Conditioning of Sexual Interests and Paraphilias in Humans Is Difficult to See, Virtually Impossible to Test, and Probably Exactly How It Happens: A Comment on Hsu and Bailey (2020)

Focusing on the “flaming youth” figure of the 1920s, this chapter explores the prevalence of discussions about child marriage in works by Wharton and Fabian, exploring forms of generation-specific authority and the peculiar age-specific qualities of the “child-woman” at the center of these plots. Scenes of youthful teen girls’ slumber, which frequently overlap with middle-aged men’s sexual interests, predict many of the aspects of these relationships that interest Wharton, whose fictions imagine child marriage, then increasingly problematize the age-asymmetrical relationships involved in such unions.

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From Atypical Sexual Interests to Paraphilic Disorders: The Planned ICD Revisions Related to Paraphilic Disorder

Journal of Sexual Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.jsxm.2018.02.001 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 15 (6) ◽

pp. 807-808 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Peer Briken ◽

Richard B. Krueger

Keyword(s):

Paraphilic Disorder ◽

Paraphilic Disorders ◽

Sexual Interests

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Approach and Avoidance Tendencies Toward Picture Stimuli of (Pre-)Pubescent Children and Adults: An Investigation in Pedophilic and Nonpedophilic Samples

Sexual Abuse ◽

10.1177/1079063217697134 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 30 (7) ◽

pp. 781-802 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

K. Weidacker ◽

C. Kärgel ◽

C. Massau ◽

S. Weiß ◽

J. Kneer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Binary Logistic Regression ◽

Cognitive Capacity ◽

Avoidance Reaction ◽

Stimulus Category ◽

Avoidance Task ◽

Approach And Avoidance ◽

Picture Stimuli ◽

Approach Avoidance ◽

Sexual Interests

The presence of pedophilic sexual interests is considered of high importance for predicting recidivism among individuals who have committed sexual offenses. However, objective and valid assessment methods that are robust against confounding issues such as cognitive capacity and manipulation are sparse. We applied the Approach–Avoidance Task (AAT) for detecting sexual interests in 38 pedophilic men (18 primarily attracted to boys) and 27 male nonpedophilic (11 gay) participants. The AAT relies on automatic approach and avoidance tendencies, independent of cognitive abilities such as memory capacity and intelligence. Approach–avoidance tendencies toward stimuli depicting seminude prepubescent boys and girls as well as men and women are reported. The results were consistent with previous research on the utility of the AAT: Except for pedophiles attracted to girls, the mean AAT scores (approach minus avoidance reaction time for each stimulus category) were positive only for stimuli of the preferred category. A multivariate binary logistic regression approach revealed 80% overall accuracy in differentiating pedophilic from nonpedophilic participants.

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