Pederasty-+in+the+United+States

In the United States, pederastic relationships between adult males and young boys or adolescent males are generally considered equivalent to sexually abusive pedophilic, hebephilic, or ephebophilic relationships. Pedophilia is sexual attraction to prepubescent children; hebephilia is sexual attraction to children in early adolescence; ephebophilia is sexual attraction to individuals in late adolescence. Any sexual relations between an adult and a minor under the legal age of consent is considered statutory rape, criminal sexual contact, sexual assault, or aggravated sexual assault ( U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). The legal age of consent varies by state, 16 being the lowest and most common age, and 18 being the highest age ( U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.).

=Pathologizing Pederasty=

Due to its illegality and societal vilification, the practice of pederasty is not well-understood in the United States as a cultural or social practice. Although it may award its participants some sense of social acceptance, or welcoming into sub-cultures (NAMBLA, 2010), this is not a popular lens of human sexuality research on pederasty. In much of Western culture, pederasty is highly stigmatized: its practitioners receive severe punishments and public shame (Jahnke & Hoyer, 2013; IACAC, 2014 ). Therefore, attempts to explain pederastic behavior in the United States tend to focus on internal psychological, emotional, and developmental factors of the perpetrator (Hunter, 2010).



Pederasty as Pedophilia
Pederasty is often collapsed with pedophilia, and regarded as a deviant sexual identity (Durkin & Bryant, 1999). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual defines pedophilia as mental disorder characterized by urges or fantasies of sexual activity with minors - specifically, with prepubescent persons ([|American Psychiatric Association], 2013). From a psychoanalytic perspective, man-boy pedophilia arises from childhood deprivations of love or attention, resulting in a fixation on the child as a symbol of one's own childhood self (Li, West, & Woodhouse, 1993).

Pederasty as Biological Abnormality
In the United States, pederasty is overwhelmingly considered equivalent to child sexual abuse. Due to the harm it inflicts, researchers often examine pederasty as a disease and pederastic acts as symptoms. The disease model of pederasty has led to many biologically-oriented studies on experimental medical solutions. One of the earliest medical treatments for pederasts in the United States was surgical castration: since then, psychiatrists have also studied the effects of libido-suppressing anti-androgen drugs, and stereotaxic neurosurgery (Li et al., 1993). Recently, studies conducted on the neuroimaging of pedophiles have revealed multiple abnormalities compared to non-sexual offenders, such as a smaller right amygdala (Peoppl et al., 2013).

Pederasty as Psychosocial Disorder
Psychoanalysts tend to credit childhood developmental difficulty as the cause of adult sexual deviance (Li et al., 1993). The high percentage of pederasts with multiple paraphilias - such as pedophilia, voyeurism, exhibitionism, and transvestitism - suggests a general inclination toward sexual deviance rather than a fixation on under-age boys (Fisher, 1994). Models created by Wolf (1984) and Finkelhor (1984) suggest that early exposure to victimization and family dysfunction, use of sexualization to cope with unwanted emotions, availability and vulnerability of the child, and lack of resistance by the child are all factors in the prevalence of child sexual abuse (as cited in Fisher, 1994, pp. 16-24).

Beyond pathologizing child sexual abusers as pedophiles, these models incorporate developmental, environmental, and situational factors that lead to the actual occurrence of child sexual abuse.

=Misappropriation of Homosexuality =

In the context of a pederastic relationship, homosexual attraction would imply that the adult male is sexually attracted to the boy's maleness or male characteristics. Many outspoken men and boys in pederastic relationships tend to identify as homosexual, and advocate as much for LGTBQ rights as for pedophilia sexual freedom (NAMBLA, 2010). In much of the Western discourse on pederasty, homosexual desires are largely assumed (Gartner, 1999).

However, homosexuality does not play a role in every man-boy sexual encounter. In studies conducted on child molesters in the United States, t he correlation between child sexual abuse and homosexuality is fairly low: Groth and Oliveri (1989) and Jenny, Roesler, and Poyer (1994) reported that the majority of pedophiles described themselves as heterosexual, and were predominantly homophobic (as cited in Gartner, 1999).

Nonetheless, it remains common in the United States to equate same-sex behavior with homosexual desires. These misunderstandings can lead to devastating consequences in cases of child sexual abuse: namely, the misappropriation of homosexuality often denies the presence of abuse and implicates the child victim. A young male who is first abused by an adult male and then later in life identifies as homosexual may interpret his early abuse as a form of sexual initiation: he may even describe his abuser as doing him a favor for showing him that homosexual activity was acceptable (Hunter, 1990). A victim of abuse may also question his own sexual orientation well into adulthood, rationalizing that the abuse could not happen - or that he could not experience arousal from the abuse - unless he was actually homosexual or gave off a homosexual vibe to attract the abuser (Gartner, 1999). These misunderstandings lead to victim-blaming and absolves the male abuser of responsibility.

The misappropriation of homosexuality may also leave the victim questioning his status as a man. In the United States, it is unfortunately common to interpret homosexual activity as emasculating. H egemonic masculinity is heterosexual: men perform maleness through heterosexual drives and behaviors (Heasley, 2005). Fear over inviting homosexual attention or being aroused during the pederastic encounter leave male victims of child sexual abuse worried over their claim to a masculine identity (Gartner, 1999). This is made worse when  clinicians and therapists confuse same-sex abuse with homosexual initiation or a gay identity for the victim, the abuser, or both (Gartner, 1999).

=References=

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). //Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders// (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Durkin, K. F., & Bryant, C. D. (1999). Propagandizing pederasty: A thematic analysis of the on-line exculpatory accounts of unrepentant pedophiles. //Deviant Behavior 20//(2), 103-127. DOI ** : ** 10.1080/016396299266524

Fisher, D. (1994). Adult sex offenders: Who are they? Why and how do they do it? In T. Morrison, M. Erooga, R. C. Beckett (Eds.), Sexual Offending against Children: Assessment and Treatment of Male Abusers (pp. 1-24). New York, NY: Routledge.

Gartner, R. B. (1999). Sexual victimization of boys by men: Meanings and consequences. //Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy, 3//(2)//,// 1-33.

IACAC. (2014)//. International Agency for Crimes Against Children:// //Child Trafficking, Exploitation, & Cyber Crimes Tactical Initiative.// Retrieved from []

Li, C. K., West, D. J., Woodhouse, T. P. (1993). Children’s Sexual Encounters with Adults: A Scientific Study. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books.

<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Poeppl, T. B., Nitschke, J., Santtila, P., Schecklmann, M., Langguth, B., Greenlee, M. W., & ... Mokros, A. (2013). Association between brain structure and phenotypic characteristics in pedophilia [Abstract]. Journal Of Psychiatric Research, 47(5), 678-685. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2013.01.003

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (n.d.). //Statutory rape: A guide to state laws and reporting requirements// [Data file]. Retrieved from []

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Weeks, J. (2010). Sexuality (3rd ed.). New York, N.Y.: Routledge.