[Introduction to Chapter 5]
[Page 129]
"The image of child sexual abuse of 1885 was that of the helpless victim
sold as a 'five pound virgin' to satisfy the jaded lusts of a perverted
aristocrat. It was a mercenary , loveless, heterosexual event across a wide
chasm of age, power and social class."
(McIntosh, 1988, p.9)
It is wrong to regard theories of paedophilia as being solely about why some
people offend against children. Numerous issues bear critically on our understanding
of the paedophile, which reflect structural and ideological matters in society
as much as the individual's psyche.
Questions about paedophilia engage broader debates than of hormones, cycles of abuse, pornography and perversion. Explanations have
ranged across the historical, sociological, cultural, psychological and
biological. Some theories arise out of empirical research, others out of
clinical observation, and others still out of vested interests.
Not surprisingly, such disparate approaches share relatively few assumptions
and are built on radically
different foundations:
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(1) One theory sees the origins of paedophilia in the psychological development
of the child, another in terms of social conceptions of childhood. |
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(2) One theory argues that paedophilia is a social construction in which
beneficial relationships between adults and children are
criminalized, another that paedophilia is motivated by destructive forces. |
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(3) One theory blames masculinity for paedophilia, another mothers of
paedophiles, and another adolescent sexuality. |
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( 4) One theory sees paedophilia as a perversion, another will see it as central to human development. |
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(5) One theory argues that distorted thinking is used to excuse paedophilia, another that irrational thinking within society
criminalizes the paedophile. |
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(6) One theory sees the paedophile as a skilled manipulator, another as an incompetent adult unable to relate to others. |
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(7) One theory sees paedophilia as the result of deep psychological conflict, another as the product of incidental learning. |
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(8) One theory sees the paedophile as psychologically sick, another as a typical man. |
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(9) One theory sees the paedophile as the victim of time and culture, another as a victim of childhood experiences. |
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(10) One theory holds that paedophilia is caused by a single factor , another by a multiplicity of interrelating factors. |
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(11) One theory sees paedophilia as a sequenced process, another as a characteristic of the individual. |
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(12) One theory will have implications for therapy, another will not. |
Although some theories appear to be relatively sophisticated, nevertheless one can see elements of wider social attitudes in some of them. So, for example, moral stances are central to several of the theories.
It is secondary, if not misleading, to raise the issue of the best theory. They explore such diverse domains that they often complement each other rather than compete to explain the same things. While some seem not to extend our understanding overly, knowledge of their limitations may prevent us falling into
over-simplistic viewpoints. Even the most complex of the theories fails to deal with many aspects of offending.
The following are the major perspectives to be considered in this chapter:
Each of these may involve several different theories. ,
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