Customer Reviews

Paedophiles and Sexual Offences Against Children (Wiley Series in Psychology of Crime, Policing and Law)

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I was researching pedophilia when I came upon this book and I'm so glad I had the chance to read it now. It really opened my eyes regarding pedophiles and the goings on within their minds. It also gave me a firmer understanding of possible reform programs for these offenders. Most of all, it ensured me that not nearly enough time and study has gone into the understanding of these people as a solution to the problem. Are pedophiles around every corner as our media would have us believe? No. Do they exist and are they a concern in modern day society? Yes. The point is that only by trying to understand why they do what they do can we begin to keep tragic events from taking place and ruining families and lives across this country. Being outraged and executing them without studying them thoroughly is not the answer people.

Denis Howitt's book is quoted extensivly on websites which defend child sexual abuse - the kind of websites that refer to man boy love and intergenerational sex. Men who abuse children need 'academic' work which minimises the nature of their crimes - indeed, suggest it may be beneficial to children. There's a long history of this kind of 'research' going back to the Paedophile Information Exchange in the 70s. Howitt's hostility to any analysis of child sexual abuse which defines it as an abuse of power tells you all you need to know. Men who write books suggesting that children can freely consent to sexual activity without suffering any ill effects let all abusers off the hook. Howitt, like all men who write this kind of book, knows full well who utilises and benefits from it, who it enables to sleep more peacefully at night - not the children that's for sure.

Who is Dennis Howitt- an academic at Loughborough University. But that's not the whole story. I suggest readers do their own research