Sexual orientation of people sexually interested in children: How does identity relate to attractions and behaviours?

• In Event: Sex offenders

Abstract

Background: The sexual orientations of people who sexually respond to children have remained largely invisible and subsumed within the clinical or criminological perspectives because attraction towards children has long been classified as pathological, and sexual behaviour with children is a criminal act. Thus, there is a lack of knowledge on the sexual identity of people sexually interested in children. Sexual identity is defined as the conscious acknowledgement of the other components of sexual orientation (i.e., sexual attraction, fantasies, arousal, and behaviour). Since identity was found to have a powerful role in guiding decision-making and explaining behaviours, a better understanding of the sexual identity of people sexually interested in children would lay the foundational knowledge necessary to identify the mechanisms that lead people with a sexual attraction to children to commit or refrain from committing child sexual abuse. The current research project aims to explore sexual identity and its role in the relationship between sexual attraction and sexual behaviour among people sexually interested in children.
Methods: The data set in this research project consists of posts written by members of an online community for people who experience sexual responses to male children analysed using thematic analysis. Genuine conversations on sexuality would be difficult in many other settings due to the strong stigmatisation of people who sexually respond to children. Online forums are more likely to make people comfortable while sharing experiences of their sexuality because they are anonymous peer contexts.
Conclusion: A better understanding of the intersections of sexuality and the decision to have sexual intercourse with children among people with a sexual interest in children can provide researchers and policymakers with the foundational knowledge to develop interventions to prevent sexual contact between adults and children.

Authors

• Michele Grace Bal, University College London

• Jyoti Belur, UCL

• Richard Wortley, University College London