I’m in favor of the father’s behavior, but in light of the latest additions I do want to say something. If you’re the type that can’t have a rational discussion on an emotional topic, save yourself the time and don’t read the rest of this post.
At the time of this writing, we are on the DSM-5. The DSM is a manual to help diagnose mental disorders currently recognized as mental disorders. Pedophilia shows up in the DSM-5, though its specifics are being debated based on vague terms such as “action”. You can read about these disputes in the “Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law” here: jaapl.org/content/42/4/404
Pedophile – A person sexually attracted to a child
Child Rapist/Molestor – A pedophile who has taken their thoughts into reality and have caused harm to a child through their sexual expression
If we are to have a proper discussion on this subject (as opposed to the generic “I can’t believe people are defending pedophiles” non-argument that always pops up), we have to understand these two terms.
I should say again that I fully support the father’s actions by physically removing the child molestor from his son and then calling the police. I’d argue that is the proper procedure in dealing with such a horrifying situation. I should say that I would, without hesitation, do the same to any child molestor I caught in the act. The very idea this could happen to my students or any other child sickens me to the point of a new emotion I’d like to call “rausea”, a combination of rage and nausea. Surely, I believe I’d be vomiting on the child molestor in pure disgust as each of my punches land.
That being said, for whatever reason, pedophiles exist, and many exist who have not escalated to child molestation/rape. The important part people keep missing and flippantly dismissing as “defending pedophiles” is this: IF WE WANT TO PREVENT THIS ESCALATION OF PEDOPHILIA TO CHILD MOLESTATION, WE MUST ALLOW PEDOPHILES TO RECEIVE TREATMENT.
Look, I get viscerally upset/disgusted/enraged at the knowledge that child molestation happens, and I am hardly comforted by the idea that there are more pedophiles quietly integrating with society. However, if I care about children and their safety, I need to set my emotions aside to think rationally.
Pedophilia has been documented for centuries, it’s not magically disappearing anytime soon. As uncomfortable as it is to think about, if we care about the safety of children we must figure out how to treat pedophiles so their thoughts do not turn into a reality. To do so, we must remove the stigma…at least within the confines of mental health care and the law…so that pedophiles may feel safe/comfortable with seeking out treatment.
If that upsets you, before throwing sarcasm my way, ask why you’re upset by trying to prevent the rape of a child through treatment.
In no way am I suggesting that pedophiles become totally normalized in society. In no way am I suggesting that we, the public, reach out with love and compassion to pedophiles and invite them into our homes and hire them as babysitters to show how tolerant we are. I am only suggesting that we destigmatize it from a legal and medical standpoint to protect pedophiles who desperately want to stop fantasizing about children SO THAT THEY ARE ENCOURAGED TO SEEK TREATMENT.
Rage is such a comfortable emotion in this case, and so many people rally around that rage…but that rage doesn’t prevent a pedophile from becoming a child rapist. That rage scares pedophiles away from potentially-helpful treatment, which unfortunately leads them into a losing battle that only serves to harm children. Our collective “rausea” stops treatment and leads to more child rape. That is not okay.
You may not like it, but it is a social problem that we all have to address. You may not want to humanize a pedophile, but many I’ve talked with (I will post comments and sometimes they feel compelled to message me) are also viscerally disgusted at their thoughts. They find the thoughts to be deeply disturbing, upsetting, and very much unwanted. They are terribly troubled by these thoughts and they want help. They know full well what child rape does to a child’s development, they know full well what the consequences are if they do this, and they do not want either of those issues to surface. The problem, as anyone who suffers from invasive thoughts can attest to, is that the very disturbing and terrible thoughts can come to fruition if they don’t know how to combat those thoughts.
I never even considered this until I had a course in college taught by a psychologist who worked with child molestors as part of a court order. He kept talking about the same problem: they wanted help BEFORE the situation became child molestation, but due to the stigma they couldn’t get help. As a result, they eventually gave into their invasive thoughts and now they deeply harmed a child and ruined their own life as well. What my professor kept saying (and I’m paraphrasing): “We force them into treatment only after the act was done. We recognize treatment helps. Why, then, do we stigmatize treatment for pedophiles who haven’t acted on their impulses? We could save children this way by allowing them beneficial treatment before they cause harm.”
Most of the class reacted the way the comments on this thread are acting…disgust, anger, “are you honestly defending pedophiles??” But those knee-jerk reactions need to stop for a second so we may think clearly: if treatment helps, why should we scare pedophiles away from it to prevent child molestation?
It has been a topic ongoing in the psychiatric community, but because we are the ones contributing to the stigma we should also have this discussion.
As I do with any of my posts, if something I posted above is something you relate to and you need to talk, my DM’s are always open and so is my ask: http://wtfteaching.tumblr.com/ask
べんきょうしなければならない 