This article is scientific, but I felt it was important to have a firm grasp on the reality of the pedophile psychology in order to better be able to analyze their representation in film. A psychological study was conducted to examine 'body image limits' (Tardif and Gijseghem 7) and 'ego identity' (8). Overall, the study also confirmed that pedophiles have impaired interpersonal skills, dysfunctional relationships, and poor social functioning skills. Pedophiles also have more delicate egos and body images than nonsexual offenders (23).
One thing about the study I found particularly interesting is the fact that pedophiles who had abused males, were found to have weaker egos than nonsexual offenders or pedophiles who abused females. Pedophiles who had abused males were also shown to have a greater difficulty dealing with threatening situations; the combination of these two factors also correlated with higher level of childhood sexual abuse. In many ways, the study consistently implied that pedophiles who abuse males have much different (poor) psyches than those who abuse females or nonsexual offenders (21-23).
I wonder what it is that makes these pedophiles psychologically weaker. All of the subject in the study were male, so I wonder what about these men's masculinity was so underdeveloped that they felt the need to exert their power over the only type of male they saw as a fit subject. This is of course, my interpretation of the root of their desires, which is unconfirmed in this study. What is it about male victims that causes such a rift in the minds of their predators? Harking back to Lacan's mirror stages and the ideal self, I wonder if such criminals relate their self-image to the ideal image recognized in the mirror as a child, and still yearn for that precise persona and juvenile ideology..? The article does note that an established theory of pedophiles is the fact that pedophilia is rooted in childhood/adolescents.
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