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Evolutionary Perspectives on Pedophilia

This article delves into the complex topic of pedophilia, beginning with its definition as per DSM-IV guidelines, highlighting diagnostic challenges and ethical considerations. We explore potential etiological factors including conditioning, biopsychosocial elements, and the role of neurodevelopment. An evolutionary perspective is presented, examining possible male sexual preferences, youth cues, and the idea of malfunctioning preference modules. The discussion addresses the significant distinction between child molestation and pedophilia, while offering future directions for research and treatment.

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Evolutionary Perspectives on Pedophilia

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  1. Evolutionary Perspectives on Pedophilia

  2. What is Pedophilia? • Definition: “child lover” (from the Greek) • DSM-IV diagnosis • Min. 6 months, recurrent, intense, sexually arousing fantasies, urges, or behaviours involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children • Causes clinically significant distress or impairment in functioning • Person is at least 16 years old and 5 years older than child

  3. DSM-IV Diagnostic Issues (1) • O’Donohue et al. (2000) • Is it a mental disorder? • Unexpectable distress or disability? • Vague criteria • “recurrent,” “intense,” “clinically significant,” non-contact behaviours, 6 month minimum, ego-syntonic • Trait or behaviour?

  4. DSM-IV Diagnostic Issues (2) • Marshall (1997) • Fantasies & urges are covert, usually denied • Age cutoff of child (13 years) • Arbitrary • Does clinician need to verify? • Post-pubescent, but young, children? • Juvenile offenders?

  5. An Important Distinction • Child molester vs. pedophile • Child molestation refers only to overt behaviour, criminal act • Some individuals who molest children do not have a sexual interest in them, whereas some individuals may have a sexual interest in children but do not molest them

  6. Theories of Etiology (1) • Conditioning • Learned behaviour/preference, since they themselves were victims or witnessed the act • Accidental pairing of deviant stimuli with sexual arousal leading to reinforcement Pedophilic sexual preference Child sits on lap Sexual arousal Masturbation R S UR CR

  7. Theories of Etiology (2) • Biopsychosocial • Emotional congruence, sexual arousal to children, blockage, & disinhibition (Finklehor, 1984) • Empathy deficits (Marshall et al., 1995) • Fraternal order effect, mild mental retardation, neurological damage (Blanchard et al., 1998, 2000, 2002)

  8. Evolutionary Perspective (1) • Proximate causes may vary, though most likely neurodevelopmental in nature • In utero effect (does not appear to be fraternal order, though) • Post-natal brain damage • Ultimate causes, however, are related to male sexual preferences and modularity • Men prefer post-pubertal youth cues

  9. Evolutionary Perspective (2) • Secondary sex characteristics that are shared between children and young women • Skin smoothness • Skin tone • Lustrous hair • Sprightly gait • They differ, however, on waist-to-hip ratio

  10. Evolutionary Perspective (3) • Quinsey and Lalumière (1995) • Perhaps youth “detector” modules are malfunctioning or were not properly masculinized in utero • WHR, as a youth cue that differs between both men and women and between women and children, may be the key • Perhaps pedophilic men are misperceiving a high WHR as sexually attractive

  11. Problem & Applied Solution (1) • One of the major problems in research and treatment of child molesters is the classification of pedophilic preference • Phallometric measures are susceptible to faking • What if the stimuli were more covert (i.e., varying the WHR)?

  12. Problem & Applied Solution (2) • Prediction: group X WHR interaction

  13. The Wrap-Up • Diagnostic issues • Etiologies • Conditioning • Biopsychosocial • Evolutionary explanation • Malfunctioning preference module • The role of WHR and an applied solution

  14. Things to Come • Homicide • Research • Evolutionary basis • Risk factors

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