Pedophilia and rape are the same thing. The perp is always a person who wants power over their victims it is NOT and has NEVER been a sexual act it is one of violence. Women in their 80s' and 0s' have been victims of brutal rapes by men in their teens or 20s' which disproves the "sexual attraction" myth commonly used by conservatives to shame the victims as "asking for it." So yes it is a mental disorder and often it is because of abuse by either a family member or someone in a position of power over the victim like a priest , nun, or even a sports coach... The real problem is that this mental disorder is being passed from perp to victim and unless the victim is given the therapy they need they are often the next generation of perps. This is why there is such a huge problem with these crimes. When committed by churches that cover up the crimes of their priests they can create thousands of rapists and child molesters which spread out to create even more victims....

Its easy to lump these all under one banner. Big difference between 18yo having consensual sex with 16+ girlfriend and 40yo kidnapping and attacking a 7 yo.

I think it is a broad statement. If it is post-puberty, it is more of a legality, but can somewhat understand attraction. The laws are somewhat arbitrary but we need to draw a line somewhere. I suppose the age and maturity of both parties come into play. I don’t know why we as a society objectify and sexualize young girls. We show 14 yr olds as ideal (models), yet they are illegal?
Pre-puberty seems more of an illness, anger hate control violence thing...

I think it is important to note that sexuality has shown to be pretty cemented in adulthood. Although sexual behavior is a choice, sexual attraction is not. It is truly terrible that pedophilia is not currently “curable”. That said it is imperative that they seek out help to learn tools of managing behaviors that are illegal and unethical.

My impression is that pedophilia can happen for a variety of reasons. It can be a perversion, or a mental disorder, or a plain-old crime, or maybe something else. Some perpetrators seem to know it's wrong, while others don't seem to know it.

While I was in college, I had an English professor make this comment, “Anything goes between two or more sexual partners providing, they are consenting adults”. In hindsight, she was gay, an excellent professor and communicator. In addition, I agree with her, however, I am not a medical professional but, in my opinion, pedophilia is a form of a mental disorder. This is an adult taking advantage of a child. It’s all about power…..

I have thought for some time that the word, “disorder” should not be used in any scientific context; especially if the condition is one that the person is born with. That is to say, caused by ‘nature’ rather than ‘nurture.’

“Disorder” is a value judgement, not an objectively descriptive term. To call something that nature made “disordered” is just human arrogance. We did that with homosexuality up until very recently, and of course many still do. I wonder if we will ever learn.

That is not to say of course that people should be free to practice pedophilia, because, in this case, consent is not possible. But calling things we don’t like ‘mental disorders’ is just another way to dehumanize people we don’t understand.

yes

Personally I would put it into the same grouping as serial rapist or mass murder.

If these two are considered criminal disorders punishable by death or life without parole, pedophilia should be treated in the same way.

The one negative I've discovered about our rehab over punitive punishment for criminals mindset is that we think that as a society we have an obligation to "fix" everyone.

Maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. If they fuck kids, it's irrelevant, put them down.

I'm not qualified to make educated diagnoses, but I am of the opinion that pretty much any form of human evil can be traced back to a mental anomaly or disorder. So as long as they are not guilty of acting on any of their urges, they should get help. Kind of like a psychopath. Of course, if they are guilty of any horrendous crime, they should be incarcerated along with any mental treatment they receive.