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“Can People with Pedophilia Change?: Yes they can!”

  • Current Controversies (PJ Kleinplatz and C Moser, Section Editors)
  • Published:
Current Sexual Health Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

This review is written in response to an invitation to explain why clinicians should reconsider the statement: “Once a pedophile always a pedophile”.

Recent Findings

Reviewed in this paper are challenges to the concept that pedophilia is “hard-wired” during a “critical period”, the idea that all people with pedophilia reoffend, the idea that people with pedophilia are like “boiling pots”, and that high-risk sex offenders are always high risk. The idea that pedophilia is an orientation is also redefined. Together, these observations and studies support a paradigm shift in favor of pedophilia being viewed as treatable condition characterized by a persistent sexual interest in children and a failure to develop adult sexual interests.

Summary

The available evidence suggests that sexual interests are subject to the same range of influences as other interests. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, clinicians should inform patients that there is no evidence that paraphilias, including pedophilia, cannot change. This therapeutic perspective is evidence based and increases the responsibility that people with pedophilia take for their actions and enhances their motivation and optimism for healthy change in both sexual interests and actions. This perspective enhances the prospect of successful treatment outcomes for people with pedophilia (and other) paraphilias.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sexual Behaviours Clinic, The Royal, 1145 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, K1Z 7K4, Canada

    J. Paul Fedoroff

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  1. J. Paul Fedoroff
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Correspondence to J. Paul Fedoroff.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Current Controversies

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Fedoroff, J.P. “Can People with Pedophilia Change?: Yes they can!”. Curr Sex Health Rep 10, 207–212 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11930-018-0166-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11930-018-0166-1

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