Primetime : pedophelia is a disease..you know..like diabetes

[SoCalDem]

:wtf:

Atascadero State Mental Hospital spends $137K PER inmate/patient to "cure" them..

I wonder how much is given to the victims per year??

apparently after 6 years some are considered cured and released..:stupid:

[rooboy]

1. At something like 150 victims per pedophile...

it is far cheaper - and better for society - to treat the pedophilia than compensate the victims. I say that as a victim of a pedophile. I'd rather have never been molested at all than be molested for 10 grand.

[SoCalDem]

2. Me too, but I would prefer that they just stay locked up

and the money spent on therapy for the kids whose souls they steal:(

[radwriter0555]

3. Just to argue the point, what do you think the cause of pedophilia is?

This definition is something I've struggled to define for many years as it comes up in debate.

Can it be cured?

Is it a disease, as in a mental illness?

If it is a mental disease, should it then be punished, especially considering how horrific the victimization is?

It seems that to merely classify it as "The Crime" and to punish the perpetrator (as harshly as possible, especially father-child cases instead of giving them a free pass) doesn't treat the problem, it's treating the sympton... ergo, one must find out the source of the problem if one is to stop the problem.

Open to thoughts, discussion?

[rodeodance]

4. there is talk by psychiatrics of removing it from the DSM-IV but I have

not keep up with the outcome of this dicussion. You might check the manual--I am sure you will on net.

[Horse with no Name]

5. I think it is a personality defect

It is not "fixable" as many confessed pedophiles have admitted. NO matter how many treatment programs or counseling or anything, these pedophiles still have the urges to molest children.
It shouldn't be classified as a mental illness or disease--IMHO.
This should be treated ONLY as criminal behavior and nothing else. Anyone convicted of pedophilia should be treated like murderers are and locked up for the rest of their lives so that they cannot destroy any more lives in their path.

[seriousstan]

6. I believe it s a sexual orientation.

I never let anything slip past the realm of human sexuality. (though high heeled women crushing small rodents really surprised me.)

[zalinda]

7. I knew a guy who did something sexual to a young girl

I can't tell you exactly what it was, as he didn't go into details. All I know was that he was a teenager, and part of it (at that time) was curiosity. He was caught, and lost his best friend at the time (which was devastating, as he had very few friends), because it was his best friends sister. It was put aside as a stupid decision on the part of a teenager. But, he says now that when he gets overwhelmed, he gets the urge to do it again.

Here's what I think, for what it's worth. We know that a lot of offenders were abused themselves, which you would think would make them not do it. But, because they know what it feels like, is why they do it. It's sort of like rape, rape isn't sexual, it's rage and the feeling of power. I think the child abuser also has a need to feel like he is in charge of something. And the reason so many who were abused, abuse themselves is because they want the feeling of power that they thought their abuser had over them. It may be that it doesn't have as much to do with sex (like rape) as the feeling of hopelessness and powerlessness. And because he actually receives pleasure, he continues on with the action.

zalinda

[BushOut06]

9. It's a mental disorder, but they still need to be removed from society

If you've never been a victim, you have no idea what kind of mental damage that can cause. There are no words that can even come close. It's something that stays with you for the rest of your life. That's why it's imperative that these people be removed from society. I don't know if there will ever be a "cure" for this, and I don't think it's necessary to stick them in a general population prison either. But there has to be some sort of middle ground, some way that we can remove these people from society for the rest of their lives. This is one crime that typically has a very high repeat rate.

[zbdent]

8. Work in the mental health field (computers), and I recall a coworker

who pointed out that, when mental health is covered, each "treatment" lasts as long as the insurance covers . . . if the insurance only covers 3 days, the "treatment" lasts 3 days . . . if the insurance covers 30 days, the "treatment" suddenly lasts for 30 days . . .