Despite what we may believe regarding the classification of an entire group of people as lesser or grotesque, it is often true that we do exactly this. The most obvious example being pedophiles. It is easy to decry their obvious failings as a group of humans—a group that is defined by an apparently immutable aspect of themselves. The people for whom pedophiles are attracted is one that invariably earns them universal scorn; more importantly, scorn that is widely accepted as not only justifiable, but even righteous. To hate pedophiles is to be a normal person, according to what seems to be popular consensus (Kuhle et al., 2020). There is an expectation that pedophiles are uniquely evil by their very nature. Similarly, those we call psychopaths, sociopaths, or those with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), are also widely hated by the basis of their fundamental traits (Banerjee et al., 2022), along with those with schizophrenia. There is an assumption that, because their fundamental being is immutably deviant, they must be classified as other by default. This seems to stand in direct contrast with contemporary progressivism, which in part seeks to break down social standards of deviance, as seen in acceptance of previously deviant activities such as homosexuality (Pew Research Center, 2017). So, we must consider what elements of deviance within psychopaths and pedophiles excludes them from societal acceptance insofar as they have themselves not done any harm.
In respect to the difference in the apparent deviance between homosexuality and pedophilia, the obvious is the potential for harm. Being gay, or engaging in same-sex sexual interactions, are not inherently harmful. Although of course if the action is non-consensual, it becomes problematic, but this is true of heterosexuality as well. Rather, homosexuality and homosexual actions are morally neutral without the addition of other factors, as there are no apparent secular prescriptions that can paint the nature of homosexuality as wrong, as far as I know (i.e. the moral wrongness of homosexuality requires non-secular arguments, such as those that are religious). This differs from pedophilia, which in practice is inherently harmful. A child cannot consent to sex due to their inability to understand the consequences, processes, and functions of sex. Sexual actions with children, or those who are like-child (substantial intellectual disability, for instance), are thus necessarily immoral, as there is no way to perform a sexual action with them that does not invoke clear and obvious harm onto them via their inability to consent. Therefore, every sexual action performed upon a child is rape by default. That being said, there is the capacity for one to be attracted to children while not acting upon this attraction, in the same sense that one can be a homosexual and not act upon their homosexual desires (as many priests have claimed to do/be). So, it stands to reason that pedophilia itself ought to be considered morally neutral, but the pedophilic action is the immoral factor. This is not clear-cut, however, as even in writing this I find myself disgusted by the prospect of affording any moral considerations to pedophiles. I would like to feel morally righteous in my own disregard of pedophiles as simply morally evil beings by their nature. This dissonance between my apparent moral values and my emotional response to pedophilia itself seems to be a common feature of many Americans from my personal experience, and from some research (Kuhle et al., 2020). It seems that the common view is that pedophilia is an obvious evil, and that any and all pedophiles should be put into mandated treatment in the least extreme, and exterminated in the most extreme (this extermination view is scarily common online, especially in right-wing circles). That being said, I will never support an organization for pedophiles, I will never defend a pedophile in practice, and I will never feel comfortable around a pedophile. The very nature of pedophiles disgusts me to my core, especially as someone who works with children every day, and hopes to be a mother some day. In most instances of seemingly irrational disgust and prejudice, I have sought to alleviate that prejudice to become a more well-rounded individual, and ultimately pursue my progressive, Star Trek-esque ideal of tolerance, acceptance, and love. But when it comes to pedophiles, I feel no such pull towards recompense. I cannot separate the offending from the non-offending, and have blanket, universal disdain. This is different from my view of those with antisocial personality disorder.
When it comes to psychopaths, I have slightly more empathy. I myself have, ironically, failures to empathize with others due to me being on the autism spectrum. Moreover, I have previously been afraid that I was a psychopath due to my difficulties with empathy. Perhaps this allows me to understand the plight of psychopaths—an individual who, by no fault of their own, is born without the ability to properly empathize and understand others. Media often portrays psychopaths as cold-blooded killers and criminals—people to be feared. Although it is true that individuals with antisocial personality disorder are grossly over-represented in the prison system (Black et al., 2010), it is not true that this automatically makes one with antisocial personality disorder a criminal at birth, in much the same way that a pedophile is not an offending pedophile until they offend. Despite this, psychopaths are classified as deviant at diagnosis; a fact that surely does not escape their notice. How easy is it, then, for a psychopath to desire to be the very monster that people assume them to be, if for no other reason than spite? How difficult must it be to control one’s deviant sexual urges when those urges are a constant source of inter and intra-hatred? In this sense, what good are we doing by condemning psychopaths and pedophiles who has yet to cause harm themselves?
I say all this with an admission of hypocrisy. Other than this blog essay, I will do nothing. I will never advocate for pedophiles and psychopaths. I will continue my socially accepted hatred of those I consider deviant
References:
Kuhle, L.F., Jahnke, S., Stelzmann, D. (2020) Media Coverage of Pedophilia: Benefits and Risks from Healthcare Practitioner's Point of View. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 17 (16), 5739. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17165739
Banerjee, M., Berry, C., Bogon-Johnston, L., Hazell, M., C. (2022). Creating a hierarchy of mental health stigma: testing the effect of psychiatric diagnosis on stigma. BJPsych Open. 8(5), e174. doi:10.1192/bjo.2022.578
Pew Research Center (2017). Support for Same-Sex Marriage Grows, Even Among Groups That Had Been Skeptical. Pew Research Center.
Black, D. W., Gunter, T., Loveless, P., Allen, J., & Sieleni, B. (2010). Antisocial personality disorder in incarcerated offenders: Psychiatric comorbidity and quality of life. Annals of clinical psychiatry : official journal of the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists, 22(2), 113–120.
Filov I. (2019). Antisocial Personality Traits as a Risk Factor of Violence between Individuals with Mental Disorders. Open access Macedonian journal of medical sciences, 7(4), 657–662. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2019.146
Addendum: So some clarifications as per some peer review from my boyfriend. It is important to note that being overrepresented in the prison system does not necessarily indicate being overrepresented in violent crime. That was not well established, but I should have clarified, that people with ASPD specifically are overrepresented in violent crime (Vilov, 2019). But even this overrepresentation does not justify treating people with ASPD as lesser or inherently wrong as a result, which was what I was hoping to establish, but could have been done better. I also wanted to clarify because it was a sticking point for my boyfriend: pedophilia and homosexuality are only comparable if the pedophile in question is non-offending. At this point they are morally neutral. Homosexuality is always morally neutral, even if you are actively participating in gay sex. There is no way to actively participate in pedophilia that is morally acceptable. Pedophilic actions are inherently wrong, I need to make that abundently clear.
Addendum Two: I modified some language used throughout this post to remove some things that I consider accidentally dehumanizing. I originally justified it as a stylistic choice, but I now believe that regardless of intent, dehumanization was occurring.
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