NCJ Number
195951
Date Published
May 2002
Length
48 pages
Annotation
This study explored the range and nature of social interactions among individuals who experienced a sustained attraction towards young adolescents or prepubescent children of either sex.
Abstract
There is little research on the social networks of pedophiles probably because of the widespread hostility they elicit. They are viewed not only as social outcasts but also as social isolates. It is useful to analyze the characteristics of pedophiles’ social networks because social learning theory emphasizes the influence of peer groups in maintaining high recidivism rates and the development of deviant careers. The goal is to examine the variety of conditions that would allow pedophiles to overcome their social isolation, seek each other out, and become embedded in a deviant quasi-community or social movement. The main data comes from taped conversations obtained from 19 subjects; half serving a sentence in Canadian Federal prison and the remainder participating in a community relapse-prevention self-help group. The participants were all males between 30 and 50 years old and considered repeat offenders. None were known to use force in seeking prohibited sexual intimacy. Most were compellingly attracted to young boys or adolescents (hebephiles). The research suggest that the degree of organization of interactions among offenders engaged in similar violation increased as a function of the age of the juveniles and their sex--hebephiles seeking male adolescents being the most socially organized domain of age of consent offenses. An argument is that non-instrumental or symbolic interactions among offenders are more important for certain kinds of offenses than for others. Commitment to violate basic social norms requires that potential offenders acquire through personal contacts “favorable definitions” of their own behavior. Internet technology currently provides the organized means for social isolates to overcome natural, legal, and social barriers. Implications are that more resources should be channeled to community relapse prevention programs, which should consider the possibility of taking advantage of Internet opportunities to expand their influences. The personal costs that hebephiles impose on themselves and others may trigger a self-reflection process that will commit them into abstinence. 35 references