revenge on the "monsters" to care about the children he/she violated so the cycle continues as the child victims of that violator grow up. Not a difficult cycle to break but the call to duty simply isn't answered by today's society. Rather unfortunate.
btw, not all victims become assailants but almost all assailants were once victims.
2006-12-21 22:24:36 · answer #6 · answered by your_name_here 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋
As far as I heard its insecurity.
They are afraid or intimidated by mature people, and this possibly is caused by those things you mentioned -
not all people with mental illness or a childhood trauma are affected, only those who are in addition insecure about themselves.
2006-12-21 22:25:00 · answer #7 · answered by ganja_claus 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Could be a combination of both. Sometimes a pedophile wants to dehumanize another person, and children are a perfect target. Sometimes they are so mental they truly believe they are in love with these children and use love as justification. Most of the time , they are repeating a vicious cycle they were involved in when they were children.
2006-12-21 22:29:43 · answer #8 · answered by shane k 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I would have to say it would stem from either a mental illness....or something that happened in childhood.....I know a pedophile....was one of the nicest people in my neighborhood, coach of the basketball team...little leage coach.....had a good job with the school board.....when this came out it shocked the entire area where I lived......but his sickness caught up with him..he's in prison for life now....
2006-12-21 22:31:57 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
When I was a kid, everything was so beautiful. I lived in a eutopian environment. Kids can represent a world with no judgement, little knowledge of evils, just a kind of ignorance ice-cream stack, candyland (the world not the kids.)
If your a sexual livewire, (or just a bastard) that nostalgia could transfer into something more sinister/peverse. An escape with such little judgement from the victim, could make moral apathy
a bit easier.
2006-12-21 22:32:36 · answer #10 · answered by errr 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋