Within the criminal community, pedophiles are among the most hated, most reviled members of society. Even among other criminals, they are often treated with disdain by rapists and even murderers. Although it is certain that the criminal act of performing any sexual act on a child is revolting in nature, Margo Kaplan pleads with scholars, courts, and lawmakers to re-examine legal views and handling of pedophilia her scholarly article, “Taking Pedophilia Seriously.” It is Kaplan’s understanding that there are people living with pedophilia, or an undeniable sexual attraction to children, who do not act on their desires. They can go their whole lives feeling attracted to a child without ever committing the crime of acting on those desires physically. Instead of simply throwing the book at pedophiles, locking them up, and throwing away the key, Kaplan suggests taking a closer look at pedophilia as a mental disorder in need of treatment.
From a criminology standpoint, it is easier to handle pedophiles using the maximum allowable punishments by law. Not only does it offer some measure of justice to the victims of pedophiles, it also protects others within the community from suffering the same fate. It is true that some pedophiles find themselves behind bars without ever having come in contact with a child. Perhaps they instead watched videos of children, viewed pornographic photos of underaged subjects, or even chatted inappropriate online with a child. Kaplan (2015) argues that individuals with tendencies toward pedophilia suffer from a mental illness that makes them unable to resist or control their urges and actions. By re-examining and potentially reconsidering the way the law handles pedophilia, it creates debate as to whether pedophilia is, in fact, a mental health disorder or something as simple as a form of sexual orientation.
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"Re-Examining Pedophilia as More Than Just a Crime".
Kaplan (2015) further argues that pedophilia is not something that you can just so quickly and assertively define using any legal rubric, and that it is best suited under the category of a mental disorder. If, in fact, pedophilia has more to do with a mental disorder rather than a preference for children, the question then arises whether jail or mental health treatments are the best method for handling pedophiles. Just to be clear, nowhere in Kaplan’s article does she ever suggest that pedophiles should not be held accountable for the crime of committing any sexual act against a child. In fact, she feels that accountability is of the utmost importance, but she also states that it is important to provide mental health treatment toward the uncontrollable desires that stem from pedophilia as a mental disorder (Kaplan, 2015). In truth, pedophiles typically receive the lowest standard in civil and legal treatments compared to other criminals, which is yet another source of necessary re-examination.
Kaplan’s (2015) suggestion is that scholars, lawmakers, and the courts reevaluate pedophilia, allowing them to take it more seriously, but as a mental disorder rather than just a crime. Her argument is that there are plenty of pedophiles who live their lives never having committed a crime, never having violated a child in anyway, and there are those who do not live as virtuously and do seek out children to fulfill their sexual attractions (Kaplan, 2015). Of course, the suggestion is that there is a significant difference between an attraction to children and the act of child molestation. Indeed, there is a difference between the two wherein child molestation is the act of physically making inappropriate, sexual contact with a minor and an attraction to a child is the desire a person feels toward a child, which Kaplan’s article suggests is not something pedophiles can control. Therein again, it is why Kaplan suggests offering mental health treatments for pedophiles rather than just a jail or prison sentence.
When taking into consideration Kaplan’s arguments, it is much harder to ignore the contradictory mix of laws, and thereby punishments doled out to pedophiles. Part of what makes the contradictory mix of laws and punishments even more awkward from a criminology standpoint is the fact that the law only take pedophilia into account after it reaches the point of criminal behavior (Kaplan, 2015). Prior to the criminal act carried out, a pedophile could fly under the radar undetected by anyone. Many of those who live with pedophilia and have never laid a hand on a child agree that it is a difficult to carry around those uncontrollable desires while doing everything in their power not to act on them (Kaplan, 2015). Kaplan (2015) goes on to argue that a pedophile can no more help feeling attracted to a child than a typical person can help feeling attracted to another adult. Of course, and adult is legally allowed to feel attraction to another adult without any consequences unless rape somehow becomes a criminal issue. Therefore, comparing pedophiles to adults who are attracted to other adults seems null and void.
According to Kaplan (2015), by re-examining pedophilia from a criminal standpoint, it is possible to apply laws regarding both public health and criminology that can better prevent sexual abuse from happening to a child. Of course, Kaplan (2015) also suggests that most research indicates that child sexual abuse is not often carried out by a pedophile, but rather someone who prefers some form of power or control over another. Among those who desire power or control over another, it is typically a family member, which is why child sexual abuse is commonly carried out by someone the child knows rather than a stranger that suffers from pedophilia. Of course, such a statement requires further insight and research to determine the level of truth behind such a claim made in Kaplan’s article. To simply accept her argument as irrefutable truth raises cause for concern and potential consequences to public safety. Of course, Kaplan (2015) does not believe that it is the law’s job to prevent child sexual abuse, but rather to take the legal rights of pedophiles far more seriously.
Kaplan’s argument raises a question among concerned readers: If the law is not responsible for preventing child sexual abuse, who is? Part of what Kaplan (2015) disagrees with is that a pedophilia, even one who has never engaged in any criminal activity, often receives the maximum allowable punishment identified by law based on conceptualizations. Those conceptualizations include the thought process that a pedophile, even one who has never committed a crime toward a child, will one day become a violent sexual predator. Of course, there is no evidence to suggest such a claim is true, which is why she feels the punishments doled out are currently harsh, unnecessary, and poorly executed (2015). Instead, her goal is to encourage the justice system to consider the mental health aspect of the problem. She compares pedophilia to other mental disorders like anorexia nervosa, schizophrenia, and even autism (Kaplan, 2015). In truth, it is hard to envision pedophilia on the same wavelength and the previously mentioned mental disorders, and yet there is no denying that it is a possibility that pedophiles may, in fact, be driven by something that cannot help or control because of a chemical imbalance.
Overall, Kaplan provides a compelling argument as to why scholars, lawmakers, and courts should re-examine the way in which pedophiles are handled. It is worth further investigation to see if her claims about reducing sex crimes on children is possible by offering a mental health approach to pedophilia rather than the cookie cutter approach of committing the person to jail time. However, it is worth noting that while Kaplan’s article is well-written and even references plenty of studies and other scholarly works, it lacks any data to support some of the suggestions she makes, thereby making it harder to take into consideration her arguments.
- Kaplan, M. (2015). Taking pedophilia seriously. Wash & Lee L. Rev. 75(1). 75-170. Retrieved from http://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu
