“Shorter men are more likely to be sexually attracted to children than their taller peers, according to a new Canadian study of the biological roots of pedophilia. This is likely the result of exposure to ‘pre-birth conditions’ that affected pedophiles’ physical development, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health reported in ‘Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment.’ ‘This research does not mean that pedophiles are not criminally responsible for their behavior,’ said lead researcher James Cantor. ‘But the discovery of biological markers for pedophilia has important implications for future study and possibly treatment.’ By analyzing the files of over 1,000 men who were assessed for pedophilia or other sexual disorders in Toronto between 1995 and 2006, researchers observed that pedophilic males were two centimeters (0.8 inches) shorter on average than males who were not sexually attracted to children. This height difference is a trait found in other illnesses with biological links, similar in scope to the shorter height associated with schizophrenia or Alzheimer’s disease, the researchers said. The same scientific team previously found that pedophiles ‘have lower IQs, are three times more likely to be left-handed, failed school grades significantly more frequently, and suffered more head injuries as children.’” — Yahoo (US)

(Thanks to Furpo for the link.)

Short, dumb, left-handed, and brain-damaged — such is the pedophile that emerges from scientific studies on the biology of “deviant erotic age-preferences.” Given that many people find the desires of the pedophile monstrous, it seems only too convenient that he should be physiologically monstrous too. When you read the full text of the study and see that the authors advocate studying pedophiles for other “minor physical anomalies (small malformations of the skin, such as nonsymmetric ears and webbing between the toes),” you can’t help but wonder if there is some latent bias in this research. Seriously, webbed toes?

Then again, the reasoning behind this research into the biology of pedophilia appears sound enough. Why do the authors speak of webbed toes? Not because they think pedos are monsters but because webbing might be the physical expression of a condition that is expressed mentally in pedophilia. (Hebephilia is an attraction to adolescents. Pedophilogenic is a factor that contributes to the formation of pedophilia.)

The present findings are consistent with our previously explicated hypothesis that pedo- and hebephilic men were exposed to some condition during childhood or in utero that affected their brain development in a way that increased their risk of developing deviant erotic age-preferences as well as neuroanatomically relevant behavioral deficiencies. It is possible that the as yet unidentified pedophilogenic factor(s) are agents that interfere with growth in general. Poor nutrition, toxin exposure, and infections are all such potential factors. The suboptimal growth of one or more components of the brain manifests as an increased risk of developing pedophilia and the associated neurobehavioral characteristics, and the suboptimal growth of the body manifests as lesser stature. It therefore becomes relevant to future investigations to ascertain whether pedophilic men also show evidence of suboptimal or perturbed growth in other organ systems that are not intuitively associated with committing sexual offenses against children.

In other words, the authors are not saying that shortness leads to pedophilia but rather that some prior physical cause may have multiple effects, such as shortness in stature and deviance in behavior. Of course, if this is true for pedophilia, it might well be true for other kinks as well. Necrophiles might be short too, or maybe zoophiles have webbed toes. No doubt further studies will look at these correlations.

Perhaps the really tricky part of such research is not the possibility of bias but the consequences for morality. Suppose pedophilia and other perversions really are determined by biological factors. What then? The researchers insist that pedophiles remain responsible for criminal actions, and yet their paper speaks of pedophiliac desires as “immutable” and offers the possibility that psychological treatments are futile. If pedophiles are dealt an “immutable” desire that is not susceptible to therapy, do they remain responsible for their behavior?

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