Cahier n° 36, 2002

Social interactions among paedophiles

The purpose of this study is to explore the range and nature of social interactions among individuals who experience a sustained and compelling attraction towards young adolescents or prepubescent children of either sex. Such an attraction, of course, is prohibited and the target of extensive social controls, legal sanctions and therapeutic efforts.  Given the widespread hostility they elicit, paedophiles are generally viewed not only as social outcasts but also as social isolates. This may explain the lack of research on the social networks of paedophiles. Nonetheless, a non-trivial proportion of criminal prosecutions involve multiple co-defendants; a number of advocacy groups  publicly challenge age of consent laws exist and provide favourable definitions of paedophilia;  finally social learning theory typically emphasizes the influence of peer groups in maintaining high recidivism rates and the development of deviant careers. My substantive goal, here, is to analyze the variety of conditions that allow paedophiles to overcome their social isolation, seek each other out and become, as a result, embedded in a deviant quasi-community or social movement.

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