A qualitative study of adult male pedophiles: Determinants, values, and perceptual influences of self.

Abstract

This research investigates how men who have been placed on Circuit Court Probation in the State of Michigan for their conviction of pedophilia (Criminal Sexual Conduct 2nd, 3rd, and 4th degrees) perceive themselves, their environment, and their child victims. Method of research is on a phenomenological and survey basis. This research design studies the subject at his home, or any other environment in which he feels comfortable enough to talk openly and also ensure privacy, trust, and confidentiality. Information obtained is reported by the subject as his true, conscious experience. The aim of this study is the discovery of how the subject perceives, analyzes, synthesizes, and comprehends his experience, offense(s), and reality, and how these variables have affected his self-concept. It is believed that by obtaining this information, this researcher will have a better underst and ing of how the pedophile perceives his self-concept and how he believes it has been influenced by his experiences, family, parents, spouse/girlfriend, relatives, and significant others. It was learned that the pedophile perceives himself as an inadequate individual who believes that life events and family experiences have done him an injustice. For the offender, the act of pedophilia is an act of love, albeit a perverse form of love. They were always consciously aware that molesting a child was morally and legally wrong. However, due to various traumatic events, they sought gratification with a child as a means to heal their emotional wounds. Pedophilia develops from a dysfunctional family, where the individual's emotional needs for love and acceptance were thwarted. Throughout life, the pedophile attempts to rectify the feeling of being unloved. Lacking necessary skills for building intimate interpersonal relationships, the pedophile perceives, in a distorted manner, that only a child can meet his needs. It is this distortion of love that the Legal and Mental Health Systems need to address.