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Arch Sex Behav (2015) 44:2134 DOI 10.1007/s10508-014-0312-4
ORIGINAL PAPER
Stigmatization of People with Pedophilia: Two Comparative Surveys
Sara Jahnke Roland Imhoff Juergen Hoyer
Received: 2 July 2013 / Revised: 13 February 2014 / Accepted: 25 February 2014 / Published online: 20 June 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
Abstract Despite productive research on stigma and its impact on peoples lives in the past 20 years, stigmatization of people with pedophilia has received little attention. We conducted two surveys estimating public stigma and determining predictors of social distance from this group. In both studies, pedophilia was dened as adominant sexual interest in children. The survey was comprised of items measuring agreement with stereotypes, emotions, and social distance (among others). Responses were compared with identical items referring to either people who abuse alcohol (Study 1), sexual sadists or people with antisocial tendencies (Study 2). Study 1 was conducted in two German cities (N = 854) and Study 2 sampled 201 English-speaking online participants. Both studies revealed that nearly all reactions to people with pedophilia were more negative than those to the other groups, including social distance. Fourteen percent (Study 1) and 28 % (Study2)ofthe participantsagreedthatpeople withpedophilia should better be dead, even if they never had committed criminal acts. The strongest predictors of social distance towards peoplewith pedophilia were affective reactions tothis group (anger and, inversely, associated, pity) and the political attitude of right-wing authoritarianism (Study 1). Results strongly indicate that people with pedophilia are a stigmatized group who risk being the target of erce discrimination. We discuss this particular form of stigmatization with respect to social isolation of persons with pedophilia and indirect negative consequences for child abuse prevention.
Keywords Stigma Pedophilia Paraphilias
Alcohol abuse Social distance
Introduction
Though little is known about the offending risk of people with a sexual interest in children (Hanson & Bussire, 1998; Stadtland et al., 2005), the image of the pedophile as a predatory child sex offender is so commonly evoked in public debate that it has become a truism in Western cultures (Berlin & Malin, 1991; Jenkins, 1998; West, 2000). Given this mistaken equation of pedophilia with the criminal conduct of child sexual abuse (Feelgood & Hoyer, 2008), it does not seem surprising that pedophilia (termed Pedophilic Disorder in...