Pedophiles are a largely present danger to many children in society today. Many of the victims of child molestation and their parents had no idea they were a target. This problem is troubling, especially because most of these victims were targeted by someone they know. This uncertainty of knowing who will be victimized leads many, especially parents, to the question of who do pedophiles choose to attack and how do they gain the opportunity? As defined by the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, pedophilia is “recurrent sexually arousing fantasies, impulsive desires, or behaviors involving sexual acts with a child and that occur over a period of at least six months.”
…show more content…
alone there about 400,000 pedophiles that have actually been convicted and they consist of both male and female offenders of diverse ages. Many of these offenders are in prison or psychiatric facilities. All of these offenders have one thing in common. They found a child to target and attempted and/or succeeded to fulfill their sexual urges. The largest factor that pedophiles take into consideration when choosing a target, is the best opportunity to accessibility of a child. Choosing a child at random and trying to engage in sexual behaviors is the least occurring situation because a pedophile needs to be able to gain a child’s trust. Gaining their trust becomes much easier in situations where the victim already knows the offender and has established some form of a relationship with them. For a pedophile, there are many opportunities to gain easy access to a child. They make it easier for themselves by developing a personality that is both well liked and trusting. One of the main ways a pedophile gains access to a child is by becoming friends with the parents or caregivers. A single parent is the best choice because the parent will most likely end up becoming very dependent on the unsuspecting offender, especially if they form an intimate relationship. By forming a relationship, the parent may start to ask the offender to babysit or even move in. This creates the perfect opportunity for the offender to be alone with the
alone there about 400,000 pedophiles that have actually been convicted and they consist of both male and female offenders of diverse ages. Many of these offenders are in prison or psychiatric facilities. All of these offenders have one thing in common. They found a child to target and attempted and/or succeeded to fulfill their sexual urges. The largest factor that pedophiles take into consideration when choosing a target, is the best opportunity to accessibility of a child. Choosing a child at random and trying to engage in sexual behaviors is the least occurring situation because a pedophile needs to be able to gain a child’s trust. Gaining their trust becomes much easier in situations where the victim already knows the offender and has established some form of a relationship with them. For a pedophile, there are many opportunities to gain easy access to a child. They make it easier for themselves by developing a personality that is both well liked and trusting. One of the main ways a pedophile gains access to a child is by becoming friends with the parents or caregivers. A single parent is the best choice because the parent will most likely end up becoming very dependent on the unsuspecting offender, especially if they form an intimate relationship. By forming a relationship, the parent may start to ask the offender to babysit or even move in. This creates the perfect opportunity for the offender to be alone with the