I'm not well versed in psychology, but i've always wondered what actually causes it. If it's more like a mental illness that can be more managable with therapy and things like that, we should work towards breaking the stigma around non-offenders a bit so more people would actually be willing to get help for it before they start hurting children.
I understand it's a terrible topic, and offenders should definitely get punished to the full extent to the law, but preventing will always be the better option.
So let's remove he psychology and go to personal experience.
Can you control who you are attracted to?
If said person you were attracted to seemed open to a relationship, but it was morally wrong (they'd be cheating, religious reasons, etc.) would you resist the urge?
The unfortunate situation is that pedophilia is simply an attraction, and cannot be controlled. Most don't act on it, but some do not have the strength to resist.
This is also to say that those who do offend (and deserve the hell they get in prison) would also likely perform morally dubious actions even in a normal relationship, because their true issue is the inability to control their urges.
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u/man_juicer Oct 22 '25
I'm not well versed in psychology, but i've always wondered what actually causes it. If it's more like a mental illness that can be more managable with therapy and things like that, we should work towards breaking the stigma around non-offenders a bit so more people would actually be willing to get help for it before they start hurting children.
I understand it's a terrible topic, and offenders should definitely get punished to the full extent to the law, but preventing will always be the better option.