Has everybody forgotten the meaning of the words i.e. paedophile literally "child lover" and paederast "boy lover." If people bothered to give that any thought they would realise that there are an awful lot of them in the world. Does a parent who loves his or her child consider themselves in this category? I think not!!
The main body of research into the causes of the problem have taken place in the USA. Whilst it is the old nature v nurture argument, there is considerable evidence that the former is of paramount importance. In the UK offenders are invariably placed on a Sexual Offenders Training Programme (SOTP) There are a considerable number of modules aimed primarily at reconditioning the thought processes of the individual. A great many offenders have found that this is of considerable benefit to them in curbing their behaviour. Many of them, however, find it difficult to reconcile the fact that the age of consent is lower in some countries than in others. They will remark that if their "offence" had taken place in one country it would not be illegal whereas in their country they find themselves serving long periods of imprisonment.
In spite of the above comments in other posts chemical castration effectively lowers their testosterone level to the extent that they have little if any libido. The effect of this is obvious.
No paedophile chooses to be like it. Invariably they will ask "why me, why do I have this problem, what has caused it?" As a rule one cannot help but form the impression that they are emotionally immature and locked in a time warp, usually in the early stages of puberty. They gravitate to others at a similar stage of development who are, in effect, their "peer" group. To them they are doing what comes naturally or rather what did come naturally when they were that age. In effect, they have never grown up. In the UK the fundamental maxim in criminal law is "actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea - to constitute a criminal act it has to be accompanied by a guilty intention to commit that act, with very few exceptions. In the paedophile's case it is the "mens rea" that is usually absent.
Surely, the real solution to this problem is to fund research to ascertain so far as is possible the true causes and put the nature v nurture argument to rest once and for all.
After all, prevention is better than cure. The cost benefit to society as a whole will be very considerable. In the UK for example offenders are placed in the Vulnerable Persons Unit (VPU) and the staff ratio to prisoners is much higher than in the main part of the prison with a resulting increase in cost.
I hope that the above comments have placed the matter in a less vitriolic setting.
