There will inevitably be accusations that Jerry Sandusky is a pedophile. But being a pedophile isn't a crime. Sexually offending against children-- molesting, fondling, any form of sexual touch, intercourse, child pornography, the range is vast-- is criminal, all over the world. Sexually desiring children is not.
A sexual preference for children, pedophilia is a disorder, according to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental and Behavioral Disorders-IV-TR (DSM-IV-TR, 2000). Pedophilia is defined as having a sexual preference for prepubescent children. That preference is manifested in persistent and recurrent thoughts, fantasies, urges, sexual arousal, or behavior.
The DSM is a manual of the mental and behavioral disorders, not crimes.
Probably because we are so afraid of people being turned on by our children, and we're terrified of childhood sexual abuse, the association of desire and criminal behavior has become a foregone conclusion in the minds of the American people. And because of this naive conclusion, it is hard to find those with sexual desires for children who never act upon them. The actual epidemiology of pedophilia, the prevalence, is total guess work. We can't find those afflicted by it who have never acted upon their desires. But we know they are out there because they respond, anonymously, in empirical research investigations, surveys. Not knowing who they are, it is hard to study them.*
We can find sex offenders, of course, people who have been arrested for having sexual contact with children. It is estimated that only 30-50% of sexual crimes against children are committed by pedophiles. The rest of these sexual offenders have other issues, perhaps anger, sociopathy, or sexual disinhibition under the influence of alcohol and other substances.
Pedophilia is a sexual orientation, like heterosexuality or homosexuality. The difference is having more or less mature sexual preferences. Heterosexuality indicates a sexual preference for members of the opposite biological sex. Homosexuality indicates a sexual preference for members of the same biological sex. Neither is associated with predominant sexual desire for children, and neither is pathological or illegal.
But pedophilia, having persistent sexual desires, preferences for children, is considered a disorder. And like homosexuality and homosexuality, it is not a crime.
Because Mr. Sandusky can't say loudly enough how much he loves children, how much he adores them and loves being with them, even wishes he never had to leave childhood (see reference to his biography in the post below), having the context of sex abuse allegation, it is hard to see him as normal, not a pedophile. Whether or not that's true will come out in psychiatric examination, we hope. If the accusations against him are validated, he will be considered a child sex offender, if not a pedophile.Or both.
The point of differentiating, even with Jerry Sandusky, is that it isn't fair, lumping the two together, child sex offender and pedophile. Having persistent desires for children, yet refraining from acting upon them is praise-worthy, extremely laudable. We need to hear from people who don't act out their sexual desire for children, they need to be teaching others, telling it like it is, that sexual contact with children isn't right, and it doesn't have to happen.
It is when one has desires and can't refrain from acting upon them that societal controls, social sanctions, punitive measures, are needed. And yes, public humiliation, inevitable. Even, we think, appropriate.
Linda Freedman, PhD, LCSW, LMFT
My thanks to Michael C. Seto (Pedophilia and Sexual Offending Against Children, 2008) who worked for 15 years to sort through, analyze, and disseminate what we know about pedophilia and sexual offending against children today.
