TASK 5 – SCANNING FOR PAEDOPHILIA
WHAT’S PAEDOPHILIA? – SYMPTOMS, CAUSES, TREATMENT
THE NEUROBIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY OF PAEDOPHILIA: RECENT ADVANCES & CHALLENGES
(TENBERGEN ET AL.)
2 groups of sexual offenders against children
No sexual preference disorder BUT abuse children – reasons: (1) sexually inexperienced
adolescents, (2) mentally retarded persons, (3) people with ASPD, (4) perpetrators
within general traumatising family constellations
o Most likely diagnosed with impulse control disorders, accounting for their
engaging in child sexual abuse (CSA) without paedophilia
People with paedophilia (= sexual preference for prepubescent minors) and/or
hebephilia (= sexual preference for pubescent minors)
o Increases risk of engaging in CSA
Only 50% of individuals who sexually abuse children are paedophilic
Most sexual assaults happen in the “Dunkelfeld” – for approx. every reported case of
CSA, another 5 are left unreported
Research domain: paedophilia is viewed as phenotype of sexual preference within realm of
human sexuality – concerns a preferred age in addition to gender
Sexual preference itself cannot be considered a mental disorder
DSM-5 CRITERIA
CRITERION A – Over 6 months, recurrent & intense sexually arousing fantasies, urges,
behaviours involving sexual activity with prepubescent child / children (generally age 13
years or younger)
CRITERION B – individual has acted on these sexual urges with a nonconsenting person, or sexual
urges / fantasies cause marked distress / interpersonal difficulty
CRITERION C – individual is at least age 16 & at least 5 years older than the child/children in
Criterion A
Specify if – exclusive type (attracted only to children) OR nonexclusive type
Specify if – Sexually attracted to males, females or both
Specify if – Limited to incest
Paedophilic sexual preference & paedophilic disorder must be differentiated
It is possible to be diagnosed with Paedophilic Disorder (due to experiencing distress)
without committing an offense
EPIDEMIOLOGY OF PAEDOPHILIA
, Reliable incidence numbers of paedophilia & its subtypes are difficult to obtain
Prevalence of true paedophilic sexual preference – 1%
When including general fantasies, prevalence – 5% among men in general
population
Berlin Male Study (BMS) – 1915 men aged 40-79
3.8% acted out paedophilic preference on behavioural level
Paedophilia generally in males BUT victim survey showed female perpetrator in 14%-24%
of sexually abused males & 6%-14% of sexually abused females
Common characteristics of female sex offenders: (1) intellectual impairment, (2) high
current / lifetime prevalence of psychiatric or personality disorders, (4) lifetime
prevalence of neglect & sexual abuse
CO-MORBIDITIES WITH PAEDOPHILIA
Men with paedophilia often have extensive histories of psychiatric disorders that can
overshadow discovery of etiological course
Results indicate that delinquent paedophiles have Axis 1 & 2 psychiatric comorbidity
development
Paedophiles in treatment: 2/3 history of mood or anxiety disorder, 60% lifetime
substance abuse history, 60% personality disorder diagnosis
Child offenders compared to offenders against adolescents & adults scored sig.
higher on (1) neurotic triad, (2) psychotic tetrad, (3) were sig. more introverted
THEORIES OF PAEDOPHILIA
Paedophilia is multifactorial phenomenon in which influences of (1) genetics, (2) stressful
life events, (3) specific learning processes, (4) perturbations in structural integrity of
pedophilic brains may generate this specific phenotype of sexual preferences
1st Masturbation conditioning / childhood sexual abuse as causal explanations
theories Not well supported
Majority of offenders are male, if conditioning theory were true more
women as CSO
Currently Paedophilia often viewed as interaction among neurodevelopmental factors
based on genes & (in utero-) environment
Neurodevelopmental disorder corroborated by increased rates of (1) non-
right-handedness, (2) shorter stature, (3) lower intelligence, (4) head injury,
(5) prenatal androgen levels, (6) associated neuronal structural &
functional differences that are present since childhood / adolescents
NEURODEVELOPMENTAL CORRELATES OF PAEDOPHILIA
WHAT’S PAEDOPHILIA? – SYMPTOMS, CAUSES, TREATMENT
THE NEUROBIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY OF PAEDOPHILIA: RECENT ADVANCES & CHALLENGES
(TENBERGEN ET AL.)
2 groups of sexual offenders against children
No sexual preference disorder BUT abuse children – reasons: (1) sexually inexperienced
adolescents, (2) mentally retarded persons, (3) people with ASPD, (4) perpetrators
within general traumatising family constellations
o Most likely diagnosed with impulse control disorders, accounting for their
engaging in child sexual abuse (CSA) without paedophilia
People with paedophilia (= sexual preference for prepubescent minors) and/or
hebephilia (= sexual preference for pubescent minors)
o Increases risk of engaging in CSA
Only 50% of individuals who sexually abuse children are paedophilic
Most sexual assaults happen in the “Dunkelfeld” – for approx. every reported case of
CSA, another 5 are left unreported
Research domain: paedophilia is viewed as phenotype of sexual preference within realm of
human sexuality – concerns a preferred age in addition to gender
Sexual preference itself cannot be considered a mental disorder
DSM-5 CRITERIA
CRITERION A – Over 6 months, recurrent & intense sexually arousing fantasies, urges,
behaviours involving sexual activity with prepubescent child / children (generally age 13
years or younger)
CRITERION B – individual has acted on these sexual urges with a nonconsenting person, or sexual
urges / fantasies cause marked distress / interpersonal difficulty
CRITERION C – individual is at least age 16 & at least 5 years older than the child/children in
Criterion A
Specify if – exclusive type (attracted only to children) OR nonexclusive type
Specify if – Sexually attracted to males, females or both
Specify if – Limited to incest
Paedophilic sexual preference & paedophilic disorder must be differentiated
It is possible to be diagnosed with Paedophilic Disorder (due to experiencing distress)
without committing an offense
EPIDEMIOLOGY OF PAEDOPHILIA
, Reliable incidence numbers of paedophilia & its subtypes are difficult to obtain
Prevalence of true paedophilic sexual preference – 1%
When including general fantasies, prevalence – 5% among men in general
population
Berlin Male Study (BMS) – 1915 men aged 40-79
3.8% acted out paedophilic preference on behavioural level
Paedophilia generally in males BUT victim survey showed female perpetrator in 14%-24%
of sexually abused males & 6%-14% of sexually abused females
Common characteristics of female sex offenders: (1) intellectual impairment, (2) high
current / lifetime prevalence of psychiatric or personality disorders, (4) lifetime
prevalence of neglect & sexual abuse
CO-MORBIDITIES WITH PAEDOPHILIA
Men with paedophilia often have extensive histories of psychiatric disorders that can
overshadow discovery of etiological course
Results indicate that delinquent paedophiles have Axis 1 & 2 psychiatric comorbidity
development
Paedophiles in treatment: 2/3 history of mood or anxiety disorder, 60% lifetime
substance abuse history, 60% personality disorder diagnosis
Child offenders compared to offenders against adolescents & adults scored sig.
higher on (1) neurotic triad, (2) psychotic tetrad, (3) were sig. more introverted
THEORIES OF PAEDOPHILIA
Paedophilia is multifactorial phenomenon in which influences of (1) genetics, (2) stressful
life events, (3) specific learning processes, (4) perturbations in structural integrity of
pedophilic brains may generate this specific phenotype of sexual preferences
1st Masturbation conditioning / childhood sexual abuse as causal explanations
theories Not well supported
Majority of offenders are male, if conditioning theory were true more
women as CSO
Currently Paedophilia often viewed as interaction among neurodevelopmental factors
based on genes & (in utero-) environment
Neurodevelopmental disorder corroborated by increased rates of (1) non-
right-handedness, (2) shorter stature, (3) lower intelligence, (4) head injury,
(5) prenatal androgen levels, (6) associated neuronal structural &
functional differences that are present since childhood / adolescents
NEURODEVELOPMENTAL CORRELATES OF PAEDOPHILIA
