Treating Pedophilia

Article Synopsis

The sexual deviant behavior that I am interested in learning about is pedophilia. It is
defined as intense and recurrent sexually arousing fantasies or sexual behaviors and urges
that involve sexual activity with a child who is younger than 13 years (prepubescent child).
One of the articles that I found in my research that deals with pedophilia is “Can People with
Pedophilia change? Yes, they can!” by Paul Fedoroff.

The article reviewed various studies that sought to determine whether people with
pedophilia can change or not. Such information is important because it will reveal whether
treating people with pedophilia is worth the effort and the resources. Some clinicians do not
bother treating people with pedophilia because they consider pedophilia to be hard-wired in
people at a critical period of their development thus making it hard for them to change
(Fedoroff, 2018). According to this view, regardless of the type of treatment that people
suffering from pedophilia will always reoffend or continue experiencing pedophilic fantasies.

The article refutes this view. Rather than being a condition that afflicts a person
permanently, the article finds that pedophilia is a treatable condition. It finds that one of the
main characteristics of people with pedophilia is that they are unable to develop adult sexual
interests. This condition can be changed through treatment. Examining available evidence on
the subject, the author found that sexual interests, like other interests, are subject to different
influences, including age. For instance, the older one gets, the less likely they are to
experience pedophilic fantasies (Fedoroff, 2018). Thus, the article concludes pedophilia can
is a treatable condition and examines various methods that can be used to treat a person with
pedophilia.

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Treating a Person with Pedophilia

To help someone suffering from pedophilia, I would use cognitive-behavioral models.
Cognitive behavior therapy treats people suffering from pedophilia by redirecting the
thinking of the pedophile and, therefore, influencing their behavior using different methods to
help them reduce or eliminate their erotic thoughts that they usually have toward children
(Gupta, 2019). This approach has bene found to be relatively effective in treating pedophilia
and other paraphiliac conditions.

The specific cognitive behavioral therapy method that I will use to treat a person
suffering from pedophilia is aversive conditioning. Aversive conditioning involves use of
negative stimuli to either reduce or eliminate an undesirable paraphiliac thoughts and
behavior (Gupta, 2019). The negative stimuli can be introduced using visualization
techniques. For instance, the pedophile may be made to fantasize about their deviant
behavior. Once they get sexually aroused, they are made to think about the consequences of
their behaviors, such as getting arrested, being put in prison, and possibly being raped while
in prison. Such negative thoughts may make the pedophile to develop a negative attitude or
loathing of pedophilic behaviors.

Apart from indirectly changing behavior through changing thoughts, aversive
conditioning can also be used to directly change behaviors. For instance, a pedophilic person
may be given a negative or aversive stimulus, such as a nausea-inducing drug, while viewing
slides or photographs that depict pedophilic behavior (Gupta, 2019). The person receiving
such treatment will learn to associate the negative stimulus (nausea) with pedophilic
behavior. Such an association may reduce or even eliminate their desire to engage in
pedophilic behavior.

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Conclusion

Contrary to some beliefs, pedophilia is a treatable condition. Like other sexual deviant
behaviors, it can be treated through various methods, including cognitive behavioral therapy.
With regards to pedophilia, aversive conditioning (a cognitive behavioral therapy technique)
has been found to be a relatively effective treatment method.

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References

Fedoroff, J. P. (2018). Can People with Pedophilia Change?: Yes they can!. Current sexual
health reports, 10(4), 207-212. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11930-018-0166-1

Gupta, A. (2019). Pedophilia – Empirical Review Focused on Treatment and Coping
Strategies. International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research, Vol. 4
(03).