ion), aversion therapy, or penile plethysmograph assessment (DeZolt & Kratcoski, 1989, pp. 348-363).
Berlin and Meineche (1981, pp. 601-607) listed a wide array of paraphilia under the classification of sexual deviation disorders. They identified voyeurism, exhibitionism, erotic sadism, and pedophilia as sexual deviations. The American Psychiatric Association (1987) stated that people with pedophilia generally report an attraction to children of a particular age range, which may be as specific as within a range of only one or two years. Those attracted to girls usually prefer eight-to-ten-year-olds. Those attracted to boys usually prefer slightly older children (American Psychiatric Association, 1987, p. 284).
Current research suggests that pedophiles have certain characteristics in common. A significant number of offenders have experienced or observed deviant sexual behavior at an early age, usually prior to puberty--most becoming conscious of their sexual attraction to children prior to adolescence (Priest & Smith, 1992, p. 27).
Recent literature gives more reference to male sex offenders. For example, most studies only include male sex offenders and research indicates that as many as 95 percent of adults who victimize female children and 80 percent of adults who victimize male children may be male. In reported cases of child sexual victimization, the literature suggests that women do not sexually interact with children on a level comparable to men. In seeking a possible explanation for the seeming disparity between the prevalence of men and women who sexually victimize children, some have theorized that men are socialized to see as their appropriate sexual partners persons who are younger and smaller than themselves, while women are socialized to see as their appropriate sexual partners persons older and bigger (Priest & Smith, 1992, p. 27).
Other researchers have expressed the belief that a more accurate pi...