Pedophilia is a Mental Disorder and Sometimes a Legal Act: A Commentary

Autores/as

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37226/rcp.v6i1.6497

Palabras clave:

adolescents, children, legislations, minimal age of consent, pedophilia, UNICEF

Resumen

In the mental health literature, the assumption is that if a person is diagnosed with pedophilic disorder using clinical criteria established by the DSM-5, this individual is also engaging in illegal acts, with the further assumption that these acts will be penalized according to the penal code of the country where they occurred. This commentary argues that these assumptions are only partially correct, and that mental health professionals should carefully review legislations defining at what age sexual relationships are considered legal versus illegal before deciding to evaluate, diagnosis, and treat persons who engage in such relationships with children in a particular country. This argument is illustrated with a sample of countries in the Caribbean (e.g., Dominican Republic, Cuba), Central America (e.g., Panamá, Costa Rica), South America (e.g., Colombia, Venezuela), North America (Canada, México, and the United States), Asia (e.g., China, Iran), Europe (e.g., France, Spain), and Africa (e.g., Nigeria, Angola).

Citas

Ages of consent in Africa. (2022, April 21). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_Africa

Ages of consent in Asia. (2022, April 21). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_Asia?msclkid=48a90b25c19611ecb66c91e7eeeaa02f

Ages of consent in Europe. (2022, April 21). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_Europe

Ages of consent in North America. (2022, April 21). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_North_America

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5). American Psychiatric Pub-lishing.

American Psychological Association. (2013). Statement of the Ameri-can Psychological Association regarding pedophilia and the diag-nostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5). https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2013/10/pedophilia-mental.

Bellemare, S. (2008). Age of consent for sexual activity in Canada. Paediatrics Child Health, 13(6), 475. https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/13.6.475

Bhugra, D. (2010). Paraphilias across cultures: contexts and con-troversies. Journal of Sex Research, 47(2), 242–256. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224491003699833

Chun, C. K. (2014). Literature review in paraphilic disorders. [Un-published Term Paper]. Department of Applied Social Sci-ences, City University of Hong Kong.

Citizens Commission on Human Rights International. (2017). Holding the American Psychiatric Association accountable for min-imizing pedophilia to a “disorder” rather than criminal child abuse. https://www.cchrint.org/2017/12/21/american-psychiatric-association-pedophilia-adisordernotacrime/

Fagan, P. J., Wise, T.N., Schmidt, C.W., & Berlin, F.S. (2002). Pe-dophilia. JAMA, 288(19), 458–65. https://doi.org/10.1001%2Fjama.288.19.2458

Fedoroff, P., Di Gioacchino, L. A., & Murphy, L. (2013). Problems with paraphilias in the DSM-5. Current Psychiatry Reports, 15(8),363. https://doi:10.1007/s11920-013-0363-6

Gibson, D. (2019). Fact: The age of sexual consent in México City is only 12! US Incorporated. https://usinc.org/fact-the-age-of-sexual-consent-in-México-city-is-only-12/

Graupner, H. (2000). Sexual consent: the criminal law in Europe and overseas. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 29(5),415–61. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1001986103125

Gray, A. (26 September, 2016). These are the countries where child marriage is legal. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/09/these-are-the-countries-where-child-marriage-is-legal/

Green, R. (2002). Is pedophilia a mental disorder? Archives of Sexu-al Behavior, 31(6), 467–471. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020699013309

Grudzinska, A. J., & Henry, M. G. (1997). Kansas v. Hendricks. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 25(4), 607–612. http://jaapl.org/content/25/4/607

Kaplan, M. (2014). Pedophilia: A disorder, not a crime. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/06/opinion/pedophilia-a-disorder-not-a-crime.html

Långström, N. (2010). DSM diagnostic criteria for exhibitionism, voyeurism, and frotteurism. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 317–324. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-009-9577-4

Legal Information Institute. (2021). Pedophilia. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/pedophilia

Murigi, E. (2018). Age of consent in the US by state. World Atlas. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/age-of-consent-in-the-us-by-state.html

Muse, M., & Frigola, G. (2003). La evaluación y tratamiento de trastornos parafílicos. Medicina Psicosomática y Psiquiatría de Enlace, 65, 55–72. https://psicopedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Parafilias-Evaluacion-y-Tratamiento.pdf

Najeeb , R. ( 30 July, 2020). A universal definition of what it means to be a “child”. United Nations International Children's Emer-gency Fund (UNICEF). https://www.unicef.org/sudan/stories/universal-definition-what-it-means-be-child

Nares Hernández, J. J. (2019). Edad legal mínima para el consen-timiento sexual: Garantía del derecho humano de los niños a la salud sexual. Derecho Global. Estudios Sobre Derecho y Justicia, 4 (12), 113–142. https://doi.org/10.32870/dgedj.v0i12.214

Paniagua, F. A. (2014). Assessing and treating culturally diverse cli-ents: A practical guide. Sage Publications.

Sedletzki, V. (2016). Las edades mínimas legales y la realización de los derechos de los y las adolescentes: Una revisión de la situación en América Latina y el Caribe. UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/lac/media/6766/file/PDF

Stark, L., Bancroft, S., Cholid, S., Sustikarini, A., & Meliala, A. (2012). A qualitative study of community-based child protec-tion mechanisms in Aceh, Indonesia. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, 7(3), 228–236. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450128.2012.663947

United Nations International Children’s Fund [UNICEF]. (2020). Action to end child sexual abuse and exploitation: A review of the evidence. https://www.unicef.org/media/89096/file/CSAE-Report-v2.pdf

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund [UNICEF]. (2019). Adolescent consent to marriage and sexual ac-tivity, and access to sexual reproductive health services in light of the Zimbabwe marriages bill. https://www.unicef.org/zimbabwe/media/2601/file/Age%20of%20Consent%20Report.pdf

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund[UNICEF]. (2022a). UNICEF USA child safeguarding and participation policy, guidelines and best practices. https://www.unicefusa.org/child-safeguarding

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund [UNICEF]. (2022b). Children's rights, simplified: United Nations convention on the rights of the child. https://www.unicef.org.au/our-work/information-for-children/un-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child?msclkid=5dcedd86afbd11ec8bfc10d45c618a2d

United States Attorney’s Office-District of Columbia. (November 19, 2021). Sex offense and domestic violence section. United States Department of Justice. https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/superior-court/sex-offense-domestic-violence

United States Attorney’s Office Eastern District of North Carolina (Friday, October 1, 2021). 33-year-old pedophile from Montana civilly committed as a sexually dangerous person. United States Department of Justice https://www.justice.gov/usao-ednc/pr/33-year-old-pedophile-montana-civilly-committed-sexually-dangerous-person

United States Department of Justice. (2016). A national protocol for sexual abuse medical forensic examinations pediatric. https://www.justice.gov/ovw/file/846856/download

Varghese, B. (2021). What is the age of consent in Texas? Texas and federal consent law. Varghese and Summersett blog. https://versustexas.com/blog/age-of-consent-in-texas/

What is the age of consent? (2022a). https://www.ageofconsent.net/what-is-age-of-consent

What is statutory rape? (2022b). https://www.ageofconsent.net/what-is-statutory-rape

White, C. (2022). Public lewdness: Laws & penalties. Criminal De-fense Lawyer https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/crime-penalties/federal/Public-Lewdness.htm

World Health Organization [WHO]. (2022). Adolescent health. https://www.who.int/westernpacific/health-topics/adolescent-health

Descargas

Publicado

2022-11-22

Cómo citar

Paniagua, F. (2022). Pedophilia is a Mental Disorder and Sometimes a Legal Act: A Commentary. Revista Caribeña De Psicología, 6(1), e6497. https://doi.org/10.37226/rcp.v6i1.6497

Número

Sección

Debates, Reacciones y Controversias Teóricas