First and last name of the author
This chapter is about offenders who attack and torture the youngest members of our population - the children. “Pedophilia (from the Greek word for child lover) is the clinical term for the most commonly used terms child molestation and child sexual abuse” (Bartol, C. R., &Bartol, A. M, 2011, p.378). There are a number of statistics that talk in percentage about child molesters, but also a lot of victims are not known because children rarely talk about their molesters. Usually, they reveal that they were sexually abused when they grow up. Child molestation can originate from a member of the family (most usual male) or from someone who is a stranger. So, it can be intrafamiliar or extrafamilial. Males are usually the most frequent gender that abuses children, but women are not excluded as well. If a woman leaves her child to a spouse or a partner and he sexually molests it, then she is also responsible and treated as a molester. Scientist and psychologists have notices a certain similarity in rapist and aggressive pedophiles. They enjoy alcohol consumption, they come from lower class, they have low grades during educationTwo thirds of rapists have raped or abused children in a sexual way.
According to the classification that was done by The Massachusetts Treatment Centre (hereinafter referred to as MTC) a developed typology of pedophile behavioral patterns is the following: the fixed type of pedophiles, the regressed type, the exploitable type and the aggressive sadistic type. This is a widely accepted typology. Every of these types have some traits that distinguish them between other types, but it is difficult to create a single and recognizable profile of a child abuser. There are number of centers that provide treatment for people who are, or have predispositions, for sexual abuse of children, but the numbers are not reassuring. Only a person who strongly believes that this condition (pedophilia) needs to be treated has a chance for a successful treatment.
There are also minor sexual offences included in this chapter and they include: exhibitionism (revealing genitals to strangers), voyeurism (secretly observing a person who is taking his/her closer of, or in a sexual activity) and fetishism (sexually attaching to an inanimate object).
Even though this chapter is about offenders and hot the victims, I can not but ask myself how long does it take for a victim to recover from these hideous crimes, and as we do not now what happens behind a closed door of every house how much more are there victims of sexual abuse? In my opinion, the society should spot the lights on the prevention of these crimes and develop a strong psychological profile of a pedophile. I hope that in the future, the system will do its best to protect children and treat this condition more successfully.
References:
1. Bartol, C. R., &Bartol, A. M. (2011).Criminal Behavior: A Psychological Approach (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education/Prentice Hall.
