Is it possible for a normal person to become a paedophile?

[Pappa]

Or a rapist, serial killer, etc.?

I think most people would probably accept that in the right circumstances a person could be pushed over the edge to murder, but could the same be said for other terrible crimes?

I think it would be possible if a person were tipped over the edge by psychosis or insanity, but the general stereotypes of rapists, paedophiles and serial killers tends not to regard them as mad but behaviourally maladjusted.

Can a person change from normal to behaviourally maladjusted due to their experiences, or are they basically born that way (or made by very early conditioning or a combination of the two). I'm not talking about nature v nurture as such, more about whether an adult can change due to pressures in their life.

[normal]

No. Now fuck off with your insinuations, dick hole

[normal]

On a more serious note I am confident that it is quite unllikely. And that any such damage is developed during childhood years.

[stripes4]

No. I really don't think so. The pyschological profile of a kiddy fiddler usually indicates that they have missed out on certain developmental phases as a child, as they have been prevented, by life circumstances, from doing so. I don't believe an healthy adult would suddenly become a peadophile.

[Rum]

A high proportion of paedophiles were themselves molested by adults as children. Sexualised at an early age and associating sex with pre-adolescence appears to keep many of them 'stuck' in that sexuality. I am not aware (as someone who worked in this area off and on in past jobs and got training of various types), of people 'developing#' paedophilia as such. I suppose exposure to child porn or some such might have that effect, but I am not aware of any research that suggests that - though it may be out there.

As a generalisation I am not sure that people decide as a matter of conscious choice to suddenly go and do some of the bad stuff you are suggesting, but pressure of one sort or another might make, say a normally 'well behaved' member of society go out and steal for example if they were out of work and their family was hungry.

[stripes4]

I think not getting laid for a few years might turn a previously well adjusted person into a rapist? Or would they just masturbate more often and smash dishes?

[Rum]

I think not getting laid for a few years might turn a previously well adjusted person into a rapist? Or would they just masturbate more often and smash dishes?

Speaking personally (not that I have had many 'dry spells'!), I could not see that as remotely possible in the case of this fairly well adjusted heterosexual.

[stripes4]

Interesting. I wonder if, in that case, a person may have the conditions to be a rapist - be a sort of 'latent' rapist, and not realise it, until a dry spell triggers off their inner demons?

[Rum]

Interesting. I wonder if, in that case, a person may have the conditions to be a rapist - be a sort of 'latent' rapist, and not realise it, until a dry spell triggers off their inner demons?

I suppose, though they general view is that rape is not about sex, but power. Not sure how much I agree with that but it does seem to be a commonly held feminist oriented view. If that is so then sexual frustration would not be the key motivation I guess.

I can't even think of any circumstances where I would consider sexual assault. Not in me as far as I can tell.

[surreptitious57]

To the best of my knowledge I have never raped or murdered. But I did kill a pet. I am mentally ill but am not offering this as a reason but merely a statement of fact. One can't change the past but hopefully learn from one's mistakes and try not to repeat them. Regarding paedophiles, I think they act the way they do because of brain chemistry. And as Rum has emphasised, many were themselves abused.

[MiM]

Paedophilia, as in seeking sex with adolescents, for your own pleasure - I don't know. But I think what has happened during several wars, in different parts of the world, compels us to answer yes on mass-murder and rape. It's all about dehumanising the victim far enough. And that seems to be frightfully easy for humans to accomplish.

[Pappa]

After I wrote the OP, I remembered about how Billy Connolly described he was sexually molested by his father for a limited time when he was a pre-teen. He never really understood why it happened, but put forward some loose ideas about his father being lonely and depressed after his mother left (or died) and it always happening when his father was drunk. He paints a picture of a guy who hadn't molested other children at all, and wasn't a danger to children before or after that time. How common is that kind of scenario I wonder? And if Billy Connolly's account is taken at face value, does that mean his father was 'normal' but was pushed to behave in such an unacceptable way due to certain pressures in his life and then went back to 'normal' later?

[FBM]

Hmm. I guess the voice of a normal person would carry more weight in this thread, but here goes, anyway:

Paedo....nope. Can't fathom it, though I understand that there is a neurological condition or two that can bring about adult-onset paeodphilia: http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/r ... 2/1/71.pdf

Rapist...nope. Can't fathom it. My fighting part of my brain is nowhere near my fucking part, I guess. I'd be more likely to dismember a rapist than rape.


Serial killer...Mmmm...I couldn't do it just randomly or out of bloodlust, but I can imagine being a hit-man who targets leaders of organizations that deal in, for example, underage prostitution, human trafficking, maybe trade in body parts of certain endangered species, and mimes. Things like that.

[HomerJay]

This is just about a breakdown in the socialisation process, isn't it?

In some cultures paedophilia is viewed differently, child marriage (although not necessarily sex) is seen as a good thing but does it mean that the people concerned are not 'normal' or have a pathological condition?

[Mr.Samsa]

Or a rapist, serial killer, etc.?

I think most people would probably accept that in the right circumstances a person could be pushed over the edge to murder, but could the same be said for other terrible crimes?

I think it would be possible if a person were tipped over the edge by psychosis or insanity, but the general stereotypes of rapists, paedophiles and serial killers tends not to regard them as mad but behaviourally maladjusted.

Can a person change from normal to behaviourally maladjusted due to their experiences, or are they basically born that way (or made by very early conditioning or a combination of the two). I'm not talking about nature v nurture as such, more about whether an adult can change due to pressures in their life.

I see no reason why conditioning, especially if started at a young enough age, couldn't produce pedophilia since this appears to have occurred in at least some people - i.e. pedophiles or cultures where the legal sex age is pretty low. Whether you could condition a grown adult into having these tendencies might be more difficult since there would be a lot of behavioral training that you'd have to overcome (training which encouraged them to find people their own age etc). I wouldn't say it was impossible though, but probably pretty difficult. I don't think it's likely that an adult could suddenly just 'accidentally' become attracted to children, it would probably require some intense conditioning carried out by an insane scientist.

It's probably important to note that the people we usually think of as pedophiles, and those who are studied, are a specific selection of the overall population of people who are attracted to children and not representative of the group as a whole.

As for rape, I imagine that would be more likely since the line is more vague than that of child and adult. I'm sure most people have probably committed rape in the technical sense (e.g. a wife waking up her husband with a blowjob), and I imagine a significant number of rapists are probably otherwise 'normal' people who just make stupid mistakes - like drunkenly hooking up with a girl you thought was into you, rather than being violent rapists (not that this excuses their behavior, of course). I think an otherwise 'normal' person committing a violent rape would be far less common.

Interesting. I wonder if, in that case, a person may have the conditions to be a rapist - be a sort of 'latent' rapist, and not realise it, until a dry spell triggers off their inner demons?

I suppose, though they general view is that rape is not about sex, but power. Not sure how much I agree with that but it does seem to be a commonly held feminist oriented view. If that is so then sexual frustration would not be the key motivation I guess.

I can't even think of any circumstances where I would consider sexual assault. Not in me as far as I can tell.

As far as I know, the idea that "rape is about power" is purely a feminist idea that is without much support. The majority of rapes are committed in order to achieve sexual gratification, and when feminists talk of rape being about power, they usually don't mean power over the victim, but instead they're suggesting that rape is a demonstration of the power of the patriarchy. I had a quick look through google scholar to see if I can find any research that supports the idea that the motivating factor for rapists is power, but I can't find any. Most studies I can find suggest that around 80% of rapists suggest that sex was their main motivating factor, with other things including revenge, anger, dominance, etc.

Regarding paedophiles, I think they act the way they do because of brain chemistry. And as Rum has emphasised, many were themselves abused.

This is necessarily true as every single thing we do is a result of "brain chemistry". It doesn't really tell us anything though since brain chemistry can either be the cause of behaviors, or behaviors can be the cause of a change in brain chemistry.