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Pedophelia: Nature or Nurture

her209

her209

No Lifer
What are your thoughts?

Personally, I don't think anyone (who had a choice) would choose to be sexually aroused by children, therefore I have to choose nature.
 
IIRC most pedos were abused in some manner when they were young.
Nurture.

That said... doesn't matter. Find 'em, convict 'em, lock 'em up.
 
I was 8 years, 128 days, 3 hours, 4 minutes, and 46 seconds old the say I decided to be a normal heterosexueal boy.

How old were you?
 
I think it can be both.

For example, people who are abused as children will often follow suit. Would they have done the same thing, if they had never been abused? It's not a justification, but perhaps a reason for their actions (as there is no way to justify such actions).

I don't think there is a clear cut answer.
 
I think genetics play a far larger part in our lives than most are willing to admit. It's easy if you fall under the fat part of a bell curve to assume those who don't have chosen not to, but it's rarely the case. That's not to say those who act on this particular impulse should be shown understanding or forgiveness (they should be locked the fsck up far longer than they are under current laws, if not executed), just my opinion on the role our DNA plays in our lives.
 
i would say both. there are reports of people who have been abused tend to abuse others.


how they can be attracted to a child? in college i did a paper on pedo's. i was shocked thatt here are tons of pictures easy to get. I'm talking little kids 2-10. i can understand teenage girls but pre-teens? pre-puberty? sigh makes me scared for my daughter.
 
Nurture, primarily. You will essentially never, ever find a convicted pedophile who was not himself molested as a child.

I remember talking to the sister of a man I prosecuted for child molestation. He had been molested at age 4. She said that in her opinion, being exposed to sex at such a young age changes a person's hard wiring. After working on a lot of these cases I tend to agree.

There is an important distinction, though, between true pedophiles and what I consider borderline offenders, who have consensual sexual relationships with teens who are sexually mature but below the age of consent.
 
The fact that it pretty much has the highest recidivism rate of ANY criminal activity makes me believe it's more of something innate than learned.
 
Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
I was 8 years, 128 days, 3 hours, 4 minutes, and 46 seconds old the say I decided to be a normal heterosexueal boy.

How old were you?
Click to expand...

I don't even understand what you're asking. I never felt anything other than heterosexual. I take it you're implying homosexuality is a choice - I happen to disagree with this but in any case it's irrelevant to the topic at hand.
 
Originally posted by: DonVito
Nurture, primarily. You will essentially never, ever find a convicted pedophile who was not himself molested as a child.

I remember talking to the sister of a man I prosecuted for child molestation. He had been molested at age 4. She said that in her opinion, being exposed to sex at such a young age changes a person's hard wiring. After working on a lot of these cases I tend to agree.

There is an important distinction, though, between true pedophiles and what I consider borderline offenders, who have consensual sexual relationships with teens who are sexually mature but below the age of consent.
Click to expand...

then that leads to the question can they be "un-wired"?
 
also does the onset of puberty at a younger age hurt? and the styles of childrens clothes being more sexual hurt? hmm
 
Originally posted by: vi_edit
The fact that it pretty much has the highest recidivism rate of ANY criminal activity makes me believe it's more of something innate than learned.
Click to expand...

This is completely untrue. Sex offenses generally have a relatively low rate of recidivism, and child molestors have a significantly lower rate of recidivism than rapists of adults.
 
Originally posted by: DonVito
Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
I was 8 years, 128 days, 3 hours, 4 minutes, and 46 seconds old the say I decided to be a normal heterosexueal boy.

How old were you?
Click to expand...

I don't even understand what you're asking. I never felt anything other than heterosexual. I take it you're implying homosexuality is a choice - I happen to disagree with this but in any case it's irrelevant to the topic at hand.
Click to expand...

I am trying to say that I personally believe sexual preferences of all types are mostly genetic than anything else. My GF is 37 (I am 26), and I find myself attracted to older, more mature women. When I was 12, I was attracted to 20+ year-old women. I never made that decision. I just was.

And I would also venture to say that we all have fetishes. Maybe you like whips and chains and bondage? Do you remember the day you decided to like that type of stuff?

I am no expert, but I think pedophilia is probably a sexual preference...one that happens to be illegal.
 
i'd say bits of both, either or in some cases. its probably a bit complicated. am i hetro because of nature or nurture? i don't know. probably elements of both. some probably are strongly nature, others are borderline and thus nurture could affect them.
 
Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
i'd say bits of both, either or in some cases. its probably a bit complicated. am i hetro because of nature or nurture? i don't know
Click to expand...

Exactly what I tried to ask in my first post.
 
Both. A lot of it has to do with wanting to be in control/fear of losing control.

<---psychology major 😛
 
Originally posted by: GTaudiophile

I am trying to say that I personally believe sexual preferences of all types are mostly genetic than anything else. My GF is 37 (I am 26), and I find myself attracted to older, more mature women. When I was 12, I was attracted to 20+ year-old women. I never made that decision. I just was.

And I would also venture to say that we all have fetishes. Maybe you like whips and chains and bondage? Do you remember the day you decided to like that type of stuff?

I am no expert, but I think pedophilia is probably a sexual preference...one that happens to be illegal.
Click to expand...

Interesting observations. I don't really agree that pedophilia is comparable to other paraphilias, though (except in the sense that child molesters very often have other paraphilias, like an interest bestiality or other deviant practices). As I said before, I have never heard of a child molester who was not himself molested as a child. I will say, though, that people exposed to sex at a young age are statistically more likely to have all kinds of paraphilias. Also, though in general I think homosexuality is genetically determined, boys who are molested as kids are likelier to become homosexual - I just think being a molestation victim generally loosens people's sexual inhibitions and heightens their sexual interest.
 
honest question-

how can dna play a role unless dna is capable of conscious thought? how can dna choose what youre attracted to?
 
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