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Pedophilia

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Emotional, Physical and Sexual Abuse

Abstract

Paedophilia is a controversial topic which evokes strong reaction among the general public as well as the clinician. Part of the reason for this is because it is closely associated with harm to children through child sexual abuse. It is categorised as a mental disorder in the two major international classificatory systems of diseases under the heading of paraphilias or sexual preference disorders. Using an overview of the current available literature and the authors’ clinical experience this chapter aims to describe various characteristics of this paraphilic disorder including its definition, subtypes, current diagnostic criteria, gender bias, onset and course, epidemiology, aetiology and its assessment. As pedophilia is closely associated with crimes against children as well as significant public stigma especially in recent times this aspect will also be briefly explored. Fictionalised case vignettes will be presented to illustrate the problem further. Much of the literature on this topic relates to men in forensic settings and hence limits the ability to draw conclusions with regard to the general population.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Liaison Psychiatry, Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust, Norwood Grange Drive, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S5 7JT, UK

    Abhi Shetty & Ayanangshu Nayak

  2. Forensic Directorate, Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust, Tickhill Road, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN4 8QN, UK

    Ray Travers & Hasit Vaidya

  3. Sexual Medicine, Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust, 75 Osborne Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S11 9BF, UK

    Kevan Wylie

Authors
  1. Abhi Shetty
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  2. Ayanangshu Nayak
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  3. Ray Travers
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  4. Hasit Vaidya
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  5. Kevan Wylie
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abhi Shetty .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Department; Endocrinology Unit, Maggiore-Bellaria Hospital, Azienda-Usl Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Giovanni Corona

  2. Department of System Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy

    Emmanuele A. Jannini

  3. Sexual Medicine and Andrology Unit, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

    Mario Maggi

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Shetty, A., Nayak, A., Travers, R., Vaidya, H., Wylie, K. (2014). Pedophilia. In: Corona, G., Jannini, E., Maggi, M. (eds) Emotional, Physical and Sexual Abuse. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06787-2_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06787-2_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-06786-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-06787-2

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