“I’m not homosexual or heterosexual, I’m paedosexual”: exploring sexual preference for children using interpretive phenomenology
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JFP-06-2016-0028 |
| Published date | 08 May 2017 |
| Date | 08 May 2017 |
| Pages | 151-161 |
| Author | Jamie S. Walton,Simon Duff |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Forensic practice,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Law enforcement/correctional,Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice |
“I’m not homosexual or heterosexual,
I’m paedosexual”: exploring sexual
preference for children using
interpretive phenomenology
Jamie S. Walton and Simon Duff
Abstract
Purpose –There is little research that examines the experiences of individuals who were assessed as
having a sexual preference for children. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the lived experience of
five incarcerated participants who possessed a sexual preference for either prepubescent or pubescent
children and had completed an accredited programme for males convicted of sexual offences in HM Prison
Service in England and Wales.
Design/methodology/approach –Semi-structuredinterviews were carried out and the data were analysed
using the principles of an interpretative phenomenological approach.
Findings –Three recurrent themes were identified. These were: internal battle, I am always going to have
these thoughts, and there is no help out there. In particular, these participants perceived that their sexual
preference was relatively enduring and would require continuous management.
Practical implications –The results have implications for clinical practice and further research. Clinicians
may need to think particularly creatively about their therapeutic plans and extend the parameters of desirable
treatment goals for clients with sexual preferences for children.
Originality/value –To date there are very few studies that have examined the accounts of men with
a sexual preference for children regarding their lived experience. Paedophilia constitutes a stable sexual
preference, suggesting that convicted perpetrators with such a preference face an inherent problem. Whilst
sexual urges may be regulated and arousability reduced, the underlying attraction may remain intact.
In response to the lack of research in this area, the aim of this study was to investigate the lived experience of
a sexual preference for children.
Keywords Treatment,Sexual offending, Child abuse, Hebephilia, Interpretive phenomenology, Paedophilia
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Sexual orientation may be defined as a stable tendency to preferentially orient in terms of
attention, interest, attraction and genital arousal to particular sexual stimuli (Seto, 2017).
Recently, Seto (2012, 2017) has suggested that paedophilia –a sexual preference for
prepubescent children, and other chronophilia such as “hebephilia”, referring to sexual
preference for pubertal children (Blanchard et al., 2009) can be defined as a “sexual age
orientation”similar to sexual gender orientation. Sexual gender orientation is partly heritable and
associated with prenatal factors (Mustanski et al., 2002; Rahman, 2005). Whilst the greatest
fluidity observed in sexual gender orientation is for bisexual men (McCabe et al., 2012), exclusive
heterosexuality is relatively stable (Mock and Eibach, 2012), and evidence for fluidity in general is
stronger for women than it is for men (Diamond, 2015). Likewise, there is converging evidence
supporting an early predisposition towards paedophilia, which includes greater prevalence of
prenatal neurodevelopmental perturbations such as non-right handedness, lower intelligence,
Received 12 June 2016
Revised 3 September 2016
18 September 2016
23 September 2016
Accepted 23 September 2016
Jamie S. Walton is a National
Specialist Lead at the
Interventions Services,
Commissioning Strategies
Group, National Offender
Management Service,
London, UK.
Simon Duff is based at the
Forensic and Family
Psychology, Faculty of
Medicine and Health Sciences,
University of Nottingham,
Nottingham, UK.
DOI 10.1108/JFP-06-2016-0028 VOL. 19 NO. 2 2017, pp. 151-161, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2050-8794
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JOURNAL OF FORENSIC PRACTICE
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