Saturday 8 September 2012

Root cause analysis and human behaviour

I read an interesting article on research into pedophilia and it brought to mind how much scientific root cause analysis can inform social justice. And, from reading the comments, how people really don't think that way in general.

This is not an apologia for pedophiles. Pedophilia is a sexual orientation just like heterosexuality but it is not acceptable because our society prosecutes sex without consent. Children cannot give consent and western society is very diligent in following through on that particular aspect of social justice. Sexual orientation does not imply the "right" to have sexual interaction (from speech to act) with the object of your desires. I can feel sympathy for pedophiles who never act on their desires because, face it, the more you can't have something the more you focus on it. Most of us end up denying ourselves harmless things that don't affect others if we fail. Pedophiles have no choice but to be rapists if they fail in their self control.

Society has to get this resolved somehow because killing people before they act is not a long term solution. People are born that way so there would be an unending supply. This is where root cause analysis comes in. What causes this, what can we do to correct it and/or prevent it from happening.

Research to the rescue. Brain research to be specific. It seems that development in the area that keeps you attracted to people in your age range as you mature to adulthood gets stalled. With further research we may find that something simple like a change in maternal vitamin supplements would resolve this to great extent, much like folic acid supplements help prevent birth defects. Head injuries could also be identified to ensure additional socialization to help the person.

What about existing pedophiles? We as a culture need to value maturity where you don't just say anything or do anything because there is no one next to you to stop you. That creates peer pressure not to act on impulses. Identify men and women who are in their early 20s and attempt to date kids coming into maturity. Get them into addiction counselling before there is an opportunity to act. I would never encourage pedophiles to integrate into anything other than an adult community. It would be horrifying to be surrounded by the subject of your passions and no one needs that test of self control every moment. Hopefully, as our society changes there may be more pools of adult living of all ages similar to the way there are age restricted communities.

We are not guilty because of sexual desire, but we are responsible for our sexual behavior.