PEDOPHILIA INTERNET RESOURCES

1. Pedophilia – My Perspective
   http://www.geocities.com/ericw_970/?200517
   
   This is a personal website written by a person who has been diagnosed with pedophilia and was “caught doing bad stuff on the Internet” and had the opportunity to enter treatment and, according to the life bio, is seeking to better his life. In addition to having information about the author’s life, the author has also included summations and information about society’s view (of pedophilia), the cycle (of pedophilia), possible causes of pedophilia, recovery processes, and myths about pedophiles. The author also includes a link to other resources such as a website where you can report child pornography on the Internet, a link to a website about treatment for pedophilia, Canadian laws, and a resource for scientific studies. There is also a link for resources “for Adults who are attracted to Children”, but the link was broken.
   
   Although this website states that it was last updated on October 4, 2001, there is a message board on the site that shows very recent activity, in fact no posts were before 2004. The message board allows people to post comments and respond to other comments. Scanning through the whole list I was able to find a post from a pedophile trying to contact the author of the website because they were trying to get help. There were also some legitimate posts regarding different viewpoints on the topic, but many of those turned into name calling arguments. However, the vast majority of the posts on this message board are spam advertisement links or links to pornography sites, including child pornography sites. This site at first appears to offer some decent information regarding this aspect of pedophilia, a pedophile seeking treatment and reaching out to help others, but upon further inspection it is not a very helpful site for someone who is reaching out for help, considering the many links to child pornography and the fact that the email link to the author does not work. However, I included this website because it was the first site in the list when I did my initial search and was the only one of its kind in the top twenty.
   
   
2. The Human Face of Pedophilia by Lindsay Ashford
   http://hfp.puellula.org/Main.html
   
   This is also a website whose author identifies himself as a pedophile. This website is very well organized and updated regularly. This website is a website for advocacy of pedophilia, which the website differentiates from child molestation. The basic belief of the website is that pedophiles are born the way they are and that it is society’s view on adult-child relationships that cause difficulties for the child in these relationships. The website offers information about the purpose of the site, the creed of the pedophile, testimonies, and a section on activism that includes press releases and sample advocacy letters to elected officials and religious leaders.
   
   The third website is the Neptune Link Directory: Pedophile Resources and Information about Pedophilia (http://nld.puellula.org/). This website is for boylovers and girllovers and offers resource links to information about “pedophilia and consensual child love.” This includes links to chat sites, support groups, information for family and friends of pedophiles, research articles, interfaith resources, advocacy groups, and a link to a website that lists the legal age of consent for male/female sex, male/male sex, and female/female sex for countries all over the world.
   
   
3. National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality: The Problem of Pedophilia
   file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/granello.1/Desktop/www.narth.com/docs/pedophNEW.html
   
   This website is not about pedophilia alone, however, it included a review of this paper, The Problem of Pedophilia, for which there were many links to in the first twenty links of the initial search on pedophilia. This paper is a summation of different studies, which are all cited, that offer support for both sides of advocacy of pedophilia.
   
   In support of advocacy of pedophilia, the view that “adult-child sex” is not in and of itself harmful to the child, several articles and studies are cited. One such article is published in “the A.P.A.’s own prestigious Psychological Bulletin.” This particular study advocates that psychologists use more positive terms when referring to, what the authors’ term “adult-child sex”, because the behavior is only viewed as “abuse” because it is a “violation of social norms”. These authors go on to discuss how homosexuality was removed from the DSM because it was considered “normal as long as the person did not feel bad about it” and that adult-child sex should only be considered abuse only “if the child feels bad about the relationship.”
   
   This paper further goes into a discussion about laws being lead by psychology and that if pedophilia is seen in the same light as homosexuality that laws will soon follow. The paper goes on to discuss pedophiles, homosexuality, likely victims, likely abusers, and basically discusses what research has shown regarding these issues.
   
   This paper also presents the flip side of the issue. These researchers believe that advocates are not looking at the issue correctly and that the issue should not be decided on empirical findings alone. They state an interesting comparison other behavior. This researcher argues that some slaves felt that slavery was good and some “child sweatshop workers felt their work was beneficial”, but these practices are not considered good or right simply because some people were not adversely affected by their experiences.
   
   This website offers a good source of information for those interested in learning more about pedophilia and clinicians who are interested in working with this population.
   
   
4. Overcoming Pedophiliahttp://www.sexualcontrol.com/pedophilia.html#pedinfo
   
   This website is by a man who has written a book called The Most Personal Addiction: How I Overcame Sex Addiction and How Anyone Can Overcome It.
   
   The website is rather difficult to navigate. The website is not solely about pedophilia, but it classifies pedophilia as a sexual addiction, just like any other sexual addiction. The website offers interviews that a person can do, which are basically assessments. The website offers encouragement for pedophiles that they can overcome their sexual desire for children.
   
   The author offers contact information, but does not offer any credentials that I can find. The author does claim to have been counseling people with addictions for 27 years. He offers counseling services, a lot of which he does over the phone. He offers an explanation why psychotherapy, religious counseling, and 12-step programs don’t work and why his therapy, Positive Realism, does work. The author claims that the other forms of counseling require the person to repress their desires, while Positive Realism does not require the person to suppress them, but teaches them that they do not have to act on them.
   
   
5. Time to Speakhttp://www.timetospeak.com/
   
   This website is about a book. The author has a master’s degree in Developmental Psychology and Early Childhood Education. She is also a Psychiatric Clinical Nurse Specialist and has worked with children, adolescents, and adults for 37 years. The website is not directly about pedophilia, but rather is for the people who were the objects of a pedophile’s desires as children.
   
   The website also offers information about other resources, including websites, books, and movies. The websites listed are all informational resources for stopping child sexual abuse and for survivors. There is also a link for the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers.
   
   This website does not have a lot of information, but does offer some great links to other informative websites, as well as support for victims, all of which could be helpful for the clinician who intends on working with this population.