Pedophilia

Abstract

Sex offenses against children are considered the worst of crimes, even among criminals themselves. Attitudes have changed from blaming the victim to holding the perpetrator responsible for the actions. The prevalence of such offenses continues unabated despite the stigma for the offender and the irreparable trauma to the victim. Society and the medical and legal communities have to present a more feasible definition of the problem, addressing specifically the acts that fall under the term of pedophilia. A plan needs to be formulated by various disciplines working together for the common goal of identifying the most effective method to deal with the victims and perpetrator and also to lower the incidence and recidivism rates. Different psychological and biological tests have been devised for investigations but fall short of the desired purpose. Various treatment modalities have been suggested and tried, but much work still needs to be done in that area.