Society has been shaken by the increasing number of reports of youth being sexually molested by adults. Until recently it has been common to refer to all child molesters as pedophiles. Psychiatrists and psychologists have coined several new words that attempt to make certain distinctions between different deviant sexual behaviors and assaults. Let’s have a look at four new words for you to add to your vocabulary.
Most everybody reading this wants to be considered a teleiophile or an adult with a sexual preference for adults. That said, a majority of male teliophiles demonstrate clear and consistent arousal at the sight of 16 year old girls. However, teleophiles do not approach 16 yo girls to engage in sexual activity. This common male attraction to pubescent girls reportedly never moves beyond sexual fantasies and pornography found on the Internet. To date, nobody has decided to declare that sexual attraction without acting out the attraction with a pubescent girl is abnormal. It is considered “statistically normal”. So for now if you like 16 year old girls you are not considered disturbed. Go figure….
Ephebophilia is the term used to identify an adult inclination to be attracted to and pursue teens between the ages of 14 and 18. Ephebophiles are relatively common amongst sexual predators.
Hebephilia refers to a primary or exclusive attraction to and willingness to pursue children in the early years of puberty. It is important to note that the onset of puberty for girls typically occurs between ages 10 to 14 while boys hit puberty between 11 -14 years. So hebephilia differs from ephebophilia because the latter prefer older adolescents and hebephiles prefer young adolescents.
Pedophilia is the term most people are familiar with. It is used to identify adults with a sexual preference for pre-pubescent children. Sadly pedophiles are sexual predators whose victims include infants and all children prior to puberty.
Many people consider all of these people to be “sick and disturbed” because it is incomprehensible to think otherwise. Andrew Vacchs, a lawyer that represents only abused children considers all of the people that fall into one of these categories to be predators-plain and simple. Sure, some of them might be disturbed but for Vacchs each of them make conscious decisions to sexually assault kids. He does not shy away from the use of the term “evil” to describe their behavior.
Your comments, discussion, or corrections are all welcome. Do these 4 categories make sense to you ?
Psychiatry Psychobabble: A Whole Universe of Words 