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Research: Psychopathy and abnormal psychology

2026-10-01T10:45:06Z

Thorn: /* Associated characteristics */

__NOTOC__{{research}}
Non-criminal populations of pedophiles do not exhibit increased levels of psychopathy or other pathologies,<ref>[https://www.b4uact.org/know-the-facts/ B4U-ACT research summary]</ref> nor less typical psychological characteristics such as left-handedness or paraphilia. One study even found lower levels of psychopathology.

Regarding MAPs, we are at a stage similar to homosexuality in the 1940s, 50s and 60s and for similar reasons.<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-mental-science/article/abs/psychometric-aspects-of-homosexuality/C7FC17220BD07E5F87EC545F600BA58C Grygier, T. (1957). Psychometric Aspects of Homosexuality. Journal of Mental Science, 103(432), 514-526.]</ref><ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1136/bmj.2.4532.795-b AHRENFELDT RH. Homosexuality and sexual trauma. British Medical Journal. 1947 Nov;2(4532):795. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.2.4532.795-b]</ref><ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1176/ajp.112.8.584 GLUECK, B. C. (1956). PSYCHODYNAMIC PATTERNS IN THE HOMOSEXUAL SEX OFFENDER. American Journal of Psychiatry, 112(8), 584–590.]</ref><ref>STAFFORD-CLARK D. The medico-legal problem of homosexuality. The Medical Press. 1947 Sep;218(10):220-222. PMID: 20257970.</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/male-homosexual/z4njgwx Male Homosexual: Archive from the BBC in which homosexuals speak candidly of their "condition" in 1965]</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/24/archives/what-we-dont-know-about-homosexuality-if-it-isnt-an-illness-what-is.html If it isn't an illness, what is it?]</ref> As the APA now admit:

:''"until the 1950's, most homosexual persons studied by psychologists and others were prisoners or mental patients, so it was easy to conclude that these were linked. Evelyn Hooker, a brave psychologist at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), began undoing this belief in the early 1950s. A gay former student told her, "Evelyn, it is your scientific duty to study men like me." Hooker agreed, "He's right — we know nothing about them." (cited in Burr, 1993). When she told the psychiatry department chair she wanted to study normal homosexuals, he replied, "There is no such person!" (Hooker, 1993, p. 450)."''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20191215112657/https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/ptn/2018/05/society-accept-homosexuality APA - How psychology has helped society accept homosexuality] See also [https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbtq/mental-health APA - Being Gay Is Just as Healthy as Being Straight] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20200807004237/http://williamapercy.com/wiki/index.php?title=Evelyn_Hooker mention of Hooker's study] on williamapercy.com)</ref>

==Associated characteristics==

:''For the discredited "lack of intelligence" theory based upon unrepresentative '''criminal''' sampling, see [[Research: Offender characteristics|Offender Characteristics]].''

*'''Goudreault, M. (2017). ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20211004023954/https://papyrus.bib.umontreal.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1866/19870/Goudreault_Marc-Andre_2017_essai_doctoral.pdf?sequence=2 Study of the psychological and physiological characteristics of a community sample of pedophiles]''. Thesis for Doctorate in clinical psychology.
*:NewgonWiki: Goudreault compared a community sample of 190 male pedophiles with a control group composed of 151 males from the general population. Goudreault found that:
*:"Differences between pedophiles and controls reached statistical significance for psychopathic traits, with pedophiles displaying fewer psychopathic traits compared to controls. These results contradict the findings of the large majority of studies using forensic and clinical samples of pedophiles."

*'''Strassberg et al. (2012). ''[https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.chiabu.2011.09.018 Psychopathy among pedophilic and nonpedophilic child molesters]''. Child Abuse & Neglect 36 (2012) 379–382.
*:"'''Objective:''' Among men who commit sexual offenses against children, at least 2 distinct groups can be identified on the basis of the age of the primary targets of their sexual interest; pedophiles and nonpedophiles.
*:'''Method:''' In the present report, across 2 independent samples of both types of child molesters as well as controls, a total of 104 men (53 pedophilic and 51 nonpedophilic) who had sexually offended against a child age 13 or younger were compared to each other (and to 49 non-sex offender controls) on psychopathy as assessed by the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI).
*:'''Results:''' In both samples of child molesters, the nonpedophiles scored as significantly more psychopathic than the pedophiles."

*'''Wilson, Glenn & Cox, David (1983). ''[http://www.ipce.info/host/wilson_83/index.htm The Child-Lovers: A Study of Paedophiles in Society]''. London: Peter Owen Publishers. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20130425190214/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Child-Lovers%20-%20A%20Study%20of%20Paedophiles%20in%20Society.pdf webarchive copy])
*:"The psychoticism score of the paedophiles [in our study] is slightly elevated compared with controls, but not drastically so, and certainly not to the extent that they could be called pathological as a group. There are several occupational groups listed in the Manual that have P[sychoticism] scores of approximately the same order, including actors, apprentices, architects, doctors, drivers, students and welfare officers, none of which could be regarded as clinically psychotic as a whole. Thus, there is no reason on the basis of these results to suppose that men with paedophile sexual preferences are necessarily marked by any exceptional degree of thought disorder. [...]
*:The neuroticism scores of the paedophiles are again slightly higher than controls but not to an extent that would justify describing them as clinically abnormal. Among groups of men with similar N[euroticism] scores according to the Manual are actors, apprentices, machinists and students, and a great many of the female groups given in the Manual show N scores that are higher than these male paedophiles. [...]
*:Perhaps the most striking thing about these results is how normal the paedophiles appear to be according to their scores on these major personality dimensions - particularly the two that are most clinically relevant (N[euroticism] and P[sychoticism]). The only marked characteristic of the PIE [Paedophile Information Exchange] members with respect to these major dimensions is their tendency to introversion, and this in itself is not usually thought of as pathological. Furthermore, the fact that the Lie Scale scores of the paedophiles are not distinguishable from those of controls would suggest that, overall, they were not bent on creating an artificially favourable impression on the questionnaire, but were giving an honest and accurate self-report. [...]
*:Obsessionality, as indicated by this particular item from the EPQ does not seem to be characteristic of the paedophiles; in fact, the proportion endorsing this item is lower than that for controls. [...]
*:Our results are also consistent with previous findings in failing to discover any obvious links between paedophilia and aggressive or psychotic symptoms (Quinsey, 1977).[...]
*:Finally, our research revealed that the fantasies of paedophile men have a lot in common with those of normal men[...] When all these factors are considered it is clear that the sexual preferences of the paedophile are not so far removed from those of the normal man as they might at first appear."

*'''Schuler, M. et al (2019). "[https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/abn-abn0000412.pdf Empathy in pedophilia and sexual offending against children: A multifaceted approach]," ''Journal of Abnormal Psychology'', 128(5), 453–464.'''
*:"Participants included 85 pedophilic men who committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P+CSO), 72 pedophilic men who never committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P−CSO), and 128 nonoffending teleiophilic male controls (TC). Several affective and cognitive aspects of empathy were assessed using the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Whereas in self-reports (IRI) P+CSO scored lower than TC (P−CSO intermediate) in cognitive perspective-taking abilities, a performance-based measure (MET) revealed evidence for a better differentiation of emotional states in P−CSO as compared with P+CSO (TC intermediate). In addition, P+CSO and P−CSO showed significantly higher affective resonance while observing children (MET), which was paralleled by higher self-reported levels of personal distress in social situations (IRI). The results indicate evidence for higher general affective empathic resonance to children in pedophilic men but superior cognitive empathy abilities in nonoffending pedophiles only, which may act as a protective factor in the prevention of sexual offending."

*'''Berlin, F. S. (2000). "[https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.157.5.838 Treatments to change sexual orientation]," ''The American Journal of Psychiatry'', 157, 5. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.157.5.83'''
*:"Individuals whose sexual orientation is directed toward children manifest the same range of personality, temperamental, and character traits as individuals whose sexual orientation is directed towards adults. A recent Journal article [[https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/ajp.156.5.786 Raymond et al., 1999]] documented that the vast majority of individuals with pedophilia showed no evidence of either antisocial or narcissistic personality disorder."

*'''Whittaker, J. Wilson (2007). "A comparison of neurocognitive functioning in pedophilic child molesters, nonpedophilic child molesters and normal adult males," pp. 7-8. Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Utah.'''
*:"Post hoc testing revealed significantly greater psychopathy among nonpedophilic child molesters in comparison to pedophiles on the Psychopathic Deviate Scale (''p'' = .026), and a trend in the regard to the group differences on the Mac-R that suggested nonpedophilic offenders had more severe scores on the Mac-R than did pedophiles. Scores for [community sample] controls fell in between the two groups in regard to psychopathy on both the PDS and the Mac-R (see Table 3). These differences suggest that psychopathic traits were more prevalent among nonpedophilic child molesters (and possibly controls) than among pedophiles. At first blush, this finding appears inconsistent with much of the current literature on pedophiles, who have often been characterized as largely psychopathic (Dorr, 1998; Firestone, Bradford, Greenberg & Serran, 2000). However, there are at least two possible explanations for this discrepancy. First, considering the percentage of our controls with reported substance abuse histories (35%), and who had been incarcerated (26%) (national average is 4.1%) (US Census Bureau, 2005), there is a clear indication that the control group was not an accurate representation of the "normal" population, possibly being more psychopathic than would be expected. Second, pedophiles may actually be less psychopathic than formerly believed. In the previous studies of psychopathy in pedophilia (Dorr, 1998, 2000; Firestone, Bradford, Greenberg & Serran, 2000; Porter et al., 2000) the researchers failed to divide child molesters into pedophilic and nonpedophilic groups. As a consequence, psychopathy may have been a phenomenon factually associated with nonpedophilic offenders and wrongly associated with pedophiles."

[[File:Suchy table.png|thumb|450px|From Suchy et al, 2009]]

*'''Suchy, Yana; Whittaker, Wilson J.; Strassberg, Donald S.; Eastvold, Angela (2009). "Facial and Prosodic Affect Recognition Among Pedophilic and Nonpedophilic Criminal Child Molesters," ''Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment'', 21(1), 93-110.'''
*:NewgonWiki: Pedophilic child molesters scored significantly lower (350.72) on a Psychopathic Symptom Inventory than both non-pedophilic child molesters (382.91) and community controls (372.33).

*'''Schiffer, Boris and Vonlaufen, Corinne (2011). "Executive Dysfunctions in Pedophilic and Nonpedophilic Child Molesters", ''The Journal of Sexual Medicine'', 8(7), pp. 1975-1984.'''
*:"Results indicate that pedophilic child molesters exhibited less performance deficits in cognitive functioning than nonpedophilic child molesters. Compared to healthy controls and nonsexual offenders, the pedophilic child molesters only showed executive dysfunction concerning response inhibition, whereas the nonpedophilic child molesters revealed more severe dysfunction, especially on tasks associated with cognitive flexibility and verbal memory. [...]
*:"Both the nonpedophilic child molesters and the nonsexual offenders showed significant performance deficits on both subtasks of the verbal memory task (immediate and delayed recall) compared to healthy controls, whereas pedophilic child molesters did not. As previous studies could show that deficits in verbal memory were associated with aggressive behavior, it seems reasonable that pedophilic child molesters showed no or less deficits on this task. In the end, pedophilic child molesters were rather characterized by a nonviolent offense style, whereas nonpedophilic child molesters and nonsexual offenders revealed stronger aggressive tendencies through their offenses. [...]
*:"We found that nonpedophilic child molesters showed the worst performance of all four groups in all tested cognitive functions even though not all reached significance regarding group comparison statistics. Nevertheless, we found that different types of offenders are characterized by different deficit profiles among the tested executive functions. Our results support the hypothesis that nonpedophilic child molesters show more comprehensive performance deficits in executive functions than pedophilic child molesters. However, a majority of the neuropsychological deficits, in particular those associated with verbal (memory) skills, seem to be associated with criminality or violence rather than pedophilia."

*'''Ponseti, J. et al. (2018). "[https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645/full Decoding Pedophilia: Increased Anterior Insula Response to Infant Animal Pictures]," ''Frontiers in Human Neuroscience'', 23 January 2018.'''
*:"In order to study nurturing processing independent from sexual processing we exposed our pedophilic and teleiophilic subjects during an fMRI-session to pictures of infant and adult animals because these images were not perceived as sexually arousing. We found an increased neural response to pictures of infant animals in pedophiles. [...] Taken together, the pedophilic subjects of the present study showed an over-responding to infant animal stimuli in a network of brain regions that contribute to motivating behaviors. This is in accordance with our hypothesis that nurturing stimuli receive additional processing resources in pedophiles. It is of interest that some of the areas of increased response to infant animals are related to the mating domain. The left anterior insula, being a crucial area of nurturing processing, was also frequently found to be activated in sexual brain studies (Stoleru et al., 2012). Furthermore, the left anterior insula (as well as the SMA) is a constituent of the human attachment system, thereby enabling both nurturing and pair-bonding (Feldman, 2016). Based on both observations, (i) the over-responding to nurturing stimuli in various motivational areas and (ii) the functional overlap of nurturing and sexual processing of the involved left anterior insula a tentative and simple model of pedophilia could be as follows: Nurturing stimuli receive additional processing resources by mating-circuits. In case of human infant stimuli this leads to a sexual connotation of infant stimuli. This idea is supported by the suggestion that nurturing and pair-bonding are two closely inter-related domains in humans at the level of physiological functions, brain processing, and involved neuropeptides (Feldman, 2016). Interestingly, more than two decades ago, the Austrian ethologist Eibl-Eibesfeldt expressed a similar view suggesting that pedophilia might in some cases be based on an “eroticization of parental love” (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1990)."

*'''Schnellbächer, G.J., Dukart, J., Hansen, J.Y. et al. (2023) [https://www.nature.com/articles/s44220-023-00105-0 Aberrant brain activity in pedophilia links to receptor distribution, gene expression, and behavior.] ''Nat. Mental Health 1'', 615–622 .doi:10.1038/s44220-023-00105-0'''
*:"Here, we provide robust meta-analytic evidence that brain activity is not generally altered in pedophilia but deviates specifically in response to sexual stimuli."

*'''Mundy, C. L. (2020). [https://open.library.ubc.ca/soa/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0394716 Shifting the focus : a multimethod exploration of resiliency among child-attracted persons] (T). ''University of British Columbia''.'''
::"[C]hild-attracted persons in my sample [n=116] exhibited higher levels of honesty-humility, agreeableness, and altruism than the university students. Conceptually, this makes sense, as child-attracted persons who exhibit pro-social personality characteristics, such as honesty-humility, are likely more resilient to engaging in sexual offending behaviours due to a higher level of morality."

*'''Gillespie, S. (2022). [https://www.proquest.com/openview/ba920465eed71c360408571550ba3f4b/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y Sexual Fantasies and Self-Regulation in a Community Sample of People with Sexual Fantasies and/or Interest Involving Minors] [Ph.D. Thesis]'''
::"Some searchers have discovered neurological differences of a prenatal origin in those reporting pedophilic arousal pattern, as well as other neurocognitive differences suggesting that the development of minor attraction could have biological roots (Cantor et al., 2016). Further study has found that executive functioning and inhibitory control are impaired in pedophilic sexual offenders, but these impairments were not found in non-offending pedophiles or non-offending nonpedophilic controls (Massau et al., 2017; Ristow et al., 2019). These researchers suggest that the neurocognitive difference previous research associated with pedophilia actually may be more associated with pedophiles who have sexually offended against a child as the relationship disappears when controlling for sexual offense history. "

===So-called "perturbation" theory===

[[James Cantor]], [[Ray Blanchard]] and others have since 2002,<ref>Blanchard, R., Christensen, B.K., Strong, S.M. et al. [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1020659331965 Retrospective Self-Reports of Childhood Accidents Causing Unconsciousness in Phallometrically Diagnosed Pedophiles]. Arch Sex Behav 31, 511–526 (2002). doi:10.1023/A:1020659331965</ref> made various assertions re. brain functioning/structure (linked to early brain traumas), left handedness and reduced stature in "pedophiles" or "pedohebephiles" identified within unrepresentative criminal samples. These theories tend to fall apart when researchers look at broader samples.

*'''Joyal, C.C. (2022). [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christian-Joyal/publication/356789483_The_neuroanatomical_bases_of_pedophilia_and_the_importance_of_distinguishing_genuine_vs_acquired_types_A_systematic_review_Invited_paper/links/61ad7a10ca2d401f27cafe81/The-neuroanatomical-bases-of-pedophilia-and-the-importance-of-distinguishing-genuine-vs-acquired-types-A-systematic-review-Invited-paper.pdf The neuroanatomical bases of pedophilia and the importance of distinguishing genuine vs. acquired types: A systematic review] ''Sexual Offending: Theory, Research, Prevention'', DOI: 10.23668/psycharchives.5571'''
*:“Three main neurobiological theories currently attempt to explain pedophilic offending (not to be confounded with nonoffending pedophilia): the frontal-dysexecutive model, the temporal-limbic model, and the dual-dysfunctional theory (Dillien et al., 2020). [...] As stressed by a growing number of authors, however, these theories explain hypersexuality and disinhibition, but not pedophilic interests per se (Caffo et al., 2021; Jordan et al., 2020; Kruger & Kneer, 2021). In view of the present results, the same conclusion can be drawn about acquired pedophilia. Interestingly, a recent brain imaging meta-analysis based on 436 men with a pedophilic disorder failed to find any structural difference compared with 449 controls ([https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11682-020-00442-z Scarpazza et al., 2021]). Therefore, anomalies of fronto-temporal regions appear to be more closely associated with child sexual abuse (acting out) than pedophilia ([https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.avb.2020.101406 Dillien et al., 2020]).”

*'''Jahnke et al. (2021): [https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10508-021-02228-w.pdf Neurodevelopmental Differences, Pedohebephilia, and Sexual Offending: Findings from Two Online Surveys.]''Archives of Sexual Behavior'' (Preprint).'''
*:"The neurodevelopmental theory of pedohebephilia states that sexual interests in children arise from early neurodevelopmental perturbations, as, for example, evidenced by increased non-right-handedness, more childhood head injuries, and reduced intelligence and height. As corroborating evidence largely rests on samples of convicted men, we conducted online surveys among German-speaking (Study 1, N = 199) and English-speaking men (Study 2, N = 632), specifically targeting community members with pedohebephilic or teleiophilic interests. Although we detected theoretically meaningful sexual interest patterns in an embedded viewing time task, we could not detect expected neurodevelopmental differences between teleiophilic and pedohebephilic men in any of the two studies. Strikingly, pedohebephilic men who reported convictions for sexual offences emerged as smaller and less intelligent than pedohebephilic men without convictions in Study 2."

*'''Polisois-Keating, A., & Joyal, C. C. (2013). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1007/s10508-013-0198-6 Functional Neuroimaging of Sexual Arousal: A Preliminary Meta-Analysis Comparing Pedophilic to Non-Pedophilic Men.] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 42(7), 1111–1113.'''
*:"The goal of this preliminary study was to explore whether the nature and magnitude of regional brain activation associated with sexual arousal differed between pedophilic and non-pedophilic men when each group was exposed to their preferential sexual stimuli. Although based on only 123 participants, the pattern of activation did not seem to differ significantly between the groups. All activated brain regions associated with sexual arousal in the non-pedophilic group were also found in the pedophilic group and no significant differences emerged between the groups; however, the number of significant foci was higher in the pedophilic group."

*'''Stein, Clara C., Julian Packheiser, and Marietta Papadatou-Pastou (2023). [https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/4vtd8 Meta-analysis on the association between handedness and pedophilia] Preprint.'''
*:"Pedophilia is a sexual preference disorder that has been linked to neurodevelopmental alterations in diagnosed individuals. One common biomarker for atypical neurodevelopment are elevated levels of atypical handedness as individuals with several neurodevelopmental disorders show increased levels of left or mixed hand preference. Few primary studies have indicated that atypical handedness could also be more prevalent in pedophilia. However, individual studies are prone to sampling biases and a comprehensive synthesis of the literature on this topic is still missing. In this pre-registered study, we performed a meta-analysis on k = 13 studies that were searched in PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar (until January 2023). These 13 studies measured hand preference in n = 1194 individuals with pedophilia and n = 5648 controls. Contrasting previous evidence from individual research reports, we found evidence against higher rates of atypical handedness irrespective of handedness classification using frequentist and robust Bayesian meta-analyses. There was no evidence of publication bias across analyses. These results suggest that atypical handedness is not suited to serve as a biomarker for pedophilia."

=== Adverse childhood ===

Some studies indicate a link between adverse childhood (''nonsexual'') experiences and attraction to minors, although cause and effect has not been established by these correlational studies. Assuming there is causality, it should be noted that what happens as a result of adverse events may not be a malfunction, but an [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Other_relevant_information|evolutionarily conditioned adaptation]].
To see in detail how childhood ''sexual'' experience relates to later attraction, see the section [[Research:_Offender_characteristics#Abused-abuser_relationship|abused-abuser relationship]]

*'''Marx CM, Tibubos AN, Brähler E, Beutel ME. Experienced childhood maltreatment in a sample of pedophiles: comparisons with patients of a psychosomatic outpatient clinic and the general population. J Sex Med. 2020;17:985–93. doi:10. 1016/j.jsxm.2020.01.019.'''
*:“Emotional and sexual abuse was associated with pedophilic sexual preference.” [...] “Our results speak to a burdened and stressful childhood of patients with pedophilia; a fantasized, sexualized world in an abusive and neglecting childhood may function as a refuge and lead to “psychic withdrawal”.”

*'''Jahnke S., Schmidt, A.F., Hoyer, J. (2022). [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10790632221098341 Pedohebephilia and Perceived Non-coercive Childhood Sexual Experiences: Two Non-matched Case-Control Studies]. ''Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment'', DOI:10.1177/10790632221098341.'''
*:"[C]onviction status for sexual offenses among pedohebephilic men was linked to higher rates of [sexual experiences], physical neglect, and physical abuse."
*: “While Study 1 and 2 found differences between teleiophilic and pedohebephilic men regarding instances of different types of sexual and nonsexual maltreatment, these were usually small or, as in the case of physical neglect or abuse in Study 2, even in the opposite direction from what was expected (and again small). Hence, in the present studies, pedohebephilic men’s early adverse family experiences did not differ markedly from those of teleiophilic men”

*'''McPhail, I.V. (2024) “[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11930-023-00381-y The Subjective Experience of Individuals with Pedohebephilic Interest]”, ''Current Sexual Health Reports'' 16, DOI: 10.1007/s11930-023-00381-y'''
*:from the [https://www.b4uact.org/b4qr/vol4/spring2024/ B4QR] description of the article:
*:"Notably, studies have found higher rates of childhood adversities, including sexual abuse, among MAPs compared to the general population. [...] The biogenic pathway suggests early markers of developmental issues, such as young parental age at birth, lower parental education, parental criminality, and substance use, predict attraction to minors in adulthood. Some studies associate physical markers, including higher rates of congenital malformations, low Apgar scores, low birth weight, and being small for gestational age, with behavioral proxies for attraction to minors. However, McPhail notes that other studies have not found such correlations."

===Adult-Adult relationships of MAPs===

*'''Mundy, C., Lewis, H., & Cioe J. (2021). [https://psyarxiv.com/b3uhn/ "Romantic and Sexual Relationships with Adult Partners Among Pedohebephilic Men,"] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', Preprint.'''
*:[[B4U-ACT]] reviewer: "Overall, the researchers concluded that minor-attracted adults’ reasons for having or seeking romantic and sexual relationships with adults appear to parallel those of other sexual minority groups according to the exclusivity of their attraction to minors. Motivations of MAPs whose attractions are less exclusive appear similar to those of heterosexual individuals and sexual minority women, possibly due to a higher likelihood of falling in love with their partners. The motivations of those who are more exclusively attracted to minors appear to be similar to those of asexual adults; namely, to increase intimacy and achieve a sense of satisfaction in their relationships."

===Multiple paraphilias?===
Some studies found correlations between minor attraction and other "paraphilias".
*'''McPhail, I.V. (2024) “[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11930-023-00381-y The Subjective Experience of Individuals with Pedohebephilic Interest]”, ''Current Sexual Health Reports'' 16, DOI: 10.1007/s11930-023-00381-y'''
*:"Individuals who report pedohebephilic interests are also more likely to report other paraphilias, such as scatologia, zoophilia, sadism, urophilia, frotteurism, exhibitionism, and voyeurism [46, 89, 90]."

However other paraphilias may tend to occur together more consistently.
*'''Fedora O., Reddon J. R., Morrison J. W., Fedora S. K., Pascoe, H., & Yeudall, L. T. (1992). "Sadism and other paraphilias in normal controls and aggressive and nonaggressive sex offenders," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 21(1), 1-15.'''
*:"Pedophilia had a low incidence of co-occurrence with other paraphilias whereas sadism, transvestism, fetishism, and the courtship disorder paraphilias had a high incidence of co-occurrence. [...] These results suggest that pedophilia occurred alone much more frequently than did the other paraphilias." [Of subjects who responded most to children, 90.9% of non-offenders, 84.7% of sexually non-aggressive offenders, and 50% of sexually aggressive offenders showed no other paraphilia.]

*'''Marshall, W. L., & Eccles, A. (1991). "Issues in clinical practice with sex offenders," ''Journal of Interpersonal Violence'', 6, 69-70.'''
*:"Related to the issue of diagnosis is the claim that sex offenders have multiple paraphilias (Abel & Rouleau, 1990). This particular study is worth considering in a bit more detail as its influence has been quite substantial, so much that the results are frequently cited as gospel. For instance, ''DSM III-R'' states that "people with a Paraphilia commonly suffer from several varieties: in clinical settings that specialize in the treatment of Paraphilias, people with these disorders have an average of from three to four different Paraphilias" (American Psychiatric Association, 1987, p. 280). Abel, Becker, Cunningham-Rathner, Mittelman, and Rouleau (1988) elicited self-reports from 561 subjects, some of whom reported engaging in more than one type of deviant sexual act. However, when we sum the number of subjects listed in their table, we find 1156 men, not just the original 561, are listed over the various categories. Our guess is that the way in which each patient's problems were tallied accounts for this discrepancy. It seems that when a man reported more than one deviant act (e.g., he reported raping an adult female and molesting a young boy) he was counted twice (i.e., once as a rapist with an extra deviance and once as a child molester with an extra deviance). This, of course, would artificially inflate the apparent number of multiple paraphiliacs, particularly when we note that some of Abel's patients reported 10 or more paraphilias. In addition, it is not clear what criteria were employed to decide that an extra deviance was present. Abel et al. (1988) use the term "multiple paraphilia" as if to imply that they strictly adhered to the ''DSM'' diagnostic criteria, and yet they could not have, because rape does not appear in the diagnostic manual. If a 50-year-old man reported that when he was a teenager he had once or twice engaged in a deviant act other than the one for which he was referred, would this count as an additional paraphilia? If so this would inflate the number of apparent multiple paraphiliacs in a way that would seem somewhat misleading."

==Limitations of criminal studies==
Characteristics of pedophiles are often found to be characteristics of the criminal populations used for the purpose of providing a sample. As mentioned above, these are similar to the methodological problems that plagued early studies of homosexuals.
*'''Green, R. (2002). "[https://www.ipce.info/library_2/files/green_asb_2002.html Is pedophilia a mental disorder?]," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 31(6), 467-471.'''
*:"A study of general personality features and concurrent psychopathology of pedophiles is hampered by sampling bias. Nearly all studies involve prisoners or those convicted of a criminal offence. These are doubtfully representative of all pedophiles who have contact with children and certainly not representative of pedophiles who confine their eroticism to fantasy and so do not break the law. Finkelhor et al. (1986) observed the following sampling bias in convicted sex offenders: “[They are] a small fraction of all offenders, the most flagrant and repetitive in offending, most socially disadvantaged, and least able to persuade criminal justice authorities to let them off” (p. 138)."

*'''Okami, P. & Goldberg, A. (1992). "Personality Correlates of Pedophilia: Are They Reliable Indicators?," ''Journal of Sex Research'', 29(3), 297-328.'''
*:Okami and Goldberg systematically reviewed the literature and found that pathology has not been reliably associated with pedophilia. They conclude: "The clearest finding of the present review is that relatively little may be stated about the personality or phenomenology of pedophiles [...] Looking at the very scanty data pertaining to pedophilia per se, then, we are unable to report any reliable findings. [...] as Wilson and Cox (1983) and several others have pointed out, the types of affective and social pathologies associated with samples of pedophiles ... seriously beg the question of causal direction. Guilt feelings, feelings of ostracism loneliness, low self-esteem, etc., clearly are exacerbated by, if not sequelae of, the social condition of pedophiles ... and should not be interpreted as representing etiological variables or intrinsic correlates of sexual preference for children. [...] For example, because an unknown percentage of true pedophiles may never act on their impulses or may never be arrested, forensic samples of sex offenders against minors clearly do not represent the population of "pedophiles," and many such persons apparently do not even belong to the population of "pedophiles.""

*'''Whittaker, J. Wilson (2007). "A comparison of neurocognitive functioning in pedophilic child molesters, nonpedophilic child molesters and normal adult males," pp. 35-36. Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Utah.'''
*:"This conceptualization of the role of the frontal lobe as a moderator of sexual behavior is consistent with evidence from neurological injury studies in which frontal lobe damage is associated with generalized hypersexual behavior, rather than the manifestation of new targets of sexual interest (Lesniak, Szymusik, & Chrzanowski, 1972; Sabhesan & Natarjan, 1989; Stein, Solvason, Biggart, & Speigel, 1996; Tavares, 2000). Considered within the context of pedophilia, this suggests that pedophiles with frontal lobe damage may be at greater risk than pedophiles without such damage for acting upon their sexual interests, which increases the likelihood of their committing a crime, and subsequently increases the chance that they will be caught. The authors put forth the supposition that frontal lobe damage in pedophiles may also result in poor planning, difficulties inhibiting perseverative sexual thoughts, low frustration tolerance, inattention and impulsivity. It is argued that these traits would also likely predispose the offender to detection by law enforcement (Cohen et al., 2002; Stone & Thompson, 2001). Consequently, there exists the possibility that neuropsychological weaknesses evidenced in pedophiles may simply be an artifact associated with self-selection bias, such that pedophiles with neurocognitive weaknesses may be more likely to be caught (and therefore available as research participants) than pedophiles with normal neurocognitive function."

*'''Kärgel, C., et al. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1002/hbm.23443 Evidence for superior neurobiological and behavioral inhibitory control abilities in non-offending as compared to offending pedophiles.] ''Human Brain Mapping'', 38(2), 1092–1104.'''
*:"Using a go/nogo paradigm in combination with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) we compared behavioral performance and neural response patterns among three groups of men matched for age and IQ: pedophiles with (N 5 40) and without (N 5 37) a history of hands-on sexual offences against children as well as healthy non-offending controls (N 5 40). As compared to offending pedophiles, non-offending pedophiles exhibited superior inhibitory control as reflected by significantly lower rate of commission errors. Group-by-condition interaction analysis also revealed inhibition-related activation in the left posterior cingulate and the left superior frontal cortex that distinguished between offending and non-offending pedophiles, while no significant differences were found between pedophiles and healthy controls."

==Is pedophilia a mental disorder?==

The received clinical wisdom of pedophilia as mental disorder represents a blurring of moral-legal and medical definitions. There is no scientific basis for classifying pedophilia as a mental disorder when it does not cause marked problems for the pedophile or those who he or she interacts with.

*'''Green, R. (2002). "[http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/BIB/pedophilia.htm Is pedophilia a mental disorder?]," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 31(6), 467-471.'''
*:"Sexual arousal patterns to children are subjectively reported and physiologically demonstrable in a substantial minority of “normal” people. Historically, they have been common and accepted in varying cultures at varying times. This does not mean that they must be accepted culturally and legally today. The question is: Do they constitute a mental illness? Not unless we declare a lot of people in many cultures and in much of the past to be mentally ill. And certainly not by the criteria of DSM."

*'''Tromovitch, P. (2009). "Manufacturing Mental Disorder by Pathologizing Erotic Age Orientation: A Comment on Blanchard et al. (2008)," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 38(3), 328'''
*:"Like masturbation and homosexuality, pedophilia (informally: erotic attraction to prepubescent people) appears to have entered the DSM as a "mental disorder" without any scientific or rational basis."

*'''Szasz, T. (2002). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20090311091733/https://reason.com/news/show/28515.html Sins of the Fathers: Is child molestation a sickness or a crime?]," ''Reason'', Aug/Sep, 2002.'''
*:"Crimes are acts we commit. Diseases are biological processes that happen to our bodies. Mixing these two concepts by defining behaviors we disapprove of as diseases is a bottomless source of confusion and corruption. [...] Geoghan himself has been convicted of molestation in one case and faces trial in another. But if his behavior was caused by "the disease of pedophilia," a condition that not only compelled him to fondle boys but erased his memory of those "diseased acts," how can it be just to punish him? [...] Today virtually any unwanted behavior, from shopaholism and kleptomania to sexaholism and pedophilia, may be defined as a disease whose diagnosis and treatment belong in the province of the medical system. Disease-making thus has become similar to lawmaking. [...] The entire psychiatric literature on what used to be called "sexual perversions" is permeated by the unfounded idea -- always implied, sometimes asserted -- that "abnormal" sexual impulses are harder to resist than "normal" ones."

*'''Haeberle, Erwin J. (2010). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20111109095903/http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/BIB/paraphiliapre.htm Paraphilia - A Prescientific Concept]," Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexology.'''
*:"Anyone who uses a term like 'paraphilia' thereby indirectly claims to know what is right and wrong in human sexual behavior. [...] To us modern sexologists, however, it should be clear by now that the Natural Law doctrine has no place in science. It should therefore be equally clear that the term 'disorder' is no longer acceptable when it comes to something as complex as human sexual behavior. Scientists should leave such moral certainty (better: dogmatism) to the religious authorities. In conclusion: We in sexology should, once and for all, get rid of the moralistic, prescientific terms 'paraphilia' and 'disorder'."

*'''Hinderliter, Andrew C. (2010). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20121212182834/http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/BIB/hinderliter2010.htm Defining Paraphilia: Excluding Exclusion]," ''Open Access Journal of Forensic Psychology'', 2, 241–272.'''
*:The author challenges a number of common arguments for retaining pedophilia in the DSM. "This leaves only the issue of pedophilia. The arguments considered so far render highly tenuous the basis of retaining it in the DSM, but the issue is complicated because there is a legitimate treatment issue involved—people distressed about their attraction to children wanting clinical help in resisting these desires should have access to such help. Whether the current state of this diagnosis is effective for promoting such treatment, especially in non-correctional populations, and how (and if) it could be modified to better support such treatment are important questions deserving further research and consideration (for concerns that these have not been taken seriously in the DSM revision process, see B4U-ACT, 2010). Even if pedophilia is kept in the DSM on the basis of pragmatic arguments about facilitation of treatment, this still leaves serious doubt about whether it is an appropriate diagnosis on which to base indefinite civil commitment."

*'''Malón, Agustin (2012). "Pedophilia: A Diagnosis in Search of a Disorder", ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 41(5), pp. 1083-1097.'''
*:"It has been shown, and many of the parties to the controversy would have no difficulty in agreeing, that some people with pedophilia apparently do not suffer as a result and that, in any event, such distress they may experience is rather the predictable result of conflict with society (Bernard, 1985; Howitt, 1995; Vogt, 2006; Wilson & Cox, 1983). [...]
*:"Are men with pedophilia dangerous? If they are, in what way? Under what circumstances? Does their dangerousness depend on their erotic peculiarity or on their character? [...] Any assertion in this sense may be premature and incomplete, given the limited state of our current knowledge which rests largely on the evidence gleaned from very biased samples of subjects who have been imprisoned for criminal offences (Seto, 2008). And it has been suggested that "it is likely that the criminal offending requires additional individual risk factors separate from the paraphilic interest per se" (Langstrom, 2009, p. 2). [...]
*:"In this sense, finally, we should consider the possibility of conceptualizing pedophilia as a very complex phenomenon that, contrary to other paraphilias, it is oriented towards another person and not to objects or animals, parts of the body or any kind of act. Its essence does not reside in exploitation, assault or harm to others, and some pedophiles look also for the child's friendship and love ([[Rudiger Lautmann|Lautmann]], 1994; Li, 1990; Schmidt, 2002; Seto, 2012). Regardless of the intense feelings of rejection that some of its manifestations generate in most of us, to conceptualize and discuss this condition in the same category with the compulsive necessity to show one's genitals to an unsuspecting stranger is contributing to an inadequate, ineffective, and confusing theory of human eroticism and its problems."

==Excerpt Gallery Library==

The gallery of graphics on characteristics contains some useful information on the myth of psychopathy.

{{Template:EGLPHC}}

==References==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Research on Minor Attraction]]

Ray Blanchard

2026-09-11T17:06:21Z

Thorn: /* Impact on Research Concerning MAP */

__NOTOC__ {{Template:Ac}} '''[[Wikipedia: Ray Blanchard| Ray Milton Blanchard III]]''' is a psychologist and sexologist best known for his influential and often controversial research on sexual orientation, gender dysphoria, paraphilias, and patterns of sexual arousal. He spent much of his career at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), where he headed Clinical Sexology Services from 1995 to 2010, and is currently a status-only Full Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.<ref>[https://psychiatry.utoronto.ca/faculty/ray-blanchard University of Toronto faculty profile]</ref> Blanchard also served as president of the International Academy of Sex Research and was a member of the DSM-5 Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group, including chairing its Paraphilias Subworkgroup.

== Impact on Research Concerning MAP ==

He investigated possible associations between pedophilia and non-right-handedness, reduced stature, childhood accidents involving loss of consciousness, and possible neurological or developmental factors. These studies helped advance hypotheses about neurodevelopmental correlates, but their findings were based largely on referred male samples and should not be treated as establishing that brain injury, handedness, stature, or low IQ causes pedophilic interest. Questions have also been raised about the generalizability of findings drawn from unrepresentative forensic populations. <ref name="Blanchard2007"> Blanchard, Ray; Kolla, Nathan J.; Cantor, James M.; Klassen, Philip E.; Dickey, Robert; Kuban, Michael E.; and Blak, Thomas (2007). "IQ, Handedness, and Pedophilia in Adult Male Patients Stratified by Referral Source," Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 19(3), 285-309.</ref> <ref>Blanchard, R., Christensen, B.K., Strong, S.M. et al. Retrospective Self-Reports of Childhood Accidents Causing Unconsciousness in Phallometrically Diagnosed Pedophiles. Arch Sex Behav 31, 511–526 (2002).</ref> (See [[Research:_Psychopathy_and_abnormal_psychology|Research: Psychopathy and abnormal psychology]])

He was the one who popularized [[Hebephilia|hebephilia]] and [[Teleiophilia|teleiophilia]] terms. Blanchard argued that pedophilia and hebephilia might be related conditions differing mainly by degree rather than by kind. He proposed that the DSM-5 include a combined category, sometimes described as ''pedohebephilic disorder''.<ref>Blanchard, R., Lykins, A. D., Wherrett, D., Kuban, M. E., Cantor, J. M., Blak, T., Dickey, R., & Klassen, P. E. (2009). "[https://www.academia.edu/13111834/Pedophilia_Hebephilia_and_the_DSM_V Pedophilia, Hebephilia, and the DSM-V]," Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38(3), 335-350.</ref> <ref>[https://blog.atsa.com/2012/01/ A Guest Blog by DSM-5 Paraphilias Subworkgroup Chair Dr. Ray Blanchard on Proposed Criteria for Pedophilic Disorder]</ref> The proposal was influential in the DSM revision debate but was not adopted.

Despite his partly pathologizing contribution, Ray Blanchard also played an important role in depathologization of pedophilia and paraphilias in general. Blanchard defended a distinction between [[Paraphilia|paraphilia]] and paraphilic disorder. This distinction influenced the broader DSM-5 discussion.<ref>Blanchard R (April 2010). "[https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10508-009-9536-0 The DSM diagnostic criteria for pedophilia]". Arch Sex Behav. 39 (2): 304–16.</ref> Also, he considered [[Pedophilia|pedophilia]] a [[Research:_Pedophilia_as_a_sexual/erotic_orientation|sexual orientation]]. Initially, that term was included in the DSM, but pressure groups forced the APA to change the word "orientation" to "interest" in the online copy.

== References ==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Anti-Pedophile culture]][[Category:Hysteria]][[Category:Research]][[Category:Research: Broader Perspectives]][[Category:People]][[Category:People: Academics]][[Category:People: Popular Authors]]
[[Category:History & Events: Canadian]][[Category:History & Events: Moral controversies]]

Ray Blanchard

2026-09-11T17:02:53Z

Thorn:

__NOTOC__ {{Template:Ac}} '''[[Wikipedia: Ray Blanchard| Ray Milton Blanchard III]]''' is a psychologist and sexologist best known for his influential and often controversial research on sexual orientation, gender dysphoria, paraphilias, and patterns of sexual arousal. He spent much of his career at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), where he headed Clinical Sexology Services from 1995 to 2010, and is currently a status-only Full Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.<ref>[https://psychiatry.utoronto.ca/faculty/ray-blanchard University of Toronto faculty profile]</ref> Blanchard also served as president of the International Academy of Sex Research and was a member of the DSM-5 Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group, including chairing its Paraphilias Subworkgroup.

== Impact on Research Concerning MAP ==

He investigated possible associations between pedophilia and non-right-handedness, reduced stature, childhood accidents involving loss of consciousness, and possible neurological or developmental factors. These studies helped advance hypotheses about neurodevelopmental correlates, but their findings were based largely on referred male samples and should not be treated as establishing that brain injury, handedness, stature, or low IQ causes pedophilic interest. Questions have also been raised about the generalizability of findings drawn from unrepresentative forensic populations. <ref name="Blanchard2007"> Blanchard, Ray; Kolla, Nathan J.; Cantor, James M.; Klassen, Philip E.; Dickey, Robert; Kuban, Michael E.; and Blak, Thomas (2007). "IQ, Handedness, and Pedophilia in Adult Male Patients Stratified by Referral Source," Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 19(3), 285-309.</ref> <ref>Blanchard, R., Christensen, B.K., Strong, S.M. et al. Retrospective Self-Reports of Childhood Accidents Causing Unconsciousness in Phallometrically Diagnosed Pedophiles. Arch Sex Behav 31, 511–526 (2002).</ref> (See [[Research:_Psychopathy_and_abnormal_psychology|Research: Psychopathy and abnormal psychology]])

He was the one who popularized [[Hebephilia|hebephilia]] and [[Teleiophilia|teleiophilia]] terms. Blanchard argued that pedophilia and hebephilia might be related conditions differing mainly by degree rather than by kind. He proposed that the DSM-5 include a combined category, sometimes described as ''pedohebephilic disorder''.<ref>Blanchard, R., Lykins, A. D., Wherrett, D., Kuban, M. E., Cantor, J. M., Blak, T., Dickey, R., & Klassen, P. E. (2009). "[https://www.academia.edu/13111834/Pedophilia_Hebephilia_and_the_DSM_V Pedophilia, Hebephilia, and the DSM-V]," Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38(3), 335-350.</ref> <ref>[https://blog.atsa.com/2012/01/ A Guest Blog by DSM-5 Paraphilias Subworkgroup Chair Dr. Ray Blanchard on Proposed Criteria for Pedophilic Disorder]</ref> The proposal was influential in the DSM revision debate but was not adopted.

Despite his partly pathologizing contribution, Ray Blanchard also played an important role in depathologization of pedophilia and paraphilias in general. Blanchard defended a distinction between [[Paraphilia|paraphilia]] and paraphilic disorder. This distinction influenced the broader DSM-5 discussion.<ref>Blanchard R (April 2010). "[https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10508-009-9536-0 The DSM diagnostic criteria for pedophilia]". Arch Sex Behav. 39 (2): 304–16.</ref> Also, he considered [[Pedophilia|pedophilia]] a sexual orientation. Initially, that term was included in the DSM, but pressure groups forced the APA to change the word "orientation" to "interest" in the online copy.

== References ==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Anti-Pedophile culture]][[Category:Hysteria]][[Category:Research]][[Category:Research: Broader Perspectives]][[Category:People]][[Category:People: Academics]][[Category:People: Popular Authors]]
[[Category:History & Events: Canadian]][[Category:History & Events: Moral controversies]]

Ray Blanchard

2026-09-11T16:59:58Z

Thorn:

__NOTOC__ {{Template:Ac}} '''[[Wikipedia: Ray Blanchard| Ray Milton Blanchard III]]''' is a psychologist and sexologist best known for his influential and often controversial research on sexual orientation, gender dysphoria, paraphilias, and patterns of sexual arousal. He spent much of his career at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), where he headed Clinical Sexology Services from 1995 to 2010, and is currently a status-only Full Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.<ref>[https://psychiatry.utoronto.ca/faculty/ray-blanchard University of Toronto faculty profile]</ref> Blanchard also served as president of the International Academy of Sex Research and was a member of the DSM-5 Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group, including chairing its Paraphilias Subworkgroup.

== Impact on Research Concerning MAP ==

He investigated possible associations between pedophilia and non-right-handedness, reduced stature, childhood accidents involving loss of consciousness, and possible neurological or developmental factors. These studies helped advance hypotheses about neurodevelopmental correlates, but their findings were based largely on referred male samples and should not be treated as establishing that brain injury, handedness, stature, or low IQ causes pedophilic interest. Questions have also been raised about the generalizability of findings drawn from unrepresentative forensic populations. <ref name="Blanchard2007"> Blanchard, Ray; Kolla, Nathan J.; Cantor, James M.; Klassen, Philip E.; Dickey, Robert; Kuban, Michael E.; and Blak, Thomas (2007). "IQ, Handedness, and Pedophilia in Adult Male Patients Stratified by Referral Source," Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 19(3), 285-309.</ref> <ref>Blanchard, R., Christensen, B.K., Strong, S.M. et al. Retrospective Self-Reports of Childhood Accidents Causing Unconsciousness in Phallometrically Diagnosed Pedophiles. Arch Sex Behav 31, 511–526 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020659331965 </ref> (See [[Research:_Psychopathy_and_abnormal_psychology|Research: Psychopathy and abnormal psychology]])

He was the one who popularized [[Hebephilia|hebephilia]] and [[Teleiophilia|teleiophilia]] terms. Blanchard argued that pedophilia and hebephilia might be related conditions differing mainly by degree rather than by kind. He proposed that the DSM-5 include a combined category, sometimes described as ''pedohebephilic disorder''.<ref>Blanchard, R., Lykins, A. D., Wherrett, D., Kuban, M. E., Cantor, J. M., Blak, T., Dickey, R., & Klassen, P. E. (2009). "Pedophilia, Hebephilia, and the DSM-V," Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38(3), 335-350.</ref> <ref>[https://blog.atsa.com/2012/01/ A Guest Blog by DSM-5 Paraphilias Subworkgroup Chair Dr. Ray Blanchard on Proposed Criteria for Pedophilic Disorder]</ref> The proposal was influential in the DSM revision debate but was not adopted.

Despite his partly pathologizing contribution, Ray Blanchard also played an important role in depathologization of pedophilia and paraphilias in general. Blanchard defended a distinction between [[Paraphilia|paraphilia]] and paraphilic disorder. This distinction influenced the broader DSM-5 discussion.<ref>Blanchard R (April 2010). "[https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10508-009-9536-0 The DSM diagnostic criteria for pedophilia]". Arch Sex Behav. 39 (2): 304–16.</ref> Also, he considered [[Pedophilia|pedophilia]] a sexual orientation. Initially, that term was included in the DSM, but pressure groups forced the APA to change the word "orientation" to "interest" in the online copy.

== References ==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Anti-Pedophile culture]][[Category:Hysteria]][[Category:Research]][[Category:Research: Broader Perspectives]][[Category:People]][[Category:People: Academics]][[Category:People: Popular Authors]]
[[Category:History & Events: Canadian]][[Category:History & Events: Moral controversies]]

Research: Psychopathy and abnormal psychology

2026-09-11T16:59:54Z

Thorn: /* So-called "perturbation" theory */

__NOTOC__{{research}}
Non-criminal populations of pedophiles do not exhibit increased levels of psychopathy or other pathologies,<ref>[https://www.b4uact.org/know-the-facts/ B4U-ACT research summary]</ref> nor less typical psychological characteristics such as left-handedness or paraphilia. One study even found lower levels of psychopathology.

Regarding MAPs, we are at a stage similar to homosexuality in the 1940s, 50s and 60s and for similar reasons.<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-mental-science/article/abs/psychometric-aspects-of-homosexuality/C7FC17220BD07E5F87EC545F600BA58C Grygier, T. (1957). Psychometric Aspects of Homosexuality. Journal of Mental Science, 103(432), 514-526.]</ref><ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1136/bmj.2.4532.795-b AHRENFELDT RH. Homosexuality and sexual trauma. British Medical Journal. 1947 Nov;2(4532):795. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.2.4532.795-b]</ref><ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1176/ajp.112.8.584 GLUECK, B. C. (1956). PSYCHODYNAMIC PATTERNS IN THE HOMOSEXUAL SEX OFFENDER. American Journal of Psychiatry, 112(8), 584–590.]</ref><ref>STAFFORD-CLARK D. The medico-legal problem of homosexuality. The Medical Press. 1947 Sep;218(10):220-222. PMID: 20257970.</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/male-homosexual/z4njgwx Male Homosexual: Archive from the BBC in which homosexuals speak candidly of their "condition" in 1965]</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/24/archives/what-we-dont-know-about-homosexuality-if-it-isnt-an-illness-what-is.html If it isn't an illness, what is it?]</ref> As the APA now admit:

:''"until the 1950's, most homosexual persons studied by psychologists and others were prisoners or mental patients, so it was easy to conclude that these were linked. Evelyn Hooker, a brave psychologist at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), began undoing this belief in the early 1950s. A gay former student told her, "Evelyn, it is your scientific duty to study men like me." Hooker agreed, "He's right — we know nothing about them." (cited in Burr, 1993). When she told the psychiatry department chair she wanted to study normal homosexuals, he replied, "There is no such person!" (Hooker, 1993, p. 450)."''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20191215112657/https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/ptn/2018/05/society-accept-homosexuality APA - How psychology has helped society accept homosexuality] See also [https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbtq/mental-health APA - Being Gay Is Just as Healthy as Being Straight] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20200807004237/http://williamapercy.com/wiki/index.php?title=Evelyn_Hooker mention of Hooker's study] on williamapercy.com)</ref>

==Associated characteristics==

:''For the discredited "lack of intelligence" theory based upon unrepresentative '''criminal''' sampling, see [[Research: Offender characteristics|Offender Characteristics]].''

*'''Goudreault, M. (2017). ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20211004023954/https://papyrus.bib.umontreal.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1866/19870/Goudreault_Marc-Andre_2017_essai_doctoral.pdf?sequence=2 Study of the psychological and physiological characteristics of a community sample of pedophiles]''. Thesis for Doctorate in clinical psychology.
*:NewgonWiki: Goudreault compared a community sample of 190 male pedophiles with a control group composed of 151 males from the general population. Goudreault found that:
*:"Differences between pedophiles and controls reached statistical significance for psychopathic traits, with pedophiles displaying fewer psychopathic traits compared to controls. These results contradict the findings of the large majority of studies using forensic and clinical samples of pedophiles."

*'''Strassberg et al. (2012). ''[https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.chiabu.2011.09.018 Psychopathy among pedophilic and nonpedophilic child molesters]''. Child Abuse & Neglect 36 (2012) 379–382.
*:"'''Objective:''' Among men who commit sexual offenses against children, at least 2 distinct groups can be identified on the basis of the age of the primary targets of their sexual interest; pedophiles and nonpedophiles.
*:'''Method:''' In the present report, across 2 independent samples of both types of child molesters as well as controls, a total of 104 men (53 pedophilic and 51 nonpedophilic) who had sexually offended against a child age 13 or younger were compared to each other (and to 49 non-sex offender controls) on psychopathy as assessed by the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI).
*:'''Results:''' In both samples of child molesters, the nonpedophiles scored as significantly more psychopathic than the pedophiles."

*'''Wilson, Glenn & Cox, David (1983). ''[http://www.ipce.info/host/wilson_83/index.htm The Child-Lovers: A Study of Paedophiles in Society]''. London: Peter Owen Publishers. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20130425190214/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Child-Lovers%20-%20A%20Study%20of%20Paedophiles%20in%20Society.pdf webarchive copy])
*:"The psychoticism score of the paedophiles [in our study] is slightly elevated compared with controls, but not drastically so, and certainly not to the extent that they could be called pathological as a group. There are several occupational groups listed in the Manual that have P[sychoticism] scores of approximately the same order, including actors, apprentices, architects, doctors, drivers, students and welfare officers, none of which could be regarded as clinically psychotic as a whole. Thus, there is no reason on the basis of these results to suppose that men with paedophile sexual preferences are necessarily marked by any exceptional degree of thought disorder. [...]
*:The neuroticism scores of the paedophiles are again slightly higher than controls but not to an extent that would justify describing them as clinically abnormal. Among groups of men with similar N[euroticism] scores according to the Manual are actors, apprentices, machinists and students, and a great many of the female groups given in the Manual show N scores that are higher than these male paedophiles. [...]
*:Perhaps the most striking thing about these results is how normal the paedophiles appear to be according to their scores on these major personality dimensions - particularly the two that are most clinically relevant (N[euroticism] and P[sychoticism]). The only marked characteristic of the PIE [Paedophile Information Exchange] members with respect to these major dimensions is their tendency to introversion, and this in itself is not usually thought of as pathological. Furthermore, the fact that the Lie Scale scores of the paedophiles are not distinguishable from those of controls would suggest that, overall, they were not bent on creating an artificially favourable impression on the questionnaire, but were giving an honest and accurate self-report. [...]
*:Obsessionality, as indicated by this particular item from the EPQ does not seem to be characteristic of the paedophiles; in fact, the proportion endorsing this item is lower than that for controls. [...]
*:Our results are also consistent with previous findings in failing to discover any obvious links between paedophilia and aggressive or psychotic symptoms (Quinsey, 1977).[...]
*:Finally, our research revealed that the fantasies of paedophile men have a lot in common with those of normal men[...] When all these factors are considered it is clear that the sexual preferences of the paedophile are not so far removed from those of the normal man as they might at first appear."

*'''Schuler, M. et al (2019). "[https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/abn-abn0000412.pdf Empathy in pedophilia and sexual offending against children: A multifaceted approach]," ''Journal of Abnormal Psychology'', 128(5), 453–464.'''
*:"Participants included 85 pedophilic men who committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P+CSO), 72 pedophilic men who never committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P−CSO), and 128 nonoffending teleiophilic male controls (TC). Several affective and cognitive aspects of empathy were assessed using the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Whereas in self-reports (IRI) P+CSO scored lower than TC (P−CSO intermediate) in cognitive perspective-taking abilities, a performance-based measure (MET) revealed evidence for a better differentiation of emotional states in P−CSO as compared with P+CSO (TC intermediate). In addition, P+CSO and P−CSO showed significantly higher affective resonance while observing children (MET), which was paralleled by higher self-reported levels of personal distress in social situations (IRI). The results indicate evidence for higher general affective empathic resonance to children in pedophilic men but superior cognitive empathy abilities in nonoffending pedophiles only, which may act as a protective factor in the prevention of sexual offending."

*'''Berlin, F. S. (2000). "[http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=174135 Treatments to change sexual orientation]," ''The American Journal of Psychiatry'', 157, 5.'''
*:"Individuals whose sexual orientation is directed toward children manifest the same range of personality, temperamental, and character traits as individuals whose sexual orientation is directed towards adults. A recent Journal article documented that the vast majority of individuals with pedophilia showed no evidence of either antisocial or narcissistic personality disorder."

*'''Whittaker, J. Wilson (2007). "A comparison of neurocognitive functioning in pedophilic child molesters, nonpedophilic child molesters and normal adult males," pp. 7-8. Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Utah.'''
*:"Post hoc testing revealed significantly greater psychopathy among nonpedophilic child molesters in comparison to pedophiles on the Psychopathic Deviate Scale (''p'' = .026), and a trend in the regard to the group differences on the Mac-R that suggested nonpedophilic offenders had more severe scores on the Mac-R than did pedophiles. Scores for [community sample] controls fell in between the two groups in regard to psychopathy on both the PDS and the Mac-R (see Table 3). These differences suggest that psychopathic traits were more prevalent among nonpedophilic child molesters (and possibly controls) than among pedophiles. At first blush, this finding appears inconsistent with much of the current literature on pedophiles, who have often been characterized as largely psychopathic (Dorr, 1998; Firestone, Bradford, Greenberg & Serran, 2000). However, there are at least two possible explanations for this discrepancy. First, considering the percentage of our controls with reported substance abuse histories (35%), and who had been incarcerated (26%) (national average is 4.1%) (US Census Bureau, 2005), there is a clear indication that the control group was not an accurate representation of the "normal" population, possibly being more psychopathic than would be expected. Second, pedophiles may actually be less psychopathic than formerly believed. In the previous studies of psychopathy in pedophilia (Dorr, 1998, 2000; Firestone, Bradford, Greenberg & Serran, 2000; Porter et al., 2000) the researchers failed to divide child molesters into pedophilic and nonpedophilic groups. As a consequence, psychopathy may have been a phenomenon factually associated with nonpedophilic offenders and wrongly associated with pedophiles."

[[File:Suchy table.png|thumb|450px|From Suchy et al, 2009]]

*'''Suchy, Yana; Whittaker, Wilson J.; Strassberg, Donald S.; Eastvold, Angela (2009). "Facial and Prosodic Affect Recognition Among Pedophilic and Nonpedophilic Criminal Child Molesters," ''Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment'', 21(1), 93-110.'''
*:NewgonWiki: Pedophilic child molesters scored significantly lower (350.72) on a Psychopathic Symptom Inventory than both non-pedophilic child molesters (382.91) and community controls (372.33).

*'''Schiffer, Boris and Vonlaufen, Corinne (2011). "Executive Dysfunctions in Pedophilic and Nonpedophilic Child Molesters", ''The Journal of Sexual Medicine'', 8(7), pp. 1975-1984.'''
*:"Results indicate that pedophilic child molesters exhibited less performance deficits in cognitive functioning than nonpedophilic child molesters. Compared to healthy controls and nonsexual offenders, the pedophilic child molesters only showed executive dysfunction concerning response inhibition, whereas the nonpedophilic child molesters revealed more severe dysfunction, especially on tasks associated with cognitive flexibility and verbal memory. [...]
*:"Both the nonpedophilic child molesters and the nonsexual offenders showed significant performance deficits on both subtasks of the verbal memory task (immediate and delayed recall) compared to healthy controls, whereas pedophilic child molesters did not. As previous studies could show that deficits in verbal memory were associated with aggressive behavior, it seems reasonable that pedophilic child molesters showed no or less deficits on this task. In the end, pedophilic child molesters were rather characterized by a nonviolent offense style, whereas nonpedophilic child molesters and nonsexual offenders revealed stronger aggressive tendencies through their offenses. [...]
*:"We found that nonpedophilic child molesters showed the worst performance of all four groups in all tested cognitive functions even though not all reached significance regarding group comparison statistics. Nevertheless, we found that different types of offenders are characterized by different deficit profiles among the tested executive functions. Our results support the hypothesis that nonpedophilic child molesters show more comprehensive performance deficits in executive functions than pedophilic child molesters. However, a majority of the neuropsychological deficits, in particular those associated with verbal (memory) skills, seem to be associated with criminality or violence rather than pedophilia."

*'''Ponseti, J. et al. (2018). "[https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645/full Decoding Pedophilia: Increased Anterior Insula Response to Infant Animal Pictures]," ''Frontiers in Human Neuroscience'', 23 January 2018.'''
*:"In order to study nurturing processing independent from sexual processing we exposed our pedophilic and teleiophilic subjects during an fMRI-session to pictures of infant and adult animals because these images were not perceived as sexually arousing. We found an increased neural response to pictures of infant animals in pedophiles. [...] Taken together, the pedophilic subjects of the present study showed an over-responding to infant animal stimuli in a network of brain regions that contribute to motivating behaviors. This is in accordance with our hypothesis that nurturing stimuli receive additional processing resources in pedophiles. It is of interest that some of the areas of increased response to infant animals are related to the mating domain. The left anterior insula, being a crucial area of nurturing processing, was also frequently found to be activated in sexual brain studies (Stoleru et al., 2012). Furthermore, the left anterior insula (as well as the SMA) is a constituent of the human attachment system, thereby enabling both nurturing and pair-bonding (Feldman, 2016). Based on both observations, (i) the over-responding to nurturing stimuli in various motivational areas and (ii) the functional overlap of nurturing and sexual processing of the involved left anterior insula a tentative and simple model of pedophilia could be as follows: Nurturing stimuli receive additional processing resources by mating-circuits. In case of human infant stimuli this leads to a sexual connotation of infant stimuli. This idea is supported by the suggestion that nurturing and pair-bonding are two closely inter-related domains in humans at the level of physiological functions, brain processing, and involved neuropeptides (Feldman, 2016). Interestingly, more than two decades ago, the Austrian ethologist Eibl-Eibesfeldt expressed a similar view suggesting that pedophilia might in some cases be based on an “eroticization of parental love” (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1990)."

*'''Schnellbächer, G.J., Dukart, J., Hansen, J.Y. et al. (2023) [https://www.nature.com/articles/s44220-023-00105-0 Aberrant brain activity in pedophilia links to receptor distribution, gene expression, and behavior.] ''Nat. Mental Health 1'', 615–622 .doi:10.1038/s44220-023-00105-0'''
*:"Here, we provide robust meta-analytic evidence that brain activity is not generally altered in pedophilia but deviates specifically in response to sexual stimuli."

*'''Mundy, C. L. (2020). [https://open.library.ubc.ca/soa/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0394716 Shifting the focus : a multimethod exploration of resiliency among child-attracted persons] (T). ''University of British Columbia''.'''
::"[C]hild-attracted persons in my sample [n=116] exhibited higher levels of honesty-humility, agreeableness, and altruism than the university students. Conceptually, this makes sense, as child-attracted persons who exhibit pro-social personality characteristics, such as honesty-humility, are likely more resilient to engaging in sexual offending behaviours due to a higher level of morality."

*'''Gillespie, S. (2022). [https://www.proquest.com/openview/ba920465eed71c360408571550ba3f4b/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y Sexual Fantasies and Self-Regulation in a Community Sample of People with Sexual Fantasies and/or Interest Involving Minors] [Ph.D. Thesis]'''
::"Some searchers have discovered neurological differences of a prenatal origin in those reporting pedophilic arousal pattern, as well as other neurocognitive differences suggesting that the development of minor attraction could have biological roots (Cantor et al., 2016). Further study has found that executive functioning and inhibitory control are impaired in pedophilic sexual offenders, but these impairments were not found in non-offending pedophiles or non-offending nonpedophilic controls (Massau et al., 2017; Ristow et al., 2019). These researchers suggest that the neurocognitive difference previous research associated with pedophilia actually may be more associated with pedophiles who have sexually offended against a child as the relationship disappears when controlling for sexual offense history. "

===So-called "perturbation" theory===

[[James Cantor]], [[Ray Blanchard]] and others have since 2002,<ref>Blanchard, R., Christensen, B.K., Strong, S.M. et al. [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1020659331965 Retrospective Self-Reports of Childhood Accidents Causing Unconsciousness in Phallometrically Diagnosed Pedophiles]. Arch Sex Behav 31, 511–526 (2002). doi:10.1023/A:1020659331965</ref> made various assertions re. brain functioning/structure (linked to early brain traumas), left handedness and reduced stature in "pedophiles" or "pedohebephiles" identified within unrepresentative criminal samples. These theories tend to fall apart when researchers look at broader samples.

*'''Joyal, C.C. (2022). [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christian-Joyal/publication/356789483_The_neuroanatomical_bases_of_pedophilia_and_the_importance_of_distinguishing_genuine_vs_acquired_types_A_systematic_review_Invited_paper/links/61ad7a10ca2d401f27cafe81/The-neuroanatomical-bases-of-pedophilia-and-the-importance-of-distinguishing-genuine-vs-acquired-types-A-systematic-review-Invited-paper.pdf The neuroanatomical bases of pedophilia and the importance of distinguishing genuine vs. acquired types: A systematic review] ''Sexual Offending: Theory, Research, Prevention'', DOI: 10.23668/psycharchives.5571'''
*:“Three main neurobiological theories currently attempt to explain pedophilic offending (not to be confounded with nonoffending pedophilia): the frontal-dysexecutive model, the temporal-limbic model, and the dual-dysfunctional theory (Dillien et al., 2020). [...] As stressed by a growing number of authors, however, these theories explain hypersexuality and disinhibition, but not pedophilic interests per se (Caffo et al., 2021; Jordan et al., 2020; Kruger & Kneer, 2021). In view of the present results, the same conclusion can be drawn about acquired pedophilia. Interestingly, a recent brain imaging meta-analysis based on 436 men with a pedophilic disorder failed to find any structural difference compared with 449 controls ([https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11682-020-00442-z Scarpazza et al., 2021]). Therefore, anomalies of fronto-temporal regions appear to be more closely associated with child sexual abuse (acting out) than pedophilia ([https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.avb.2020.101406 Dillien et al., 2020]).”

*'''Jahnke et al. (2021): [https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10508-021-02228-w.pdf Neurodevelopmental Differences, Pedohebephilia, and Sexual Offending: Findings from Two Online Surveys.]''Archives of Sexual Behavior'' (Preprint).'''
*:"The neurodevelopmental theory of pedohebephilia states that sexual interests in children arise from early neurodevelopmental perturbations, as, for example, evidenced by increased non-right-handedness, more childhood head injuries, and reduced intelligence and height. As corroborating evidence largely rests on samples of convicted men, we conducted online surveys among German-speaking (Study 1, N = 199) and English-speaking men (Study 2, N = 632), specifically targeting community members with pedohebephilic or teleiophilic interests. Although we detected theoretically meaningful sexual interest patterns in an embedded viewing time task, we could not detect expected neurodevelopmental differences between teleiophilic and pedohebephilic men in any of the two studies. Strikingly, pedohebephilic men who reported convictions for sexual offences emerged as smaller and less intelligent than pedohebephilic men without convictions in Study 2."

*'''Polisois-Keating, A., & Joyal, C. C. (2013). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1007/s10508-013-0198-6 Functional Neuroimaging of Sexual Arousal: A Preliminary Meta-Analysis Comparing Pedophilic to Non-Pedophilic Men.] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 42(7), 1111–1113.'''
*:"The goal of this preliminary study was to explore whether the nature and magnitude of regional brain activation associated with sexual arousal differed between pedophilic and non-pedophilic men when each group was exposed to their preferential sexual stimuli. Although based on only 123 participants, the pattern of activation did not seem to differ significantly between the groups. All activated brain regions associated with sexual arousal in the non-pedophilic group were also found in the pedophilic group and no significant differences emerged between the groups; however, the number of significant foci was higher in the pedophilic group."

*'''Stein, Clara C., Julian Packheiser, and Marietta Papadatou-Pastou (2023). [https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/4vtd8 Meta-analysis on the association between handedness and pedophilia] Preprint.'''
*:"Pedophilia is a sexual preference disorder that has been linked to neurodevelopmental alterations in diagnosed individuals. One common biomarker for atypical neurodevelopment are elevated levels of atypical handedness as individuals with several neurodevelopmental disorders show increased levels of left or mixed hand preference. Few primary studies have indicated that atypical handedness could also be more prevalent in pedophilia. However, individual studies are prone to sampling biases and a comprehensive synthesis of the literature on this topic is still missing. In this pre-registered study, we performed a meta-analysis on k = 13 studies that were searched in PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar (until January 2023). These 13 studies measured hand preference in n = 1194 individuals with pedophilia and n = 5648 controls. Contrasting previous evidence from individual research reports, we found evidence against higher rates of atypical handedness irrespective of handedness classification using frequentist and robust Bayesian meta-analyses. There was no evidence of publication bias across analyses. These results suggest that atypical handedness is not suited to serve as a biomarker for pedophilia."

=== Adverse childhood ===

Some studies indicate a link between adverse childhood (''nonsexual'') experiences and attraction to minors, although cause and effect has not been established by these correlational studies. Assuming there is causality, it should be noted that what happens as a result of adverse events may not be a malfunction, but an [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Other_relevant_information|evolutionarily conditioned adaptation]].
To see in detail how childhood ''sexual'' experience relates to later attraction, see the section [[Research:_Offender_characteristics#Abused-abuser_relationship|abused-abuser relationship]]

*'''Marx CM, Tibubos AN, Brähler E, Beutel ME. Experienced childhood maltreatment in a sample of pedophiles: comparisons with patients of a psychosomatic outpatient clinic and the general population. J Sex Med. 2020;17:985–93. doi:10. 1016/j.jsxm.2020.01.019.'''
*:“Emotional and sexual abuse was associated with pedophilic sexual preference.” [...] “Our results speak to a burdened and stressful childhood of patients with pedophilia; a fantasized, sexualized world in an abusive and neglecting childhood may function as a refuge and lead to “psychic withdrawal”.”

*'''Jahnke S., Schmidt, A.F., Hoyer, J. (2022). [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10790632221098341 Pedohebephilia and Perceived Non-coercive Childhood Sexual Experiences: Two Non-matched Case-Control Studies]. ''Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment'', DOI:10.1177/10790632221098341.'''
*:"[C]onviction status for sexual offenses among pedohebephilic men was linked to higher rates of [sexual experiences], physical neglect, and physical abuse."
*: “While Study 1 and 2 found differences between teleiophilic and pedohebephilic men regarding instances of different types of sexual and nonsexual maltreatment, these were usually small or, as in the case of physical neglect or abuse in Study 2, even in the opposite direction from what was expected (and again small). Hence, in the present studies, pedohebephilic men’s early adverse family experiences did not differ markedly from those of teleiophilic men”

*'''McPhail, I.V. (2024) “[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11930-023-00381-y The Subjective Experience of Individuals with Pedohebephilic Interest]”, ''Current Sexual Health Reports'' 16, DOI: 10.1007/s11930-023-00381-y'''
*:from the [https://www.b4uact.org/b4qr/vol4/spring2024/ B4QR] description of the article:
*:"Notably, studies have found higher rates of childhood adversities, including sexual abuse, among MAPs compared to the general population. [...] The biogenic pathway suggests early markers of developmental issues, such as young parental age at birth, lower parental education, parental criminality, and substance use, predict attraction to minors in adulthood. Some studies associate physical markers, including higher rates of congenital malformations, low Apgar scores, low birth weight, and being small for gestational age, with behavioral proxies for attraction to minors. However, McPhail notes that other studies have not found such correlations."

===Adult-Adult relationships of MAPs===

*'''Mundy, C., Lewis, H., & Cioe J. (2021). [https://psyarxiv.com/b3uhn/ "Romantic and Sexual Relationships with Adult Partners Among Pedohebephilic Men,"] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', Preprint.'''
*:[[B4U-ACT]] reviewer: "Overall, the researchers concluded that minor-attracted adults’ reasons for having or seeking romantic and sexual relationships with adults appear to parallel those of other sexual minority groups according to the exclusivity of their attraction to minors. Motivations of MAPs whose attractions are less exclusive appear similar to those of heterosexual individuals and sexual minority women, possibly due to a higher likelihood of falling in love with their partners. The motivations of those who are more exclusively attracted to minors appear to be similar to those of asexual adults; namely, to increase intimacy and achieve a sense of satisfaction in their relationships."

===Multiple paraphilias?===
Some studies found correlations between minor attraction and other "paraphilias".
*'''McPhail, I.V. (2024) “[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11930-023-00381-y The Subjective Experience of Individuals with Pedohebephilic Interest]”, ''Current Sexual Health Reports'' 16, DOI: 10.1007/s11930-023-00381-y'''
*:"Individuals who report pedohebephilic interests are also more likely to report other paraphilias, such as scatologia, zoophilia, sadism, urophilia, frotteurism, exhibitionism, and voyeurism [46, 89, 90]."

However other paraphilias may tend to occur together more consistently.
*'''Fedora O., Reddon J. R., Morrison J. W., Fedora S. K., Pascoe, H., & Yeudall, L. T. (1992). "Sadism and other paraphilias in normal controls and aggressive and nonaggressive sex offenders," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 21(1), 1-15.'''
*:"Pedophilia had a low incidence of co-occurrence with other paraphilias whereas sadism, transvestism, fetishism, and the courtship disorder paraphilias had a high incidence of co-occurrence. [...] These results suggest that pedophilia occurred alone much more frequently than did the other paraphilias." [Of subjects who responded most to children, 90.9% of non-offenders, 84.7% of sexually non-aggressive offenders, and 50% of sexually aggressive offenders showed no other paraphilia.]

*'''Marshall, W. L., & Eccles, A. (1991). "Issues in clinical practice with sex offenders," ''Journal of Interpersonal Violence'', 6, 69-70.'''
*:"Related to the issue of diagnosis is the claim that sex offenders have multiple paraphilias (Abel & Rouleau, 1990). This particular study is worth considering in a bit more detail as its influence has been quite substantial, so much that the results are frequently cited as gospel. For instance, ''DSM III-R'' states that "people with a Paraphilia commonly suffer from several varieties: in clinical settings that specialize in the treatment of Paraphilias, people with these disorders have an average of from three to four different Paraphilias" (American Psychiatric Association, 1987, p. 280). Abel, Becker, Cunningham-Rathner, Mittelman, and Rouleau (1988) elicited self-reports from 561 subjects, some of whom reported engaging in more than one type of deviant sexual act. However, when we sum the number of subjects listed in their table, we find 1156 men, not just the original 561, are listed over the various categories. Our guess is that the way in which each patient's problems were tallied accounts for this discrepancy. It seems that when a man reported more than one deviant act (e.g., he reported raping an adult female and molesting a young boy) he was counted twice (i.e., once as a rapist with an extra deviance and once as a child molester with an extra deviance). This, of course, would artificially inflate the apparent number of multiple paraphiliacs, particularly when we note that some of Abel's patients reported 10 or more paraphilias. In addition, it is not clear what criteria were employed to decide that an extra deviance was present. Abel et al. (1988) use the term "multiple paraphilia" as if to imply that they strictly adhered to the ''DSM'' diagnostic criteria, and yet they could not have, because rape does not appear in the diagnostic manual. If a 50-year-old man reported that when he was a teenager he had once or twice engaged in a deviant act other than the one for which he was referred, would this count as an additional paraphilia? If so this would inflate the number of apparent multiple paraphiliacs in a way that would seem somewhat misleading."

==Limitations of criminal studies==
Characteristics of pedophiles are often found to be characteristics of the criminal populations used for the purpose of providing a sample. As mentioned above, these are similar to the methodological problems that plagued early studies of homosexuals.
*'''Green, R. (2002). "[https://www.ipce.info/library_2/files/green_asb_2002.html Is pedophilia a mental disorder?]," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 31(6), 467-471.'''
*:"A study of general personality features and concurrent psychopathology of pedophiles is hampered by sampling bias. Nearly all studies involve prisoners or those convicted of a criminal offence. These are doubtfully representative of all pedophiles who have contact with children and certainly not representative of pedophiles who confine their eroticism to fantasy and so do not break the law. Finkelhor et al. (1986) observed the following sampling bias in convicted sex offenders: “[They are] a small fraction of all offenders, the most flagrant and repetitive in offending, most socially disadvantaged, and least able to persuade criminal justice authorities to let them off” (p. 138)."

*'''Okami, P. & Goldberg, A. (1992). "Personality Correlates of Pedophilia: Are They Reliable Indicators?," ''Journal of Sex Research'', 29(3), 297-328.'''
*:Okami and Goldberg systematically reviewed the literature and found that pathology has not been reliably associated with pedophilia. They conclude: "The clearest finding of the present review is that relatively little may be stated about the personality or phenomenology of pedophiles [...] Looking at the very scanty data pertaining to pedophilia per se, then, we are unable to report any reliable findings. [...] as Wilson and Cox (1983) and several others have pointed out, the types of affective and social pathologies associated with samples of pedophiles ... seriously beg the question of causal direction. Guilt feelings, feelings of ostracism loneliness, low self-esteem, etc., clearly are exacerbated by, if not sequelae of, the social condition of pedophiles ... and should not be interpreted as representing etiological variables or intrinsic correlates of sexual preference for children. [...] For example, because an unknown percentage of true pedophiles may never act on their impulses or may never be arrested, forensic samples of sex offenders against minors clearly do not represent the population of "pedophiles," and many such persons apparently do not even belong to the population of "pedophiles.""

*'''Whittaker, J. Wilson (2007). "A comparison of neurocognitive functioning in pedophilic child molesters, nonpedophilic child molesters and normal adult males," pp. 35-36. Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Utah.'''
*:"This conceptualization of the role of the frontal lobe as a moderator of sexual behavior is consistent with evidence from neurological injury studies in which frontal lobe damage is associated with generalized hypersexual behavior, rather than the manifestation of new targets of sexual interest (Lesniak, Szymusik, & Chrzanowski, 1972; Sabhesan & Natarjan, 1989; Stein, Solvason, Biggart, & Speigel, 1996; Tavares, 2000). Considered within the context of pedophilia, this suggests that pedophiles with frontal lobe damage may be at greater risk than pedophiles without such damage for acting upon their sexual interests, which increases the likelihood of their committing a crime, and subsequently increases the chance that they will be caught. The authors put forth the supposition that frontal lobe damage in pedophiles may also result in poor planning, difficulties inhibiting perseverative sexual thoughts, low frustration tolerance, inattention and impulsivity. It is argued that these traits would also likely predispose the offender to detection by law enforcement (Cohen et al., 2002; Stone & Thompson, 2001). Consequently, there exists the possibility that neuropsychological weaknesses evidenced in pedophiles may simply be an artifact associated with self-selection bias, such that pedophiles with neurocognitive weaknesses may be more likely to be caught (and therefore available as research participants) than pedophiles with normal neurocognitive function."

*'''Kärgel, C., et al. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1002/hbm.23443 Evidence for superior neurobiological and behavioral inhibitory control abilities in non-offending as compared to offending pedophiles.] ''Human Brain Mapping'', 38(2), 1092–1104.'''
*:"Using a go/nogo paradigm in combination with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) we compared behavioral performance and neural response patterns among three groups of men matched for age and IQ: pedophiles with (N 5 40) and without (N 5 37) a history of hands-on sexual offences against children as well as healthy non-offending controls (N 5 40). As compared to offending pedophiles, non-offending pedophiles exhibited superior inhibitory control as reflected by significantly lower rate of commission errors. Group-by-condition interaction analysis also revealed inhibition-related activation in the left posterior cingulate and the left superior frontal cortex that distinguished between offending and non-offending pedophiles, while no significant differences were found between pedophiles and healthy controls."

==Is pedophilia a mental disorder?==

The received clinical wisdom of pedophilia as mental disorder represents a blurring of moral-legal and medical definitions. There is no scientific basis for classifying pedophilia as a mental disorder when it does not cause marked problems for the pedophile or those who he or she interacts with.

*'''Green, R. (2002). "[http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/BIB/pedophilia.htm Is pedophilia a mental disorder?]," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 31(6), 467-471.'''
*:"Sexual arousal patterns to children are subjectively reported and physiologically demonstrable in a substantial minority of “normal” people. Historically, they have been common and accepted in varying cultures at varying times. This does not mean that they must be accepted culturally and legally today. The question is: Do they constitute a mental illness? Not unless we declare a lot of people in many cultures and in much of the past to be mentally ill. And certainly not by the criteria of DSM."

*'''Tromovitch, P. (2009). "Manufacturing Mental Disorder by Pathologizing Erotic Age Orientation: A Comment on Blanchard et al. (2008)," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 38(3), 328'''
*:"Like masturbation and homosexuality, pedophilia (informally: erotic attraction to prepubescent people) appears to have entered the DSM as a "mental disorder" without any scientific or rational basis."

*'''Szasz, T. (2002). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20090311091733/https://reason.com/news/show/28515.html Sins of the Fathers: Is child molestation a sickness or a crime?]," ''Reason'', Aug/Sep, 2002.'''
*:"Crimes are acts we commit. Diseases are biological processes that happen to our bodies. Mixing these two concepts by defining behaviors we disapprove of as diseases is a bottomless source of confusion and corruption. [...] Geoghan himself has been convicted of molestation in one case and faces trial in another. But if his behavior was caused by "the disease of pedophilia," a condition that not only compelled him to fondle boys but erased his memory of those "diseased acts," how can it be just to punish him? [...] Today virtually any unwanted behavior, from shopaholism and kleptomania to sexaholism and pedophilia, may be defined as a disease whose diagnosis and treatment belong in the province of the medical system. Disease-making thus has become similar to lawmaking. [...] The entire psychiatric literature on what used to be called "sexual perversions" is permeated by the unfounded idea -- always implied, sometimes asserted -- that "abnormal" sexual impulses are harder to resist than "normal" ones."

*'''Haeberle, Erwin J. (2010). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20111109095903/http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/BIB/paraphiliapre.htm Paraphilia - A Prescientific Concept]," Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexology.'''
*:"Anyone who uses a term like 'paraphilia' thereby indirectly claims to know what is right and wrong in human sexual behavior. [...] To us modern sexologists, however, it should be clear by now that the Natural Law doctrine has no place in science. It should therefore be equally clear that the term 'disorder' is no longer acceptable when it comes to something as complex as human sexual behavior. Scientists should leave such moral certainty (better: dogmatism) to the religious authorities. In conclusion: We in sexology should, once and for all, get rid of the moralistic, prescientific terms 'paraphilia' and 'disorder'."

*'''Hinderliter, Andrew C. (2010). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20121212182834/http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/BIB/hinderliter2010.htm Defining Paraphilia: Excluding Exclusion]," ''Open Access Journal of Forensic Psychology'', 2, 241–272.'''
*:The author challenges a number of common arguments for retaining pedophilia in the DSM. "This leaves only the issue of pedophilia. The arguments considered so far render highly tenuous the basis of retaining it in the DSM, but the issue is complicated because there is a legitimate treatment issue involved—people distressed about their attraction to children wanting clinical help in resisting these desires should have access to such help. Whether the current state of this diagnosis is effective for promoting such treatment, especially in non-correctional populations, and how (and if) it could be modified to better support such treatment are important questions deserving further research and consideration (for concerns that these have not been taken seriously in the DSM revision process, see B4U-ACT, 2010). Even if pedophilia is kept in the DSM on the basis of pragmatic arguments about facilitation of treatment, this still leaves serious doubt about whether it is an appropriate diagnosis on which to base indefinite civil commitment."

*'''Malón, Agustin (2012). "Pedophilia: A Diagnosis in Search of a Disorder", ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 41(5), pp. 1083-1097.'''
*:"It has been shown, and many of the parties to the controversy would have no difficulty in agreeing, that some people with pedophilia apparently do not suffer as a result and that, in any event, such distress they may experience is rather the predictable result of conflict with society (Bernard, 1985; Howitt, 1995; Vogt, 2006; Wilson & Cox, 1983). [...]
*:"Are men with pedophilia dangerous? If they are, in what way? Under what circumstances? Does their dangerousness depend on their erotic peculiarity or on their character? [...] Any assertion in this sense may be premature and incomplete, given the limited state of our current knowledge which rests largely on the evidence gleaned from very biased samples of subjects who have been imprisoned for criminal offences (Seto, 2008). And it has been suggested that "it is likely that the criminal offending requires additional individual risk factors separate from the paraphilic interest per se" (Langstrom, 2009, p. 2). [...]
*:"In this sense, finally, we should consider the possibility of conceptualizing pedophilia as a very complex phenomenon that, contrary to other paraphilias, it is oriented towards another person and not to objects or animals, parts of the body or any kind of act. Its essence does not reside in exploitation, assault or harm to others, and some pedophiles look also for the child's friendship and love ([[Rudiger Lautmann|Lautmann]], 1994; Li, 1990; Schmidt, 2002; Seto, 2012). Regardless of the intense feelings of rejection that some of its manifestations generate in most of us, to conceptualize and discuss this condition in the same category with the compulsive necessity to show one's genitals to an unsuspecting stranger is contributing to an inadequate, ineffective, and confusing theory of human eroticism and its problems."

==Excerpt Gallery Library==

The gallery of graphics on characteristics contains some useful information on the myth of psychopathy.

{{Template:EGLPHC}}

==References==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Research on Minor Attraction]]

Ray Blanchard

2026-09-11T16:48:35Z

Thorn:

__NOTOC__ {{Template:Ac}} '''Ray Blanchard''' is a psychologist and sexologist best known for his influential and often controversial research on sexual orientation, gender dysphoria, paraphilias, and patterns of sexual arousal. He spent much of his career at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), where he headed Clinical Sexology Services from 1995 to 2010, and is currently a status-only Full Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.<ref>[https://psychiatry.utoronto.ca/faculty/ray-blanchard University of Toronto faculty profile]</ref> Blanchard also served as president of the International Academy of Sex Research and was a member of the DSM-5 Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group, including chairing its Paraphilias Subworkgroup.

== Impact on Research Concerning MAP ==

He investigated possible associations between pedophilia and non-right-handedness, reduced stature, childhood accidents involving loss of consciousness, and possible neurological or developmental factors. These studies helped advance hypotheses about neurodevelopmental correlates, but their findings were based largely on referred male samples and should not be treated as establishing that brain injury, handedness, stature, or low IQ causes pedophilic interest. Questions have also been raised about the generalizability of findings drawn from unrepresentative forensic populations. <ref name="Blanchard2007"> Blanchard, Ray; Kolla, Nathan J.; Cantor, James M.; Klassen, Philip E.; Dickey, Robert; Kuban, Michael E.; and Blak, Thomas (2007). "IQ, Handedness, and Pedophilia in Adult Male Patients Stratified by Referral Source," Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 19(3), 285-309.</ref> <ref>Blanchard, R., Christensen, B.K., Strong, S.M. et al. Retrospective Self-Reports of Childhood Accidents Causing Unconsciousness in Phallometrically Diagnosed Pedophiles. Arch Sex Behav 31, 511–526 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020659331965 </ref>

He was the one who popularized [[Hebephilia|hebephilia]] and [[Teleiophilia|teleiophilia]] terms. Blanchard argued that pedophilia and hebephilia might be related conditions differing mainly by degree rather than by kind. He proposed that the DSM-5 include a combined category, sometimes described as ''pedohebephilic disorder''.<ref>Blanchard, R., Lykins, A. D., Wherrett, D., Kuban, M. E., Cantor, J. M., Blak, T., Dickey, R., & Klassen, P. E. (2009). "Pedophilia, Hebephilia, and the DSM-V," Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38(3), 335-350.</ref> <ref>[https://blog.atsa.com/2012/01/ A Guest Blog by DSM-5 Paraphilias Subworkgroup Chair Dr. Ray Blanchard on Proposed Criteria for Pedophilic Disorder]</ref> The proposal was influential in the DSM revision debate but was not adopted.

Despite his partly pathologizing contribution, Ray Blanchard also played an important role in depathologization of paraphilias in general. Blanchard defended a distinction between [[Paraphilia|paraphilia]] and paraphilic disorder. This distinction influenced the broader DSM-5 discussion.<ref>Blanchard R (April 2010). "The DSM diagnostic criteria for pedophilia". Arch Sex Behav. 39 (2): 304–16.</ref> Also, he considered pedophilia a sexual orientation. Initially, that term was included in the DSM, but pressure groups forced the APA to change the word "orientation" to "interest" in the online copy.

== References ==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Anti-Pedophile culture]][[Category:Hysteria]][[Category:Research]][[Category:Research: Broader Perspectives]][[Category:People]][[Category:People: Academics]][[Category:People: Popular Authors]]
[[Category:History & Events: Canadian]][[Category:History & Events: Moral controversies]]

Ray Blanchard

2026-09-11T16:40:49Z

Thorn: Created page with "'''Ray Blanchard''' is a psychologist and sexologist best known for his influential and often controversial research on sexual orientation, gender dysphoria, paraphilias, and patterns of sexual arousal. He spent much of his career at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), where he headed Clinical Sexology Services from 1995 to 2010, and is currently a status-only Full Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Blanchard is particularly ass..."

'''Ray Blanchard''' is a psychologist and sexologist best known for his influential and often controversial research on sexual orientation, gender dysphoria, paraphilias, and patterns of sexual arousal. He spent much of his career at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), where he headed Clinical Sexology Services from 1995 to 2010, and is currently a status-only Full Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

Blanchard is particularly associated with research on the fraternal birth order effect in male homosexuality and the maternal immune hypothesis proposed to explain it. He also introduced the term autogynephilia and developed a typology of male gender dysphoria based partly on sexual orientation and patterns of erotic arousal—a theory that has generated substantial scientific and public debate.

Blanchard also served as president of the International Academy of Sex Research and was a member of the DSM-5 Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group, including chairing its Paraphilias Subworkgroup.

== Impact on Research Concerning MAP ==

He investigated possible associations between pedophilia and non-right-handedness, reduced stature, childhood accidents involving loss of consciousness, and possible neurological or developmental factors. These studies helped advance hypotheses about neurodevelopmental correlates, but their findings were based largely on referred male samples and should not be treated as establishing that brain injury, handedness, stature, or low IQ causes pedophilic interest. Questions have also been raised about the generalizability of findings drawn from unrepresentative forensic populations. <ref name="Blanchard2007"> Blanchard, Ray; Kolla, Nathan J.; Cantor, James M.; Klassen, Philip E.; Dickey, Robert; Kuban, Michael E.; and Blak, Thomas (2007). "IQ, Handedness, and Pedophilia in Adult Male Patients Stratified by Referral Source," Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 19(3), 285-309.</ref> <ref>Blanchard, R., Christensen, B.K., Strong, S.M. et al. Retrospective Self-Reports of Childhood Accidents Causing Unconsciousness in Phallometrically Diagnosed Pedophiles. Arch Sex Behav 31, 511–526 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020659331965 </ref>

He was the one who popularized hebephilia and teleiophilia terms. Blanchard argued that pedophilia and hebephilia might be related conditions differing mainly by degree rather than by kind. He proposed that the DSM-5 include a combined category, sometimes described as **pedohebephilic disorder**.<ref>Blanchard, R., Lykins, A. D., Wherrett, D., Kuban, M. E., Cantor, J. M., Blak, T., Dickey, R., & Klassen, P. E. (2009). "Pedophilia, Hebephilia, and the DSM-V," Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38(3), 335-350.</ref> <ref>[https://blog.atsa.com/2012/01/ A Guest Blog by DSM-5 Paraphilias Subworkgroup Chair Dr. Ray Blanchard on Proposed Criteria for Pedophilic Disorder]</ref> The proposal was influential in the DSM revision debate but was not adopted.

Despite his partly pathologizing contribution, Ray Blanchard also made impact in depathologization of paraphilias in general. Blanchard defended a distinction between paraphilia and paraphilic disorder. This distinction influenced the broader DSM-5 discussion.<ref>Blanchard R (April 2010). "The DSM diagnostic criteria for pedophilia". Arch Sex Behav. 39 (2): 304–16.</ref>
Also, he considered pedophilia a sexual orientation. Initially, that term was included in the DSM, but pressure groups forced the APA to change the word "orientation" to "interest" in the online copy.

Research: Psychopathy and abnormal psychology

2026-09-10T15:14:41Z

Thorn:

__NOTOC__{{research}}
Non-criminal populations of pedophiles do not exhibit increased levels of psychopathy or other pathologies,<ref>[https://www.b4uact.org/know-the-facts/ B4U-ACT research summary]</ref> nor less typical psychological characteristics such as left-handedness or paraphilia. One study even found lower levels of psychopathology.

Regarding MAPs, we are at a stage similar to homosexuality in the 1940s, 50s and 60s and for similar reasons.<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-mental-science/article/abs/psychometric-aspects-of-homosexuality/C7FC17220BD07E5F87EC545F600BA58C Grygier, T. (1957). Psychometric Aspects of Homosexuality. Journal of Mental Science, 103(432), 514-526.]</ref><ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1136/bmj.2.4532.795-b AHRENFELDT RH. Homosexuality and sexual trauma. British Medical Journal. 1947 Nov;2(4532):795. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.2.4532.795-b]</ref><ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1176/ajp.112.8.584 GLUECK, B. C. (1956). PSYCHODYNAMIC PATTERNS IN THE HOMOSEXUAL SEX OFFENDER. American Journal of Psychiatry, 112(8), 584–590.]</ref><ref>STAFFORD-CLARK D. The medico-legal problem of homosexuality. The Medical Press. 1947 Sep;218(10):220-222. PMID: 20257970.</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/male-homosexual/z4njgwx Male Homosexual: Archive from the BBC in which homosexuals speak candidly of their "condition" in 1965]</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/24/archives/what-we-dont-know-about-homosexuality-if-it-isnt-an-illness-what-is.html If it isn't an illness, what is it?]</ref> As the APA now admit:

:''"until the 1950's, most homosexual persons studied by psychologists and others were prisoners or mental patients, so it was easy to conclude that these were linked. Evelyn Hooker, a brave psychologist at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), began undoing this belief in the early 1950s. A gay former student told her, "Evelyn, it is your scientific duty to study men like me." Hooker agreed, "He's right — we know nothing about them." (cited in Burr, 1993). When she told the psychiatry department chair she wanted to study normal homosexuals, he replied, "There is no such person!" (Hooker, 1993, p. 450)."''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20191215112657/https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/ptn/2018/05/society-accept-homosexuality APA - How psychology has helped society accept homosexuality] See also [https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbtq/mental-health APA - Being Gay Is Just as Healthy as Being Straight] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20200807004237/http://williamapercy.com/wiki/index.php?title=Evelyn_Hooker mention of Hooker's study] on williamapercy.com)</ref>

==Associated characteristics==

:''For the discredited "lack of intelligence" theory based upon unrepresentative '''criminal''' sampling, see [[Research: Offender characteristics|Offender Characteristics]].''

*'''Goudreault, M. (2017). ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20211004023954/https://papyrus.bib.umontreal.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1866/19870/Goudreault_Marc-Andre_2017_essai_doctoral.pdf?sequence=2 Study of the psychological and physiological characteristics of a community sample of pedophiles]''. Thesis for Doctorate in clinical psychology.
*:NewgonWiki: Goudreault compared a community sample of 190 male pedophiles with a control group composed of 151 males from the general population. Goudreault found that:
*:"Differences between pedophiles and controls reached statistical significance for psychopathic traits, with pedophiles displaying fewer psychopathic traits compared to controls. These results contradict the findings of the large majority of studies using forensic and clinical samples of pedophiles."

*'''Strassberg et al. (2012). ''[https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.chiabu.2011.09.018 Psychopathy among pedophilic and nonpedophilic child molesters]''. Child Abuse & Neglect 36 (2012) 379–382.
*:"'''Objective:''' Among men who commit sexual offenses against children, at least 2 distinct groups can be identified on the basis of the age of the primary targets of their sexual interest; pedophiles and nonpedophiles.
*:'''Method:''' In the present report, across 2 independent samples of both types of child molesters as well as controls, a total of 104 men (53 pedophilic and 51 nonpedophilic) who had sexually offended against a child age 13 or younger were compared to each other (and to 49 non-sex offender controls) on psychopathy as assessed by the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI).
*:'''Results:''' In both samples of child molesters, the nonpedophiles scored as significantly more psychopathic than the pedophiles."

*'''Wilson, Glenn & Cox, David (1983). ''[http://www.ipce.info/host/wilson_83/index.htm The Child-Lovers: A Study of Paedophiles in Society]''. London: Peter Owen Publishers. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20130425190214/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Child-Lovers%20-%20A%20Study%20of%20Paedophiles%20in%20Society.pdf webarchive copy])
*:"The psychoticism score of the paedophiles [in our study] is slightly elevated compared with controls, but not drastically so, and certainly not to the extent that they could be called pathological as a group. There are several occupational groups listed in the Manual that have P[sychoticism] scores of approximately the same order, including actors, apprentices, architects, doctors, drivers, students and welfare officers, none of which could be regarded as clinically psychotic as a whole. Thus, there is no reason on the basis of these results to suppose that men with paedophile sexual preferences are necessarily marked by any exceptional degree of thought disorder. [...]
*:The neuroticism scores of the paedophiles are again slightly higher than controls but not to an extent that would justify describing them as clinically abnormal. Among groups of men with similar N[euroticism] scores according to the Manual are actors, apprentices, machinists and students, and a great many of the female groups given in the Manual show N scores that are higher than these male paedophiles. [...]
*:Perhaps the most striking thing about these results is how normal the paedophiles appear to be according to their scores on these major personality dimensions - particularly the two that are most clinically relevant (N[euroticism] and P[sychoticism]). The only marked characteristic of the PIE [Paedophile Information Exchange] members with respect to these major dimensions is their tendency to introversion, and this in itself is not usually thought of as pathological. Furthermore, the fact that the Lie Scale scores of the paedophiles are not distinguishable from those of controls would suggest that, overall, they were not bent on creating an artificially favourable impression on the questionnaire, but were giving an honest and accurate self-report. [...]
*:Obsessionality, as indicated by this particular item from the EPQ does not seem to be characteristic of the paedophiles; in fact, the proportion endorsing this item is lower than that for controls. [...]
*:Our results are also consistent with previous findings in failing to discover any obvious links between paedophilia and aggressive or psychotic symptoms (Quinsey, 1977).[...]
*:Finally, our research revealed that the fantasies of paedophile men have a lot in common with those of normal men[...] When all these factors are considered it is clear that the sexual preferences of the paedophile are not so far removed from those of the normal man as they might at first appear."

*'''Schuler, M. et al (2019). "[https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/abn-abn0000412.pdf Empathy in pedophilia and sexual offending against children: A multifaceted approach]," ''Journal of Abnormal Psychology'', 128(5), 453–464.'''
*:"Participants included 85 pedophilic men who committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P+CSO), 72 pedophilic men who never committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P−CSO), and 128 nonoffending teleiophilic male controls (TC). Several affective and cognitive aspects of empathy were assessed using the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Whereas in self-reports (IRI) P+CSO scored lower than TC (P−CSO intermediate) in cognitive perspective-taking abilities, a performance-based measure (MET) revealed evidence for a better differentiation of emotional states in P−CSO as compared with P+CSO (TC intermediate). In addition, P+CSO and P−CSO showed significantly higher affective resonance while observing children (MET), which was paralleled by higher self-reported levels of personal distress in social situations (IRI). The results indicate evidence for higher general affective empathic resonance to children in pedophilic men but superior cognitive empathy abilities in nonoffending pedophiles only, which may act as a protective factor in the prevention of sexual offending."

*'''Berlin, F. S. (2000). "[http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=174135 Treatments to change sexual orientation]," ''The American Journal of Psychiatry'', 157, 5.'''
*:"Individuals whose sexual orientation is directed toward children manifest the same range of personality, temperamental, and character traits as individuals whose sexual orientation is directed towards adults. A recent Journal article documented that the vast majority of individuals with pedophilia showed no evidence of either antisocial or narcissistic personality disorder."

*'''Whittaker, J. Wilson (2007). "A comparison of neurocognitive functioning in pedophilic child molesters, nonpedophilic child molesters and normal adult males," pp. 7-8. Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Utah.'''
*:"Post hoc testing revealed significantly greater psychopathy among nonpedophilic child molesters in comparison to pedophiles on the Psychopathic Deviate Scale (''p'' = .026), and a trend in the regard to the group differences on the Mac-R that suggested nonpedophilic offenders had more severe scores on the Mac-R than did pedophiles. Scores for [community sample] controls fell in between the two groups in regard to psychopathy on both the PDS and the Mac-R (see Table 3). These differences suggest that psychopathic traits were more prevalent among nonpedophilic child molesters (and possibly controls) than among pedophiles. At first blush, this finding appears inconsistent with much of the current literature on pedophiles, who have often been characterized as largely psychopathic (Dorr, 1998; Firestone, Bradford, Greenberg & Serran, 2000). However, there are at least two possible explanations for this discrepancy. First, considering the percentage of our controls with reported substance abuse histories (35%), and who had been incarcerated (26%) (national average is 4.1%) (US Census Bureau, 2005), there is a clear indication that the control group was not an accurate representation of the "normal" population, possibly being more psychopathic than would be expected. Second, pedophiles may actually be less psychopathic than formerly believed. In the previous studies of psychopathy in pedophilia (Dorr, 1998, 2000; Firestone, Bradford, Greenberg & Serran, 2000; Porter et al., 2000) the researchers failed to divide child molesters into pedophilic and nonpedophilic groups. As a consequence, psychopathy may have been a phenomenon factually associated with nonpedophilic offenders and wrongly associated with pedophiles."

[[File:Suchy table.png|thumb|450px|From Suchy et al, 2009]]

*'''Suchy, Yana; Whittaker, Wilson J.; Strassberg, Donald S.; Eastvold, Angela (2009). "Facial and Prosodic Affect Recognition Among Pedophilic and Nonpedophilic Criminal Child Molesters," ''Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment'', 21(1), 93-110.'''
*:NewgonWiki: Pedophilic child molesters scored significantly lower (350.72) on a Psychopathic Symptom Inventory than both non-pedophilic child molesters (382.91) and community controls (372.33).

*'''Schiffer, Boris and Vonlaufen, Corinne (2011). "Executive Dysfunctions in Pedophilic and Nonpedophilic Child Molesters", ''The Journal of Sexual Medicine'', 8(7), pp. 1975-1984.'''
*:"Results indicate that pedophilic child molesters exhibited less performance deficits in cognitive functioning than nonpedophilic child molesters. Compared to healthy controls and nonsexual offenders, the pedophilic child molesters only showed executive dysfunction concerning response inhibition, whereas the nonpedophilic child molesters revealed more severe dysfunction, especially on tasks associated with cognitive flexibility and verbal memory. [...]
*:"Both the nonpedophilic child molesters and the nonsexual offenders showed significant performance deficits on both subtasks of the verbal memory task (immediate and delayed recall) compared to healthy controls, whereas pedophilic child molesters did not. As previous studies could show that deficits in verbal memory were associated with aggressive behavior, it seems reasonable that pedophilic child molesters showed no or less deficits on this task. In the end, pedophilic child molesters were rather characterized by a nonviolent offense style, whereas nonpedophilic child molesters and nonsexual offenders revealed stronger aggressive tendencies through their offenses. [...]
*:"We found that nonpedophilic child molesters showed the worst performance of all four groups in all tested cognitive functions even though not all reached significance regarding group comparison statistics. Nevertheless, we found that different types of offenders are characterized by different deficit profiles among the tested executive functions. Our results support the hypothesis that nonpedophilic child molesters show more comprehensive performance deficits in executive functions than pedophilic child molesters. However, a majority of the neuropsychological deficits, in particular those associated with verbal (memory) skills, seem to be associated with criminality or violence rather than pedophilia."

*'''Ponseti, J. et al. (2018). "[https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645/full Decoding Pedophilia: Increased Anterior Insula Response to Infant Animal Pictures]," ''Frontiers in Human Neuroscience'', 23 January 2018.'''
*:"In order to study nurturing processing independent from sexual processing we exposed our pedophilic and teleiophilic subjects during an fMRI-session to pictures of infant and adult animals because these images were not perceived as sexually arousing. We found an increased neural response to pictures of infant animals in pedophiles. [...] Taken together, the pedophilic subjects of the present study showed an over-responding to infant animal stimuli in a network of brain regions that contribute to motivating behaviors. This is in accordance with our hypothesis that nurturing stimuli receive additional processing resources in pedophiles. It is of interest that some of the areas of increased response to infant animals are related to the mating domain. The left anterior insula, being a crucial area of nurturing processing, was also frequently found to be activated in sexual brain studies (Stoleru et al., 2012). Furthermore, the left anterior insula (as well as the SMA) is a constituent of the human attachment system, thereby enabling both nurturing and pair-bonding (Feldman, 2016). Based on both observations, (i) the over-responding to nurturing stimuli in various motivational areas and (ii) the functional overlap of nurturing and sexual processing of the involved left anterior insula a tentative and simple model of pedophilia could be as follows: Nurturing stimuli receive additional processing resources by mating-circuits. In case of human infant stimuli this leads to a sexual connotation of infant stimuli. This idea is supported by the suggestion that nurturing and pair-bonding are two closely inter-related domains in humans at the level of physiological functions, brain processing, and involved neuropeptides (Feldman, 2016). Interestingly, more than two decades ago, the Austrian ethologist Eibl-Eibesfeldt expressed a similar view suggesting that pedophilia might in some cases be based on an “eroticization of parental love” (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1990)."

*'''Schnellbächer, G.J., Dukart, J., Hansen, J.Y. et al. (2023) [https://www.nature.com/articles/s44220-023-00105-0 Aberrant brain activity in pedophilia links to receptor distribution, gene expression, and behavior.] ''Nat. Mental Health 1'', 615–622 .doi:10.1038/s44220-023-00105-0'''
*:"Here, we provide robust meta-analytic evidence that brain activity is not generally altered in pedophilia but deviates specifically in response to sexual stimuli."

*'''Mundy, C. L. (2020). [https://open.library.ubc.ca/soa/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0394716 Shifting the focus : a multimethod exploration of resiliency among child-attracted persons] (T). ''University of British Columbia''.'''
::"[C]hild-attracted persons in my sample [n=116] exhibited higher levels of honesty-humility, agreeableness, and altruism than the university students. Conceptually, this makes sense, as child-attracted persons who exhibit pro-social personality characteristics, such as honesty-humility, are likely more resilient to engaging in sexual offending behaviours due to a higher level of morality."

*'''Gillespie, S. (2022). [https://www.proquest.com/openview/ba920465eed71c360408571550ba3f4b/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y Sexual Fantasies and Self-Regulation in a Community Sample of People with Sexual Fantasies and/or Interest Involving Minors] [Ph.D. Thesis]'''
::"Some searchers have discovered neurological differences of a prenatal origin in those reporting pedophilic arousal pattern, as well as other neurocognitive differences suggesting that the development of minor attraction could have biological roots (Cantor et al., 2016). Further study has found that executive functioning and inhibitory control are impaired in pedophilic sexual offenders, but these impairments were not found in non-offending pedophiles or non-offending nonpedophilic controls (Massau et al., 2017; Ristow et al., 2019). These researchers suggest that the neurocognitive difference previous research associated with pedophilia actually may be more associated with pedophiles who have sexually offended against a child as the relationship disappears when controlling for sexual offense history. "

===So-called "perturbation" theory===

[[James Cantor]], Ray Blanchard and others have since 2002,<ref>Blanchard, R., Christensen, B.K., Strong, S.M. et al. [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1020659331965 Retrospective Self-Reports of Childhood Accidents Causing Unconsciousness in Phallometrically Diagnosed Pedophiles]. Arch Sex Behav 31, 511–526 (2002). doi:10.1023/A:1020659331965</ref> made various assertions re. brain functioning/structure (linked to early brain traumas), left handedness and reduced stature in "pedophiles" or "pedohebephiles" identified within unrepresentative criminal samples. These theories tend to fall apart when researchers look at broader samples.

*'''Joyal, C.C. (2022). [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christian-Joyal/publication/356789483_The_neuroanatomical_bases_of_pedophilia_and_the_importance_of_distinguishing_genuine_vs_acquired_types_A_systematic_review_Invited_paper/links/61ad7a10ca2d401f27cafe81/The-neuroanatomical-bases-of-pedophilia-and-the-importance-of-distinguishing-genuine-vs-acquired-types-A-systematic-review-Invited-paper.pdf The neuroanatomical bases of pedophilia and the importance of distinguishing genuine vs. acquired types: A systematic review] ''Sexual Offending: Theory, Research, Prevention'', DOI: 10.23668/psycharchives.5571'''
*:“Three main neurobiological theories currently attempt to explain pedophilic offending (not to be confounded with nonoffending pedophilia): the frontal-dysexecutive model, the temporal-limbic model, and the dual-dysfunctional theory (Dillien et al., 2020). [...] As stressed by a growing number of authors, however, these theories explain hypersexuality and disinhibition, but not pedophilic interests per se (Caffo et al., 2021; Jordan et al., 2020; Kruger & Kneer, 2021). In view of the present results, the same conclusion can be drawn about acquired pedophilia. Interestingly, a recent brain imaging meta-analysis based on 436 men with a pedophilic disorder failed to find any structural difference compared with 449 controls ([https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11682-020-00442-z Scarpazza et al., 2021]). Therefore, anomalies of fronto-temporal regions appear to be more closely associated with child sexual abuse (acting out) than pedophilia ([https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.avb.2020.101406 Dillien et al., 2020]).”

*'''Jahnke et al. (2021): [https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10508-021-02228-w.pdf Neurodevelopmental Differences, Pedohebephilia, and Sexual Offending: Findings from Two Online Surveys.]''Archives of Sexual Behavior'' (Preprint).'''
*:"The neurodevelopmental theory of pedohebephilia states that sexual interests in children arise from early neurodevelopmental perturbations, as, for example, evidenced by increased non-right-handedness, more childhood head injuries, and reduced intelligence and height. As corroborating evidence largely rests on samples of convicted men, we conducted online surveys among German-speaking (Study 1, N = 199) and English-speaking men (Study 2, N = 632), specifically targeting community members with pedohebephilic or teleiophilic interests. Although we detected theoretically meaningful sexual interest patterns in an embedded viewing time task, we could not detect expected neurodevelopmental differences between teleiophilic and pedohebephilic men in any of the two studies. Strikingly, pedohebephilic men who reported convictions for sexual offences emerged as smaller and less intelligent than pedohebephilic men without convictions in Study 2."

*'''Polisois-Keating, A., & Joyal, C. C. (2013). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1007/s10508-013-0198-6 Functional Neuroimaging of Sexual Arousal: A Preliminary Meta-Analysis Comparing Pedophilic to Non-Pedophilic Men.] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 42(7), 1111–1113.'''
*:"The goal of this preliminary study was to explore whether the nature and magnitude of regional brain activation associated with sexual arousal differed between pedophilic and non-pedophilic men when each group was exposed to their preferential sexual stimuli. Although based on only 123 participants, the pattern of activation did not seem to differ significantly between the groups. All activated brain regions associated with sexual arousal in the non-pedophilic group were also found in the pedophilic group and no significant differences emerged between the groups; however, the number of significant foci was higher in the pedophilic group."

*'''Stein, Clara C., Julian Packheiser, and Marietta Papadatou-Pastou (2023). [https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/4vtd8 Meta-analysis on the association between handedness and pedophilia] Preprint.'''
*:"Pedophilia is a sexual preference disorder that has been linked to neurodevelopmental alterations in diagnosed individuals. One common biomarker for atypical neurodevelopment are elevated levels of atypical handedness as individuals with several neurodevelopmental disorders show increased levels of left or mixed hand preference. Few primary studies have indicated that atypical handedness could also be more prevalent in pedophilia. However, individual studies are prone to sampling biases and a comprehensive synthesis of the literature on this topic is still missing. In this pre-registered study, we performed a meta-analysis on k = 13 studies that were searched in PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar (until January 2023). These 13 studies measured hand preference in n = 1194 individuals with pedophilia and n = 5648 controls. Contrasting previous evidence from individual research reports, we found evidence against higher rates of atypical handedness irrespective of handedness classification using frequentist and robust Bayesian meta-analyses. There was no evidence of publication bias across analyses. These results suggest that atypical handedness is not suited to serve as a biomarker for pedophilia."

=== Adverse childhood ===

Some studies indicate a link between adverse childhood (''nonsexual'') experiences and attraction to minors, although cause and effect has not been established by these correlational studies. Assuming there is causality, it should be noted that what happens as a result of adverse events may not be a malfunction, but an [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Other_relevant_information|evolutionarily conditioned adaptation]].
To see in detail how childhood ''sexual'' experience relates to later attraction, see the section [[Research:_Offender_characteristics#Abused-abuser_relationship|abused-abuser relationship]]

*'''Marx CM, Tibubos AN, Brähler E, Beutel ME. Experienced childhood maltreatment in a sample of pedophiles: comparisons with patients of a psychosomatic outpatient clinic and the general population. J Sex Med. 2020;17:985–93. doi:10. 1016/j.jsxm.2020.01.019.'''
*:“Emotional and sexual abuse was associated with pedophilic sexual preference.” [...] “Our results speak to a burdened and stressful childhood of patients with pedophilia; a fantasized, sexualized world in an abusive and neglecting childhood may function as a refuge and lead to “psychic withdrawal”.”

*'''Jahnke S., Schmidt, A.F., Hoyer, J. (2022). [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10790632221098341 Pedohebephilia and Perceived Non-coercive Childhood Sexual Experiences: Two Non-matched Case-Control Studies]. ''Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment'', DOI:10.1177/10790632221098341.'''
*:"[C]onviction status for sexual offenses among pedohebephilic men was linked to higher rates of [sexual experiences], physical neglect, and physical abuse."
*: “While Study 1 and 2 found differences between teleiophilic and pedohebephilic men regarding instances of different types of sexual and nonsexual maltreatment, these were usually small or, as in the case of physical neglect or abuse in Study 2, even in the opposite direction from what was expected (and again small). Hence, in the present studies, pedohebephilic men’s early adverse family experiences did not differ markedly from those of teleiophilic men”

*'''McPhail, I.V. (2024) “[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11930-023-00381-y The Subjective Experience of Individuals with Pedohebephilic Interest]”, ''Current Sexual Health Reports'' 16, DOI: 10.1007/s11930-023-00381-y'''
*:from the [https://www.b4uact.org/b4qr/vol4/spring2024/ B4QR] description of the article:
*:"Notably, studies have found higher rates of childhood adversities, including sexual abuse, among MAPs compared to the general population. [...] The biogenic pathway suggests early markers of developmental issues, such as young parental age at birth, lower parental education, parental criminality, and substance use, predict attraction to minors in adulthood. Some studies associate physical markers, including higher rates of congenital malformations, low Apgar scores, low birth weight, and being small for gestational age, with behavioral proxies for attraction to minors. However, McPhail notes that other studies have not found such correlations."

===Adult-Adult relationships of MAPs===

*'''Mundy, C., Lewis, H., & Cioe J. (2021). [https://psyarxiv.com/b3uhn/ "Romantic and Sexual Relationships with Adult Partners Among Pedohebephilic Men,"] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', Preprint.'''
*:[[B4U-ACT]] reviewer: "Overall, the researchers concluded that minor-attracted adults’ reasons for having or seeking romantic and sexual relationships with adults appear to parallel those of other sexual minority groups according to the exclusivity of their attraction to minors. Motivations of MAPs whose attractions are less exclusive appear similar to those of heterosexual individuals and sexual minority women, possibly due to a higher likelihood of falling in love with their partners. The motivations of those who are more exclusively attracted to minors appear to be similar to those of asexual adults; namely, to increase intimacy and achieve a sense of satisfaction in their relationships."

===Multiple paraphilias?===
Some studies found correlations between minor attraction and other "paraphilias".
*'''McPhail, I.V. (2024) “[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11930-023-00381-y The Subjective Experience of Individuals with Pedohebephilic Interest]”, ''Current Sexual Health Reports'' 16, DOI: 10.1007/s11930-023-00381-y'''
*:"Individuals who report pedohebephilic interests are also more likely to report other paraphilias, such as scatologia, zoophilia, sadism, urophilia, frotteurism, exhibitionism, and voyeurism [46, 89, 90]."

However other paraphilias may tend to occur together more consistently.
*'''Fedora O., Reddon J. R., Morrison J. W., Fedora S. K., Pascoe, H., & Yeudall, L. T. (1992). "Sadism and other paraphilias in normal controls and aggressive and nonaggressive sex offenders," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 21(1), 1-15.'''
*:"Pedophilia had a low incidence of co-occurrence with other paraphilias whereas sadism, transvestism, fetishism, and the courtship disorder paraphilias had a high incidence of co-occurrence. [...] These results suggest that pedophilia occurred alone much more frequently than did the other paraphilias." [Of subjects who responded most to children, 90.9% of non-offenders, 84.7% of sexually non-aggressive offenders, and 50% of sexually aggressive offenders showed no other paraphilia.]

*'''Marshall, W. L., & Eccles, A. (1991). "Issues in clinical practice with sex offenders," ''Journal of Interpersonal Violence'', 6, 69-70.'''
*:"Related to the issue of diagnosis is the claim that sex offenders have multiple paraphilias (Abel & Rouleau, 1990). This particular study is worth considering in a bit more detail as its influence has been quite substantial, so much that the results are frequently cited as gospel. For instance, ''DSM III-R'' states that "people with a Paraphilia commonly suffer from several varieties: in clinical settings that specialize in the treatment of Paraphilias, people with these disorders have an average of from three to four different Paraphilias" (American Psychiatric Association, 1987, p. 280). Abel, Becker, Cunningham-Rathner, Mittelman, and Rouleau (1988) elicited self-reports from 561 subjects, some of whom reported engaging in more than one type of deviant sexual act. However, when we sum the number of subjects listed in their table, we find 1156 men, not just the original 561, are listed over the various categories. Our guess is that the way in which each patient's problems were tallied accounts for this discrepancy. It seems that when a man reported more than one deviant act (e.g., he reported raping an adult female and molesting a young boy) he was counted twice (i.e., once as a rapist with an extra deviance and once as a child molester with an extra deviance). This, of course, would artificially inflate the apparent number of multiple paraphiliacs, particularly when we note that some of Abel's patients reported 10 or more paraphilias. In addition, it is not clear what criteria were employed to decide that an extra deviance was present. Abel et al. (1988) use the term "multiple paraphilia" as if to imply that they strictly adhered to the ''DSM'' diagnostic criteria, and yet they could not have, because rape does not appear in the diagnostic manual. If a 50-year-old man reported that when he was a teenager he had once or twice engaged in a deviant act other than the one for which he was referred, would this count as an additional paraphilia? If so this would inflate the number of apparent multiple paraphiliacs in a way that would seem somewhat misleading."

==Limitations of criminal studies==
Characteristics of pedophiles are often found to be characteristics of the criminal populations used for the purpose of providing a sample. As mentioned above, these are similar to the methodological problems that plagued early studies of homosexuals.
*'''Green, R. (2002). "[https://www.ipce.info/library_2/files/green_asb_2002.html Is pedophilia a mental disorder?]," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 31(6), 467-471.'''
*:"A study of general personality features and concurrent psychopathology of pedophiles is hampered by sampling bias. Nearly all studies involve prisoners or those convicted of a criminal offence. These are doubtfully representative of all pedophiles who have contact with children and certainly not representative of pedophiles who confine their eroticism to fantasy and so do not break the law. Finkelhor et al. (1986) observed the following sampling bias in convicted sex offenders: “[They are] a small fraction of all offenders, the most flagrant and repetitive in offending, most socially disadvantaged, and least able to persuade criminal justice authorities to let them off” (p. 138)."

*'''Okami, P. & Goldberg, A. (1992). "Personality Correlates of Pedophilia: Are They Reliable Indicators?," ''Journal of Sex Research'', 29(3), 297-328.'''
*:Okami and Goldberg systematically reviewed the literature and found that pathology has not been reliably associated with pedophilia. They conclude: "The clearest finding of the present review is that relatively little may be stated about the personality or phenomenology of pedophiles [...] Looking at the very scanty data pertaining to pedophilia per se, then, we are unable to report any reliable findings. [...] as Wilson and Cox (1983) and several others have pointed out, the types of affective and social pathologies associated with samples of pedophiles ... seriously beg the question of causal direction. Guilt feelings, feelings of ostracism loneliness, low self-esteem, etc., clearly are exacerbated by, if not sequelae of, the social condition of pedophiles ... and should not be interpreted as representing etiological variables or intrinsic correlates of sexual preference for children. [...] For example, because an unknown percentage of true pedophiles may never act on their impulses or may never be arrested, forensic samples of sex offenders against minors clearly do not represent the population of "pedophiles," and many such persons apparently do not even belong to the population of "pedophiles.""

*'''Whittaker, J. Wilson (2007). "A comparison of neurocognitive functioning in pedophilic child molesters, nonpedophilic child molesters and normal adult males," pp. 35-36. Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Utah.'''
*:"This conceptualization of the role of the frontal lobe as a moderator of sexual behavior is consistent with evidence from neurological injury studies in which frontal lobe damage is associated with generalized hypersexual behavior, rather than the manifestation of new targets of sexual interest (Lesniak, Szymusik, & Chrzanowski, 1972; Sabhesan & Natarjan, 1989; Stein, Solvason, Biggart, & Speigel, 1996; Tavares, 2000). Considered within the context of pedophilia, this suggests that pedophiles with frontal lobe damage may be at greater risk than pedophiles without such damage for acting upon their sexual interests, which increases the likelihood of their committing a crime, and subsequently increases the chance that they will be caught. The authors put forth the supposition that frontal lobe damage in pedophiles may also result in poor planning, difficulties inhibiting perseverative sexual thoughts, low frustration tolerance, inattention and impulsivity. It is argued that these traits would also likely predispose the offender to detection by law enforcement (Cohen et al., 2002; Stone & Thompson, 2001). Consequently, there exists the possibility that neuropsychological weaknesses evidenced in pedophiles may simply be an artifact associated with self-selection bias, such that pedophiles with neurocognitive weaknesses may be more likely to be caught (and therefore available as research participants) than pedophiles with normal neurocognitive function."

*'''Kärgel, C., et al. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1002/hbm.23443 Evidence for superior neurobiological and behavioral inhibitory control abilities in non-offending as compared to offending pedophiles.] ''Human Brain Mapping'', 38(2), 1092–1104.'''
*:"Using a go/nogo paradigm in combination with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) we compared behavioral performance and neural response patterns among three groups of men matched for age and IQ: pedophiles with (N 5 40) and without (N 5 37) a history of hands-on sexual offences against children as well as healthy non-offending controls (N 5 40). As compared to offending pedophiles, non-offending pedophiles exhibited superior inhibitory control as reflected by significantly lower rate of commission errors. Group-by-condition interaction analysis also revealed inhibition-related activation in the left posterior cingulate and the left superior frontal cortex that distinguished between offending and non-offending pedophiles, while no significant differences were found between pedophiles and healthy controls."

==Is pedophilia a mental disorder?==

The received clinical wisdom of pedophilia as mental disorder represents a blurring of moral-legal and medical definitions. There is no scientific basis for classifying pedophilia as a mental disorder when it does not cause marked problems for the pedophile or those who he or she interacts with.

*'''Green, R. (2002). "[http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/BIB/pedophilia.htm Is pedophilia a mental disorder?]," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 31(6), 467-471.'''
*:"Sexual arousal patterns to children are subjectively reported and physiologically demonstrable in a substantial minority of “normal” people. Historically, they have been common and accepted in varying cultures at varying times. This does not mean that they must be accepted culturally and legally today. The question is: Do they constitute a mental illness? Not unless we declare a lot of people in many cultures and in much of the past to be mentally ill. And certainly not by the criteria of DSM."

*'''Tromovitch, P. (2009). "Manufacturing Mental Disorder by Pathologizing Erotic Age Orientation: A Comment on Blanchard et al. (2008)," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 38(3), 328'''
*:"Like masturbation and homosexuality, pedophilia (informally: erotic attraction to prepubescent people) appears to have entered the DSM as a "mental disorder" without any scientific or rational basis."

*'''Szasz, T. (2002). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20090311091733/https://reason.com/news/show/28515.html Sins of the Fathers: Is child molestation a sickness or a crime?]," ''Reason'', Aug/Sep, 2002.'''
*:"Crimes are acts we commit. Diseases are biological processes that happen to our bodies. Mixing these two concepts by defining behaviors we disapprove of as diseases is a bottomless source of confusion and corruption. [...] Geoghan himself has been convicted of molestation in one case and faces trial in another. But if his behavior was caused by "the disease of pedophilia," a condition that not only compelled him to fondle boys but erased his memory of those "diseased acts," how can it be just to punish him? [...] Today virtually any unwanted behavior, from shopaholism and kleptomania to sexaholism and pedophilia, may be defined as a disease whose diagnosis and treatment belong in the province of the medical system. Disease-making thus has become similar to lawmaking. [...] The entire psychiatric literature on what used to be called "sexual perversions" is permeated by the unfounded idea -- always implied, sometimes asserted -- that "abnormal" sexual impulses are harder to resist than "normal" ones."

*'''Haeberle, Erwin J. (2010). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20111109095903/http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/BIB/paraphiliapre.htm Paraphilia - A Prescientific Concept]," Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexology.'''
*:"Anyone who uses a term like 'paraphilia' thereby indirectly claims to know what is right and wrong in human sexual behavior. [...] To us modern sexologists, however, it should be clear by now that the Natural Law doctrine has no place in science. It should therefore be equally clear that the term 'disorder' is no longer acceptable when it comes to something as complex as human sexual behavior. Scientists should leave such moral certainty (better: dogmatism) to the religious authorities. In conclusion: We in sexology should, once and for all, get rid of the moralistic, prescientific terms 'paraphilia' and 'disorder'."

*'''Hinderliter, Andrew C. (2010). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20121212182834/http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/BIB/hinderliter2010.htm Defining Paraphilia: Excluding Exclusion]," ''Open Access Journal of Forensic Psychology'', 2, 241–272.'''
*:The author challenges a number of common arguments for retaining pedophilia in the DSM. "This leaves only the issue of pedophilia. The arguments considered so far render highly tenuous the basis of retaining it in the DSM, but the issue is complicated because there is a legitimate treatment issue involved—people distressed about their attraction to children wanting clinical help in resisting these desires should have access to such help. Whether the current state of this diagnosis is effective for promoting such treatment, especially in non-correctional populations, and how (and if) it could be modified to better support such treatment are important questions deserving further research and consideration (for concerns that these have not been taken seriously in the DSM revision process, see B4U-ACT, 2010). Even if pedophilia is kept in the DSM on the basis of pragmatic arguments about facilitation of treatment, this still leaves serious doubt about whether it is an appropriate diagnosis on which to base indefinite civil commitment."

*'''Malón, Agustin (2012). "Pedophilia: A Diagnosis in Search of a Disorder", ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 41(5), pp. 1083-1097.'''
*:"It has been shown, and many of the parties to the controversy would have no difficulty in agreeing, that some people with pedophilia apparently do not suffer as a result and that, in any event, such distress they may experience is rather the predictable result of conflict with society (Bernard, 1985; Howitt, 1995; Vogt, 2006; Wilson & Cox, 1983). [...]
*:"Are men with pedophilia dangerous? If they are, in what way? Under what circumstances? Does their dangerousness depend on their erotic peculiarity or on their character? [...] Any assertion in this sense may be premature and incomplete, given the limited state of our current knowledge which rests largely on the evidence gleaned from very biased samples of subjects who have been imprisoned for criminal offences (Seto, 2008). And it has been suggested that "it is likely that the criminal offending requires additional individual risk factors separate from the paraphilic interest per se" (Langstrom, 2009, p. 2). [...]
*:"In this sense, finally, we should consider the possibility of conceptualizing pedophilia as a very complex phenomenon that, contrary to other paraphilias, it is oriented towards another person and not to objects or animals, parts of the body or any kind of act. Its essence does not reside in exploitation, assault or harm to others, and some pedophiles look also for the child's friendship and love ([[Rudiger Lautmann|Lautmann]], 1994; Li, 1990; Schmidt, 2002; Seto, 2012). Regardless of the intense feelings of rejection that some of its manifestations generate in most of us, to conceptualize and discuss this condition in the same category with the compulsive necessity to show one's genitals to an unsuspecting stranger is contributing to an inadequate, ineffective, and confusing theory of human eroticism and its problems."

==Excerpt Gallery Library==

The gallery of graphics on characteristics contains some useful information on the myth of psychopathy.

{{Template:EGLPHC}}

==References==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Research on Minor Attraction]]

User talk:Thorn

2026-09-08T10:32:43Z

Thorn:

==Position==

Hi. Would you like me to add you as an editorial lead on the [[Newgon Support Team]] (''Quantitative Research and Public Health'', or ''Psychology and Science Communication'')? The role is a membership role, entails no responsibilities, but just describes the general purview of an editor's work. --[[User:The Admins|The Admins]] ([[User talk:The Admins|talk]]) 19:55, 25 March 2023 (UTC)
: Hi! Yes I would! [[User:Thorn|Thorn]] ([[User talk:Thorn|talk]]) 06:47, 26 March 2023 (UTC)

==Califia==

Lets entertain which of those should be in the chronological archive. --[[User:The Admins|The Admins]] ([[User talk:The Admins|talk]]) 09:33, 9 July 2023 (UTC)
:I suppose the 1st edition [[User:Thorn|Thorn]] ([[User talk:Thorn|talk]]) 18:33, 11 July 2023 (UTC)

== Minor attraction in popular culture edits ==

Hi Thorn.

As someone who contributed much of the content in the '''Minor attraction in popular culture''' article, I appreciate that you added new entries for it as well as your effort in general.

But I do have some issues with you. Hear me out:

I saw that you added entries that were already present, meaning that the title in the list were repeated but with different descriptions, which may cause confusion. Matter of fact, you did it two times (notably, with the '''Death in Venice''' and '''Pretty Baby''' titles) in the live-action sub-section. So, next time you add any entry for the pop culture article, make sure to check if it was already added in the first place. You are free to add hyperlinks to the titles, and edit the description for any entry as long as you spell out the relevancy to MAPs. Just make sure to not repeat the same mistake, alright?
: Yes, I am sorry! I occasionally skipped checking, but I'll be more attentive to that, thank you! [[User:Thorn|Thorn]] ([[User talk:Thorn|talk]]) 07:16, 4 November 2023 (UTC)

==Percy Wiki==

Pretty sure Percy's Wiki will not come back online as Percy is sadly dead. I finished copying all of the info on Thorstad a while ago, and it was useful in the chronological archive. I'm sure they have info on other scholars and activists (far from all of the listed, it is predominantly a gay site that leads towards pederasty) that would be useful in building profiles and adding to the archive.

https://web.archive.org/web/20200924025231/http://williamapercy.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Scholars_and_Activists --[[User:The Admins|The Admins]] ([[User talk:The Admins|talk]]) 02:31, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
: Ok, I'll take care of that! [[User:Thorn|Thorn]] ([[User talk:Thorn|talk]]) 07:48, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

==Book by Filip Schuster==

[https://www.ipce.info/host/lexikon/lexikon.pdf This] book (in German) maybe has some useful information in studying and profiling historical "pedophiles". --[[User:The Admins|The Admins]] ([[User talk:The Admins|talk]]) 02:15, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
:Thank you, I'll check this [[User:Thorn|Thorn]] ([[User talk:Thorn|talk]]) 15:26, 18 November 2024 (UTC)

==Update on doll research==

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/380114150_Berichtete_Konsequenzen_des_Verbots_von_Sexpuppen_mit_kindlichem_Erscheinungsbild_Eine_Inhaltsanalyse_von_Betroffenenaussagen --[[User:Jim Burton|Jim Burton]] ([[User talk:Jim Burton|talk]]) 18:20, 16 March 2025 (UTC)

==Tromovitch survey research==

https://boychat.org/cgi/deref.cgi?url=https://doshisha.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/2000821/files/023065040009.pdf --[[User:Jim Burton|Jim Burton]] ([[User talk:Jim Burton|talk]]) 18:12, 16 April 2025 (UTC)

==MAPTorrent Project==

I notice on Matrix, someone has set up a large archive that goes beyond the original files saved by Peace. Would you be interested in copying any unsaved documents to our cloud storage and starting the process of publishing them in a useful order (via the chronological archive)? --[[User:Jim Burton|Jim Burton]] ([[User talk:Jim Burton|talk]]) 11:03, 25 April 2025 (UTC)

==Children, kink, fetishes==

I found this useful review which may interest you, particularly the Brown, 2019 study and it's conclusions about children and BDSM. May be useful for the childhood sexuality review.

https://sexedrescue.com/children-kink-fetishes/

--[[User:Jim Burton|Jim Burton]] ([[User talk:Jim Burton|talk]]) 17:37, 25 July 2025 (UTC)
: Interesting! Thanks! [[User:Thorn|Thorn]] ([[User talk:Thorn|talk]]) 15:37, 31 July 2025 (UTC)

==Effects of pornography==

I recently did a very brief sweep of literature for our effects of pornography review. I located one paper that might be useful for a deep read.

https://www.academia.edu/11604002/Saving_the_Children_Pornography_Childhood_and_the_Internet --[[User:Jim Burton|Jim Burton]] ([[User talk:Jim Burton|talk]]) 21:12, 3 August 2025 (UTC)

::thank you![[User:Thorn|Thorn]] ([[User talk:Thorn|talk]]) 14:48, 11 August 2025 (UTC)

== Fallacy List ==

There is a [https://forum.map-union.org/viewtopic.php?t=3339 forum thread] where a user has added some fallacies - a percentage of them are not covered on our list. Some of them also demonstrate how the fallacious argument might be used to argue in support of the subject.

Perhaps they could be added to our list, or integrated somehow. --[[User:Jim Burton|Jim Burton]] ([[User talk:Jim Burton|talk]]) 21:23, 23 November 2025 (UTC)
: Thank you! I'll think about it. [[User:Thorn|Thorn]] ([[User talk:Thorn|talk]]) 10:18, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

==Email==

:''Hello! I have been researching the topic of ACSC for quite a bit and i would love if the wiki could respond to these two articles (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0145213402003174 and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12151287/#:~:text=Men%20who%20reported%20sexual%20molestation,range%3D1.3-5.2)., availible on Annas Archive). They have been shown to me as counter-arguments against rind, claiming to show that, even if adult child sexual contact is viewed positively, they leads to increased negative mental health problems. Unsure what to make of it, if its caused by secondary victimization or not.If an article is ever written, or if a rebuttal is added to the wiki, please email me. Thanks a lot!''
:: I looked at these articles. The first study is weak due to small sample, the second is better, but didn't add news to the topic. The researchers themselves wrote about inability to make causal evidence, consent is a predictor of '''lesser''' disturbance compared to abuse, and although consented childhood experiences predicted more selfharm compared to control group, it should be kept in mind that multiple third factors which accompany sexual experiences weren’t considered in this study. I'd recommended our [[Research: Methodological flaws and syndrome construction]] In addition I recommend a good illustration of this topic: ''Peer contacts were associated—at magnitudes and significance levels comparable to adult-child sexual contacts—with overall well-being and sexual adjustment during adulthood.'' see study Edward O. Laumann, Christopher R. Browning, 2003 in [[Research:_Prevalence_of_Harm_and_Negative_Outcomes#Outcomes_and_"severity"]] section. These studies don't stand out as particularly strong compared to thousands of others with the same low level of evidence. But if there is need of a detailed analysis of these studies specifically, I can go into more detail, and probably add them to [[Research: Methodological flaws and syndrome construction]] as examples of low quality counter arguments [[User:Thorn|Thorn]] ([[User talk:Thorn|talk]]) 18:06, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

==Age at Menarche==

In light of your recent work on [[Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality]], I thought you might be interested in the paper below. Apologies if you’ve already come across it!

Papadimitriou A. (2016). The Evolution of the Age at Menarche from Prehistorical to Modern Times. Journal of pediatric and adolescent gynecology, 29(6), 527–530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpag.2015.12.002

[[User:Xtjvimds16dovrfc|Xtjvimds16dovrfc]] ([[User talk:Xtjvimds16dovrfc|talk]]) 03:31, 31 August 2026 (UTC)
: Thank you! I'll read it! [[User:Thorn|Thorn]] ([[User talk:Thorn|talk]]) 10:32, 8 September 2026 (UTC)

Michael Bailey

2026-09-08T10:27:07Z

Thorn: Created page with "__NOTOC__ {{Template:Ac}} '''J. Michael Bailey''' is an American psychologist and professor of psychology at Northwestern University, widely known for his research on human sexuality. He joined Northwestern University in 1989. Much of his career has been devoted to scientifically difficult and socially controversial questions about the origins and expression of sexual orientation, sex differences in patterns of sexual arousal, and the biol..."

__NOTOC__ {{Template:Ac}} '''[[Wikipedia:J. Michael Bailey|J. Michael Bailey]]''' is an American psychologist and professor of psychology at Northwestern University, widely known for his research on human sexuality. He joined Northwestern University in 1989. Much of his career has been devoted to scientifically difficult and socially controversial questions about the origins and expression of sexual orientation, sex differences in patterns of sexual arousal, and the biological and psychological bases of sexuality.<ref>[https://psychology.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/core/profiles/michael-bailey.html Northwestern University faculty profile]</ref><ref>[https://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/JMichael-Bailey/research.html Bailey’s research page]</ref> His work has often faced ideological biases that have hindered scientific progress in sex research, as he detailed in his 2023 chapter in "[[Ideological and Political Bias in Psychology]]"

== In relation to MAPs ==

Bailey's views on pedophilia are nuanced and have evolved over time. In 2011, he reviewed "[[Thomas_O'Carroll#Michael_Jackson’s_Dangerous_Liaisons|Michael Jackson's Dangerous Liaisons]]," noting that while the idea of harmless or beneficial pedophilic relationships is disturbing, there is a lack of scientific evidence supporting his visceral reactions. He acknowledged the author's arguments against his intuitions and found them compelling.<ref>[https://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/JMichael-Bailey/articles/MJOCarrollReview.pdf Bailey, J. M. Bailey (2011). Michael Jackson’s Dangerous Liaisons. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40(6), 1329–1332. doi:10.1007/s10508-011-9842-1 ]</ref>

In his 2016 study, Bailey conducted an Internet survey of 1,102 men sexually attracted to children, examining their history of offenses related to child pornography and sexual contact. He found that most had no offenses, and that permissive attitudes or frequent fantasies weren't related to offenses.<ref>[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27732028/ Bailey, J. (2016). "An Internet study of men sexually attracted to children: Correlates of sexual offending against children," Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Oct 2016.]</ref>

Bailey has also contributed to the discussion on the nature of sexual orientation, considering pedophilia a sexual orientation, in his 2009 work <ref> Bailey, J. Michael (2009). "What is Sexual Orientation and Do Women Have One?," in Hope, Debra A. (ed.) Contemporary Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identities, p. 50.
</ref>. Furthermore, in a 2009 blog post, Bailey compared hebephilia and pedophilia to normal sexual orientations, suggesting that individuals with these attractions can experience feelings of love and attachment towards children, similar to how heterosexuals bond with adults. <ref>[http://www.scientificblogging.com/j_michael_bailey/was_michael_jackson_pedophile Bailey, J. Michael (2009). "Was Michael Jackson A Pedophile?," scientificblogging.com, July 1.]</ref>

He has supported the destigmatization of pedophilia, as seen in his endorsement of [[Allyn Walker]], a scholar who advocated for this cause and was supported by Bailey and other professionals in the field. His work and views reflect a scientific approach to understanding and discussing pedophilia, emphasizing the importance of evidence over ideological bias.

== References ==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Anti-Pedophile culture]][[Category:Hysteria]][[Category:Research]][[Category:Research: Broader Perspectives]][[Category:People]][[Category:People: Academics]][[Category:People: Popular Authors]]
[[Category:History & Events: American]][[Category:History & Events: 2020s]][[Category:History & Events: Moral controversies]]

Thomas O'Carroll

2026-09-08T10:05:51Z

Thorn: /* Michael Jackson’s Dangerous Liaisons */

__NOTOC__[[File:ToC.png|thumb|Thomas O'Carroll]]'''Thomas Victor O'Carroll''' (born c. 1945<ref name="bbc21">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/coventry_warwickshire/5367968.stm "Pair admit to child porn charges,"] September 2006, [[BBC]].</ref>) is an Irish/British journalist, academic and advocate for [[Minor Attracted Person|MAPs]], being an early member and chairperson of the now defunct [[Paedophile Information Exchange]] (PIE), and a founding member of [[Ipce]]. Presently, he publishes a blog at '''heretictoc.com''', which attracts around 2,000 comments on a yearly basis.

Born in County Carlow, Ireland, O'Carroll gained notoriety in 1980 when he published ''[[Paedophilia: The Radical Case]]''<ref>[http://www.ipce.info/host/radicase/preface.htm Paedophilia: The Radical Case, PDF (hosted on IPCE)]; The same PDF is [http://library.lol/main/A3AE585C3F0C54C3EAB7CDC09EA8C90F archived with novel description on Libgen].</ref>, a book that articulated an ethical case for adult-child sexual relationships, and again in 2010, with ''Michael Jackson's Dangerous Liaisons''.<ref>[https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Jacksons-Dangerous-Liaisons-Carl/dp/1848763409 Amazon: Dangerous Liaisons]</ref><ref>[https://libgen.rocks/ad.php?md5=d1ba0af152fa18c758c3f8cc415a2fd7&uid=1602 Libgen: Dangerous Liaisons]</ref> O'Carroll has also published a number of academic articles. British mainstream media has dubbed O'Carroll both Ireland<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/mar/04/digitaltv.broadcasting Cozens, BBC braced for paedophile row (''The Guardian'', 2003)]</ref> and Britain's "most notorious paedophile".<ref>[https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8548584/paedophile-tom-ocarroll-invited-to-house-of-lords-bash/ Wilkinson, LOUSE OF LORDS: Vile paedophile campaigner invited to plush champagne bash at the House of Lords (''The Sun'', 2019)]</ref><ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8466899/Paedophiles-rebrand-minor-attracted-persons-chilling-online-propaganda-drive.html Denkinson, Outrage as paedophiles rebrand themselves as 'minor-attracted persons' in chilling online propaganda drive (''Daily Mail'', 2019)]</ref>

Gay historian [[William Percy]] stated that O'Carroll argued "''for replacement of the age of consent law with a more flexible and liberal legal framework. It was felt the legitimate protection of children could be reconciled with an acceptance of child sexuality, the right of the young to sexual self-determination, and the legitimacy of consensual child-adult sexual contacts. A journalist, O’Carroll was PIE’s public face in the later 70s, when he propelled the organisation to national prominence''".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220403230005/http://www.williamapercy.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:O%27Carroll,_Tom Percy wiki entry for O'Carroll] (webarchive)</ref>

==Gallery==

Like many in PIE during the 1970s, O'Carroll was politically left-leaning. He identifies as a democratic [[Communism|socialist]] and equal opportunities [[Feminism|feminist]].

<gallery>
File:519525527-275720908-0ca81e0a958846fb.png|<small>The "Five Heads" of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao, plus Tom O'Carroll.</small>
File:822676323-571745461- tom-ocarroll.jpg|[[Wikipedia:Posterization|Posterised]] photographic depiction of O'Carroll.
File:ToCperv.png|Quote from ''Radical Case'' on non-consent [[paraphilia]]s.
</gallery>

==Works==

:''For a full list of writings, see [[Tom_O'Carroll's_Publications|our list of publications]]. For a list and analysis, see [https://www.boywiki.org/en/Tom_O'Carroll BoyWiki].''

===Paedophilia: The Radical Case===

In 1980 O'Carroll's book [[Paedophilia: The Radical Case]] was published and in the preface he states:
<blockquote>I am a paedophile, and in the chapters that follow it will become apparent why I have felt it necessary to crash through the barriers of societal disapproval by speaking out. The fact that I have been able to do so owes much to the work, described in Part Three, of the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE), a group with which I have been closely connected, which has been campaigning since its inception in 1974 for the open discussion of paedophilia, and for abolition of the laws against consensual sexual acts between children and adults.</blockquote>

Described as "a well researched and articulate book" by Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger (Guardian, 14 March 1981), this first major work by O'Carroll divided reviewers sharply. In the academic world, it has stood the test of time with over 190 Google Scholar citations by 2025. For many years, it was a recommended text for postgraduates at Cambridge University's Institute of Criminology.

===Michael Jackson’s Dangerous Liaisons===

O’Carroll’s book on singer Michael Jackson was published in 2010 under the pen name “Carl Toms”. Michael Jackson’s Dangerous Liaisons, a 624-page work, essayed a comprehensive review of the late entertainer’s controversially intimate relationships with preadolescent and adolescent boys. Published in the UK by Troubador Publishing Ltd. "At seventeen years in the making and a hefty 624 pages, this has been O'Carroll's most ambitious work, in which, under the pen name Carl Toms, he essays a comprehensive review of the late entertainer’s controversially intimate relationships with young boys. Described in the linked biography by historian [[William Percy]] as "a work of genius", Michael Jackson's Dangerous Liaisons received enthusiastic pre-publication endorsements from five eminent professors, including [[Richard Green]], [[Donald West]], [[James Kincaid]], [[Thomas Hubbard]], and Percy himself. After publication another renowned scholar, [[Michael Bailey|J. Michael Bailey]], professor of psychology at Northwestern University, also gave high praise in a four-page review for the academic journal [[Archives of Sexual Behavior]]. Bailey, a family man, wrote, “The idea that pedophilic relationships can be harmless or even beneficial to children is disturbing to many people, including me.” But, he continued, “The lack of scientific evidence supporting my largely visceral reactions against pedophilic relationships has been one of the most surprising discoveries of my hopefully ongoing scientific education. [...] O’Carroll argues against my intuitions and he argues well.”

==Television==

O'Carroll has made various appearances on television, including the BBC's ''After Dark'' and Australia's ''60 Minutes''. There is at present no online copy of O'Carroll's ''After Dark'' appearance, while his ''60 Minutes'' is heavily shortened from over an hour, to only short clips online. In 2014, O'Carroll was interviewed for over an hour for "''The Paedophile Next Door''", a film which eventually aired November 25, 2014 on Channel 4 (a U.K. television network). O'Caroll's interview was not used by the director: instead, O'Carroll shared the (unedited) audio online,<ref>[https://soundcloud.com/david-kennerly/stitching-up-steve-humphries A slightly edited version is available online at Soundcloud].</ref> which was turned into an amateur film by one of his readers, titled ''A Decent Life: The Dissenting Narrative of Tom O'Carroll''.<ref>[https://www.boywiki.org/en/A_Decent_Life:_The_Dissenting_Narrative_of_Tom_O%27Carroll_(film) A Decent Life: The Dissenting Narrative of Tom O'Carroll] (Youtube).</ref>

A 2018 full-length and uncensored video discussion/debate between himself and then psychology student Danny Whittaker, can be watched easily on Youtube.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8SBM-yXULc #051- Interview with a Pedophile (Tom O'Carroll). 2018 (Youtube).]</ref>

==An often-"cancelled" personality==

O'Carroll is no stranger to being courted by prestigious platforms due to his experience in MAP advocacy, but has often subsequently fallen foul of public backlash. For example, in 2001 ''Is paedophilia violent?'', a paper for the ''World Congress of Sexology'', Paris, was given sustained encouragement over nearly a year by Dr Marc Ganem, the Congress President. However, the paper was eventually rejected without explanation by the Committee. After repeated demands for an explanation went unanswered, O'Carroll was finally able to talk to Ganem. In a phone conversation, Ganem indicated that the President of the Scientific Committee, Dr Willy Pasini, appeared to be concerned not about the scientific quality of the paper but by the controversy to which it might give rise. It seems the committee did not want to upset the major pharmaceutical companies sponsoring the congress, nor the politically sensitive [[Wikipedia:World Health Organization|WHO]], with which it was associated. In order to combat this censorship, O'Carroll's supporters attended the congress, where they distributed his paper on a CD, along with a flyer titled ''Censored: The Speech They Didn't Want You To Hear''.<ref>[https://www.helping-people.info/articles/violent_frame.htm ''Is Paedophilia Violent?'' A paper prepared for the World Congress of Sexology, Paris 2001]</ref>

In 2023, O'Carroll detailed how his work for academic publishers had generated a rash of attention, following the retraction of his peer-reviewed and published book chapter from the IntechOpen book ''Ethics in Scientific Research: New Perspectives''. Retracted without explanation and likely on the basis of his open [[MAP]] identity, O'Carroll identified a group of radical [[Feminism|Feminists]] attached to the ''Sexnet'' private forum as the likely cause. His chapter was entitled "''Where Angels Fear to Tread: Anxieties over Researching Child Sexuality Must Be Overcome''", and can be read elsewhere online.<ref>[https://heretictoc.com/2023/08/17/from-fallen-angels-to-bare-bear/ From fallen ‘angels’ to bare Bear], re. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369197385_Where_Angels_Fear_to_Tread_Anxieties_over_Researching_Child_Sexuality_Must_Be_Overcome Where Angels Fear to Tread: Anxieties over Researching Child Sexuality Must Be Overcome (2023 book chapter)]</ref>

==Run-ins with the law==

In 1981, O'Carroll was convicted for the archaic and rarely prosecuted political crime of "conspiracy to corrupt public morals", over the contact ads section of the PIE magazine and was imprisoned. He had some defenders in the press, and [[The Campaign Against Public Morals]] (CAPM) was formed in his defence, producing a [[Communism|left-wing]] booklet entitled "''Paedophilia and Public Morals''" (1980) which scrutinized patriarchal, state and family oppression of young people, as well as defending the indicted PIE committee members. O'Carroll was once again imprisoned much later in 2002, on charges of evading a prohibition on the importation of [[Child porn|indecent photographs of children]] stemming from nude photographs that O'Carroll had taken of children on the beaches of Qatar. At the time, he was working on a book about the musician and philanthropist Michael Jackson who was later acquitted of charges brought against him regarding indecent behavior towards a child.

Later, O'Carroll was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to distribute indecent photographs of children after supplying an undercover [[Metropolitan Police|Met]] police officer (who over a three year period gained O'Carroll's trust) with a cache of [[child pornography]] obtained from his co defendant, Michael John De Clare Studdert's collection. He was arraigned 1 June, 2006 on child porn charges.<ref name="bbc21" /><ref>[http://www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/display.var.779431.0.police_charge_man_over_child_sex_ring.php "Police charge man over child sex ring"], by Olivia Richwald, ''[[The Northern Echo]]'', 1 June 2006</ref> In September 2006, he was charged with two counts of distributing indecent images of children.<ref name="bbc21" />

On December 20 2006, he was jailed for 2½ years at London’s Middlesex Crown Court,<ref name=beebgaol>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/coventry_warwickshire/6196811.stm BBC NEWS | UK | England | Coventry/Warwickshire | Two jailed for child porn library]</ref> but was released in the summer of 2007. This case was described as a “sting operation”.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190330235201/http://www.williamapercy.com/wiki/index.php?title=Tom_O%27Carroll_Biography Tom O'Carroll Biography]</ref>

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20220401020938/http://www.williamapercy.com/wiki/index.php?title=Tom_O%27Carroll_Biography Tom O'Carroll Biography] - a richly nuanced bio from williamapercy.com
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_O%27Carroll Wikipedia]
*[https://heretictoc.com/ Personal Blog]
*[https://theworld.org/stories/2016/07/30/man-pedophile-and-proud-it TheWorld bio]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080724183953/http://www.inquisition21.com/article~view~69~page_num~11.html "Reflections on Thomas O'Carroll"]
*[http://www.ipce.info/host/radicase/preface.htm ''Paedophilia: The Radical Case''] - Also available via [http://library.lol/main/A3AE585C3F0C54C3EAB7CDC09EA8C90F Libgen].
*[https://libgen.rocks/ad.php?md5=d1ba0af152fa18c758c3f8cc415a2fd7&uid=1602 ''Dangerous Liaisons''], see also an [https://ia902604.us.archive.org/18/items/michael-jacksons-dangerous-liaisons/Michael%20Jackson%27s%20Dangerous%20Liaisons_%20Arvi%20-%20Carl%20Toms.pdf IA Backup].
*[https://www.boywiki.org/en/A_Decent_Life:_The_Dissenting_Narrative_of_Tom_O%27Carroll_(film) A Decent Life: The Dissenting Narrative of Tom O'Carroll (film)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130425190322/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/Tom%20Carroll%20Sexual%20Privacy%20Background%20Paper.pdf Sexual privacy for paedophiles and children: a complementary background paper.] By Tom O'Carroll
*[http://www.sexarchive.info/BIB/carrollrev1.htm Of Goode and evil. Review of ''Paedophiles in Society: Reflecting on Sexuality, Abuse and Hope''] - Critical review of a seemingly humane approach to the understanding of pedophiles presented by a preventionist, Sarah Goode ([https://www.ipce.info/library/web-article/goode-and-evil-review Ipce]).
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20200926180955/http://williamapercy.com/wiki/index.php?title=Tom_O%27Carroll%27s_communication_and_presentation_for_the_new_book_that_he_and_I_are_writing_about_ages_of_which_Romans_married Tom O'Carroll's communication with William A. Percy about their book]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:People]][[Category:People: Sympathetic Activists]][[Category:Law/Crime]][[Category:Law/Crime: British]][[Category:History & Events: Real Crime]][[Category:People: Irish]][[Category:People: British]][[Category:People: Adult or Minor sexually attracted to or involved with the other]]

Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality

2026-08-28T18:00:49Z

Thorn:

<div style="margin-right: 25px; float: left;">__TOC__</div>
:''This article has been written in standard format mixed with an anthology.''

Although [[Debate_Guide:_Evolutionary_logic|evolutionary logic]] of [[Hebephilia|hebephilic]] sexual behaviour and attraction towards pubertal [[Adolescence|adolescents]] of the opposite sex may seem obvious, it is not always straightforward to explain, given that in our evolutionary past female reproductive capacity may have emerged at ages close to the modern ages of consent (see [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#The_increased_disadvantage_of_early_pregnancy|this section]]). The explanation of intergenerational attractions toward prepubertal children ([[pedophilia]]/pedosexuality), or adolescent homosexual partners ([[pederasty]]), or the very existence of prepubertal [[child]] sexuality, is even less obvious.

The emergence of adult-child sexuality has several [[Wikipedia:Darwinism|evolutionary explanations]] with varying degrees of evidence, which come from [[Wikipedia:Ethology|ethology]] and [[Wikipedia:Neuroscience|neuroscience]]. There are suggestions that, in our evolutionary past, pedosexual behaviors could have had some evolutionary functions or been an evolutionary by-product of human sexuality development. These explanations may have pragmatic implications for the [[Research: A "cure" for pedophilia?#Psychological wellbeing for MAPs|well-being]] of both MAPs and minors. "Evolutionary scenarios are not just interesting explanatory “stories,” but can illuminate limits as well as opportunities for intervention" (Del Giudice M., 2014). Here is an attempt to categorize these hypotheses, although they overlap greatly and can hardly be considered separately. Rather, they describe different aspects of a complex evolutionary process.

== Adaptation to the lack of success in sexual competition ==
One hypothesis is that if a male is unsuccessful in sexual competition for fertile females, and he chronically feels inferior to others and is afraid of other adults, then his sexuality towards adults may be suppressed and redirected towards children, because children do not cause fear, and next to them the male feels his strength and superiority. Male's sexuality is more associated with dominance and this may explain the greater prevalence of attraction to children among men than among women.<ref>[https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5 Medicus, G., Hopf, S. (1990). The Phylogeny of Male/Female Differences in Sexual Behavior.] In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5</ref>

Excerpts:
* '''Medicus, G., Hopf, S. (1990). [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5 The Phylogeny of Male/Female Differences in Sexual Behavior.] In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5'''
*:"As has been pointed out, adult human sexual behavior with children and adolescents can be understood within the context of dimorphism. Male/ female differences in sexual behavior result at least in part from the different amounts of energy and time each sex expends for reproduction (see Table 4.1). This initial difference produces a difference in the functional proximity of the moods of fear and aggression to sexual mood (see Table 4.11), as well as a difference in the likelihood for active pursuit of sexual opportunities"
*:"One of the most consistent psychological correlates that has been identified is that many adult males who are sexually attracted to children and adolescents show manifestations of (real or self-perceived) social inadequacy with peers. Such males may suffer from feelings of anxiety when they consider sexual behavior with an adult partner (Johnston and Johnston, 1986; Panton, 1979; Segal and Marshall, 1985). Because sex and fear are such functionally distant moods in males, many human adult males cannot perform sexual actions when they feel inferior to their sexual partner or when they feel anxious (e.g., Bancroft, 1985; Eicher, 1980). This explanation is in accordance with the previously mentioned male/female dimorphism in the relationship of mood and behavior (see Table 4.11). Because of their small size, lack of experience, and sense of insecurity, children and adolescents of either sex do not arouse feelings of inferiority, fear, and anxiety in adult males. Thus, children and adolescents can become "sexual objects" for males who in sociosexual relations with adults feel inferior or anxious."

* '''Glenn D. Wilson and David N. Cox. 1983. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130410124803/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Child-Lovers%20-%20A%20Study%20of%20Paedophiles%20in%20Society.pdf The Child-Lovers: A Study of Paedophiles in Society.] By London: Peter Owen. Pp 132. British Journal of Psychiatry. 1983;143(4):430-430. doi:10.1192/S0007125000200780'''
*: "Examination of the characteristics of children that the paedophiles found most attractive points to the conclusion that the ability to achieve social dominance over the child may be the key to understanding the paedophile’s choice of sex target."
*: "Viewed in this way, paedophilia would seem to be one of several alternative adaptations to the problem of lack of success (or perceived inability to succeed) in intermale competition for access to females. It has been often noted by ethologists that the males of any species are thrown into strong Darwinian competition with one another. Those that are most successful monopolise an unequal share of female resources, and the others have to make do with various substitute sexual outlets. Following this model, we would not expect to find any genetic predisposition toward paedophilia per se, but as with homosexuality and certain other sex deviations, some degree of heritability would be mediated by the constitutional basis of dominance versus submissiveness. In other words, paedophiles may inherit their submissive nature, which in turn makes for difficulties in establishing normal sexual roles."

*'''Connie M. Anderson (1990). "Adolescent/Adult Copulatory Behavior in Nonhuman Primates." In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*: "Adult, subadult, and adolescent females are monopolized by adult male harem-holders, leaving a few adult and all subadult males without adult sexual partners. Under these conditions, males without harems choose a particular juvenile female to follow and display intense parental-like behavior towards her. Eventually, she becomes the first individual in the male's harem, and he begins mating with her at her first estrous swelling. Thus, both parental-like and copulatory motor patterns are directed at the same individual over the course of time and, for a brief period, even simultaneously."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Neither very young mature females nor males are desirable mates. [...] On the other hand, the lowest ranking, and therefore unattractive adult males and females do seek matings with adolescents. Low-status females are especially prone to seducing the almost always eager and obliging young males. It is quite likely that these inferior adults are making the best of a bad draw; any available mate is better than none at all in the harsh world of reproductive competition."

== Reproductive value pressure ==
Another close explanation is that the total reproductive potential is highest at the point far before fertility maximum, namely closely to the beginning of puberty. And along with selective pressure toward fully fertile partners, there is selective pressure toward maximum reproductive value, that may become stronger if long term mating strategies are more adaptive in a given evolutionary circumstances.

*'''Seto, M. C. (2017). The puzzle of male chronophilias. ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 46(1), 3-22.'''
::"Evolutionary theories about human mating strategies distinguish between reproductive value and fertility (Buss, 1989). Reproductive value refers to the potential number of offspring that could be produced over time, and thus focusing on reproductive value represents a longer-term strategy, as in the case of marriage to pubescent or even prepubescent girls. [...] Fertility, on the other hand, means maximizing the chances of reproduction, and thus would represent a shorter-term strategy focusing on young adult women (e.g., in their early to mid-20s). This is reflected in male-typical age preferences for casual sex partners, pornography actors, and models(Kenrick & Keefe,1992; Ogas & Gaddam, 2011; Rudder, 2014). Though preferences for other than sexually mature,fertile partners would probably be suboptimal, variations from heterosexual teleiophilia might be maintained in the human population — at a low frequency — as a result of opposing selection pressures (e.g., frequency-dependent selection) or as a byproduct of other adaptations."

== "Nest helper" hypothesis ==
{{research}}
The concept of "nest helper", is an explanation of a few individuals within a group being nonreproductive, yet aiding their group's survival. They may be affectionately disposed and caring towards others without reproducing, since this promotes the reproduction of peers who share some of the same genes due to being genetic relatives in the group. Due to sexual competition and the costs of human reproduction, not every individual ''can'' reproduce, hence there are indirect genetic benefits of "nest helping" that may overcome benefits of direct reproductive efforts for some individuals. This evolutionary hypothesis applies to both exclusive homosexuality and exclusive pedophilia, although due to a lack of investigation, there is at present little evidence for it (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":5">[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Feierman, Jay R. (1990). Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23</ref>).

Excerpts:
* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23'''
*:"Whereas a similar challenge has been met somewhat reasonably in terms of the "nest helper" concept of adult homosexuality, hypothesizing that another type of nest helper would have to erotically love and sexually interact with the children for whom he was caring"

== Help in developing sexual ability ==

Sex play between immature mammals is widespread, and among primates it is nearly universal. Sexual play functions as learning adequate mating skills. Sexual play mostly occurs among immature peers, but adults also often engage in sexual play with juveniles and help them develop sexual skills too.<ref>Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7</ref> In addition, sex can trigger the onset of fertility. Such a function could have played a role in the human evolutionary past (Dienske, 1990<ref name=":0">Dienske, Herman (1990). The Concept of Function in the Behavioral Sciences with Specific Reference to Pedophilia and Pedosexual Behavior: A Biophilosophical Perspective. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13</ref>). In some species, this function has built in to that extent that without early sexual experience with an adult an individual grows up unable to conceive.<ref name=":7">Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2</ref>

* '''Connie M. Anderson (1990). "Adolescent/Adult Copulatory Behavior in Nonhuman Primates". In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*: "Among nonhuman primates, then, sexual interaction between adult females and immature males is universal [...] Adult females do interact sexually with males of all ages, including infants too young to be capable of intromission or ejaculation. Females have little to lose by doing so, since they do not deplete their egg supply by unsuccessful matings and since they are unlikely to be seriously injured in the process. They may also help their immature male relatives by allowing them access to experienced females to practice sexual behavior so that they can perform successfully from the time spermatogenesis begins."

* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2'''
*: "In the squirrel monkey (Saimin), captivity-raised individuals of both sexes in mixed-sex peer groups were not even able to conceive unless they had been allowed, when they were juveniles, to have sexual contact with opposite-sex adults (Hopf, 1979, personal communication)."

*'''De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15'''
*: "Thus, juvenile male chimpanzees are attracted to females in estrus, and pubertal females begin to explore sexual contact with older males as soon as their genital swellings develop (van der Weel, 1978; de Waal, 1982; Goodall, 1986). Such intergenerational experience undoubtedly contributes to the development of adequate sexual skills."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Any behavior that is indisputably essential to survival, adaptation, or reproductive success develops in many different forms in different species, and often even varies in the same species in different environments. ‘The evolution of sex and sexual behavior is certainly no exception (Margulis & Sagan, 1986). It is, therefore, not surprising to find that mature and immature conspecifics engage each other in myriad sexual practices (Crews & Moore, 1986). [...] It is certainly no accident that species in which the immature play are also the ones most involved in preadolescent sex. Of those warmblooded, slowly maturing organisms that play (mostly mammals), an undetermined, but probably very large, number engage in sexual ventures. On the other hand, young animals that metamorphize into adult form and those with an exceedingly brief immaturity are obviously poor candidates for sexual participation with adults."
::"The fascinating evolutionary component is the appearance of play; sexual encounters of mature with immature animals that do not play differ sharply from the sexual interactions of those that do. [...] Sexual activity of young mammals is a clear aid to their performing adequately and sex play is probably essential to the development of normal adult primate copulation (Harlow, 1962; Wallen, Goldfoot, & Goy, 1981)."
::"[T]he mere fact that sex play with adults is so widespread in polygamous (i.e., multimale—multifemale mating) species supports speculation that encounters with adults provide the winning edge. "

== Advantage in sexual competition ==
The emergence of nonexclusive pedophilic interest could be due to males experiencing selection pressure to display affiliative behavior towards minors. Such a display aims to convince fertile females that the male is ready for paternal investment, thus giving advantages in access to the fertile female (Taub, 1990<ref>Taub, David M. (1990). The Functions of Primate Paternalism: A Cross-Species Review. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 338–377). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_14</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''Taub, David M. (1990). The Functions of Primate Paternalism: A Cross-Species Review. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 338–377). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_14'''
*: "Why then are these unrelated males forming special affiliations with and investing in these infants? Proponents of this view suggest that males form special relationships with infants as a means whereby they may develop a closer and stronger affiliative relationship with the infant's mother. This enhanced, or special, relationship with the mother, in turn, enhances the male's chances of mating with this female in the future."

== Sex as a buffer against aggression ==
Ethologist Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt suggested that the interconnection between sex and dominance is the basic ("reptilian") way of vertebrate sexuality organization. Aggression and dominance acquired a functional connection with male sexuality due to the fact that aggressive and dominant males tended to win in sexual competition. In contrast, submission was embedded in female sexuality. The submissive posture of the female ready for mating is a stimulus to transform male’s aggressive drive to the sexual drive. This prevents injuries and allows mating to occur. Thus aggression, dominance and submission were sexualized, and sexuality acquired the ability to buffer aggression in hierarchical relationships. (The manifestation of that ability is that the appeasing posture of a defeated enemy in animals often resembles the posture of a female ready to mate). Eibl-Eibesfeldt supposed that it is possible that this function could be partly transferred into the adult-juvenile hierarchical relationship (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1990<ref name=":1">[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6</ref>).

Excerpts:
* '''Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6'''
*: “Dominance between group members is also expressed by ritualized mounting, and submission, in turn, is expressed by female-type presenting. From these kinds of greeting rituals have evolved behaviors such as those of hamadryas baboons, in which males approaching high-ranking individuals present as if they, the presenters, were females. Their buttocks are hairless and red in mimicry of the female buttocks, thus enhancing the signal value of presenting (Wiclder, 1966, 1967b). The high-ranking individual may mount or just perform the intention to mount in response to the other's presenting. This use by primates of sexual motor patterns to acknowledge dominance rank order has often been interpreted as being equivalent to human homosexuality. This interpretation is an oversimplification. These sexual motor patterns are derived from copulatory behaviors but, then, have acquired a new function related to social hierarchies: mounting serves as an indication of dominance, and presenting serves as an indication of submission, an agonistic buffer in a greeting context”
*:“Children have characteristics, such as small size, that facilitate adult males' feeling dominant to them, as occurs in pedosexual behavior.”

== Sex for reconciliation and food sharing ==
The reduction of social tension mediated by sociosexual contact is widespread in the communities of human closest relatives, the [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|Bonobos]]. The tension arises in situations of competition or inequality referring to any kind of resources such as food, access to reproduction or any interesting stimulus matter. In addition to the reconciliation effect, sexual contacts allow them to willingly share resources with one another. Ethologist Frans de Waal pointed that this mechanism works for individuals of any status, sex and age, including contacts between adults and infants. Via this mechanism, adults share food with juveniles who are not their descendants and are not of reproductive interest. The emergence of this mechanism presumably occurred as a result of an evolutionary shift in relationships between males and females towards the more tolerant and equal in the case of Bonobos (de Waal, 1990<ref>[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15</ref>). Among most other primates except for humans, cases of adults, especially males, sharing food with another's offspring are quite rare (Mackey, 1990<ref name=":6">Mackey, Wade C. (1990). Adult·Male/Juvenile Association as a Species-Characteristic Human Trait: A Comparative Field Approach. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 299–323). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_12</ref>).

Frans de Waal suggests that our ancestor’s sexual behavior may have been similar to Bonobo's. This sex-for-food mechanism then allowed females to exchange sex for male commitment and paternal investment, thus giving rise to the human nuclear family. And subsequently, the very development of the nuclear family led to an increasing restriction of sex functions to heterosexual reproductive bonding only (de Waal, 2006<ref> [https://sci-hub.se/10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp de Waal, Frans B. M. (2006). Bonobo Sex and Society. Scientific American, 16, 14-21], doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15'''
*: "Typically, upon the introduction of food, the bonobos would become very active, engaging in aggressive competition but also inviting one another for sociosexual contact These contacts appeared to reduce the tension and to allow for food sharing. Thus, it could be demonstrated that subordinate group members more often asserted themselves toward dominant food possessors following a sociosexual contact than without such prior contact (de Waal, 1987). The interaction could even take the form of an exchange, e.g., a female presents to a male who is holding a large bundle of branches and leaves and takes the entire bundle out of his hands immediately following sexual intercourse. On other occasions, sociosexual behavior was used as a reconciliation. The majority of instances of genital massage, for instance, followed aggressive incidents in which the adult male had chased one of the adolescent males. After a couple of minutes, the younger male would return to the aggressor to present his genitals."
*:“Sociosexual behavior occurred with equal frequency and equal intensity in all age and sex combinations possible. Intergenerational sex was part of this general pattern. The bonobo's sexual reconciliation and reassurance patterns were described and contrasted with the behavior of the chimpanzee, which virtually lacks this nonreproductive function of sexual behavior. The evolutionary origin of this difference was sought in heterosexual bonding among bonohos in their natural habitat. [...] Coexistence of plural males and females without agonistic competition in mating could be guaranteed by changing the character of sexual behavior into affiliative behavior in which all individuals can participate, and by decreasing the reproductive meaning (Mori, 1984, p.277).[...] This possible evolutionary background of the phenomena observed in bonobos is of relevance in connection with human sexuality, both because of the shared biological ancestry and the fact that heterosexual bonding is characteristic of the human species as well."
*:"[T]he most logical pathway by which sexual behavior evolved into a general reassurance mechanism is that this mechanism was first established in the adult male/female relationship, after which it was adopted in other age and sex combinations. In other words, the widespread application of sexual behavior patterns in the bonobo' s social life has its origin in an emphasis on heterosexual bonding (de Waal, 1987). Field research supports this view in that male/female relationships seem closer and more tolerant in bonobos than in chimpanzees."

*'''de Waal, Frans B. M. (2006). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp Bonobo Sex and Society.] Scientific American, 16, 14-21, doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp'''
*:"Ocasionally, the role of sex in relation to food is taken one step further, bringing bonobos very close to humans in their behavior. It has been speculated by anthropologists--including C. Owen Lovejoy of Kent State University and Helen Fisher of Rutgers University--that sex is partially separated from reproduction in our species because it serves to cement mutually profitable relationships between men and women. The human females capacity to mate throughout her cycle and her strong sex drive allow her to exchange sex for male commitment and paternal care, thus giving rise to the nuclear family."
*:"This arrangement is thought to be favored by natural selection because it allows women to raise more offspring than they could if they were on their own."
*:"Given its peacemaking and appeasement functions, it is not surprising that sex among bonobos occurs in so many different partner combinations, including between juveniles and adults. The need for peaceful coexistence is obviously not restricted to adult heterosexual pairs."
*:“In fact, nuclear families are probably incompatible with the diverse use of sex found in bonobos. If our ancestors started out with a sex life similar to that of bonobos, the evolution of the family would have required dramatic change.
*: Human family life implies paternal investment, which is unlikely to develop unless males can be reasonably certain that they are caring for their own, not someone elses, offspring. Bonobo society lacks any such guarantee, but humans protect the integrity of their family units through all kinds of moral restrictions and taboos. Thus, although our species is characterized by an extraordinary interest in sex, there are no societies in which people engage in it at the drop of a hat (or a cardboard box, as the case may be). A sense of shame and a desire for domestic privacy are typical human concepts related to the evolution and cultural bolstering of the family."

* '''Mackey, Wade C. (1990). Adult·Male/Juvenile Association as a Species-Characteristic Human Trait: A Comparative Field Approach. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 299–323). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_12'''
*: "As pointed out earlier, human adult males share food/provisions with their young, and this sharing by adult males is relatively rare across the zoological kingdom. It is reasonable that the sharing of a most valuable commodity -- food -- is much easier emotionally for the provisioner if the provisioner "likes" the recipient, and conversely, a recipient tends to like someone who feeds him or her, especially during the dependency of preadulthood. Accordingly, the behavioral enhancement of any neurohormonal mechanisms (subtended by the relevant genetic material) that resulted in greater affiliative feelings, toward juveniles, for example, would facilitate food sharing. The facilitation might be further sensitized by the stimulus of those young who are provisioned showing outward signs of affiliation towards the provisioner. Across generations, the increased provisioning of juveniles by adult males would marginally increase those juveniles' viability, thereby increasing those adult males' chances of having descendants. Thus, the alleles in adult males and juveniles that canalized reciprocal adult-male/juvenile affiliative behavior, in general, and the resultant specific adult-male/juvenile association, in particular, would gradually and systematically displace competing alleles that did not facilitate the development of affiliation between adult males and juveniles. In the 20th century, food sharing from human adult males to juveniles has been found to be a universal practice"

*'''Woods, Vanessa; Hare, Brian (2011-04-01). "Bonobo but not chimpanzee infants use socio-sexual contact with peers". Primates. 52 (2): 111–116. doi:10.1007/s10329-010-0229-z.'''
::"Even as infants, bonobos use socio-sexual behaviour, whereas the same behaviour is completely absent in chimpanzee infants. Findings suggest that sociosexual behaviour in infant bonobos serves functions during social feeding that is not closely tied to reproduction."

== Nonconceptive sociosexual behavior as a result of self-domestication ==
It has been suggested that nonconceptive sociosexual behaviour, which include homosexual and intergenerational sexual contacts, consistently accompanies both natural and artificial selection against aggression ("domestication") being embedded in general pattern of juvenilization (like mammalian juvenile sex play).
*'''Hare, B., Wobber, V., & Wrangham, R. (2012). [https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/site-images/hare-et-al-2012-self-domestication.original.pdf The self-domestication hypothesis: Evolution of bonobo psychology is due to selection against aggression.] ''Animal Behaviour'', 83(3), 573–585. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.12.007'''
::"Experiments indicate that selection against aggression in mammals can have multiple effects on their morphology, physiology, behaviour and psychology, and that these results resemble a syndrome of changes observed in domestic animals. [...] In domesticated species, the characteristic down-regulation of aggressiveness and increased tolerance is accompanied by other differences, [...] behavioural changes include [...] increased pro-social behaviours, particularly play, nonconceptive sexual behaviour and grooming (Hemmer 1990; Clutton-Brock 1992; Coppinger & Coppinger 1998; Kunzl & Sachser 1999; Gariépy et al. 2001)."

::examples:
::"[Compared with chimpanzees:] Bonobos show more play and sociosexual behaviour as adults"
::"[Compared with wolves:] Dogs show more play and sociosexual behaviour as adults"
::"[Compared with wild guinea pigs:] Guinea pigs are more playful and show more sexual behaviour than cavies"

::"Typically, a new bonobo, even as an infant, can be introduced without incident; and two groups, including multiple adult males separated for weeks, months or years, can be reintegrated with little more than play and sexual contact as a result (B. Hare, V. Wobber & R. Wrangham, personal observations)."

::"Behaviourally, bonobos are similar to many domesticates (e.g. Kunzl & Sachser 1999) in showing intensified sexual behaviour. [...] they also display a substantial emancipation of sexual behaviour into nonconceptive functions that often involve same-sex partners (Savage-Rumbaugh & Wilkerson 1978; Kuroda 1984; Thompson-Handler et al. 1984; de Waal 1987, 1995; Kano 1989, 1992; Enomoto 1990; Dixson 1998; Hohmann & Fruth 2000; Furuichi & Hashimoto 2004; Paoli et al. 2007; Clay & Zuberbühler 2011; Woods & Hare 2011)."

::"selection for juvenile levels of aggression could explain the cascade of behavioural, physiological and morphological traits typical of juveniles that tend to be retained in adults of the descendant domesticated species (Trut 2001)."

::"The self-domestication hypothesis is therefore a potentially powerful tool for understanding the processes by which selection shapes both psychological and other seemingly unrelated traits, including those in humans (e.g. Leach et al. 2003; Dorus et al. 2004)."

== Sex as an attachment promoter. Development of paternal investment==
In addition to the “reptilian” connection between sex and dominance, Eibl-Eibesfeldt described another way of sexuality organization. That evolutionary later way is the interweaving of sex and attachment, which is typical for birds and some mammals forming long-term reproductive alliances. The ability of males to form attachment and exhibit caring behavior to a sexual partner is highly beneficial for females. Human evolution went through an increase in the maturation time of offspring, which led to huge reproductive costs for females. Thus, there was a particularly strong sexual selection of males, in which sexual desire was accompanied by consistent caring behavior towards the female and her offspring. This attachment to a sexual partner may be evolutionarily linked to child-parent attachment (in some species, this connection is manifested in the features of sexual courtship rituals containing signs of childish behavior, which function to induce caring behavior and affection in a sexual partner). So according to this theory, the functional system of parental care and the functional system of mating became interconnected. Eibl-Eibesfeldt wrote that romantic love occurs through the fusion of parental care and sexual desire, and this fusion is an antecedent for children and adolescents to evoke romantic feelings in some adults (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1990 <ref name=":1" />).

In line with Eibl-Eibesfeldt, ethologist Herman Dienske argues that, in the course of evolution, due to the ability of human females to conceal ovulation and to be continuously sexually receptive, male sexual interest has evolved in turn to foster consistent male proximity (to invest in offspring that take so long to mature), and subsequently could promote male proximity with the infant (Dienske, 1990<ref name=":0" />). Indeed, the repertoire of pedosexual behavior observed in humans, besides sexual actions, may also include caring behavior: comforting/caressing, feeding, grooming (body care such as washing or massage), protecting, teaching (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":7" />).

Excerpts:
* '''Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6'''
*: “If one observes courtship and greeting rituals in birds and mammals, one soon becomes aware that the patterns by which a friendly affiliation is established, upheld, or strengthened are basically derived from maternal behaviors and infantile appeals that trigger these patterns.”
*: “In human sexual behavior, strata of different phylogenetic origins can be distinguished. Sexuality based upon the mechanisms of male dominance and female submission, which characterizes the reptiles, also constitutes the basic layer of human sexuality. This reptilian heritage is superimposed, however, by a more recently acquired sexuality characterized by affiliation and love. The new potentiality to act in a friendly manner evolved with the development of parental care independently in birds and in mammals. In normal human sexual behavior, the archaic agonal sexuality is controlled by affiliative sexuality and, therefore, is characterized by love. Agonal sexuality is still with us, however, as indicated, among other features, by the phallic male-dominance displays, by a male hormonal response linked to dominance achievement, and by the sexual fantasies of submission that are experienced by females. Agonal sexuality normally is under the control of affiliative sexuality, and therefore, humans correctly associate sex with love. Certain forms of sexuality, such as sadomasochism and a particular form of male homosexuality, are explained as being a regression to the archaic agonal sexuality. Pedophilia and pedosexual behavior are explained within the regression context, too. Children have characteristics, such as small size, that facilitate adult males' feeling dominant to them, as occurs in pedosexual behavior. Since human adult/adult romantic love is derived by phylogeny from parental caregiving behavior, it is easily seen how, in some adult humans, the feeling of love toward children has been retained and eroticized, which is the true meaning of the term "pedophilia.”

*'''Dienske, Herman (1990). The Concept of Function in the Behavioral Sciences with Specific Reference to Pedophilia and Pedosexual Behavior: A Biophilosophical Perspective. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*:"it was pointed out that the continuous sexual activity of humans promotes the coherence of the adult-male/adult-female pair and that it encourages the male parent to participate in rearing his offspring. This assumption requires (1) that sex induces affiliation (i.e., the maintenance of proximity and the extension of favors) and (2) that this affiliation is continued after offspring are born and (3) is accompanied by male paternal care. The associations among sex, affiliation, and paternal care seem to be common in humans. This situation does not imply, however, a simple causal relationship. Infrequent or absent sex may precede divorce. It cannot be decided whether infrequent sex reduces affiliation or whether the decreased affiliation reduces sex. It is likely that sex and affiliation mutually enhance each other and that the absence of one of the two leads to a declining spiral that eventually results in separation or disinterest."
*: “the associations among sex, affiliation, and paternal care are not compelling in that alternative functional solutions exist. Nevertheless, the affiliation-promoting effect of sex seems apparent.”
*: “Human females, in contrast, lack such signals and thus have what is called "concealed ovulation" (Alexander and Noonan, 1979); in fact, the timing of human ovulation was not known until recently. Uncertainty concerning the time at which ovulation occurs would promote frequent copulations. It is possible that continuous sexual behavior in human females is their afflliation-promoting strategy, since it can induce more consistent male proximity (Daniels, 1983).”
*:“[P]edophilic and homosexual nonprocreative sexual contacts could be considered functional, since favors resulting from the affiliation, which is maintained in part by sexual behavior, can be considerable.”

*'''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2'''
*: "some of the components of parental investment, collectively called "nurturing behavior", are seen in both pedo-and ephebophilia and can be considered and discussed as (1) comforting and contact, (2) feeding, (3) grooming, (4) protecting, and (5) teaching."

* '''Money, J. (1990). Pedophilia: A Specific Instance of New Phylism Theory as Applied to Paraphilic Lovemaps. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions]. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_18'''
*:"This author's way of circumventing the debate is to say that there are in the human species phylogenetic building blocks, or phylisms, that in the course of individual sexuoerotic development are capable of being diverted from their usual expression, so as to become entrained to sexuoerotic arousal. In the case of pedophilia, the phylism of parent/child pairbonding becomes diverted and entrained to sexuoerotic, lover /lover pairbonding. The pedophile's attachment to a child represents a merger of parental and erotic love."
*:"The universal male/male pedophilia of the Sambia demonstrates the sexological plasticity of the human organism and the making of pedophilia into the social norm."

This hypothesis is also mentioned in modern scientific encyclopedias:

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. (2017). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1 Sexual Pathology.] In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] (pp. 7439 - 7445). Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1'''
*:“the evolutionary explanation behind the origin of pedophilia refers to the fusion of two evolutionarily ancient adaptive systems – reproduction and nurturing. Money (1990) states that a pedophile’s relationship to a child qualitatively, and also neurologically, resembles a blend between parental and erotic love. Likewise, it can be linked to the close cohesion between these two systems that can be observed also between phylogenetically close species.”.
*:”The founder of the human ethnology field, Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1973), directly warns about the type of affiliative-erotic relationship that connects to the composition of long-term partnership, which was developed both in mammals and birds together with nurturing behavior, and therefore it is not surprising that they are occasionally mixed in humans.”

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. "Male Sexual Disorders" In: Todd K. Shackelford (ed.), 2022, [https://annas-archive.org/md5/2d84ebccbbaafc78b4516ef6b129e5a2 The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology. Vol 4.] ''Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)''.'''
:: "A phylogenetic explanation of pedophilia refers to the fusion of two evolutionarily old systems– reproduction and nurturing (Money, 1990). It is also in line with the results of neuroimaging studies in which pedophilic men could be distinguished from controls by their increased fMRI activity in reaction to child versus adult faces (Ponseti et al., 2016) and increased brain responses to not only human but also animal infants in pedophiles (Ponseti et al., 2018), interpreted as an over-responsive nurturing system. This view agrees with older ethological theories that sees pedophilia as a mixture of parental and erotic love indicated by behavioral displays of both (Money, 2012)."

* '''Stevens, A., & Price, J. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315740577 Evolutionary Psychiatry: A new beginning] (Classic Ed.) (pp. 206-218) Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. doi:10.4324/9781315740577'''
*: “We would entertain the hypothesis proposed separately by Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1990) and by Money (1990) that two innate biosocial propensities – caregiving and sex-mating – have become fused in the course of ontogeny in those who display the paedophilic orientation.”
*:“[A]ffiliative erotic love, as Eibl-Eibesfeldt points out, itself evolved in birds and mammals together with the development of parental care-giving behaviour. ‘Since human adult/adult romantic love is derived by phylogeny from parent care-giving behaviour,’ asserts EiblEibesfeldt, ‘it is easily seen how, in some adult humans, the feeling of love toward children has been retained and eroticised, which is the true meaning of the term “pedophilia”.“.

Cross-species research indicate that the sexuality-attachment fusion in intergenerational relationships is widespread in nature and not restricted to humans:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"Intense sexually based friendships or consort relationships between older and younger animals have been documented in various species, including gorillas, orangutans, macaques (crab-eating, Japanese, rhesus, stumptail), Hamadryas baboons, and squirrel monkeys. Takenoshita (1998) observed consort relationships between adult and juvenile male Japanese macaques, where these pairs, in addition to engaging in homosexual interactions, foraged together, groomed one another, and attacked other monkeys together. Chevalier-Skolnikoff (1976) described intensely affectionate relationships between mature and immature stumptail male macaques, in which both older and younger partners responded with sexual excitement to the sexual interactions. Zuckerman (1932) observed a three-year sexual relationship between an adult and an immature male Hamadryas baboon. Redican, Gomber, and Mitchell (1974) observed an intense attachment between an adult male rhesus macaque and a much younger male, in which the latter took strong initiative in establishing the relationship and sexual interaction. Hamilton (1914), also studying rhesus macaques, reported that he “found that friendships between immature males and mature males are of frequent occurrence, and that they seem to have a sexual basis” (p. 308). In one illustrative case, Hamilton reported, when a separated mature-immature pair was allowed to reunite, the two rushed into an embrace, smacking their lips. Both animals showed marked sexual excitement, and the older mounted the younger, who rotated his head to achieve lip contact with the older partner."

=== Neurological, endocrinological and psychological evidence ===

Human sexuality researchers have confirmed the neurobiological interconnection of sexual and attachment systems. The release of oxytocin, vasopressin and prolactin, hormones associated with parental behavior, during sex and orgasm stimulates the formation of attachment, altruistic behavior and care for a partner. The reverse is also true: trusting and caring relationships can evoke sexual interest (Dewitte & Marieke, 2012 <ref> [https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/00224499.2011.576351 Dewitte, Marieke (2012). Different Perspectives on the Sex-Attachment Link: Towards an Emotion-Motivational Account.] The Journal of Sex Research, 49, 105–124. https://doi=10.1080/00224499.2011.576351</ref>; Fleischman, 2021 <ref> [https://www.dianafleischman.com/_files/ugd/cb1e47_2914fac5806e4843a8544c1cdee5a69a.pdf Fleischman, D. (2021). Sex as Bonding Mechanisms.] In: Shackelford, T.K., Weekes-Shackelford, V.A. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717</ref>).

Two decades after Eibl-Eibesfeldt suggested that the neural systems of sex and care are relatively more connected in people who are sexually attracted to children, neuroscientists have found some experimental evidence for that. Brain structures responsible for social connections, altruistic and parental motivation (such as the left anterior insula), in people with pedophilic interest, respond to infant stimuli more intensively, receiving reinforcement from the neural circuits responsible for mating. In addition, a greater connection between parental and mating systems is characteristic of males, which is explained by evolutionarily different ways of forming maternal and paternal investments (Ponseti et al., (2018). <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645 Ponseti J, Bruhn D, Nolting J, Gerwinn H, Pohl A, Stirn A, Granert O, Laufs H, Deuschl G, Wolff S, Jansen O, Siebner H, Briken P, Mohnke S, Amelung T, Kneer J, Schiffer B, Walter H, Kruger THC. Decoding Pedophilia: Increased Anterior Insula Response to Infant Animal Pictures.] Front Hum Neurosci. 2018 Jan 23;11:645. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645. PMID: 29403367; PMCID: PMC5778266.</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''Ponseti et al., (2018). "[https://sci-hub.se/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645 Decoding Pedophilia: Increased Anterior Insula Response to Infant Animal Pictures".] Front Hum Neurosci.'''
*: “This gives rise to the assumption that increased brain responses to infant stimuli in pedophilia are rather a consequence of an over-active nurturing system than of an over-active sexual system.”
*: “The left anterior insula, being a crucial area of nurturing processing, was also frequently found to be activated in sexual brain studies (Stoleru et al., 2012). Furthermore, the left anterior insula (as well as the SMA) is a constituent of the human attachment system, thereby enabling both nurturing and pair-bonding (Feldman, 2016). Based on both observations, (i) the over-responding to nurturing stimuli in various motivational areas and (ii) the functional overlap of nurturing and sexual processing of the involved left anterior insula a tentative and simple model of pedophilia could be as follows: Nurturing stimuli receive additional processing resources by mating-circuits. In case of human infant stimuli this leads to a sexual connotation of infant stimuli. This idea is supported by the suggestion that nurturing and pair-bonding are two closely inter-related domains in humans at the level of physiological functions, brain processing, and involved neuropeptides”
*: "In any case, from an evolutionary perspective, paternal nurturing is an unusual and probably more recently evolved male behavior. Phylogenetically speaking, male brains are not “geared” to handle infant stimuli. This may explain why the “parental caregiving” network of males and females displays differences (Abraham et al., 2014).
*: It might be hypothesized that, in contrast to ancient maternal infant stimulus processing, human male brains process infant stimuli with brain areas that might not be associated primarily with caregiving. If so, it is conceivable that the involvement of brain areas not “geared” to the paternal nurturing aspects associated with infant stimuli makes male brains vulnerable to not maintaining the functional division between the domains of nurturing and mating behavior."

*'''Schuler, M. et al (2019). "[https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/abn-abn0000412.pdf Empathy in pedophilia and sexual offending against children: A multifaceted approach]," ''Journal of Abnormal Psychology'', 128(5), 453–464.'''
*:"Participants included 85 pedophilic men who committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P+CSO), 72 pedophilic men who never committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P−CSO), and 128 nonoffending teleiophilic male controls (TC). Several affective and cognitive aspects of empathy were assessed using the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Whereas in self-reports (IRI) P+CSO scored lower than TC (P−CSO intermediate) in cognitive perspective-taking abilities, a performance-based measure (MET) revealed evidence for a better differentiation of emotional states in P−CSO as compared with P+CSO (TC intermediate). In addition, P+CSO and P−CSO showed significantly higher affective resonance while observing children (MET), which was paralleled by higher self-reported levels of personal distress in social situations (IRI). The results indicate evidence for higher general affective empathic resonance to children in pedophilic men but superior cognitive empathy abilities in nonoffending pedophiles only, which may act as a protective factor in the prevention of sexual offending."

=== Sex and attachment in general ===
*'''Fletcher, G. J. O.; Simpson, J. A.; Campbell, L.; Overall, N. C. . (2015). [https://pismin.com/10.1177/1745691614561683 Pair-Bonding, Romantic Love, and Evolution: The Curious Case of Homo sapiens.] Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(1), 20–36. doi:10.1177/1745691614561683'''
*:"Factor analytic studies of perceptions of romantic love in Western samples support these models, typically revealing three components (e.g., Aron & Westbay, 1996). The labels assigned to each factor vary across studies, but they reflect passion (sexual attraction), emotional bonding (intimacy), and commitment (caregiving)."
*:"romantic love provides a potent motivational push toward the kind of devotion and commitment required for the huge investment needed to support a mate and raise children successfully."
*:"romantic love is an adaptation — a commitment device — that facilitated longterm pair-bonding"
*:"The striking similarity between the behavioral manifestations of parent–infant love and romantic love suggests that evolution may have borrowed these ancient bonding mechanisms, originally evolved in mammals to bond mothers to their offspring, and applied them to men and women in the context of romantic pair-bonding."
*:"Using phylogenetic comparative methods with 230 different species, Opie et al. (2013) found that the evolution of monogamy is strongly related to paternal care of offspring"

== Evolutionary (by)product of human neotenization ==
Another factor of pedosexual attraction emergence is a human neotenization. The evolutionary advantage of retaining neotenic (childish) traits which elicit nurturing responses from adults, results in the retention of neotenic genetic traits due to sexual competition. Therefore such traits become sexually attractive. That leads to the observable progressive neotenization of humans in comparison with ancestors and subsequently increases likelihood of juveniles being sexually attractive. Since fertile females retained juvenile traits into their fertile years, the line between fertile and infertile female age became blurred. Thus, some males become oriented toward females who are too young for reproduction (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":5" />).

Excerpts:
* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23'''
*:“All of these genetically and culturally transmitted processes blur the distinction between reproductively competent adults and children and adolescents. Therefore, all of these processes must be considered to be determinants, at some level, of pedo- and ephebophilia.”
*:“pedo-and ephebophiles, like chins and spandrels, may have no primary adaptive function in themselves but, instead, may be rank-ordered by-products of selection for more adaptive attributes in their kin.”

*'''Lievesley, R. and Harper, C.A. (2024) “[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19419899.2024.2321149#d1e314 The interaction between perceived chronological age and physical sexual development in attractiveness judgments made by people who are attracted to children]”, ''Psychology and Sexuality'', DOI:10.1080/19419899.2024.2321149'''
*:"From an evolutionary perspective, men typically perceive more youthful faces as more attractive due to these indicating a greater degree of fertility (Gallup & Frederick, Citation2010, Little, Citation2015, Thornhill & Grammer, Citation1999). [...] [A]n increased degree of closeness of facial features appears to be encoded as indicating youth (Albert et al., Citation2007), and in turn, this youthfulness is associated with beauty (Sutherland et al., Citation2013)."

*'''Bogin, B. (1997). [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281997%2925%20%3C63%3A%3AAID-AJPA3%3E3.0.CO%3B2-8 Evolutionary hypotheses for human childhood]. ''Yearbook of Physical Anthropology'', 40, 63–89.'''
*:"Taken together, these studies indicate that adults are more likely to protect or nuture individuals with ‘‘neotenous’’ facial features. McCabe defines such features as having a relatively large ratio of cranium size to lower face size."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Our ability to imagine young children as sexual partners is probably increased substantially by two other unusual characteristics: neoteny and hidden estrus. Neoteny, the retention of juvenile traits in adulthood, is far more extensive in Homo sapiens than in any other primate (Bonner, 1980; Gould, 1977). Human adults resemble their small children a great deal more than adult primates do their immature offspring. [...] Moreover, many adolescent boys and young adults are beardless and they often have a complexion similar to that of young women and children. To confuse our senses further and muddle our minds, one- to two-fifths of young adolescent boys experience breast enlargement for a year or more (Katchadourian, 1977; Tanner, 1978). A similar case can be made for behavior. When we find in other animals the behavioral or physical traits of the young to be similar to adult female patterns we often find males courting the immature."
::"A concealed estrus combined with continuous female sexual receptivity and neoteny ought to increase the likelihood that men will find young girls sexually attractive, especially since males are not known anyway for making subtle differentiations between appropriate and inappropriate sex partners. Since women are more discriminating and, furthermore, would not be as confused by the facial resemblance of potential immature and adult sexual partners or by the conundrum of hidden estrus, female pedophilia should be much less common. Male homosexual pedophilia should fall somewhere in between."

The common hypothesis about pedosexuality is that it is merely a by-product of human neotenization. However, there are also arguments that diverse sexuality in adults (including homosexuality and pedosexuality, as seen, for example, in bonobos) in itself is a form of adaptive neoteny. Juvenile bisexual play is widespread among mammals and serves to acquire reproductive skills. Retaining this ability in adulthood may serve a range of sociosexual functions.

* '''Poiani, A. (2010). [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/animal-homosexuality/0352ED7E7645EE35B14FAAF3AE3A127B Animal homosexuality: A biosocial perspective.] ''Cambridge University Press''. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511762192'''
::"Indeed, under various potential selective mechanisms, canalisation of neotenic traits may favour the expression of a great diversity of sexual behaviours that are characteristic of the juvenile stages of development. That is, although from an ontogenetic perspective juvenile homosexual play is a route to efficient heterosexuality in most species, from a phylogenetic perspective neotenic processes, by retaining those juvenile traits past the period of sexual maturation throughout evolution, may produce adult homosexuals or bisexuals. In the adult, homosexual behaviours may then undergo further adaptations related to social life. A potential example of this process may be found in the bonobo, where juvenile same-sex sexual behaviours are as common as they are in the congeneric chimpanzee, but in adults they occur much more frequently than in chimpanzees, being expressed in specific socio-sexual contexts."
::Note: Although the authors make this claim about homosexuality only, there is no obstacle to extending the same conclusion to pedosexuality as well.

== Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis ==
On the basis of previously available evolutionary explanations (Mackey, 1990 <ref name=":6" />; Muscarella, 2000 <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1300/j082v40n01_03 Muscarella, F. (2000). The evolution of homoerotic behavior in humans.] Journal of Homosexuality, 40, 51–77.</ref>; Kirkpatrick, 2000 <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1086/300145 Kirkpatrick, R. C. (2000). The evolution of human homosexual behavior.] Current Anthropology, 41, 385–413</ref>; Neil, 2009<ref>[http://humanbehaviors.free.fr/Livre%20-%20Human%20bisexuality%20-%20The%20Origins%20and%20Role%20of%20Same-Sex%20Relations%20in%20Human%20Societies%202009.pdf Neill, J. (2009). The origins and role of same-sex relations in human societies.] Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.</ref>), [[Bruce Rind]] developed a hypothesis explaining the most widely documented type of male homosexuality in human history, namely [[pederasty]] (the relationship between a man and a peripubertal/[[Adolescence|adolescent]] boy) (Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4" />).

It is assumed that the evolutionary function of man-boy sexual relationships comes from our evolutionary past, when the environment was very different from the modern one. Humans have had a long evolutionary history as [[Wikipedia:Hunter-gatherer|hunter-gatherers]]. This time was characterized by intergroup warfare and the hunting of large animals. To do this, it was necessary to form close-knit same-sex male groups, to form specific male skills of war and hunting, and to maintain the specific masculine culture of this group. This created a selection pressure to create a mechanism to facilitate such rallying, recruitment and enculturation of new members, which is a long-term and labor-intensive undertaking. It is hypothesized that the sexual attraction between a boy and a man became such a mechanism, through the ability to form a strong emotional connection, prompting the mentor to teach and care, and the boy to seek training and a role model.<ref name=":4" />

The evolutionary benefit of such a mechanism is assumed both at the individual level (for the junior this is training, protection, and promotion in the male hierarchy, for the adult this is the expansion of the network of alliances) and at the group level (the clan received a reliable replenishment of group members, well-prepared, enculturated and committed to the culture of the group, which gave a competitive advantage).<ref name=":4" />

This hypothesis is supported by [[Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships|cross-cultural]] and [[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History|historical studies]], where a variety of independent cultures demonstrate the prevalence of institutionalized sexual relations between men and boys of peripubertal age. In many instances boys begin sexual practices with older boys and men long before the beginning of puberty (e.g. at age of 7), so in such cases this can't be called [[Pederasty|pederasty]] in the narrow sense, rather [[Pedophilia|pedophilia]].

These relationships are built into these cultures and are part of growing up and becoming a man. The readiness, desire and initiative for sexual contact comes not only from adult men, but also from boys, and this is recorded as a typical phenomenon in these cultures (see Table III in Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4" />). This also confirms the existence of an evolutionary benefit for younger participants.<ref name=":4" />

Moreover, this attraction is not associated with reproductive losses, unlike exclusive homosexuality. It is typical of all these cultures that, upon reaching adulthood, men get wives and at the same time have sexual relations with boys themselves. It is assumed that this ability of the average heterosexual male to experience pederastic attraction is specific to our species.<ref name=":4" />

But this ability is optional (facultative). That is, unlike obligate heterosexual attraction, pederastic interest is to a large extent activated or suppressed by the social environment. This explains the fact that there is a sharp difference in the prevalence of pederastic behavior and attraction between cultures, and the fact that in modern Western cultures it does not manifest itself widely.<ref name=":4" />

Excerpts:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
*:“Formally, this hypothesis holds that pederasty evolved in the early human hunter-gatherer EEA [Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness] as an adaptation (i.e., exaptation), whose function it was to reproduce the male group by facilitating the mentoring and enculturation of boys from peripubescence through adolescence, as well as their emotional and psychological binding with the group. This function was a solution to the recurring adaptive problems in the EEA of surviving and exploiting an extremely dangerous and competitive social and physical environment”
*:“In short, the ages of boys sought out as recruits in male groups, the period in which they are mentored and enculturated, the ages of boys that men in such societies (and our own) find erotically appealing, the ages at which boys are especially open to being mentored (and capable as well, owing to an emergent adult-cognitive capacity), and the ages at which they are open to pederastic relations appear to be part of a single package, in which each of these characteristics seems to be a design feature and element of a larger design, whose function is reproducing the male group.”
*:“It is important to emphasize that pederasty’s relatively infrequent expression in societies such as ours does not imply that it is not an adaptation. In our society, developmental inputs have traditionally been intensely hostile toward homosexual behavior, often accompanied by severe social sanctions, including public disgrace and punishment, which can be expected to have had a significant dampening effect on the emergence and activation of pederastic desire and the expression of pederastic behavior.”
*:“Thus, even though adaptive in the EEA , pederasty, being a facultative trait, is nevertheless rare in our environment. On the other hand, in cultures with cultural ideologies and social structures facilitative of pederastic desire and expression, its occurrence has been widespread across the male population, which is consistent with the assumptions that most males have at least a moderate potential for the behavior and that such potential is sufficient for the behavior to emerge, provided other factors are not inhibitory.”

* '''Schiefenhövel, W. (1990). Ritualized Adult-Male/Adolescent-Male Sexual Behavior in Melanesia: An Anthropological and Ethological Perspective. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) Pedophilia. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_16'''
*: "Men are expected to plan, work, fight, and sometimes, die together. The necessary altruistic behavior and effective cooperation of the warriors as well as the acceptance of a male hierarchy would have been fostered by the institution of prescribed homosexuality."

* '''Riegel, D. L. (2011). [https://web.archive.org/web/20130425190309/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Role%20of%20Androphilia%20in%20the%20Psychosexual%20Development%20of%20Boys.pdf The role of androphilia in the psychosexual development of boys.] ''International Journal of Sexual Health'', 23(1), 2–13. doi:10.1080/19317611.2010.509696'''
*:"Proceeding from Feierman's (1990) thesis, it can be postulated that in prehistoric times it is likely that many children, due to violence, disease, poor nutrition, and life spans that were considerably shorter than what we have considered normal for the past couple of centuries, found themselves without either parents or other adults who would be willing to take on the burden of looking after and feeding a not yet productive child. However, a boy who was sexually androphilic (Vanggaard, 1969) would have the potential advantage of closely bonding with an older male whose sexuality included a male-directed pedosexual component, and who would preferentially protect, provide for, and teach the boy the skills necessary to survive and prosper. Studies have identified such secondary boy-attracted pedosexual tendencies in 20% to 30% of self-identified heterosexual adult males (Freund, 1970; cf. Briere & Runtz, 1989, Quinsey, 1984, West, 1980), and these tendencies would not be selected against so long as the bearers were primarily heterosexual and only secondarily male-oriented pedosexual. There is no reason to believe that these percentages were not similar in prehistoric times; there is some evidence for familial transmission (Gaffney, Lurie, & Berlin, 1984). In the absence of our modern-day taboos, such adaptive and beneficial boy/older male relationships could proceed unimpeded, the boy's juvenile androphilic sexuality would typically be supplanted by heterosexuality as he matured (Sandfort, 1987), he would then pass on his genes, and thus both of these traits would be maintained in the gene pool."

* '''Rind, Bruce. (2014). [https://pismin.com/10.1080/19317611.2014.956853 Trends in evolutionary explanations for human male same-sex eroticism: a commentary on Riegel (2011).] ''International Journal of Sexual Health'', (), 1–11. doi:10.1080/19317611.2014.956853'''
*:"In this commentary, I discuss his social critique and focus on his evolutionary hypothesis, reviewing seven earlier hypotheses for comparison. "
*:"Werner (2006) focused exclusively on the evolution of male homosexual behavior. Based on selected cross-species data, he posited that male homosexual behavior evolved in stages over eons of time. In the first, involving primitive species (e.g., reptiles), single adult males controlled territories, where they waited for females for mating. Adolescent or transvestite males, who resembled adult females in form and/or behavior, gained entry to these territories because of their female mimicry and they were tolerated once there because they submitted homosexually to the adult resident. Their benefit for this submission was mating opportunities with visiting females, which otherwise would not have been available to them. In the second stage, male homosexual behavior changed function (i.e., was an exaptation) in various more complex descendent species with greater cognitive capacities (so that deception via female mimicry no longer worked) and in which adult males lived together in groups rather than as isolates. Here, the changed function of homosexual submission was to elicit tolerance from the dominant male, which served to uphold the dominance hierarchy, which in turn facilitated multi-male group living. The third and final phase occurred when multiple males did not simply live together but cooperated on common tasks. Here, male homosexual behavior changed function once again, in which it facilitated alliance formation, which in turn enabled pursuit of common tasks. He called his explanation the hierarchy/cooperation theory for human male homosexual behavior. Werner claimed that pathic (i.e., transgenderal) homosexuality was the most common form of male homosexual behavior cross-culturally, followed by transgenerational homosexuality. He speculated that different social structures produce different strategies for male/male cooperation, which in turn determine the form by which male homoeroticism is expressed."

* '''Jaroslava Varella Valentova, Andreone Teles Medrado, and Marco Antonio Correa Varella “Male Bisexuality”. In: Todd K. Shackelford (ed.), 2022, [https://annas-archive.org/md5/2d84ebccbbaafc78b4516ef6b129e5a2 The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology. Vol 4.] ''Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)''.'''
::"The alternative sneaking tactic can apply to transitory bisexual men, who would pursue predominantly same-sex relationships early in life when they do not possess status and/or resources to attract females, and create and maintain a family. In the younger age, they might have same-sex tutors or they might sexually serve to dominant males possessing resources. However, they might also sneak among the female partners of the dominant male, and gain at least some copulations and a nonzero reproductive success. Later in life they might switch to predominantly other-sex mating."

==Childhood as a target for sexual selection==

Some authors have suggested that not only adolescence but also middle childhood are involved in sexual selection process, and evolved as a stage at which individuals not only could but should take responsibilities. This appears to contradict how childhood is constructed in modern society (see also [[Research:_Cognitive_ability#Competence|research on childhood competence]]). According to such theories, in middle childhood, individuals become "nest helpers", helping in nurturing for younger siblings, foraging, and chores. This is a fine tuning stage of later social and sexual life-history strategies. First sexual or romantic attractions, sexual play, separation in gender roles typically emerge several years before puberty reflecting the fact that children are drawn into the evolutionary process of sexual selection much earlier than they become fertile. At this stage they actively learn sociosexual behavior and receive feedback about their sociosexual success from peer and adults, adapting their sexual competitive strategy to the environmental input. They engage in sexual and romantic relationship along with adults benefiting from learning, resources and social status they gain. This contributes to their sexual success in later life stages.

*'''Del Giudice M. (2014) [https://iris.unito.it/retrieve/handle/2318/1853338/974935/DelGiudice_2018_middle-childhood_chapter_pre.pdf Middle childhood: an evolutionary-developmental synthesis.]; 8:193–200. doi:10.1111/cdep.12084. in: Halfon N, Forrest CB, Lerner RM, et al., editors. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK543707/ Handbook of Life Course Health Development]. ''Cham (CH): Springer''; 2018. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-47143-3'''
*:"In summary, the life stage of juvenility/middle childhood has two major interlocking functions: social learning and social integration in a system of roles, norms, activities, and shared knowledge. While children are still receiving sustained investment from parents and other relatives—in the form of food, protection, knowledge, and so forth—they also start to actively contribute to their family economy. By providing resources and sharing the burden of child care, juveniles can boost their parents’ reproductive potential. The dual nature of juveniles as both receivers and providers explains many psychological features of middle childhood and has likely played a major role in the evolution of human life history (Kramer, 2011)."
*:"Middle childhood is one of the main stages of human development, marked by the eruption of the first permanent molars around age 6 and the onset of androgen secretion by the adrenal glands at about 6-8 years (Bogin, 1997)."
*:"The transition to middle childhood is typically associated with a strong separation in gender roles, even in societies where tasks are not rigidly assigned by sex."
*:"The stress response system plays a major role in gathering and storing information about environmental safety, predictability, and availability of resources; adrenarche contributes by translating that information into adaptive, sexually differentiated patterns of behavior (Del Giudice et al., 2011; Ellis & Del Giudice, 2014). Consistent with this view, both early relational stress and early nutrition have been found to modulate the timing of adrenarche (Ellis & Essex, 2007; Hochberg, 2008). It is no coincidence that the first sexual and romantic attractions typically develop in middle childhood, in tandem with the intensification of sexual play (Bancroft, 2003; Herdt & McClintock, 2000). By interacting with peers and adults, juveniles receive feedback about the effectiveness of their nascent behavioral strategies. The information collected during middle childhood feeds into the next developmental switch point, that of gonadarche (Ellis, 2013)"
*:"By determining children’s initial place in social networks and hierarchies, competition in middle childhood indirectly affects their ability to attract sexual and romantic partners later. In other words, middle childhood is a likely target for sexual selection — that is, natural selection arising from the processes of choosing mates (mate choice) and competing for mates (mating competition). My colleagues and I (Del Giudice et al., 2009) argued that sexual selection is one reason why sex differences emerge and intensify in middle childhood."

== Complementary behavior among minors ==
The hypothesis of pedophilic/pederastic attraction as a promoter of affection, care, and reproductive benefits in general on the side of youth is confirmed by the very existence of complementary behavior of minors, who [[Testimony: CSA (Children's Sexual Advances)|often show initiative and willingness for sexual relations with adults]]<ref>[https://ia802202.us.archive.org/16/items/rind-2022-reactions-to-minor-older-and-minor-peer-sex-in-finnish-survey/Rind%202022%20-%20Reactions%20to%20Minor-Older%20and%20Minor-Peer%20Sex%20in%20Finnish%20survey.pdf Rind, B. Reactions to Minor-Older and Minor-Peer Sex as a Function of Personal and Situational Variables in a Finnish Nationally Representative Student Sample. Arch Sex Behav 51, 961–985 (2022).], see also [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/images/Rindbasics.pdf Yesmap Primer] and [https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02224-0 DOI.org].</ref>. It’s assumed that such a behavior could function to receive affection and extra resources not available from the child's default caregiver, or as a way to indirect reproductive value (for example, through group survival by successful [[Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis|bonding to mentors]] during male warfare recruiting), or just as an attempt to develop sexual skills. This testifies to the evolutionarily beneficial and reciprocal essence of intergenerational attraction (Klapilová & Bártová, 2017; Stevens & Price, 2016; Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4"> [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Rind, B. (2013). Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) ''New York: Routledge.'' doi:10.4324/9781315432458</ref>).

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. (2017). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1 Sexual Pathology.] In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] (pp. 7439 - 7445). Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1'''
*:“The child’s adaptive behavioral function to demand nurture from adults and his prospective urge to perform sexual activities is not mentioned too often. Still, it is a rather widespread behavior across cultures and historical periods that can help the child receive extra resources not available from their own parents. It would therefore be a complementary strategy – from the pedophile’s side, there is the eroticization of nurturing behavior and attraction to signalization that encourages caretaking, whereas from the child’s side, it is a functional, environmentally conditioned strategy that brings benefits in the form of resources and possibly even acquisition of sexual experience and calibration of child sexuality”.

* '''Stevens, A., & Price, J. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315740577 Evolutionary Psychiatry: A new beginning] (Classic Ed.) (pp. 206-218) Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. doi:10.4324/9781315740577'''
*:“it is undeniable that many children in our society – especially those in boarding schools and childrens’ homes – suffer from ‘parent hunger’. They are what Mia Kellmer-Pringle has called ‘touch-hungry children’. It is possible that the care-eliciting ‘phylism’ in these children may become eroticized just as the care-giving phylism may be eroticized in adult paedophiles. Thus, children starved of parental affection may compete for the love and attention of adults in their environment by using erotic solicitation as a strategy for survival. To suggest this possibility is not to excuse adults who exploit the emotional needs of children for their personal gratification but to provide an evolutionary explanation as to how and why erotic bonds between adults and juveniles may occur. We would propose that both care-eliciting and care-giving phylisms can be eroticized.”

[[Bruce Rind]] gathered evidence of widespread minors' positive reactions, even in our restrictive culture, in his research. (Also, some relevant excerpts are in [[Research: Prevalence of Harm and Negative Outcomes#Simple or informed consent as predictive of positive reactions?|this section]]).

Here is some evidence from [[Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships|Nonwestern cultures]]:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"Anthropological studies on preindustrial societies with culturally institutionalized or widespread pederasty provide reports on how the younger males responded to sexual contacts with older males (see Table III ). Among the Javanese, men remembered their boyhood pederastic experiences entirely positively, despite the researcher’s probing to uncover negative cases (Williams, 2011). Sambian boys showed much initiative in these contacts, especially at older ages (Herdt, 1991, 1997). Keraki men believed that they could not have developed properly without these relations as boys (Williams, 1936). Kaluli men looked back on the complex of grueling hunting, living in a sex-segregated men’s lodge, ritual discipline, unity of purpose, vigorous manly ethos, and growth-stimulating insemination by older males as the highlight of their lives (Schieffelin, 1982). East Bay boys discussed their sexual experiences with men freely and without shame in the presence of their parents and friends (Davenport, 1965). Gebusi boys aged 11 to 14 initiated sexual relations with older males based on personal affection rather than obligation (Herdt, 1991). The bond between Marind-Anim boys and their adult male partners was extremely strong, which was apparently facilitated by the sexual interactions (Van Baal, 1966). Likewise, pederastic relations were extremely close among the Big Nambas (Layard, 1942). Among the Kiman, pederastic behavior would stop after adolescence, but “nevertheless, a lifelong emotional relationship often” resulted (Serpenti, 1984, p. 305). In various southern Mexican Indian tribes, adolescent boys were proud to have been chosen for pederastic relationships, seeing it as an honor to be their men’s lovers (Ross, 1991). And being a Tsongan boy-wife was not just good for security, but for the “fun” it afforded (Murray & Roscoe, 1998)."

And from [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|cross-species]] studies:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"In many species, the younger animals involved in age-discrepant homosex were frequently observed not simply assenting to the sexual interactions but actually initiating them (e.g., bonobos, chimps, gorillas, gibbons, Hanuman and Nilgiri langurs, crab-eating macaques, rhesus macaques, Tibetan macaques, patas monkeys). Specific examples include juvenile Tibetan macaques jumping up to the faces of adult males to be fellated (Ogawa, 1995), an adolescent gibbon repeatedly soliciting sex from his father (Edwards & Todd, 1991), and juvenile rhesus macaques fiercely competing to be the one mounted by an adult male (Kempf, 1917). In a number of species, the researchers noted the sexual excitement exhibited by the immature partners in age-discrepant homosex (e.g., rhesus, stumptail, and Tibetan macaques). In several species, sometimes immature males were assenting and sometimes not (e.g., siamangs, proboscis monkeys, crab-eating macaques, and squirrel monkeys)."

::"In humans’ closest relatives, bonobos and chimps, juvenile males frequently and preferentially solicit adult females and attempt to copulate with them. In most cases, they show sexual arousal with erections. Adult females are usually tolerant and even cooperative, but when they are not, the juvenile males frequently protest with whimpering or tantrums (Bagemihl, 1999; Hashimoto, 1997; Kano, 1980; Kollar, Beckwith, & Edgerton, 1968). Similar patterns have been observed in many other primate species (Bagemihl, 1999). Anderson and Bielert (1990) noted that “Among nonhuman primates . . . sexual interaction between adult females and immature males is universal” (p. 192). It may be that primate patterns do not extend to humans, but the similarity of the observed human and primate patterns in juvenile male-adult female sex suggests a phylogenetic continuum (cf. Ford & Beach, 1951)."

== Development of intergenerational sexuality into an evolutionary mismatch ==
Intergenerational sexuality is discussed as an evolutionary mismatch between our evolved mechanisms and modern moral norms. More often, we encounter moral, political, and ideological justifications for restricting of intergenerational sexual activity, but there are also natural evolutionary, economic, and ecological factors that may contribute to this. What follows is a synthesis of several independent lines of evidence: evolutionary demography, human-capital theory, cultural evolution, and the costs of early sex and early parenthood. This is worth taking into account for a better understanding of the background of the current ideological landscape.

=== The increased disadvantage of early pregnancy ===

[https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] and [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01357-3 Borgerhoff Mulder (1998)] suggest that under the conditions of human evolution, the accumulation of resources and status generally increased reproductive success, so selection may have entrenched the pursuit of these as a primary motivation. In a highly competitive environment, this may lead not to maximizing the number of children but to greater investment in oneself and in a smaller number of children. This is the quantity–quality trade-off, observed, for example, in the data of [https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1635 Lawson, Alvergne & Gibson (2012)].

The modern economy expands opportunities for accumulating property and status. The returns on these investments increase, so early reproduction entails greater opportunity costs. At the same time, standards of competition in the mating market rise. All that significantly increases the desire for higher capital and social status and the volume of necessary investments. In the model of [https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] this effect is shown in skill-based competitive labour markets. [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0150 Shenk, Kaplan & Hooper (2016)] show that status competition and inequality additionally increase optimal investments in children’s education and social status and can sharply reduce fertility. ([https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)]; [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0150 Shenk et al. (2016)])

An additional ecological factor may be population density. [https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000086 Sng et al. (2017)] found that it was associated with greater future orientation, investment in education and children, later marriage, and lower fertility. Experimentally increasing the salience of high population density also shifted decisions toward these strategies.

But a central constraint on the viability of early motherhood is the availability of alloparental support. Human child-rearing has historically been cooperative. In almost all populations, the presence of kin helpers was associated with greater child survival, earlier onset of reproduction, and greater reproductive intensity. Thus, in many traditional populations reproduction can easily begin before full economic and social independence. The modern decline in access to alloparenting greatly increases the costs of early pregnancy. ([https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.10.001 Sear & Mace (2008)]; [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2011.00379.x Sear & Coall (2011)]; [https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-010-9098-9 Kaptijn et al. (2010)]; [https://doi.org/10.3109/03014460903563434 Kramer & Lancaster (2010)]).

In prehistoric times puberty had begun by 13.5 years of age for the majority of individuals. But the age of menarche appears to have occurred between 16 and 17 years of age ([https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39266410/ Lewis et al. (2025)]). The same pattern is observed in many historical populations: puberty could begin at 10–12 years of age, but menarche was delayed until 15–17 years. Menarche is thought to be directly influenced by nutritional abundance, physical demands, and infections. [https://doi.org/10.1186/1687-9856-2011-2 Hochberg, Gawlik & Walker (2011)]

But modernization has shifted biological and socioeconomic reproductive timing in opposite directions. Improved nutrition and health have moved female biological maturation several years earlier ([https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-023-00919-z Anderson et al. (2024)]). In modern times, menarche occurs at an average age of about 12–13 years ([https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dez015 Mishra et al. (2019)]). While education and human-capital accumulation have shifted the socioeconomically advantageous timing of reproduction much later than 16. Modernization has therefore widened the discrepancy between biological fecundity and the age of social and economic readiness. ([https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-4038-7_5 Kramer (2017)]; [https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)]; [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0150 Shenk et al. (2016)]).

Very early pregnancy (before age 14-15) also associated with increased health risks for the mother herself ([https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000004807 Staniczenko et al. (2022)]; [https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003225 Leppälahti et al. (2013)]).

Hence, there arises a pressure for culturally constructed means of delaying and restraining pregnancy. Independent quasi-experimental evidence shows that delaying adolescent childbearing and child marriage increases subsequent education, employment, and earnings ([https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2017.11.006 Branson & Byker (2018)]; [https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20200008 Wilson (2022)]). While the association isn’t that persistent (see [[Research:_Teen_pregnancy]]).

Age-asymmetric adolescent relationships are more risky in terms of pregnancy. Girls with substantially older male partners have higher pregnancy rates. Among pregnant adolescents those with older adult partners are more likely to desire the pregnancy, greater likelihood of planning another pregnancy, to be married or cohabiting, and to have discontinued school, or have lower school enrollment. This is explained, on the one hand, by the fact that older male partners are more likely to be employed and may offer greater immediate economic and emotional security. At the same time, substantial selection is present: girls with weaker family support and lower educational aspirations are themselves more likely to enter early relationships with older men. ([https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10435214/ Darroch et al. (1999)]; [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9080937/ Rickert et al. (1997)]; [https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/190780 Agurcia et al. (2001)]; [https://doi.org/10.1363/4001708 Ryan et al. (2008)]).

=== Increased risk of STIs ===

Sex carries infectious risks, and age asymmetry may amplify them: older partners have spent more time in sexual networks and are therefore more likely to belong to groups with a higher accumulated prevalence of infection ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000002037 Stoner et al. (2019)]).

In the United States, girls who began having sex before age 16 with a partner ≥3 years older had approximately 2.1 times higher odds of STIs than girls who began equally early with a similar-aged partner ([https://doi.org/10.1363/4001708 Ryan et al. (2008)]).

For HIV, prospective incidence data are also available: a partner ≥5 years older was associated with an approximately 1.9-fold hazard of new infection in South Africa ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000002037 Stoner et al. (2019)]), while in Zimbabwe each additional year of age gap was associated with an approximately 5% increase in hazard ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000001506 Schaefer et al. (2017)]). A meta-analysis of 24 studies found RR = 1.39 for HIV and RR = 1.57 for unprotected sex in age-disparate relationships among girls and young women ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000002582 Bajunirwe, Semakula & Izudi (2020)]).

=== Sexual trajectories after early sexual initiation ===

Early sexual contact, even in the absence of risk of pregnancy and STIs, may be associated with a subsequent more active and risky sexual trajectory, which in turn reduces a person’s well-being.

Among women, adult–child sexual contact was associated with 2.1-fold higher odds of intercourse before age 16, 3.4-fold higher odds of having ≥11 partners in adulthood, and 1.6-fold higher odds of STI; the association with teenage childbearing and a number of later outcomes operated to a substantial extent through the subsequent sexual trajectory ([https://doi.org/10.2307/2657425 Browning & Laumann (1997)]).

In [https://doi.org/10.1363/4001708 Ryan et al. (2008)] girls who began sex early with an older man subsequently had more partners; it was the subsequent number of partners that partially explained the increased probability of nonmarital birth.

Among men, [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0049-089X(02)00019-4 Browning (2002)] also found an association between childhood sexual contacts and greater subsequent sexual activity and a larger number of partners, with the resulting infectious risks. In addition, trajectory specificity was observed: oral sex in childhood experience predicted oral sex in adulthood, while contact with a male partner predicted approximately seven-fold higher odds of the appeal of same-gender sex. This is consistent with the hypothesis that some sexual scripts are reinforced by early experience.

A secondary risk is that moral incongruence surrounding sexual behavior may contribute to poorer psychological well-being: more frequent non-marital sex among women and same-sex sexual activity among men were associated with greater unhappiness when these behaviors conflicted with moral beliefs. [https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01860-2 Perry, Grubbs & McElroy (2021)]

[https://doi.org/10.1016/S0049-089X(02)00019-4 Browning (2002)] acknowledges that early sexual contact does not necessarily cause the subsequent sexual trajectory: both variables may be partly explained by third factors. But he considers the specific recurrence of characteristics of the early experience to be evidence in favor of some effect of sexual learning.

There's strong evidence for the reproductive advantage of juvenile sexual learning in many [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|animals]]. But the modern human demographic and economic conditions don’t seemingly favor that.

=== Do restrictions work? ===

'''Compulsory schooling'''

Mechanisms that keep girls in school do indeed reduce early childbearing: [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2008.02159.x Black, Devereux & Salvanes (2008)]; [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.102268 DeCicca & Krashinsky (2020)]; [https://doi.org/10.1086/700076 Kırdar, Dayıoğlu & Koç (2018)].
Evidence for infectious outcomes is more limited than for adolescent pregnancy. However, structural interventions that prolong schooling can reduce HIV risk [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26134875/ De Neve et al. (2015)].

'''Minimum marriage age'''

In an analysis of more than 250,000 women from 17 countries, raising the minimum legal age of marriage to 18 increased age at marriage and age at first birth; in urban areas, it also reduced the prevalence of child marriage and increased education ([https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20200008 Wilson (2022)]).

'''Statutory rape laws'''

[https://doi.org/10.1093/aler/ahv013 Frakes & Harding (2015)] calculated what share of adolescent sexual encounters in each state falls under felony liability for the older partner. A one-standard-deviation increase in this effective coverage by the law was associated with a reduction in the teen live-birth rate of approximately 4.5% relative to baseline. Simply increasing the severity of punishment had no additional effect.

'''Negative information about older partners'''

Providing adolescents with information that older partners had higher HIV prevalence delayed sexual debut, reduced the number of sexual partners, and lowered pregnancy risk. [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6844-8 Angrist et al. (2019)]

'''Contraception'''

Modern contraception partly decouples adolescent sexual activity from risk. In the United States between 1995 and 2002, improved contraceptive use accounted for an estimated 77% of the decline in pregnancy risk among 15–17-year-olds, while reduced sexual activity accounted for 23%; among 18–19-year-olds, the decline was entirely attributable to improved contraceptive use. Thus, reducing risks in modern societies does not necessarily require a corresponding reduction in sexual activity. [https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2006.089169 Santelli et al. (2007)]

=== Prestige bias ===

The demographic transition, like the tightening of the age of consent, initially affected affluent strata more strongly. In the model of [https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] it is highly educated and high-income parents who receive the greatest returns from delaying reproduction and making large investments in fewer children, because such investments particularly strongly increase the competitiveness of offspring.

Historically, this was partly reflected in American statutory rape / age-of-consent laws, early versions of which were applied asymmetrically and primarily protected the sexual “virtue” of white girls from privileged groups. But as the economic opportunities of girls from less affluent strata expanded, the opportunity costs of early motherhood increased for them as well. In the nineteenth century, increases in the age of consent occurred alongside young women’s entry into the labour market and growth in their economic independence ([https://doi.org/10.1515/9780791485965 Cocca (2004)]; [https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520255654.001.0001 Lancaster (2011)]).

However, reproductive norms that emerge in higher strata can spread regardless of whether they produce the same economic returns for other groups. Prestige/success bias means that people tend to copy successful and high-status models as entire packages of behavior, including elements that do not necessarily increase the copier’s success in themselves. [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0152 Colleran (2016)], for example, considers prestige-biased transmission as one possible mechanism for the spread of low fertility across social strata during the demographic transition; the same mechanism is discussed by [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01357-3 Borgerhoff Mulder (1998)]. Therefore, a package including prolonged education, late marriage, a small number of children, and strict restriction of their sexual behavior may spread as a marker of a prestigious lifestyle beyond contexts where it provides a real reproductive advantage.

=== Demographic transition as an evolutionary mismatch ===
[https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] and [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01357-3 Borgerhoff Mulder (1998)] view the demographic transition itself as an evolutionary mismatch: motivation to accumulate resources and status, following prestigious models, and large investments in a smaller number of offspring usually increased fitness. But in a modern environment of extensive opportunities, high competition, and low availability of alloparenting, this can lead to excessive delay and restriction of reproduction, so that fertility can easily fall below the level required simply to maintain population size.

== Other relevant information ==

=== Ontogenetic plasticity ===

Here's an explanation for why, if a minor attraction was adaptive, it may not be ubiquitous today.
*'''Alanko K, Salo B, Mokros A, Santtila P, (2013). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235369954_Evidence_for_Heritability_of_Adult_Men's_Sexual_Interest_in_Youth_under_Age_16_from_a_Population-Based_Extended_Twin_Design "Evidence for heritability of adult men's sexual interest in youth under age 16 from a population-based extended twin design."] ''J Sex Med,'' 10(4):1090-9.'''
*:"Adult men's sexual interest in youthfulness‐related cues may be genetically influenced. [...] The amount of variance attributable to nonadditive genetic influences (heritability) was estimated at 14.6%.[...] Compared with the variance attributable to nonshared environmental effects (plus measurement error), the contribution of any genetic factors seems comparatively weak."
*::'''Editor''': Note, that a heritability coefficient close to zero does not mean the weakness/absence of genetic control over the trait, counter wise may point to high genetic consistency among population, in which case the trait variance is naturally more dependent on the environment. ("Traits such as walking and breathing have low heritability, because these are usually universal traits with slight variations. [...] as heredity becomes more similar, the environment becomes the primary explanation for differences."<ref>[https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/psychology/biological-bases-of-behavior/heritability/ Studysmarter.co.uk: Explanation on heritability]</ref>) This finding of low heritability may be interpreted to mean that the genetic ability to develop minor attraction is highly pervasive among humans and modified by nurture and other environments. This goes along with the [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding%2FEnculturation-Alliance_Hypothesis|Rind's conclusion]] on pederasty as evolutionary determined but a facultative trait.

*'''Bhugra, D. (2000). [https://sci-hub.ru/10.1080/14681990050001574 Disturbances in objects of desire: Cross-cultural issues.] Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 15(1), 67–78. doi:10.1080/14681990050001574'''
*:"Paraphilias are defined as sexual attractions to objects or individuals not normally found attractive. [...] It is argued that, in some types of individual deviance, cultural factors are more likely to play an important role. Some cultures are seen as sex-positive and others as sex-negative but, within each cultural setting, attitudes towards sex and the function of sexual activity are a key to understanding the development of sexual deviance. In cultures where sex is seen as an attraction-led phenomenon rather than a purely procreative one, individuals are more likely to be attracted to 'objects'."

===Undesirable traits as adaptations===

Both pedohebephilic attraction and childhood sexuality are likely influenced somewhat by environmental factors. For example, there exist theories of [[Research:_Psychopathy_and_abnormal_psychology#Adverse_childhood|adverse childhood in pedohebephiles]] and [[Research:_Youth_sexuality#Factors_of_earlier_sexual_development|factors of earlier sexual development]] in youth sexuality. These are unproven and causality is hard to infer. It has been speculated that these are [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Complementary_behavior_among_minors|complementary]] adaptations to difficult circumstances.

From a layman's point of view, undesirable traits that arise as a result of adverse environment are mental breakdowns. From an evolutionary perspective, these may be ways to adapt in a harsh, primordial context. It is worth keeping this perspective in mind.

*'''Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., & Draper, P. (1991). Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Development, 62, 647–670.'''
*:"The concept of "reproductive strategy" drawn from the field of behavioral ecology is applied to the study of childhood experience and interpersonal development in order to develop an evolutionary theory of socialization. The theory is presented in terms of 2 divergent development pathways considered to promote reproductive success in the contexts in which they have arisen. One is characterized, in childhood, by a stressful rearing environment and the development of insecure attachments to parents and subsequent behavior problems; in adolescence by early pubertal development and precocious sexuality; and, in adulthood, by unstable pair bonds and limited investment in child rearing, whereas the other is characterized by the opposite."

*'''Del Giudice, M. (2014b). [https://iris.unito.it/retrieve/e27ce435-4226-2581-e053-d805fe0acbaa/DelGiudice_2014_early-stress_jdohad_pre.pdf Early stress and human behavioral development: Emerging evolutionary perspectives.] Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, 5, 270-280.'''
*:“Stress experienced early in life exerts a powerful, lasting influence on development. Converging empirical findings show that stressful experiences become deeply embedded in the child's neurobiology, with an astonishing range of long-term effects on cognition, emotion, and behavior. In contrast with the prevailing view that such effects are the maladaptive outcomes of 'toxic' stress, adaptive models regard them as manifestations of evolved developmental plasticity.”
*:“Building on the concept of developmental plasticity, researchers have been increasingly advancing alternative models in which early stress does not primarily impair or dysregulate children’s developmental trajectories, but rather shifts them toward behavioral strategies that have proven biologically adaptive in harsh or unpredictable conditions”
*:“Exposure to stress works as a cue to local environmental conditions, and feeds into plasticity mechanisms that coordinate the development of alternative phenotypes.”
*:“In this perspective, many putative maladaptive traits such as anxiety, aggression, and impulsivity can be reframed as costly but adaptive phenotypes that improve an individual’s survival and reproduction prospects in hostile, unpredictable contexts. For example, increased vigilance and anxiety can be regarded as defensive reactions to potential threats, whereas aggression and impulsivity can be effective competitive strategies in harsh, unstable social environments. Furthermore, there is evidence that high levels of physiological and emotional reactivity increase an individual’s sensitivity to context, making him/her more open to both negative and positive social influences. Of course, some of these adaptive traits are going to have undesirable consequences for the individual and/or the social group, and may even be diagnosed as symptoms of psychopathology (e.g., conduct disorders). According to adaptive models, children exposed to early stress should exhibit patterns of impaired cognitive and emotional functioning when tested in safe, stress-free contexts and/or with tasks that mimic the demands of those contexts; but they should often perform better than their peers on tasks that reproduce key features of the dangerous, unpredictable environments they are adapted to. The initial evidence suggests that this may be the case.“

=== Response to critique of evolutionary explanations ===

*'''Karen Franklin. (2010). [https://pismin.com/10.1007/s10508-010-9616-1 Why the Rush to Create Dubious New Sexual Disorders?]. , 39(4), 819–820. doi:10.1007/s10508-010-9616-1'''
*:"As all students of Darwin know, evolutionary success strategies must be understood on a population-wide basis, not an individual level. Moreover, social scientists generally agree that biological evolution is rarely sufficient to understand human behavior in modern, complex social systems. Thus, to say that a trait may have emerged as evolutionarily adaptive in prehistoric times implies nothing of its presence or function on an individual level in contemporary society."

== See also ==

*[[Debate_Guide: Evolutionary logic|Debate Guide: Evolutionary logic]]
*[[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in_History|Intergenerational Relationships in History]]
*[[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals]]

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category: Research: Broader Perspectives]]

== References ==

Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality

2026-08-28T17:55:22Z

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Although [[Debate_Guide:_Evolutionary_logic|evolutionary logic]] of [[Hebephilia|hebephilic]] sexual behaviour and attraction towards pubertal [[Adolescence|adolescents]] of the opposite sex may seem obvious, it is not always straightforward to explain, given that in our evolutionary past female reproductive capacity may have emerged at ages close to the modern age of consent. The explanation of intergenerational attractions toward prepubertal children ([[pedophilia]]/pedosexuality), or adolescent homosexual partners ([[Pederasty]]), or the very existence of prepubertal [[child]] sexuality, is even less obvious.

The emergence of adult-child sexuality has several [[Wikipedia:Darwinism|evolutionary explanations]] with varying degrees of evidence, which come from [[Wikipedia:Ethology|ethology]] and [[Wikipedia:Neuroscience|neuroscience]]. There are suggestions that, in our evolutionary past, pedosexual behaviors could have had some evolutionary functions or been an evolutionary by-product of human sexuality development. These explanations may have pragmatic implications for the [[Research: A "cure" for pedophilia?#Psychological wellbeing for MAPs|well-being]] of both MAPs and minors. "Evolutionary scenarios are not just interesting explanatory “stories,” but can illuminate limits as well as opportunities for intervention" (Del Giudice M., 2014). Here is an attempt to categorize these hypotheses, although they overlap greatly and can hardly be considered separately. Rather, they describe different aspects of a complex evolutionary process.

== Adaptation to the lack of success in sexual competition ==
One hypothesis is that if a male is unsuccessful in sexual competition for fertile females, and he chronically feels inferior to others and is afraid of other adults, then his sexuality towards adults may be suppressed and redirected towards children, because children do not cause fear, and next to them the male feels his strength and superiority. Male's sexuality is more associated with dominance and this may explain the greater prevalence of attraction to children among men than among women.<ref>[https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5 Medicus, G., Hopf, S. (1990). The Phylogeny of Male/Female Differences in Sexual Behavior.] In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5</ref>

Excerpts:
* '''Medicus, G., Hopf, S. (1990). [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5 The Phylogeny of Male/Female Differences in Sexual Behavior.] In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5'''
*:"As has been pointed out, adult human sexual behavior with children and adolescents can be understood within the context of dimorphism. Male/ female differences in sexual behavior result at least in part from the different amounts of energy and time each sex expends for reproduction (see Table 4.1). This initial difference produces a difference in the functional proximity of the moods of fear and aggression to sexual mood (see Table 4.11), as well as a difference in the likelihood for active pursuit of sexual opportunities"
*:"One of the most consistent psychological correlates that has been identified is that many adult males who are sexually attracted to children and adolescents show manifestations of (real or self-perceived) social inadequacy with peers. Such males may suffer from feelings of anxiety when they consider sexual behavior with an adult partner (Johnston and Johnston, 1986; Panton, 1979; Segal and Marshall, 1985). Because sex and fear are such functionally distant moods in males, many human adult males cannot perform sexual actions when they feel inferior to their sexual partner or when they feel anxious (e.g., Bancroft, 1985; Eicher, 1980). This explanation is in accordance with the previously mentioned male/female dimorphism in the relationship of mood and behavior (see Table 4.11). Because of their small size, lack of experience, and sense of insecurity, children and adolescents of either sex do not arouse feelings of inferiority, fear, and anxiety in adult males. Thus, children and adolescents can become "sexual objects" for males who in sociosexual relations with adults feel inferior or anxious."

* '''Glenn D. Wilson and David N. Cox. 1983. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130410124803/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Child-Lovers%20-%20A%20Study%20of%20Paedophiles%20in%20Society.pdf The Child-Lovers: A Study of Paedophiles in Society.] By London: Peter Owen. Pp 132. British Journal of Psychiatry. 1983;143(4):430-430. doi:10.1192/S0007125000200780'''
*: "Examination of the characteristics of children that the paedophiles found most attractive points to the conclusion that the ability to achieve social dominance over the child may be the key to understanding the paedophile’s choice of sex target."
*: "Viewed in this way, paedophilia would seem to be one of several alternative adaptations to the problem of lack of success (or perceived inability to succeed) in intermale competition for access to females. It has been often noted by ethologists that the males of any species are thrown into strong Darwinian competition with one another. Those that are most successful monopolise an unequal share of female resources, and the others have to make do with various substitute sexual outlets. Following this model, we would not expect to find any genetic predisposition toward paedophilia per se, but as with homosexuality and certain other sex deviations, some degree of heritability would be mediated by the constitutional basis of dominance versus submissiveness. In other words, paedophiles may inherit their submissive nature, which in turn makes for difficulties in establishing normal sexual roles."

*'''Connie M. Anderson (1990). "Adolescent/Adult Copulatory Behavior in Nonhuman Primates." In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*: "Adult, subadult, and adolescent females are monopolized by adult male harem-holders, leaving a few adult and all subadult males without adult sexual partners. Under these conditions, males without harems choose a particular juvenile female to follow and display intense parental-like behavior towards her. Eventually, she becomes the first individual in the male's harem, and he begins mating with her at her first estrous swelling. Thus, both parental-like and copulatory motor patterns are directed at the same individual over the course of time and, for a brief period, even simultaneously."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Neither very young mature females nor males are desirable mates. [...] On the other hand, the lowest ranking, and therefore unattractive adult males and females do seek matings with adolescents. Low-status females are especially prone to seducing the almost always eager and obliging young males. It is quite likely that these inferior adults are making the best of a bad draw; any available mate is better than none at all in the harsh world of reproductive competition."

== Reproductive value pressure ==
Another close explanation is that the total reproductive potential is highest at the point far before fertility maximum, namely closely to the beginning of puberty. And along with selective pressure toward fully fertile partners, there is selective pressure toward maximum reproductive value, that may become stronger if long term mating strategies are more adaptive in a given evolutionary circumstances.

*'''Seto, M. C. (2017). The puzzle of male chronophilias. ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 46(1), 3-22.'''
::"Evolutionary theories about human mating strategies distinguish between reproductive value and fertility (Buss, 1989). Reproductive value refers to the potential number of offspring that could be produced over time, and thus focusing on reproductive value represents a longer-term strategy, as in the case of marriage to pubescent or even prepubescent girls. [...] Fertility, on the other hand, means maximizing the chances of reproduction, and thus would represent a shorter-term strategy focusing on young adult women (e.g., in their early to mid-20s). This is reflected in male-typical age preferences for casual sex partners, pornography actors, and models(Kenrick & Keefe,1992; Ogas & Gaddam, 2011; Rudder, 2014). Though preferences for other than sexually mature,fertile partners would probably be suboptimal, variations from heterosexual teleiophilia might be maintained in the human population — at a low frequency — as a result of opposing selection pressures (e.g., frequency-dependent selection) or as a byproduct of other adaptations."

== "Nest helper" hypothesis ==
{{research}}
The concept of "nest helper", is an explanation of a few individuals within a group being nonreproductive, yet aiding their group's survival. They may be affectionately disposed and caring towards others without reproducing, since this promotes the reproduction of peers who share some of the same genes due to being genetic relatives in the group. Due to sexual competition and the costs of human reproduction, not every individual ''can'' reproduce, hence there are indirect genetic benefits of "nest helping" that may overcome benefits of direct reproductive efforts for some individuals. This evolutionary hypothesis applies to both exclusive homosexuality and exclusive pedophilia, although due to a lack of investigation, there is at present little evidence for it (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":5">[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Feierman, Jay R. (1990). Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23</ref>).

Excerpts:
* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23'''
*:"Whereas a similar challenge has been met somewhat reasonably in terms of the "nest helper" concept of adult homosexuality, hypothesizing that another type of nest helper would have to erotically love and sexually interact with the children for whom he was caring"

== Help in developing sexual ability ==

Sex play between immature mammals is widespread, and among primates it is nearly universal. Sexual play functions as learning adequate mating skills. Sexual play mostly occurs among immature peers, but adults also often engage in sexual play with juveniles and help them develop sexual skills too.<ref>Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7</ref> In addition, sex can trigger the onset of fertility. Such a function could have played a role in the human evolutionary past (Dienske, 1990<ref name=":0">Dienske, Herman (1990). The Concept of Function in the Behavioral Sciences with Specific Reference to Pedophilia and Pedosexual Behavior: A Biophilosophical Perspective. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13</ref>). In some species, this function has built in to that extent that without early sexual experience with an adult an individual grows up unable to conceive.<ref name=":7">Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2</ref>

* '''Connie M. Anderson (1990). "Adolescent/Adult Copulatory Behavior in Nonhuman Primates". In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*: "Among nonhuman primates, then, sexual interaction between adult females and immature males is universal [...] Adult females do interact sexually with males of all ages, including infants too young to be capable of intromission or ejaculation. Females have little to lose by doing so, since they do not deplete their egg supply by unsuccessful matings and since they are unlikely to be seriously injured in the process. They may also help their immature male relatives by allowing them access to experienced females to practice sexual behavior so that they can perform successfully from the time spermatogenesis begins."

* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2'''
*: "In the squirrel monkey (Saimin), captivity-raised individuals of both sexes in mixed-sex peer groups were not even able to conceive unless they had been allowed, when they were juveniles, to have sexual contact with opposite-sex adults (Hopf, 1979, personal communication)."

*'''De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15'''
*: "Thus, juvenile male chimpanzees are attracted to females in estrus, and pubertal females begin to explore sexual contact with older males as soon as their genital swellings develop (van der Weel, 1978; de Waal, 1982; Goodall, 1986). Such intergenerational experience undoubtedly contributes to the development of adequate sexual skills."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Any behavior that is indisputably essential to survival, adaptation, or reproductive success develops in many different forms in different species, and often even varies in the same species in different environments. ‘The evolution of sex and sexual behavior is certainly no exception (Margulis & Sagan, 1986). It is, therefore, not surprising to find that mature and immature conspecifics engage each other in myriad sexual practices (Crews & Moore, 1986). [...] It is certainly no accident that species in which the immature play are also the ones most involved in preadolescent sex. Of those warmblooded, slowly maturing organisms that play (mostly mammals), an undetermined, but probably very large, number engage in sexual ventures. On the other hand, young animals that metamorphize into adult form and those with an exceedingly brief immaturity are obviously poor candidates for sexual participation with adults."
::"The fascinating evolutionary component is the appearance of play; sexual encounters of mature with immature animals that do not play differ sharply from the sexual interactions of those that do. [...] Sexual activity of young mammals is a clear aid to their performing adequately and sex play is probably essential to the development of normal adult primate copulation (Harlow, 1962; Wallen, Goldfoot, & Goy, 1981)."
::"[T]he mere fact that sex play with adults is so widespread in polygamous (i.e., multimale—multifemale mating) species supports speculation that encounters with adults provide the winning edge. "

== Advantage in sexual competition ==
The emergence of nonexclusive pedophilic interest could be due to males experiencing selection pressure to display affiliative behavior towards minors. Such a display aims to convince fertile females that the male is ready for paternal investment, thus giving advantages in access to the fertile female (Taub, 1990<ref>Taub, David M. (1990). The Functions of Primate Paternalism: A Cross-Species Review. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 338–377). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_14</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''Taub, David M. (1990). The Functions of Primate Paternalism: A Cross-Species Review. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 338–377). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_14'''
*: "Why then are these unrelated males forming special affiliations with and investing in these infants? Proponents of this view suggest that males form special relationships with infants as a means whereby they may develop a closer and stronger affiliative relationship with the infant's mother. This enhanced, or special, relationship with the mother, in turn, enhances the male's chances of mating with this female in the future."

== Sex as a buffer against aggression ==
Ethologist Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt suggested that the interconnection between sex and dominance is the basic ("reptilian") way of vertebrate sexuality organization. Aggression and dominance acquired a functional connection with male sexuality due to the fact that aggressive and dominant males tended to win in sexual competition. In contrast, submission was embedded in female sexuality. The submissive posture of the female ready for mating is a stimulus to transform male’s aggressive drive to the sexual drive. This prevents injuries and allows mating to occur. Thus aggression, dominance and submission were sexualized, and sexuality acquired the ability to buffer aggression in hierarchical relationships. (The manifestation of that ability is that the appeasing posture of a defeated enemy in animals often resembles the posture of a female ready to mate). Eibl-Eibesfeldt supposed that it is possible that this function could be partly transferred into the adult-juvenile hierarchical relationship (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1990<ref name=":1">[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6</ref>).

Excerpts:
* '''Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6'''
*: “Dominance between group members is also expressed by ritualized mounting, and submission, in turn, is expressed by female-type presenting. From these kinds of greeting rituals have evolved behaviors such as those of hamadryas baboons, in which males approaching high-ranking individuals present as if they, the presenters, were females. Their buttocks are hairless and red in mimicry of the female buttocks, thus enhancing the signal value of presenting (Wiclder, 1966, 1967b). The high-ranking individual may mount or just perform the intention to mount in response to the other's presenting. This use by primates of sexual motor patterns to acknowledge dominance rank order has often been interpreted as being equivalent to human homosexuality. This interpretation is an oversimplification. These sexual motor patterns are derived from copulatory behaviors but, then, have acquired a new function related to social hierarchies: mounting serves as an indication of dominance, and presenting serves as an indication of submission, an agonistic buffer in a greeting context”
*:“Children have characteristics, such as small size, that facilitate adult males' feeling dominant to them, as occurs in pedosexual behavior.”

== Sex for reconciliation and food sharing ==
The reduction of social tension mediated by sociosexual contact is widespread in the communities of human closest relatives, the [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|Bonobos]]. The tension arises in situations of competition or inequality referring to any kind of resources such as food, access to reproduction or any interesting stimulus matter. In addition to the reconciliation effect, sexual contacts allow them to willingly share resources with one another. Ethologist Frans de Waal pointed that this mechanism works for individuals of any status, sex and age, including contacts between adults and infants. Via this mechanism, adults share food with juveniles who are not their descendants and are not of reproductive interest. The emergence of this mechanism presumably occurred as a result of an evolutionary shift in relationships between males and females towards the more tolerant and equal in the case of Bonobos (de Waal, 1990<ref>[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15</ref>). Among most other primates except for humans, cases of adults, especially males, sharing food with another's offspring are quite rare (Mackey, 1990<ref name=":6">Mackey, Wade C. (1990). Adult·Male/Juvenile Association as a Species-Characteristic Human Trait: A Comparative Field Approach. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 299–323). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_12</ref>).

Frans de Waal suggests that our ancestor’s sexual behavior may have been similar to Bonobo's. This sex-for-food mechanism then allowed females to exchange sex for male commitment and paternal investment, thus giving rise to the human nuclear family. And subsequently, the very development of the nuclear family led to an increasing restriction of sex functions to heterosexual reproductive bonding only (de Waal, 2006<ref> [https://sci-hub.se/10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp de Waal, Frans B. M. (2006). Bonobo Sex and Society. Scientific American, 16, 14-21], doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15'''
*: "Typically, upon the introduction of food, the bonobos would become very active, engaging in aggressive competition but also inviting one another for sociosexual contact These contacts appeared to reduce the tension and to allow for food sharing. Thus, it could be demonstrated that subordinate group members more often asserted themselves toward dominant food possessors following a sociosexual contact than without such prior contact (de Waal, 1987). The interaction could even take the form of an exchange, e.g., a female presents to a male who is holding a large bundle of branches and leaves and takes the entire bundle out of his hands immediately following sexual intercourse. On other occasions, sociosexual behavior was used as a reconciliation. The majority of instances of genital massage, for instance, followed aggressive incidents in which the adult male had chased one of the adolescent males. After a couple of minutes, the younger male would return to the aggressor to present his genitals."
*:“Sociosexual behavior occurred with equal frequency and equal intensity in all age and sex combinations possible. Intergenerational sex was part of this general pattern. The bonobo's sexual reconciliation and reassurance patterns were described and contrasted with the behavior of the chimpanzee, which virtually lacks this nonreproductive function of sexual behavior. The evolutionary origin of this difference was sought in heterosexual bonding among bonohos in their natural habitat. [...] Coexistence of plural males and females without agonistic competition in mating could be guaranteed by changing the character of sexual behavior into affiliative behavior in which all individuals can participate, and by decreasing the reproductive meaning (Mori, 1984, p.277).[...] This possible evolutionary background of the phenomena observed in bonobos is of relevance in connection with human sexuality, both because of the shared biological ancestry and the fact that heterosexual bonding is characteristic of the human species as well."
*:"[T]he most logical pathway by which sexual behavior evolved into a general reassurance mechanism is that this mechanism was first established in the adult male/female relationship, after which it was adopted in other age and sex combinations. In other words, the widespread application of sexual behavior patterns in the bonobo' s social life has its origin in an emphasis on heterosexual bonding (de Waal, 1987). Field research supports this view in that male/female relationships seem closer and more tolerant in bonobos than in chimpanzees."

*'''de Waal, Frans B. M. (2006). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp Bonobo Sex and Society.] Scientific American, 16, 14-21, doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp'''
*:"Ocasionally, the role of sex in relation to food is taken one step further, bringing bonobos very close to humans in their behavior. It has been speculated by anthropologists--including C. Owen Lovejoy of Kent State University and Helen Fisher of Rutgers University--that sex is partially separated from reproduction in our species because it serves to cement mutually profitable relationships between men and women. The human females capacity to mate throughout her cycle and her strong sex drive allow her to exchange sex for male commitment and paternal care, thus giving rise to the nuclear family."
*:"This arrangement is thought to be favored by natural selection because it allows women to raise more offspring than they could if they were on their own."
*:"Given its peacemaking and appeasement functions, it is not surprising that sex among bonobos occurs in so many different partner combinations, including between juveniles and adults. The need for peaceful coexistence is obviously not restricted to adult heterosexual pairs."
*:“In fact, nuclear families are probably incompatible with the diverse use of sex found in bonobos. If our ancestors started out with a sex life similar to that of bonobos, the evolution of the family would have required dramatic change.
*: Human family life implies paternal investment, which is unlikely to develop unless males can be reasonably certain that they are caring for their own, not someone elses, offspring. Bonobo society lacks any such guarantee, but humans protect the integrity of their family units through all kinds of moral restrictions and taboos. Thus, although our species is characterized by an extraordinary interest in sex, there are no societies in which people engage in it at the drop of a hat (or a cardboard box, as the case may be). A sense of shame and a desire for domestic privacy are typical human concepts related to the evolution and cultural bolstering of the family."

* '''Mackey, Wade C. (1990). Adult·Male/Juvenile Association as a Species-Characteristic Human Trait: A Comparative Field Approach. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 299–323). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_12'''
*: "As pointed out earlier, human adult males share food/provisions with their young, and this sharing by adult males is relatively rare across the zoological kingdom. It is reasonable that the sharing of a most valuable commodity -- food -- is much easier emotionally for the provisioner if the provisioner "likes" the recipient, and conversely, a recipient tends to like someone who feeds him or her, especially during the dependency of preadulthood. Accordingly, the behavioral enhancement of any neurohormonal mechanisms (subtended by the relevant genetic material) that resulted in greater affiliative feelings, toward juveniles, for example, would facilitate food sharing. The facilitation might be further sensitized by the stimulus of those young who are provisioned showing outward signs of affiliation towards the provisioner. Across generations, the increased provisioning of juveniles by adult males would marginally increase those juveniles' viability, thereby increasing those adult males' chances of having descendants. Thus, the alleles in adult males and juveniles that canalized reciprocal adult-male/juvenile affiliative behavior, in general, and the resultant specific adult-male/juvenile association, in particular, would gradually and systematically displace competing alleles that did not facilitate the development of affiliation between adult males and juveniles. In the 20th century, food sharing from human adult males to juveniles has been found to be a universal practice"

*'''Woods, Vanessa; Hare, Brian (2011-04-01). "Bonobo but not chimpanzee infants use socio-sexual contact with peers". Primates. 52 (2): 111–116. doi:10.1007/s10329-010-0229-z.'''
::"Even as infants, bonobos use socio-sexual behaviour, whereas the same behaviour is completely absent in chimpanzee infants. Findings suggest that sociosexual behaviour in infant bonobos serves functions during social feeding that is not closely tied to reproduction."

== Nonconceptive sociosexual behavior as a result of self-domestication ==
It has been suggested that nonconceptive sociosexual behaviour, which include homosexual and intergenerational sexual contacts, consistently accompanies both natural and artificial selection against aggression ("domestication") being embedded in general pattern of juvenilization (like mammalian juvenile sex play).
*'''Hare, B., Wobber, V., & Wrangham, R. (2012). [https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/site-images/hare-et-al-2012-self-domestication.original.pdf The self-domestication hypothesis: Evolution of bonobo psychology is due to selection against aggression.] ''Animal Behaviour'', 83(3), 573–585. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.12.007'''
::"Experiments indicate that selection against aggression in mammals can have multiple effects on their morphology, physiology, behaviour and psychology, and that these results resemble a syndrome of changes observed in domestic animals. [...] In domesticated species, the characteristic down-regulation of aggressiveness and increased tolerance is accompanied by other differences, [...] behavioural changes include [...] increased pro-social behaviours, particularly play, nonconceptive sexual behaviour and grooming (Hemmer 1990; Clutton-Brock 1992; Coppinger & Coppinger 1998; Kunzl & Sachser 1999; Gariépy et al. 2001)."

::examples:
::"[Compared with chimpanzees:] Bonobos show more play and sociosexual behaviour as adults"
::"[Compared with wolves:] Dogs show more play and sociosexual behaviour as adults"
::"[Compared with wild guinea pigs:] Guinea pigs are more playful and show more sexual behaviour than cavies"

::"Typically, a new bonobo, even as an infant, can be introduced without incident; and two groups, including multiple adult males separated for weeks, months or years, can be reintegrated with little more than play and sexual contact as a result (B. Hare, V. Wobber & R. Wrangham, personal observations)."

::"Behaviourally, bonobos are similar to many domesticates (e.g. Kunzl & Sachser 1999) in showing intensified sexual behaviour. [...] they also display a substantial emancipation of sexual behaviour into nonconceptive functions that often involve same-sex partners (Savage-Rumbaugh & Wilkerson 1978; Kuroda 1984; Thompson-Handler et al. 1984; de Waal 1987, 1995; Kano 1989, 1992; Enomoto 1990; Dixson 1998; Hohmann & Fruth 2000; Furuichi & Hashimoto 2004; Paoli et al. 2007; Clay & Zuberbühler 2011; Woods & Hare 2011)."

::"selection for juvenile levels of aggression could explain the cascade of behavioural, physiological and morphological traits typical of juveniles that tend to be retained in adults of the descendant domesticated species (Trut 2001)."

::"The self-domestication hypothesis is therefore a potentially powerful tool for understanding the processes by which selection shapes both psychological and other seemingly unrelated traits, including those in humans (e.g. Leach et al. 2003; Dorus et al. 2004)."

== Sex as an attachment promoter. Development of paternal investment==
In addition to the “reptilian” connection between sex and dominance, Eibl-Eibesfeldt described another way of sexuality organization. That evolutionary later way is the interweaving of sex and attachment, which is typical for birds and some mammals forming long-term reproductive alliances. The ability of males to form attachment and exhibit caring behavior to a sexual partner is highly beneficial for females. Human evolution went through an increase in the maturation time of offspring, which led to huge reproductive costs for females. Thus, there was a particularly strong sexual selection of males, in which sexual desire was accompanied by consistent caring behavior towards the female and her offspring. This attachment to a sexual partner may be evolutionarily linked to child-parent attachment (in some species, this connection is manifested in the features of sexual courtship rituals containing signs of childish behavior, which function to induce caring behavior and affection in a sexual partner). So according to this theory, the functional system of parental care and the functional system of mating became interconnected. Eibl-Eibesfeldt wrote that romantic love occurs through the fusion of parental care and sexual desire, and this fusion is an antecedent for children and adolescents to evoke romantic feelings in some adults (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1990 <ref name=":1" />).

In line with Eibl-Eibesfeldt, ethologist Herman Dienske argues that, in the course of evolution, due to the ability of human females to conceal ovulation and to be continuously sexually receptive, male sexual interest has evolved in turn to foster consistent male proximity (to invest in offspring that take so long to mature), and subsequently could promote male proximity with the infant (Dienske, 1990<ref name=":0" />). Indeed, the repertoire of pedosexual behavior observed in humans, besides sexual actions, may also include caring behavior: comforting/caressing, feeding, grooming (body care such as washing or massage), protecting, teaching (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":7" />).

Excerpts:
* '''Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6'''
*: “If one observes courtship and greeting rituals in birds and mammals, one soon becomes aware that the patterns by which a friendly affiliation is established, upheld, or strengthened are basically derived from maternal behaviors and infantile appeals that trigger these patterns.”
*: “In human sexual behavior, strata of different phylogenetic origins can be distinguished. Sexuality based upon the mechanisms of male dominance and female submission, which characterizes the reptiles, also constitutes the basic layer of human sexuality. This reptilian heritage is superimposed, however, by a more recently acquired sexuality characterized by affiliation and love. The new potentiality to act in a friendly manner evolved with the development of parental care independently in birds and in mammals. In normal human sexual behavior, the archaic agonal sexuality is controlled by affiliative sexuality and, therefore, is characterized by love. Agonal sexuality is still with us, however, as indicated, among other features, by the phallic male-dominance displays, by a male hormonal response linked to dominance achievement, and by the sexual fantasies of submission that are experienced by females. Agonal sexuality normally is under the control of affiliative sexuality, and therefore, humans correctly associate sex with love. Certain forms of sexuality, such as sadomasochism and a particular form of male homosexuality, are explained as being a regression to the archaic agonal sexuality. Pedophilia and pedosexual behavior are explained within the regression context, too. Children have characteristics, such as small size, that facilitate adult males' feeling dominant to them, as occurs in pedosexual behavior. Since human adult/adult romantic love is derived by phylogeny from parental caregiving behavior, it is easily seen how, in some adult humans, the feeling of love toward children has been retained and eroticized, which is the true meaning of the term "pedophilia.”

*'''Dienske, Herman (1990). The Concept of Function in the Behavioral Sciences with Specific Reference to Pedophilia and Pedosexual Behavior: A Biophilosophical Perspective. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*:"it was pointed out that the continuous sexual activity of humans promotes the coherence of the adult-male/adult-female pair and that it encourages the male parent to participate in rearing his offspring. This assumption requires (1) that sex induces affiliation (i.e., the maintenance of proximity and the extension of favors) and (2) that this affiliation is continued after offspring are born and (3) is accompanied by male paternal care. The associations among sex, affiliation, and paternal care seem to be common in humans. This situation does not imply, however, a simple causal relationship. Infrequent or absent sex may precede divorce. It cannot be decided whether infrequent sex reduces affiliation or whether the decreased affiliation reduces sex. It is likely that sex and affiliation mutually enhance each other and that the absence of one of the two leads to a declining spiral that eventually results in separation or disinterest."
*: “the associations among sex, affiliation, and paternal care are not compelling in that alternative functional solutions exist. Nevertheless, the affiliation-promoting effect of sex seems apparent.”
*: “Human females, in contrast, lack such signals and thus have what is called "concealed ovulation" (Alexander and Noonan, 1979); in fact, the timing of human ovulation was not known until recently. Uncertainty concerning the time at which ovulation occurs would promote frequent copulations. It is possible that continuous sexual behavior in human females is their afflliation-promoting strategy, since it can induce more consistent male proximity (Daniels, 1983).”
*:“[P]edophilic and homosexual nonprocreative sexual contacts could be considered functional, since favors resulting from the affiliation, which is maintained in part by sexual behavior, can be considerable.”

*'''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2'''
*: "some of the components of parental investment, collectively called "nurturing behavior", are seen in both pedo-and ephebophilia and can be considered and discussed as (1) comforting and contact, (2) feeding, (3) grooming, (4) protecting, and (5) teaching."

* '''Money, J. (1990). Pedophilia: A Specific Instance of New Phylism Theory as Applied to Paraphilic Lovemaps. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions]. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_18'''
*:"This author's way of circumventing the debate is to say that there are in the human species phylogenetic building blocks, or phylisms, that in the course of individual sexuoerotic development are capable of being diverted from their usual expression, so as to become entrained to sexuoerotic arousal. In the case of pedophilia, the phylism of parent/child pairbonding becomes diverted and entrained to sexuoerotic, lover /lover pairbonding. The pedophile's attachment to a child represents a merger of parental and erotic love."
*:"The universal male/male pedophilia of the Sambia demonstrates the sexological plasticity of the human organism and the making of pedophilia into the social norm."

This hypothesis is also mentioned in modern scientific encyclopedias:

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. (2017). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1 Sexual Pathology.] In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] (pp. 7439 - 7445). Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1'''
*:“the evolutionary explanation behind the origin of pedophilia refers to the fusion of two evolutionarily ancient adaptive systems – reproduction and nurturing. Money (1990) states that a pedophile’s relationship to a child qualitatively, and also neurologically, resembles a blend between parental and erotic love. Likewise, it can be linked to the close cohesion between these two systems that can be observed also between phylogenetically close species.”.
*:”The founder of the human ethnology field, Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1973), directly warns about the type of affiliative-erotic relationship that connects to the composition of long-term partnership, which was developed both in mammals and birds together with nurturing behavior, and therefore it is not surprising that they are occasionally mixed in humans.”

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. "Male Sexual Disorders" In: Todd K. Shackelford (ed.), 2022, [https://annas-archive.org/md5/2d84ebccbbaafc78b4516ef6b129e5a2 The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology. Vol 4.] ''Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)''.'''
:: "A phylogenetic explanation of pedophilia refers to the fusion of two evolutionarily old systems– reproduction and nurturing (Money, 1990). It is also in line with the results of neuroimaging studies in which pedophilic men could be distinguished from controls by their increased fMRI activity in reaction to child versus adult faces (Ponseti et al., 2016) and increased brain responses to not only human but also animal infants in pedophiles (Ponseti et al., 2018), interpreted as an over-responsive nurturing system. This view agrees with older ethological theories that sees pedophilia as a mixture of parental and erotic love indicated by behavioral displays of both (Money, 2012)."

* '''Stevens, A., & Price, J. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315740577 Evolutionary Psychiatry: A new beginning] (Classic Ed.) (pp. 206-218) Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. doi:10.4324/9781315740577'''
*: “We would entertain the hypothesis proposed separately by Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1990) and by Money (1990) that two innate biosocial propensities – caregiving and sex-mating – have become fused in the course of ontogeny in those who display the paedophilic orientation.”
*:“[A]ffiliative erotic love, as Eibl-Eibesfeldt points out, itself evolved in birds and mammals together with the development of parental care-giving behaviour. ‘Since human adult/adult romantic love is derived by phylogeny from parent care-giving behaviour,’ asserts EiblEibesfeldt, ‘it is easily seen how, in some adult humans, the feeling of love toward children has been retained and eroticised, which is the true meaning of the term “pedophilia”.“.

Cross-species research indicate that the sexuality-attachment fusion in intergenerational relationships is widespread in nature and not restricted to humans:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"Intense sexually based friendships or consort relationships between older and younger animals have been documented in various species, including gorillas, orangutans, macaques (crab-eating, Japanese, rhesus, stumptail), Hamadryas baboons, and squirrel monkeys. Takenoshita (1998) observed consort relationships between adult and juvenile male Japanese macaques, where these pairs, in addition to engaging in homosexual interactions, foraged together, groomed one another, and attacked other monkeys together. Chevalier-Skolnikoff (1976) described intensely affectionate relationships between mature and immature stumptail male macaques, in which both older and younger partners responded with sexual excitement to the sexual interactions. Zuckerman (1932) observed a three-year sexual relationship between an adult and an immature male Hamadryas baboon. Redican, Gomber, and Mitchell (1974) observed an intense attachment between an adult male rhesus macaque and a much younger male, in which the latter took strong initiative in establishing the relationship and sexual interaction. Hamilton (1914), also studying rhesus macaques, reported that he “found that friendships between immature males and mature males are of frequent occurrence, and that they seem to have a sexual basis” (p. 308). In one illustrative case, Hamilton reported, when a separated mature-immature pair was allowed to reunite, the two rushed into an embrace, smacking their lips. Both animals showed marked sexual excitement, and the older mounted the younger, who rotated his head to achieve lip contact with the older partner."

=== Neurological, endocrinological and psychological evidence ===

Human sexuality researchers have confirmed the neurobiological interconnection of sexual and attachment systems. The release of oxytocin, vasopressin and prolactin, hormones associated with parental behavior, during sex and orgasm stimulates the formation of attachment, altruistic behavior and care for a partner. The reverse is also true: trusting and caring relationships can evoke sexual interest (Dewitte & Marieke, 2012 <ref> [https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/00224499.2011.576351 Dewitte, Marieke (2012). Different Perspectives on the Sex-Attachment Link: Towards an Emotion-Motivational Account.] The Journal of Sex Research, 49, 105–124. https://doi=10.1080/00224499.2011.576351</ref>; Fleischman, 2021 <ref> [https://www.dianafleischman.com/_files/ugd/cb1e47_2914fac5806e4843a8544c1cdee5a69a.pdf Fleischman, D. (2021). Sex as Bonding Mechanisms.] In: Shackelford, T.K., Weekes-Shackelford, V.A. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717</ref>).

Two decades after Eibl-Eibesfeldt suggested that the neural systems of sex and care are relatively more connected in people who are sexually attracted to children, neuroscientists have found some experimental evidence for that. Brain structures responsible for social connections, altruistic and parental motivation (such as the left anterior insula), in people with pedophilic interest, respond to infant stimuli more intensively, receiving reinforcement from the neural circuits responsible for mating. In addition, a greater connection between parental and mating systems is characteristic of males, which is explained by evolutionarily different ways of forming maternal and paternal investments (Ponseti et al., (2018). <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645 Ponseti J, Bruhn D, Nolting J, Gerwinn H, Pohl A, Stirn A, Granert O, Laufs H, Deuschl G, Wolff S, Jansen O, Siebner H, Briken P, Mohnke S, Amelung T, Kneer J, Schiffer B, Walter H, Kruger THC. Decoding Pedophilia: Increased Anterior Insula Response to Infant Animal Pictures.] Front Hum Neurosci. 2018 Jan 23;11:645. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645. PMID: 29403367; PMCID: PMC5778266.</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''Ponseti et al., (2018). "[https://sci-hub.se/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645 Decoding Pedophilia: Increased Anterior Insula Response to Infant Animal Pictures".] Front Hum Neurosci.'''
*: “This gives rise to the assumption that increased brain responses to infant stimuli in pedophilia are rather a consequence of an over-active nurturing system than of an over-active sexual system.”
*: “The left anterior insula, being a crucial area of nurturing processing, was also frequently found to be activated in sexual brain studies (Stoleru et al., 2012). Furthermore, the left anterior insula (as well as the SMA) is a constituent of the human attachment system, thereby enabling both nurturing and pair-bonding (Feldman, 2016). Based on both observations, (i) the over-responding to nurturing stimuli in various motivational areas and (ii) the functional overlap of nurturing and sexual processing of the involved left anterior insula a tentative and simple model of pedophilia could be as follows: Nurturing stimuli receive additional processing resources by mating-circuits. In case of human infant stimuli this leads to a sexual connotation of infant stimuli. This idea is supported by the suggestion that nurturing and pair-bonding are two closely inter-related domains in humans at the level of physiological functions, brain processing, and involved neuropeptides”
*: "In any case, from an evolutionary perspective, paternal nurturing is an unusual and probably more recently evolved male behavior. Phylogenetically speaking, male brains are not “geared” to handle infant stimuli. This may explain why the “parental caregiving” network of males and females displays differences (Abraham et al., 2014).
*: It might be hypothesized that, in contrast to ancient maternal infant stimulus processing, human male brains process infant stimuli with brain areas that might not be associated primarily with caregiving. If so, it is conceivable that the involvement of brain areas not “geared” to the paternal nurturing aspects associated with infant stimuli makes male brains vulnerable to not maintaining the functional division between the domains of nurturing and mating behavior."

*'''Schuler, M. et al (2019). "[https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/abn-abn0000412.pdf Empathy in pedophilia and sexual offending against children: A multifaceted approach]," ''Journal of Abnormal Psychology'', 128(5), 453–464.'''
*:"Participants included 85 pedophilic men who committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P+CSO), 72 pedophilic men who never committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P−CSO), and 128 nonoffending teleiophilic male controls (TC). Several affective and cognitive aspects of empathy were assessed using the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Whereas in self-reports (IRI) P+CSO scored lower than TC (P−CSO intermediate) in cognitive perspective-taking abilities, a performance-based measure (MET) revealed evidence for a better differentiation of emotional states in P−CSO as compared with P+CSO (TC intermediate). In addition, P+CSO and P−CSO showed significantly higher affective resonance while observing children (MET), which was paralleled by higher self-reported levels of personal distress in social situations (IRI). The results indicate evidence for higher general affective empathic resonance to children in pedophilic men but superior cognitive empathy abilities in nonoffending pedophiles only, which may act as a protective factor in the prevention of sexual offending."

=== Sex and attachment in general ===
*'''Fletcher, G. J. O.; Simpson, J. A.; Campbell, L.; Overall, N. C. . (2015). [https://pismin.com/10.1177/1745691614561683 Pair-Bonding, Romantic Love, and Evolution: The Curious Case of Homo sapiens.] Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(1), 20–36. doi:10.1177/1745691614561683'''
*:"Factor analytic studies of perceptions of romantic love in Western samples support these models, typically revealing three components (e.g., Aron & Westbay, 1996). The labels assigned to each factor vary across studies, but they reflect passion (sexual attraction), emotional bonding (intimacy), and commitment (caregiving)."
*:"romantic love provides a potent motivational push toward the kind of devotion and commitment required for the huge investment needed to support a mate and raise children successfully."
*:"romantic love is an adaptation — a commitment device — that facilitated longterm pair-bonding"
*:"The striking similarity between the behavioral manifestations of parent–infant love and romantic love suggests that evolution may have borrowed these ancient bonding mechanisms, originally evolved in mammals to bond mothers to their offspring, and applied them to men and women in the context of romantic pair-bonding."
*:"Using phylogenetic comparative methods with 230 different species, Opie et al. (2013) found that the evolution of monogamy is strongly related to paternal care of offspring"

== Evolutionary (by)product of human neotenization ==
Another factor of pedosexual attraction emergence is a human neotenization. The evolutionary advantage of retaining neotenic (childish) traits which elicit nurturing responses from adults, results in the retention of neotenic genetic traits due to sexual competition. Therefore such traits become sexually attractive. That leads to the observable progressive neotenization of humans in comparison with ancestors and subsequently increases likelihood of juveniles being sexually attractive. Since fertile females retained juvenile traits into their fertile years, the line between fertile and infertile female age became blurred. Thus, some males become oriented toward females who are too young for reproduction (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":5" />).

Excerpts:
* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23'''
*:“All of these genetically and culturally transmitted processes blur the distinction between reproductively competent adults and children and adolescents. Therefore, all of these processes must be considered to be determinants, at some level, of pedo- and ephebophilia.”
*:“pedo-and ephebophiles, like chins and spandrels, may have no primary adaptive function in themselves but, instead, may be rank-ordered by-products of selection for more adaptive attributes in their kin.”

*'''Lievesley, R. and Harper, C.A. (2024) “[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19419899.2024.2321149#d1e314 The interaction between perceived chronological age and physical sexual development in attractiveness judgments made by people who are attracted to children]”, ''Psychology and Sexuality'', DOI:10.1080/19419899.2024.2321149'''
*:"From an evolutionary perspective, men typically perceive more youthful faces as more attractive due to these indicating a greater degree of fertility (Gallup & Frederick, Citation2010, Little, Citation2015, Thornhill & Grammer, Citation1999). [...] [A]n increased degree of closeness of facial features appears to be encoded as indicating youth (Albert et al., Citation2007), and in turn, this youthfulness is associated with beauty (Sutherland et al., Citation2013)."

*'''Bogin, B. (1997). [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281997%2925%20%3C63%3A%3AAID-AJPA3%3E3.0.CO%3B2-8 Evolutionary hypotheses for human childhood]. ''Yearbook of Physical Anthropology'', 40, 63–89.'''
*:"Taken together, these studies indicate that adults are more likely to protect or nuture individuals with ‘‘neotenous’’ facial features. McCabe defines such features as having a relatively large ratio of cranium size to lower face size."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Our ability to imagine young children as sexual partners is probably increased substantially by two other unusual characteristics: neoteny and hidden estrus. Neoteny, the retention of juvenile traits in adulthood, is far more extensive in Homo sapiens than in any other primate (Bonner, 1980; Gould, 1977). Human adults resemble their small children a great deal more than adult primates do their immature offspring. [...] Moreover, many adolescent boys and young adults are beardless and they often have a complexion similar to that of young women and children. To confuse our senses further and muddle our minds, one- to two-fifths of young adolescent boys experience breast enlargement for a year or more (Katchadourian, 1977; Tanner, 1978). A similar case can be made for behavior. When we find in other animals the behavioral or physical traits of the young to be similar to adult female patterns we often find males courting the immature."
::"A concealed estrus combined with continuous female sexual receptivity and neoteny ought to increase the likelihood that men will find young girls sexually attractive, especially since males are not known anyway for making subtle differentiations between appropriate and inappropriate sex partners. Since women are more discriminating and, furthermore, would not be as confused by the facial resemblance of potential immature and adult sexual partners or by the conundrum of hidden estrus, female pedophilia should be much less common. Male homosexual pedophilia should fall somewhere in between."

The common hypothesis about pedosexuality is that it is merely a by-product of human neotenization. However, there are also arguments that diverse sexuality in adults (including homosexuality and pedosexuality, as seen, for example, in bonobos) in itself is a form of adaptive neoteny. Juvenile bisexual play is widespread among mammals and serves to acquire reproductive skills. Retaining this ability in adulthood may serve a range of sociosexual functions.

* '''Poiani, A. (2010). [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/animal-homosexuality/0352ED7E7645EE35B14FAAF3AE3A127B Animal homosexuality: A biosocial perspective.] ''Cambridge University Press''. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511762192'''
::"Indeed, under various potential selective mechanisms, canalisation of neotenic traits may favour the expression of a great diversity of sexual behaviours that are characteristic of the juvenile stages of development. That is, although from an ontogenetic perspective juvenile homosexual play is a route to efficient heterosexuality in most species, from a phylogenetic perspective neotenic processes, by retaining those juvenile traits past the period of sexual maturation throughout evolution, may produce adult homosexuals or bisexuals. In the adult, homosexual behaviours may then undergo further adaptations related to social life. A potential example of this process may be found in the bonobo, where juvenile same-sex sexual behaviours are as common as they are in the congeneric chimpanzee, but in adults they occur much more frequently than in chimpanzees, being expressed in specific socio-sexual contexts."
::Note: Although the authors make this claim about homosexuality only, there is no obstacle to extending the same conclusion to pedosexuality as well.

== Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis ==
On the basis of previously available evolutionary explanations (Mackey, 1990 <ref name=":6" />; Muscarella, 2000 <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1300/j082v40n01_03 Muscarella, F. (2000). The evolution of homoerotic behavior in humans.] Journal of Homosexuality, 40, 51–77.</ref>; Kirkpatrick, 2000 <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1086/300145 Kirkpatrick, R. C. (2000). The evolution of human homosexual behavior.] Current Anthropology, 41, 385–413</ref>; Neil, 2009<ref>[http://humanbehaviors.free.fr/Livre%20-%20Human%20bisexuality%20-%20The%20Origins%20and%20Role%20of%20Same-Sex%20Relations%20in%20Human%20Societies%202009.pdf Neill, J. (2009). The origins and role of same-sex relations in human societies.] Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.</ref>), [[Bruce Rind]] developed a hypothesis explaining the most widely documented type of male homosexuality in human history, namely [[pederasty]] (the relationship between a man and a peripubertal/[[Adolescence|adolescent]] boy) (Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4" />).

It is assumed that the evolutionary function of man-boy sexual relationships comes from our evolutionary past, when the environment was very different from the modern one. Humans have had a long evolutionary history as [[Wikipedia:Hunter-gatherer|hunter-gatherers]]. This time was characterized by intergroup warfare and the hunting of large animals. To do this, it was necessary to form close-knit same-sex male groups, to form specific male skills of war and hunting, and to maintain the specific masculine culture of this group. This created a selection pressure to create a mechanism to facilitate such rallying, recruitment and enculturation of new members, which is a long-term and labor-intensive undertaking. It is hypothesized that the sexual attraction between a boy and a man became such a mechanism, through the ability to form a strong emotional connection, prompting the mentor to teach and care, and the boy to seek training and a role model.<ref name=":4" />

The evolutionary benefit of such a mechanism is assumed both at the individual level (for the junior this is training, protection, and promotion in the male hierarchy, for the adult this is the expansion of the network of alliances) and at the group level (the clan received a reliable replenishment of group members, well-prepared, enculturated and committed to the culture of the group, which gave a competitive advantage).<ref name=":4" />

This hypothesis is supported by [[Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships|cross-cultural]] and [[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History|historical studies]], where a variety of independent cultures demonstrate the prevalence of institutionalized sexual relations between men and boys of peripubertal age. In many instances boys begin sexual practices with older boys and men long before the beginning of puberty (e.g. at age of 7), so in such cases this can't be called [[Pederasty|pederasty]] in the narrow sense, rather [[Pedophilia|pedophilia]].

These relationships are built into these cultures and are part of growing up and becoming a man. The readiness, desire and initiative for sexual contact comes not only from adult men, but also from boys, and this is recorded as a typical phenomenon in these cultures (see Table III in Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4" />). This also confirms the existence of an evolutionary benefit for younger participants.<ref name=":4" />

Moreover, this attraction is not associated with reproductive losses, unlike exclusive homosexuality. It is typical of all these cultures that, upon reaching adulthood, men get wives and at the same time have sexual relations with boys themselves. It is assumed that this ability of the average heterosexual male to experience pederastic attraction is specific to our species.<ref name=":4" />

But this ability is optional (facultative). That is, unlike obligate heterosexual attraction, pederastic interest is to a large extent activated or suppressed by the social environment. This explains the fact that there is a sharp difference in the prevalence of pederastic behavior and attraction between cultures, and the fact that in modern Western cultures it does not manifest itself widely.<ref name=":4" />

Excerpts:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
*:“Formally, this hypothesis holds that pederasty evolved in the early human hunter-gatherer EEA [Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness] as an adaptation (i.e., exaptation), whose function it was to reproduce the male group by facilitating the mentoring and enculturation of boys from peripubescence through adolescence, as well as their emotional and psychological binding with the group. This function was a solution to the recurring adaptive problems in the EEA of surviving and exploiting an extremely dangerous and competitive social and physical environment”
*:“In short, the ages of boys sought out as recruits in male groups, the period in which they are mentored and enculturated, the ages of boys that men in such societies (and our own) find erotically appealing, the ages at which boys are especially open to being mentored (and capable as well, owing to an emergent adult-cognitive capacity), and the ages at which they are open to pederastic relations appear to be part of a single package, in which each of these characteristics seems to be a design feature and element of a larger design, whose function is reproducing the male group.”
*:“It is important to emphasize that pederasty’s relatively infrequent expression in societies such as ours does not imply that it is not an adaptation. In our society, developmental inputs have traditionally been intensely hostile toward homosexual behavior, often accompanied by severe social sanctions, including public disgrace and punishment, which can be expected to have had a significant dampening effect on the emergence and activation of pederastic desire and the expression of pederastic behavior.”
*:“Thus, even though adaptive in the EEA , pederasty, being a facultative trait, is nevertheless rare in our environment. On the other hand, in cultures with cultural ideologies and social structures facilitative of pederastic desire and expression, its occurrence has been widespread across the male population, which is consistent with the assumptions that most males have at least a moderate potential for the behavior and that such potential is sufficient for the behavior to emerge, provided other factors are not inhibitory.”

* '''Schiefenhövel, W. (1990). Ritualized Adult-Male/Adolescent-Male Sexual Behavior in Melanesia: An Anthropological and Ethological Perspective. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) Pedophilia. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_16'''
*: "Men are expected to plan, work, fight, and sometimes, die together. The necessary altruistic behavior and effective cooperation of the warriors as well as the acceptance of a male hierarchy would have been fostered by the institution of prescribed homosexuality."

* '''Riegel, D. L. (2011). [https://web.archive.org/web/20130425190309/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Role%20of%20Androphilia%20in%20the%20Psychosexual%20Development%20of%20Boys.pdf The role of androphilia in the psychosexual development of boys.] ''International Journal of Sexual Health'', 23(1), 2–13. doi:10.1080/19317611.2010.509696'''
*:"Proceeding from Feierman's (1990) thesis, it can be postulated that in prehistoric times it is likely that many children, due to violence, disease, poor nutrition, and life spans that were considerably shorter than what we have considered normal for the past couple of centuries, found themselves without either parents or other adults who would be willing to take on the burden of looking after and feeding a not yet productive child. However, a boy who was sexually androphilic (Vanggaard, 1969) would have the potential advantage of closely bonding with an older male whose sexuality included a male-directed pedosexual component, and who would preferentially protect, provide for, and teach the boy the skills necessary to survive and prosper. Studies have identified such secondary boy-attracted pedosexual tendencies in 20% to 30% of self-identified heterosexual adult males (Freund, 1970; cf. Briere & Runtz, 1989, Quinsey, 1984, West, 1980), and these tendencies would not be selected against so long as the bearers were primarily heterosexual and only secondarily male-oriented pedosexual. There is no reason to believe that these percentages were not similar in prehistoric times; there is some evidence for familial transmission (Gaffney, Lurie, & Berlin, 1984). In the absence of our modern-day taboos, such adaptive and beneficial boy/older male relationships could proceed unimpeded, the boy's juvenile androphilic sexuality would typically be supplanted by heterosexuality as he matured (Sandfort, 1987), he would then pass on his genes, and thus both of these traits would be maintained in the gene pool."

* '''Rind, Bruce. (2014). [https://pismin.com/10.1080/19317611.2014.956853 Trends in evolutionary explanations for human male same-sex eroticism: a commentary on Riegel (2011).] ''International Journal of Sexual Health'', (), 1–11. doi:10.1080/19317611.2014.956853'''
*:"In this commentary, I discuss his social critique and focus on his evolutionary hypothesis, reviewing seven earlier hypotheses for comparison. "
*:"Werner (2006) focused exclusively on the evolution of male homosexual behavior. Based on selected cross-species data, he posited that male homosexual behavior evolved in stages over eons of time. In the first, involving primitive species (e.g., reptiles), single adult males controlled territories, where they waited for females for mating. Adolescent or transvestite males, who resembled adult females in form and/or behavior, gained entry to these territories because of their female mimicry and they were tolerated once there because they submitted homosexually to the adult resident. Their benefit for this submission was mating opportunities with visiting females, which otherwise would not have been available to them. In the second stage, male homosexual behavior changed function (i.e., was an exaptation) in various more complex descendent species with greater cognitive capacities (so that deception via female mimicry no longer worked) and in which adult males lived together in groups rather than as isolates. Here, the changed function of homosexual submission was to elicit tolerance from the dominant male, which served to uphold the dominance hierarchy, which in turn facilitated multi-male group living. The third and final phase occurred when multiple males did not simply live together but cooperated on common tasks. Here, male homosexual behavior changed function once again, in which it facilitated alliance formation, which in turn enabled pursuit of common tasks. He called his explanation the hierarchy/cooperation theory for human male homosexual behavior. Werner claimed that pathic (i.e., transgenderal) homosexuality was the most common form of male homosexual behavior cross-culturally, followed by transgenerational homosexuality. He speculated that different social structures produce different strategies for male/male cooperation, which in turn determine the form by which male homoeroticism is expressed."

* '''Jaroslava Varella Valentova, Andreone Teles Medrado, and Marco Antonio Correa Varella “Male Bisexuality”. In: Todd K. Shackelford (ed.), 2022, [https://annas-archive.org/md5/2d84ebccbbaafc78b4516ef6b129e5a2 The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology. Vol 4.] ''Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)''.'''
::"The alternative sneaking tactic can apply to transitory bisexual men, who would pursue predominantly same-sex relationships early in life when they do not possess status and/or resources to attract females, and create and maintain a family. In the younger age, they might have same-sex tutors or they might sexually serve to dominant males possessing resources. However, they might also sneak among the female partners of the dominant male, and gain at least some copulations and a nonzero reproductive success. Later in life they might switch to predominantly other-sex mating."

==Childhood as a target for sexual selection==

Some authors have suggested that not only adolescence but also middle childhood are involved in sexual selection process, and evolved as a stage at which individuals not only could but should take responsibilities. This appears to contradict how childhood is constructed in modern society (see also [[Research:_Cognitive_ability#Competence|research on childhood competence]]). According to such theories, in middle childhood, individuals become "nest helpers", helping in nurturing for younger siblings, foraging, and chores. This is a fine tuning stage of later social and sexual life-history strategies. First sexual or romantic attractions, sexual play, separation in gender roles typically emerge several years before puberty reflecting the fact that children are drawn into the evolutionary process of sexual selection much earlier than they become fertile. At this stage they actively learn sociosexual behavior and receive feedback about their sociosexual success from peer and adults, adapting their sexual competitive strategy to the environmental input. They engage in sexual and romantic relationship along with adults benefiting from learning, resources and social status they gain. This contributes to their sexual success in later life stages.

*'''Del Giudice M. (2014) [https://iris.unito.it/retrieve/handle/2318/1853338/974935/DelGiudice_2018_middle-childhood_chapter_pre.pdf Middle childhood: an evolutionary-developmental synthesis.]; 8:193–200. doi:10.1111/cdep.12084. in: Halfon N, Forrest CB, Lerner RM, et al., editors. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK543707/ Handbook of Life Course Health Development]. ''Cham (CH): Springer''; 2018. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-47143-3'''
*:"In summary, the life stage of juvenility/middle childhood has two major interlocking functions: social learning and social integration in a system of roles, norms, activities, and shared knowledge. While children are still receiving sustained investment from parents and other relatives—in the form of food, protection, knowledge, and so forth—they also start to actively contribute to their family economy. By providing resources and sharing the burden of child care, juveniles can boost their parents’ reproductive potential. The dual nature of juveniles as both receivers and providers explains many psychological features of middle childhood and has likely played a major role in the evolution of human life history (Kramer, 2011)."
*:"Middle childhood is one of the main stages of human development, marked by the eruption of the first permanent molars around age 6 and the onset of androgen secretion by the adrenal glands at about 6-8 years (Bogin, 1997)."
*:"The transition to middle childhood is typically associated with a strong separation in gender roles, even in societies where tasks are not rigidly assigned by sex."
*:"The stress response system plays a major role in gathering and storing information about environmental safety, predictability, and availability of resources; adrenarche contributes by translating that information into adaptive, sexually differentiated patterns of behavior (Del Giudice et al., 2011; Ellis & Del Giudice, 2014). Consistent with this view, both early relational stress and early nutrition have been found to modulate the timing of adrenarche (Ellis & Essex, 2007; Hochberg, 2008). It is no coincidence that the first sexual and romantic attractions typically develop in middle childhood, in tandem with the intensification of sexual play (Bancroft, 2003; Herdt & McClintock, 2000). By interacting with peers and adults, juveniles receive feedback about the effectiveness of their nascent behavioral strategies. The information collected during middle childhood feeds into the next developmental switch point, that of gonadarche (Ellis, 2013)"
*:"By determining children’s initial place in social networks and hierarchies, competition in middle childhood indirectly affects their ability to attract sexual and romantic partners later. In other words, middle childhood is a likely target for sexual selection — that is, natural selection arising from the processes of choosing mates (mate choice) and competing for mates (mating competition). My colleagues and I (Del Giudice et al., 2009) argued that sexual selection is one reason why sex differences emerge and intensify in middle childhood."

== Complementary behavior among minors ==
The hypothesis of pedophilic/pederastic attraction as a promoter of affection, care, and reproductive benefits in general on the side of youth is confirmed by the very existence of complementary behavior of minors, who [[Testimony: CSA (Children's Sexual Advances)|often show initiative and willingness for sexual relations with adults]]<ref>[https://ia802202.us.archive.org/16/items/rind-2022-reactions-to-minor-older-and-minor-peer-sex-in-finnish-survey/Rind%202022%20-%20Reactions%20to%20Minor-Older%20and%20Minor-Peer%20Sex%20in%20Finnish%20survey.pdf Rind, B. Reactions to Minor-Older and Minor-Peer Sex as a Function of Personal and Situational Variables in a Finnish Nationally Representative Student Sample. Arch Sex Behav 51, 961–985 (2022).], see also [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/images/Rindbasics.pdf Yesmap Primer] and [https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02224-0 DOI.org].</ref>. It’s assumed that such a behavior could function to receive affection and extra resources not available from the child's default caregiver, or as a way to indirect reproductive value (for example, through group survival by successful [[Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis|bonding to mentors]] during male warfare recruiting), or just as an attempt to develop sexual skills. This testifies to the evolutionarily beneficial and reciprocal essence of intergenerational attraction (Klapilová & Bártová, 2017; Stevens & Price, 2016; Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4"> [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Rind, B. (2013). Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) ''New York: Routledge.'' doi:10.4324/9781315432458</ref>).

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. (2017). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1 Sexual Pathology.] In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] (pp. 7439 - 7445). Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1'''
*:“The child’s adaptive behavioral function to demand nurture from adults and his prospective urge to perform sexual activities is not mentioned too often. Still, it is a rather widespread behavior across cultures and historical periods that can help the child receive extra resources not available from their own parents. It would therefore be a complementary strategy – from the pedophile’s side, there is the eroticization of nurturing behavior and attraction to signalization that encourages caretaking, whereas from the child’s side, it is a functional, environmentally conditioned strategy that brings benefits in the form of resources and possibly even acquisition of sexual experience and calibration of child sexuality”.

* '''Stevens, A., & Price, J. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315740577 Evolutionary Psychiatry: A new beginning] (Classic Ed.) (pp. 206-218) Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. doi:10.4324/9781315740577'''
*:“it is undeniable that many children in our society – especially those in boarding schools and childrens’ homes – suffer from ‘parent hunger’. They are what Mia Kellmer-Pringle has called ‘touch-hungry children’. It is possible that the care-eliciting ‘phylism’ in these children may become eroticized just as the care-giving phylism may be eroticized in adult paedophiles. Thus, children starved of parental affection may compete for the love and attention of adults in their environment by using erotic solicitation as a strategy for survival. To suggest this possibility is not to excuse adults who exploit the emotional needs of children for their personal gratification but to provide an evolutionary explanation as to how and why erotic bonds between adults and juveniles may occur. We would propose that both care-eliciting and care-giving phylisms can be eroticized.”

[[Bruce Rind]] gathered evidence of widespread minors' positive reactions, even in our restrictive culture, in his research. (Also, some relevant excerpts are in [[Research: Prevalence of Harm and Negative Outcomes#Simple or informed consent as predictive of positive reactions?|this section]]).

Here is some evidence from [[Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships|Nonwestern cultures]]:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"Anthropological studies on preindustrial societies with culturally institutionalized or widespread pederasty provide reports on how the younger males responded to sexual contacts with older males (see Table III ). Among the Javanese, men remembered their boyhood pederastic experiences entirely positively, despite the researcher’s probing to uncover negative cases (Williams, 2011). Sambian boys showed much initiative in these contacts, especially at older ages (Herdt, 1991, 1997). Keraki men believed that they could not have developed properly without these relations as boys (Williams, 1936). Kaluli men looked back on the complex of grueling hunting, living in a sex-segregated men’s lodge, ritual discipline, unity of purpose, vigorous manly ethos, and growth-stimulating insemination by older males as the highlight of their lives (Schieffelin, 1982). East Bay boys discussed their sexual experiences with men freely and without shame in the presence of their parents and friends (Davenport, 1965). Gebusi boys aged 11 to 14 initiated sexual relations with older males based on personal affection rather than obligation (Herdt, 1991). The bond between Marind-Anim boys and their adult male partners was extremely strong, which was apparently facilitated by the sexual interactions (Van Baal, 1966). Likewise, pederastic relations were extremely close among the Big Nambas (Layard, 1942). Among the Kiman, pederastic behavior would stop after adolescence, but “nevertheless, a lifelong emotional relationship often” resulted (Serpenti, 1984, p. 305). In various southern Mexican Indian tribes, adolescent boys were proud to have been chosen for pederastic relationships, seeing it as an honor to be their men’s lovers (Ross, 1991). And being a Tsongan boy-wife was not just good for security, but for the “fun” it afforded (Murray & Roscoe, 1998)."

And from [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|cross-species]] studies:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"In many species, the younger animals involved in age-discrepant homosex were frequently observed not simply assenting to the sexual interactions but actually initiating them (e.g., bonobos, chimps, gorillas, gibbons, Hanuman and Nilgiri langurs, crab-eating macaques, rhesus macaques, Tibetan macaques, patas monkeys). Specific examples include juvenile Tibetan macaques jumping up to the faces of adult males to be fellated (Ogawa, 1995), an adolescent gibbon repeatedly soliciting sex from his father (Edwards & Todd, 1991), and juvenile rhesus macaques fiercely competing to be the one mounted by an adult male (Kempf, 1917). In a number of species, the researchers noted the sexual excitement exhibited by the immature partners in age-discrepant homosex (e.g., rhesus, stumptail, and Tibetan macaques). In several species, sometimes immature males were assenting and sometimes not (e.g., siamangs, proboscis monkeys, crab-eating macaques, and squirrel monkeys)."

::"In humans’ closest relatives, bonobos and chimps, juvenile males frequently and preferentially solicit adult females and attempt to copulate with them. In most cases, they show sexual arousal with erections. Adult females are usually tolerant and even cooperative, but when they are not, the juvenile males frequently protest with whimpering or tantrums (Bagemihl, 1999; Hashimoto, 1997; Kano, 1980; Kollar, Beckwith, & Edgerton, 1968). Similar patterns have been observed in many other primate species (Bagemihl, 1999). Anderson and Bielert (1990) noted that “Among nonhuman primates . . . sexual interaction between adult females and immature males is universal” (p. 192). It may be that primate patterns do not extend to humans, but the similarity of the observed human and primate patterns in juvenile male-adult female sex suggests a phylogenetic continuum (cf. Ford & Beach, 1951)."

== Development of intergenerational sexuality into an evolutionary mismatch ==
Intergenerational sexuality is discussed as an evolutionary mismatch between our evolved mechanisms and modern moral norms. More often, we encounter moral, political, and ideological justifications for restricting of intergenerational sexual activity, but there are also natural evolutionary, economic, and ecological factors that may contribute to this. What follows is a synthesis of several independent lines of evidence: evolutionary demography, human-capital theory, cultural evolution, and the costs of early sex and early parenthood. This is worth taking into account for a better understanding of the background of the current ideological landscape.

=== The increased disadvantage of early pregnancy ===

[https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] and [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01357-3 Borgerhoff Mulder (1998)] suggest that under the conditions of human evolution, the accumulation of resources and status generally increased reproductive success, so selection may have entrenched the pursuit of these as a primary motivation. In a highly competitive environment, this may lead not to maximizing the number of children but to greater investment in oneself and in a smaller number of children. This is the quantity–quality trade-off, observed, for example, in the data of [https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1635 Lawson, Alvergne & Gibson (2012)].

The modern economy expands opportunities for accumulating property and status. The returns on these investments increase, so early reproduction entails greater opportunity costs. At the same time, standards of competition in the mating market rise. All that significantly increases the desire for higher capital and social status and the volume of necessary investments. In the model of [https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] this effect is shown in skill-based competitive labour markets. [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0150 Shenk, Kaplan & Hooper (2016)] show that status competition and inequality additionally increase optimal investments in children’s education and social status and can sharply reduce fertility. ([https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)]; [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0150 Shenk et al. (2016)])

An additional ecological factor may be population density. [https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000086 Sng et al. (2017)] found that it was associated with greater future orientation, investment in education and children, later marriage, and lower fertility. Experimentally increasing the salience of high population density also shifted decisions toward these strategies.

But a central constraint on the viability of early motherhood is the availability of alloparental support. Human child-rearing has historically been cooperative. In almost all populations, the presence of kin helpers was associated with greater child survival, earlier onset of reproduction, and greater reproductive intensity. Thus, in many traditional populations reproduction can easily begin before full economic and social independence. The modern decline in access to alloparenting greatly increases the costs of early pregnancy. ([https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.10.001 Sear & Mace (2008)]; [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2011.00379.x Sear & Coall (2011)]; [https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-010-9098-9 Kaptijn et al. (2010)]; [https://doi.org/10.3109/03014460903563434 Kramer & Lancaster (2010)]).

In prehistoric times puberty had begun by 13.5 years of age for the majority of individuals. But the age of menarche appears to have occurred between 16 and 17 years of age ([https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39266410/ Lewis et al. (2025)]). The same pattern is observed in many historical populations: puberty could begin at 10–12 years of age, but menarche was delayed until 15–17 years. Menarche is thought to be directly influenced by nutritional abundance, physical demands, and infections. [https://doi.org/10.1186/1687-9856-2011-2 Hochberg, Gawlik & Walker (2011)]

But modernization has shifted biological and socioeconomic reproductive timing in opposite directions. Improved nutrition and health have moved female biological maturation several years earlier ([https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-023-00919-z Anderson et al. (2024)]). In modern times, menarche occurs at an average age of about 12–13 years ([https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dez015 Mishra et al. (2019)]). While education and human-capital accumulation have shifted the socioeconomically advantageous timing of reproduction much later than 16. Modernization has therefore widened the discrepancy between biological fecundity and the age of social and economic readiness. ([https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-4038-7_5 Kramer (2017)]; [https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)]; [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0150 Shenk et al. (2016)]).

Very early pregnancy (before age 14-15) also associated with increased health risks for the mother herself ([https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000004807 Staniczenko et al. (2022)]; [https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003225 Leppälahti et al. (2013)]).

Hence, there arises a pressure for culturally constructed means of delaying and restraining pregnancy. Independent quasi-experimental evidence shows that delaying adolescent childbearing and child marriage increases subsequent education, employment, and earnings ([https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2017.11.006 Branson & Byker (2018)]; [https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20200008 Wilson (2022)]). While the association isn’t that persistent (see [[Research:_Teen_pregnancy]]).

Age-asymmetric adolescent relationships are more risky in terms of pregnancy. Girls with substantially older male partners have higher pregnancy rates. Among pregnant adolescents those with older adult partners are more likely to desire the pregnancy, greater likelihood of planning another pregnancy, to be married or cohabiting, and to have discontinued school, or have lower school enrollment. This is explained, on the one hand, by the fact that older male partners are more likely to be employed and may offer greater immediate economic and emotional security. At the same time, substantial selection is present: girls with weaker family support and lower educational aspirations are themselves more likely to enter early relationships with older men. ([https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10435214/ Darroch et al. (1999)]; [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9080937/ Rickert et al. (1997)]; [https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/190780 Agurcia et al. (2001)]; [https://doi.org/10.1363/4001708 Ryan et al. (2008)]).

=== Increased risk of STIs ===

Sex carries infectious risks, and age asymmetry may amplify them: older partners have spent more time in sexual networks and are therefore more likely to belong to groups with a higher accumulated prevalence of infection ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000002037 Stoner et al. (2019)]).

In the United States, girls who began having sex before age 16 with a partner ≥3 years older had approximately 2.1 times higher odds of STIs than girls who began equally early with a similar-aged partner ([https://doi.org/10.1363/4001708 Ryan et al. (2008)]).

For HIV, prospective incidence data are also available: a partner ≥5 years older was associated with an approximately 1.9-fold hazard of new infection in South Africa ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000002037 Stoner et al. (2019)]), while in Zimbabwe each additional year of age gap was associated with an approximately 5% increase in hazard ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000001506 Schaefer et al. (2017)]). A meta-analysis of 24 studies found RR = 1.39 for HIV and RR = 1.57 for unprotected sex in age-disparate relationships among girls and young women ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000002582 Bajunirwe, Semakula & Izudi (2020)]).

=== Sexual trajectories after early sexual initiation ===

Early sexual contact, even in the absence of risk of pregnancy and STIs, may be associated with a subsequent more active and risky sexual trajectory, which in turn reduces a person’s well-being.

Among women, adult–child sexual contact was associated with 2.1-fold higher odds of intercourse before age 16, 3.4-fold higher odds of having ≥11 partners in adulthood, and 1.6-fold higher odds of STI; the association with teenage childbearing and a number of later outcomes operated to a substantial extent through the subsequent sexual trajectory ([https://doi.org/10.2307/2657425 Browning & Laumann (1997)]).

In [https://doi.org/10.1363/4001708 Ryan et al. (2008)] girls who began sex early with an older man subsequently had more partners; it was the subsequent number of partners that partially explained the increased probability of nonmarital birth.

Among men, [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0049-089X(02)00019-4 Browning (2002)] also found an association between childhood sexual contacts and greater subsequent sexual activity and a larger number of partners, with the resulting infectious risks. In addition, trajectory specificity was observed: oral sex in childhood experience predicted oral sex in adulthood, while contact with a male partner predicted approximately seven-fold higher odds of the appeal of same-gender sex. This is consistent with the hypothesis that some sexual scripts are reinforced by early experience.

A secondary risk is that moral incongruence surrounding sexual behavior may contribute to poorer psychological well-being: more frequent non-marital sex among women and same-sex sexual activity among men were associated with greater unhappiness when these behaviors conflicted with moral beliefs. [https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01860-2 Perry, Grubbs & McElroy (2021)]

[https://doi.org/10.1016/S0049-089X(02)00019-4 Browning (2002)] acknowledges that early sexual contact does not necessarily cause the subsequent sexual trajectory: both variables may be partly explained by third factors. But he considers the specific recurrence of characteristics of the early experience to be evidence in favor of some effect of sexual learning.

There's strong evidence for the reproductive advantage of juvenile sexual learning in many [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|animals]]. But the modern human demographic and economic conditions don’t seemingly favor that.

=== Do restrictions work? ===

'''Compulsory schooling'''

Mechanisms that keep girls in school do indeed reduce early childbearing: [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2008.02159.x Black, Devereux & Salvanes (2008)]; [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.102268 DeCicca & Krashinsky (2020)]; [https://doi.org/10.1086/700076 Kırdar, Dayıoğlu & Koç (2018)].
Evidence for infectious outcomes is more limited than for adolescent pregnancy. However, structural interventions that prolong schooling can reduce HIV risk [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26134875/ De Neve et al. (2015)].

'''Minimum marriage age'''

In an analysis of more than 250,000 women from 17 countries, raising the minimum legal age of marriage to 18 increased age at marriage and age at first birth; in urban areas, it also reduced the prevalence of child marriage and increased education ([https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20200008 Wilson (2022)]).

'''Statutory rape laws'''

[https://doi.org/10.1093/aler/ahv013 Frakes & Harding (2015)] calculated what share of adolescent sexual encounters in each state falls under felony liability for the older partner. A one-standard-deviation increase in this effective coverage by the law was associated with a reduction in the teen live-birth rate of approximately 4.5% relative to baseline. Simply increasing the severity of punishment had no additional effect.

'''Negative information about older partners'''

Providing adolescents with information that older partners had higher HIV prevalence delayed sexual debut, reduced the number of sexual partners, and lowered pregnancy risk. [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6844-8 Angrist et al. (2019)]

'''Contraception'''

Modern contraception partly decouples adolescent sexual activity from risk. In the United States between 1995 and 2002, improved contraceptive use accounted for an estimated 77% of the decline in pregnancy risk among 15–17-year-olds, while reduced sexual activity accounted for 23%; among 18–19-year-olds, the decline was entirely attributable to improved contraceptive use. Thus, reducing risks in modern societies does not necessarily require a corresponding reduction in sexual activity. [https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2006.089169 Santelli et al. (2007)]

=== Prestige bias ===

The demographic transition, like the tightening of the age of consent, initially affected affluent strata more strongly. In the model of [https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] it is highly educated and high-income parents who receive the greatest returns from delaying reproduction and making large investments in fewer children, because such investments particularly strongly increase the competitiveness of offspring.

Historically, this was partly reflected in American statutory rape / age-of-consent laws, early versions of which were applied asymmetrically and primarily protected the sexual “virtue” of white girls from privileged groups. But as the economic opportunities of girls from less affluent strata expanded, the opportunity costs of early motherhood increased for them as well. In the nineteenth century, increases in the age of consent occurred alongside young women’s entry into the labour market and growth in their economic independence ([https://doi.org/10.1515/9780791485965 Cocca (2004)]; [https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520255654.001.0001 Lancaster (2011)]).

However, reproductive norms that emerge in higher strata can spread regardless of whether they produce the same economic returns for other groups. Prestige/success bias means that people tend to copy successful and high-status models as entire packages of behavior, including elements that do not necessarily increase the copier’s success in themselves. [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0152 Colleran (2016)], for example, considers prestige-biased transmission as one possible mechanism for the spread of low fertility across social strata during the demographic transition; the same mechanism is discussed by [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01357-3 Borgerhoff Mulder (1998)]. Therefore, a package including prolonged education, late marriage, a small number of children, and strict restriction of their sexual behavior may spread as a marker of a prestigious lifestyle beyond contexts where it provides a real reproductive advantage.

=== Demographic transition as an evolutionary mismatch ===
[https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] and [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01357-3 Borgerhoff Mulder (1998)] view the demographic transition itself as an evolutionary mismatch: motivation to accumulate resources and status, following prestigious models, and large investments in a smaller number of offspring usually increased fitness. But in a modern environment of extensive opportunities, high competition, and low availability of alloparenting, this can lead to excessive delay and restriction of reproduction, so that fertility can easily fall below the level required simply to maintain population size.

== Other relevant information ==

=== Ontogenetic plasticity ===

Here's an explanation for why, if a minor attraction was adaptive, it may not be ubiquitous today.
*'''Alanko K, Salo B, Mokros A, Santtila P, (2013). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235369954_Evidence_for_Heritability_of_Adult_Men's_Sexual_Interest_in_Youth_under_Age_16_from_a_Population-Based_Extended_Twin_Design "Evidence for heritability of adult men's sexual interest in youth under age 16 from a population-based extended twin design."] ''J Sex Med,'' 10(4):1090-9.'''
*:"Adult men's sexual interest in youthfulness‐related cues may be genetically influenced. [...] The amount of variance attributable to nonadditive genetic influences (heritability) was estimated at 14.6%.[...] Compared with the variance attributable to nonshared environmental effects (plus measurement error), the contribution of any genetic factors seems comparatively weak."
*::'''Editor''': Note, that a heritability coefficient close to zero does not mean the weakness/absence of genetic control over the trait, counter wise may point to high genetic consistency among population, in which case the trait variance is naturally more dependent on the environment. ("Traits such as walking and breathing have low heritability, because these are usually universal traits with slight variations. [...] as heredity becomes more similar, the environment becomes the primary explanation for differences."<ref>[https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/psychology/biological-bases-of-behavior/heritability/ Studysmarter.co.uk: Explanation on heritability]</ref>) This finding of low heritability may be interpreted to mean that the genetic ability to develop minor attraction is highly pervasive among humans and modified by nurture and other environments. This goes along with the [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding%2FEnculturation-Alliance_Hypothesis|Rind's conclusion]] on pederasty as evolutionary determined but a facultative trait.

*'''Bhugra, D. (2000). [https://sci-hub.ru/10.1080/14681990050001574 Disturbances in objects of desire: Cross-cultural issues.] Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 15(1), 67–78. doi:10.1080/14681990050001574'''
*:"Paraphilias are defined as sexual attractions to objects or individuals not normally found attractive. [...] It is argued that, in some types of individual deviance, cultural factors are more likely to play an important role. Some cultures are seen as sex-positive and others as sex-negative but, within each cultural setting, attitudes towards sex and the function of sexual activity are a key to understanding the development of sexual deviance. In cultures where sex is seen as an attraction-led phenomenon rather than a purely procreative one, individuals are more likely to be attracted to 'objects'."

===Undesirable traits as adaptations===

Both pedohebephilic attraction and childhood sexuality are likely influenced somewhat by environmental factors. For example, there exist theories of [[Research:_Psychopathy_and_abnormal_psychology#Adverse_childhood|adverse childhood in pedohebephiles]] and [[Research:_Youth_sexuality#Factors_of_earlier_sexual_development|factors of earlier sexual development]] in youth sexuality. These are unproven and causality is hard to infer. It has been speculated that these are [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Complementary_behavior_among_minors|complementary]] adaptations to difficult circumstances.

From a layman's point of view, undesirable traits that arise as a result of adverse environment are mental breakdowns. From an evolutionary perspective, these may be ways to adapt in a harsh, primordial context. It is worth keeping this perspective in mind.

*'''Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., & Draper, P. (1991). Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Development, 62, 647–670.'''
*:"The concept of "reproductive strategy" drawn from the field of behavioral ecology is applied to the study of childhood experience and interpersonal development in order to develop an evolutionary theory of socialization. The theory is presented in terms of 2 divergent development pathways considered to promote reproductive success in the contexts in which they have arisen. One is characterized, in childhood, by a stressful rearing environment and the development of insecure attachments to parents and subsequent behavior problems; in adolescence by early pubertal development and precocious sexuality; and, in adulthood, by unstable pair bonds and limited investment in child rearing, whereas the other is characterized by the opposite."

*'''Del Giudice, M. (2014b). [https://iris.unito.it/retrieve/e27ce435-4226-2581-e053-d805fe0acbaa/DelGiudice_2014_early-stress_jdohad_pre.pdf Early stress and human behavioral development: Emerging evolutionary perspectives.] Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, 5, 270-280.'''
*:“Stress experienced early in life exerts a powerful, lasting influence on development. Converging empirical findings show that stressful experiences become deeply embedded in the child's neurobiology, with an astonishing range of long-term effects on cognition, emotion, and behavior. In contrast with the prevailing view that such effects are the maladaptive outcomes of 'toxic' stress, adaptive models regard them as manifestations of evolved developmental plasticity.”
*:“Building on the concept of developmental plasticity, researchers have been increasingly advancing alternative models in which early stress does not primarily impair or dysregulate children’s developmental trajectories, but rather shifts them toward behavioral strategies that have proven biologically adaptive in harsh or unpredictable conditions”
*:“Exposure to stress works as a cue to local environmental conditions, and feeds into plasticity mechanisms that coordinate the development of alternative phenotypes.”
*:“In this perspective, many putative maladaptive traits such as anxiety, aggression, and impulsivity can be reframed as costly but adaptive phenotypes that improve an individual’s survival and reproduction prospects in hostile, unpredictable contexts. For example, increased vigilance and anxiety can be regarded as defensive reactions to potential threats, whereas aggression and impulsivity can be effective competitive strategies in harsh, unstable social environments. Furthermore, there is evidence that high levels of physiological and emotional reactivity increase an individual’s sensitivity to context, making him/her more open to both negative and positive social influences. Of course, some of these adaptive traits are going to have undesirable consequences for the individual and/or the social group, and may even be diagnosed as symptoms of psychopathology (e.g., conduct disorders). According to adaptive models, children exposed to early stress should exhibit patterns of impaired cognitive and emotional functioning when tested in safe, stress-free contexts and/or with tasks that mimic the demands of those contexts; but they should often perform better than their peers on tasks that reproduce key features of the dangerous, unpredictable environments they are adapted to. The initial evidence suggests that this may be the case.“

=== Response to critique of evolutionary explanations ===

*'''Karen Franklin. (2010). [https://pismin.com/10.1007/s10508-010-9616-1 Why the Rush to Create Dubious New Sexual Disorders?]. , 39(4), 819–820. doi:10.1007/s10508-010-9616-1'''
*:"As all students of Darwin know, evolutionary success strategies must be understood on a population-wide basis, not an individual level. Moreover, social scientists generally agree that biological evolution is rarely sufficient to understand human behavior in modern, complex social systems. Thus, to say that a trait may have emerged as evolutionarily adaptive in prehistoric times implies nothing of its presence or function on an individual level in contemporary society."

== See also ==

*[[Debate_Guide: Evolutionary logic|Debate Guide: Evolutionary logic]]
*[[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in_History|Intergenerational Relationships in History]]
*[[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals]]

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category: Research: Broader Perspectives]]

== References ==

Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality

2026-08-28T17:53:07Z

Thorn:

<div style="margin-right: 25px; float: left;">__TOC__</div>
:''This article has been written in standard format mixed with an anthology.''

Although [[Debate_Guide:_Evolutionary_logic|evolutionary logic]] of [[Hebephilia|hebephilic]] sexual behaviour and attraction towards pubertal [[Adolescence|adolescents]] of the opposite sex may seem obvious, it is not always straightforward to explain, given that in our evolutionary past female reproductive capacity may have emerged at ages close to the modern age of consent. The explanation of intergenerational attractions toward prepubertal children ([[pedophilia]]/pedosexuality), or adolescent homosexual partners ([[Pederasty|pederastic]] inclination), or the very existence of prepubertal [[child]] sexuality, is even less obvious.

The emergence of adult-child sexuality has several [[Wikipedia:Darwinism|evolutionary explanations]] with varying degrees of evidence, which come from [[Wikipedia:Ethology|ethology]] and [[Wikipedia:Neuroscience|neuroscience]]. There are suggestions that, in our evolutionary past, pedosexual behaviors could have had some evolutionary functions or been an evolutionary by-product of human sexuality development. These explanations may have pragmatic implications for the [[Research: A "cure" for pedophilia?#Psychological wellbeing for MAPs|well-being]] of both MAPs and minors. "Evolutionary scenarios are not just interesting explanatory “stories,” but can illuminate limits as well as opportunities for intervention" (Del Giudice M., 2014). Here is an attempt to categorize these hypotheses, although they overlap greatly and can hardly be considered separately. Rather, they describe different aspects of a complex evolutionary process.

== Adaptation to the lack of success in sexual competition ==
One hypothesis is that if a male is unsuccessful in sexual competition for fertile females, and he chronically feels inferior to others and is afraid of other adults, then his sexuality towards adults may be suppressed and redirected towards children, because children do not cause fear, and next to them the male feels his strength and superiority. Male's sexuality is more associated with dominance and this may explain the greater prevalence of attraction to children among men than among women.<ref>[https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5 Medicus, G., Hopf, S. (1990). The Phylogeny of Male/Female Differences in Sexual Behavior.] In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5</ref>

Excerpts:
* '''Medicus, G., Hopf, S. (1990). [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5 The Phylogeny of Male/Female Differences in Sexual Behavior.] In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5'''
*:"As has been pointed out, adult human sexual behavior with children and adolescents can be understood within the context of dimorphism. Male/ female differences in sexual behavior result at least in part from the different amounts of energy and time each sex expends for reproduction (see Table 4.1). This initial difference produces a difference in the functional proximity of the moods of fear and aggression to sexual mood (see Table 4.11), as well as a difference in the likelihood for active pursuit of sexual opportunities"
*:"One of the most consistent psychological correlates that has been identified is that many adult males who are sexually attracted to children and adolescents show manifestations of (real or self-perceived) social inadequacy with peers. Such males may suffer from feelings of anxiety when they consider sexual behavior with an adult partner (Johnston and Johnston, 1986; Panton, 1979; Segal and Marshall, 1985). Because sex and fear are such functionally distant moods in males, many human adult males cannot perform sexual actions when they feel inferior to their sexual partner or when they feel anxious (e.g., Bancroft, 1985; Eicher, 1980). This explanation is in accordance with the previously mentioned male/female dimorphism in the relationship of mood and behavior (see Table 4.11). Because of their small size, lack of experience, and sense of insecurity, children and adolescents of either sex do not arouse feelings of inferiority, fear, and anxiety in adult males. Thus, children and adolescents can become "sexual objects" for males who in sociosexual relations with adults feel inferior or anxious."

* '''Glenn D. Wilson and David N. Cox. 1983. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130410124803/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Child-Lovers%20-%20A%20Study%20of%20Paedophiles%20in%20Society.pdf The Child-Lovers: A Study of Paedophiles in Society.] By London: Peter Owen. Pp 132. British Journal of Psychiatry. 1983;143(4):430-430. doi:10.1192/S0007125000200780'''
*: "Examination of the characteristics of children that the paedophiles found most attractive points to the conclusion that the ability to achieve social dominance over the child may be the key to understanding the paedophile’s choice of sex target."
*: "Viewed in this way, paedophilia would seem to be one of several alternative adaptations to the problem of lack of success (or perceived inability to succeed) in intermale competition for access to females. It has been often noted by ethologists that the males of any species are thrown into strong Darwinian competition with one another. Those that are most successful monopolise an unequal share of female resources, and the others have to make do with various substitute sexual outlets. Following this model, we would not expect to find any genetic predisposition toward paedophilia per se, but as with homosexuality and certain other sex deviations, some degree of heritability would be mediated by the constitutional basis of dominance versus submissiveness. In other words, paedophiles may inherit their submissive nature, which in turn makes for difficulties in establishing normal sexual roles."

*'''Connie M. Anderson (1990). "Adolescent/Adult Copulatory Behavior in Nonhuman Primates." In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*: "Adult, subadult, and adolescent females are monopolized by adult male harem-holders, leaving a few adult and all subadult males without adult sexual partners. Under these conditions, males without harems choose a particular juvenile female to follow and display intense parental-like behavior towards her. Eventually, she becomes the first individual in the male's harem, and he begins mating with her at her first estrous swelling. Thus, both parental-like and copulatory motor patterns are directed at the same individual over the course of time and, for a brief period, even simultaneously."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Neither very young mature females nor males are desirable mates. [...] On the other hand, the lowest ranking, and therefore unattractive adult males and females do seek matings with adolescents. Low-status females are especially prone to seducing the almost always eager and obliging young males. It is quite likely that these inferior adults are making the best of a bad draw; any available mate is better than none at all in the harsh world of reproductive competition."

== Reproductive value pressure ==
Another close explanation is that the total reproductive potential is highest at the point far before fertility maximum, namely closely to the beginning of puberty. And along with selective pressure toward fully fertile partners, there is selective pressure toward maximum reproductive value, that may become stronger if long term mating strategies are more adaptive in a given evolutionary circumstances.

*'''Seto, M. C. (2017). The puzzle of male chronophilias. ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 46(1), 3-22.'''
::"Evolutionary theories about human mating strategies distinguish between reproductive value and fertility (Buss, 1989). Reproductive value refers to the potential number of offspring that could be produced over time, and thus focusing on reproductive value represents a longer-term strategy, as in the case of marriage to pubescent or even prepubescent girls. [...] Fertility, on the other hand, means maximizing the chances of reproduction, and thus would represent a shorter-term strategy focusing on young adult women (e.g., in their early to mid-20s). This is reflected in male-typical age preferences for casual sex partners, pornography actors, and models(Kenrick & Keefe,1992; Ogas & Gaddam, 2011; Rudder, 2014). Though preferences for other than sexually mature,fertile partners would probably be suboptimal, variations from heterosexual teleiophilia might be maintained in the human population — at a low frequency — as a result of opposing selection pressures (e.g., frequency-dependent selection) or as a byproduct of other adaptations."

== "Nest helper" hypothesis ==
{{research}}
The concept of "nest helper", is an explanation of a few individuals within a group being nonreproductive, yet aiding their group's survival. They may be affectionately disposed and caring towards others without reproducing, since this promotes the reproduction of peers who share some of the same genes due to being genetic relatives in the group. Due to sexual competition and the costs of human reproduction, not every individual ''can'' reproduce, hence there are indirect genetic benefits of "nest helping" that may overcome benefits of direct reproductive efforts for some individuals. This evolutionary hypothesis applies to both exclusive homosexuality and exclusive pedophilia, although due to a lack of investigation, there is at present little evidence for it (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":5">[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Feierman, Jay R. (1990). Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23</ref>).

Excerpts:
* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23'''
*:"Whereas a similar challenge has been met somewhat reasonably in terms of the "nest helper" concept of adult homosexuality, hypothesizing that another type of nest helper would have to erotically love and sexually interact with the children for whom he was caring"

== Help in developing sexual ability ==

Sex play between immature mammals is widespread, and among primates it is nearly universal. Sexual play functions as learning adequate mating skills. Sexual play mostly occurs among immature peers, but adults also often engage in sexual play with juveniles and help them develop sexual skills too.<ref>Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7</ref> In addition, sex can trigger the onset of fertility. Such a function could have played a role in the human evolutionary past (Dienske, 1990<ref name=":0">Dienske, Herman (1990). The Concept of Function in the Behavioral Sciences with Specific Reference to Pedophilia and Pedosexual Behavior: A Biophilosophical Perspective. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13</ref>). In some species, this function has built in to that extent that without early sexual experience with an adult an individual grows up unable to conceive.<ref name=":7">Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2</ref>

* '''Connie M. Anderson (1990). "Adolescent/Adult Copulatory Behavior in Nonhuman Primates". In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*: "Among nonhuman primates, then, sexual interaction between adult females and immature males is universal [...] Adult females do interact sexually with males of all ages, including infants too young to be capable of intromission or ejaculation. Females have little to lose by doing so, since they do not deplete their egg supply by unsuccessful matings and since they are unlikely to be seriously injured in the process. They may also help their immature male relatives by allowing them access to experienced females to practice sexual behavior so that they can perform successfully from the time spermatogenesis begins."

* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2'''
*: "In the squirrel monkey (Saimin), captivity-raised individuals of both sexes in mixed-sex peer groups were not even able to conceive unless they had been allowed, when they were juveniles, to have sexual contact with opposite-sex adults (Hopf, 1979, personal communication)."

*'''De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15'''
*: "Thus, juvenile male chimpanzees are attracted to females in estrus, and pubertal females begin to explore sexual contact with older males as soon as their genital swellings develop (van der Weel, 1978; de Waal, 1982; Goodall, 1986). Such intergenerational experience undoubtedly contributes to the development of adequate sexual skills."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Any behavior that is indisputably essential to survival, adaptation, or reproductive success develops in many different forms in different species, and often even varies in the same species in different environments. ‘The evolution of sex and sexual behavior is certainly no exception (Margulis & Sagan, 1986). It is, therefore, not surprising to find that mature and immature conspecifics engage each other in myriad sexual practices (Crews & Moore, 1986). [...] It is certainly no accident that species in which the immature play are also the ones most involved in preadolescent sex. Of those warmblooded, slowly maturing organisms that play (mostly mammals), an undetermined, but probably very large, number engage in sexual ventures. On the other hand, young animals that metamorphize into adult form and those with an exceedingly brief immaturity are obviously poor candidates for sexual participation with adults."
::"The fascinating evolutionary component is the appearance of play; sexual encounters of mature with immature animals that do not play differ sharply from the sexual interactions of those that do. [...] Sexual activity of young mammals is a clear aid to their performing adequately and sex play is probably essential to the development of normal adult primate copulation (Harlow, 1962; Wallen, Goldfoot, & Goy, 1981)."
::"[T]he mere fact that sex play with adults is so widespread in polygamous (i.e., multimale—multifemale mating) species supports speculation that encounters with adults provide the winning edge. "

== Advantage in sexual competition ==
The emergence of nonexclusive pedophilic interest could be due to males experiencing selection pressure to display affiliative behavior towards minors. Such a display aims to convince fertile females that the male is ready for paternal investment, thus giving advantages in access to the fertile female (Taub, 1990<ref>Taub, David M. (1990). The Functions of Primate Paternalism: A Cross-Species Review. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 338–377). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_14</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''Taub, David M. (1990). The Functions of Primate Paternalism: A Cross-Species Review. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 338–377). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_14'''
*: "Why then are these unrelated males forming special affiliations with and investing in these infants? Proponents of this view suggest that males form special relationships with infants as a means whereby they may develop a closer and stronger affiliative relationship with the infant's mother. This enhanced, or special, relationship with the mother, in turn, enhances the male's chances of mating with this female in the future."

== Sex as a buffer against aggression ==
Ethologist Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt suggested that the interconnection between sex and dominance is the basic ("reptilian") way of vertebrate sexuality organization. Aggression and dominance acquired a functional connection with male sexuality due to the fact that aggressive and dominant males tended to win in sexual competition. In contrast, submission was embedded in female sexuality. The submissive posture of the female ready for mating is a stimulus to transform male’s aggressive drive to the sexual drive. This prevents injuries and allows mating to occur. Thus aggression, dominance and submission were sexualized, and sexuality acquired the ability to buffer aggression in hierarchical relationships. (The manifestation of that ability is that the appeasing posture of a defeated enemy in animals often resembles the posture of a female ready to mate). Eibl-Eibesfeldt supposed that it is possible that this function could be partly transferred into the adult-juvenile hierarchical relationship (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1990<ref name=":1">[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6</ref>).

Excerpts:
* '''Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6'''
*: “Dominance between group members is also expressed by ritualized mounting, and submission, in turn, is expressed by female-type presenting. From these kinds of greeting rituals have evolved behaviors such as those of hamadryas baboons, in which males approaching high-ranking individuals present as if they, the presenters, were females. Their buttocks are hairless and red in mimicry of the female buttocks, thus enhancing the signal value of presenting (Wiclder, 1966, 1967b). The high-ranking individual may mount or just perform the intention to mount in response to the other's presenting. This use by primates of sexual motor patterns to acknowledge dominance rank order has often been interpreted as being equivalent to human homosexuality. This interpretation is an oversimplification. These sexual motor patterns are derived from copulatory behaviors but, then, have acquired a new function related to social hierarchies: mounting serves as an indication of dominance, and presenting serves as an indication of submission, an agonistic buffer in a greeting context”
*:“Children have characteristics, such as small size, that facilitate adult males' feeling dominant to them, as occurs in pedosexual behavior.”

== Sex for reconciliation and food sharing ==
The reduction of social tension mediated by sociosexual contact is widespread in the communities of human closest relatives, the [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|Bonobos]]. The tension arises in situations of competition or inequality referring to any kind of resources such as food, access to reproduction or any interesting stimulus matter. In addition to the reconciliation effect, sexual contacts allow them to willingly share resources with one another. Ethologist Frans de Waal pointed that this mechanism works for individuals of any status, sex and age, including contacts between adults and infants. Via this mechanism, adults share food with juveniles who are not their descendants and are not of reproductive interest. The emergence of this mechanism presumably occurred as a result of an evolutionary shift in relationships between males and females towards the more tolerant and equal in the case of Bonobos (de Waal, 1990<ref>[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15</ref>). Among most other primates except for humans, cases of adults, especially males, sharing food with another's offspring are quite rare (Mackey, 1990<ref name=":6">Mackey, Wade C. (1990). Adult·Male/Juvenile Association as a Species-Characteristic Human Trait: A Comparative Field Approach. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 299–323). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_12</ref>).

Frans de Waal suggests that our ancestor’s sexual behavior may have been similar to Bonobo's. This sex-for-food mechanism then allowed females to exchange sex for male commitment and paternal investment, thus giving rise to the human nuclear family. And subsequently, the very development of the nuclear family led to an increasing restriction of sex functions to heterosexual reproductive bonding only (de Waal, 2006<ref> [https://sci-hub.se/10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp de Waal, Frans B. M. (2006). Bonobo Sex and Society. Scientific American, 16, 14-21], doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15'''
*: "Typically, upon the introduction of food, the bonobos would become very active, engaging in aggressive competition but also inviting one another for sociosexual contact These contacts appeared to reduce the tension and to allow for food sharing. Thus, it could be demonstrated that subordinate group members more often asserted themselves toward dominant food possessors following a sociosexual contact than without such prior contact (de Waal, 1987). The interaction could even take the form of an exchange, e.g., a female presents to a male who is holding a large bundle of branches and leaves and takes the entire bundle out of his hands immediately following sexual intercourse. On other occasions, sociosexual behavior was used as a reconciliation. The majority of instances of genital massage, for instance, followed aggressive incidents in which the adult male had chased one of the adolescent males. After a couple of minutes, the younger male would return to the aggressor to present his genitals."
*:“Sociosexual behavior occurred with equal frequency and equal intensity in all age and sex combinations possible. Intergenerational sex was part of this general pattern. The bonobo's sexual reconciliation and reassurance patterns were described and contrasted with the behavior of the chimpanzee, which virtually lacks this nonreproductive function of sexual behavior. The evolutionary origin of this difference was sought in heterosexual bonding among bonohos in their natural habitat. [...] Coexistence of plural males and females without agonistic competition in mating could be guaranteed by changing the character of sexual behavior into affiliative behavior in which all individuals can participate, and by decreasing the reproductive meaning (Mori, 1984, p.277).[...] This possible evolutionary background of the phenomena observed in bonobos is of relevance in connection with human sexuality, both because of the shared biological ancestry and the fact that heterosexual bonding is characteristic of the human species as well."
*:"[T]he most logical pathway by which sexual behavior evolved into a general reassurance mechanism is that this mechanism was first established in the adult male/female relationship, after which it was adopted in other age and sex combinations. In other words, the widespread application of sexual behavior patterns in the bonobo' s social life has its origin in an emphasis on heterosexual bonding (de Waal, 1987). Field research supports this view in that male/female relationships seem closer and more tolerant in bonobos than in chimpanzees."

*'''de Waal, Frans B. M. (2006). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp Bonobo Sex and Society.] Scientific American, 16, 14-21, doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp'''
*:"Ocasionally, the role of sex in relation to food is taken one step further, bringing bonobos very close to humans in their behavior. It has been speculated by anthropologists--including C. Owen Lovejoy of Kent State University and Helen Fisher of Rutgers University--that sex is partially separated from reproduction in our species because it serves to cement mutually profitable relationships between men and women. The human females capacity to mate throughout her cycle and her strong sex drive allow her to exchange sex for male commitment and paternal care, thus giving rise to the nuclear family."
*:"This arrangement is thought to be favored by natural selection because it allows women to raise more offspring than they could if they were on their own."
*:"Given its peacemaking and appeasement functions, it is not surprising that sex among bonobos occurs in so many different partner combinations, including between juveniles and adults. The need for peaceful coexistence is obviously not restricted to adult heterosexual pairs."
*:“In fact, nuclear families are probably incompatible with the diverse use of sex found in bonobos. If our ancestors started out with a sex life similar to that of bonobos, the evolution of the family would have required dramatic change.
*: Human family life implies paternal investment, which is unlikely to develop unless males can be reasonably certain that they are caring for their own, not someone elses, offspring. Bonobo society lacks any such guarantee, but humans protect the integrity of their family units through all kinds of moral restrictions and taboos. Thus, although our species is characterized by an extraordinary interest in sex, there are no societies in which people engage in it at the drop of a hat (or a cardboard box, as the case may be). A sense of shame and a desire for domestic privacy are typical human concepts related to the evolution and cultural bolstering of the family."

* '''Mackey, Wade C. (1990). Adult·Male/Juvenile Association as a Species-Characteristic Human Trait: A Comparative Field Approach. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 299–323). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_12'''
*: "As pointed out earlier, human adult males share food/provisions with their young, and this sharing by adult males is relatively rare across the zoological kingdom. It is reasonable that the sharing of a most valuable commodity -- food -- is much easier emotionally for the provisioner if the provisioner "likes" the recipient, and conversely, a recipient tends to like someone who feeds him or her, especially during the dependency of preadulthood. Accordingly, the behavioral enhancement of any neurohormonal mechanisms (subtended by the relevant genetic material) that resulted in greater affiliative feelings, toward juveniles, for example, would facilitate food sharing. The facilitation might be further sensitized by the stimulus of those young who are provisioned showing outward signs of affiliation towards the provisioner. Across generations, the increased provisioning of juveniles by adult males would marginally increase those juveniles' viability, thereby increasing those adult males' chances of having descendants. Thus, the alleles in adult males and juveniles that canalized reciprocal adult-male/juvenile affiliative behavior, in general, and the resultant specific adult-male/juvenile association, in particular, would gradually and systematically displace competing alleles that did not facilitate the development of affiliation between adult males and juveniles. In the 20th century, food sharing from human adult males to juveniles has been found to be a universal practice"

*'''Woods, Vanessa; Hare, Brian (2011-04-01). "Bonobo but not chimpanzee infants use socio-sexual contact with peers". Primates. 52 (2): 111–116. doi:10.1007/s10329-010-0229-z.'''
::"Even as infants, bonobos use socio-sexual behaviour, whereas the same behaviour is completely absent in chimpanzee infants. Findings suggest that sociosexual behaviour in infant bonobos serves functions during social feeding that is not closely tied to reproduction."

== Nonconceptive sociosexual behavior as a result of self-domestication ==
It has been suggested that nonconceptive sociosexual behaviour, which include homosexual and intergenerational sexual contacts, consistently accompanies both natural and artificial selection against aggression ("domestication") being embedded in general pattern of juvenilization (like mammalian juvenile sex play).
*'''Hare, B., Wobber, V., & Wrangham, R. (2012). [https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/site-images/hare-et-al-2012-self-domestication.original.pdf The self-domestication hypothesis: Evolution of bonobo psychology is due to selection against aggression.] ''Animal Behaviour'', 83(3), 573–585. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.12.007'''
::"Experiments indicate that selection against aggression in mammals can have multiple effects on their morphology, physiology, behaviour and psychology, and that these results resemble a syndrome of changes observed in domestic animals. [...] In domesticated species, the characteristic down-regulation of aggressiveness and increased tolerance is accompanied by other differences, [...] behavioural changes include [...] increased pro-social behaviours, particularly play, nonconceptive sexual behaviour and grooming (Hemmer 1990; Clutton-Brock 1992; Coppinger & Coppinger 1998; Kunzl & Sachser 1999; Gariépy et al. 2001)."

::examples:
::"[Compared with chimpanzees:] Bonobos show more play and sociosexual behaviour as adults"
::"[Compared with wolves:] Dogs show more play and sociosexual behaviour as adults"
::"[Compared with wild guinea pigs:] Guinea pigs are more playful and show more sexual behaviour than cavies"

::"Typically, a new bonobo, even as an infant, can be introduced without incident; and two groups, including multiple adult males separated for weeks, months or years, can be reintegrated with little more than play and sexual contact as a result (B. Hare, V. Wobber & R. Wrangham, personal observations)."

::"Behaviourally, bonobos are similar to many domesticates (e.g. Kunzl & Sachser 1999) in showing intensified sexual behaviour. [...] they also display a substantial emancipation of sexual behaviour into nonconceptive functions that often involve same-sex partners (Savage-Rumbaugh & Wilkerson 1978; Kuroda 1984; Thompson-Handler et al. 1984; de Waal 1987, 1995; Kano 1989, 1992; Enomoto 1990; Dixson 1998; Hohmann & Fruth 2000; Furuichi & Hashimoto 2004; Paoli et al. 2007; Clay & Zuberbühler 2011; Woods & Hare 2011)."

::"selection for juvenile levels of aggression could explain the cascade of behavioural, physiological and morphological traits typical of juveniles that tend to be retained in adults of the descendant domesticated species (Trut 2001)."

::"The self-domestication hypothesis is therefore a potentially powerful tool for understanding the processes by which selection shapes both psychological and other seemingly unrelated traits, including those in humans (e.g. Leach et al. 2003; Dorus et al. 2004)."

== Sex as an attachment promoter. Development of paternal investment==
In addition to the “reptilian” connection between sex and dominance, Eibl-Eibesfeldt described another way of sexuality organization. That evolutionary later way is the interweaving of sex and attachment, which is typical for birds and some mammals forming long-term reproductive alliances. The ability of males to form attachment and exhibit caring behavior to a sexual partner is highly beneficial for females. Human evolution went through an increase in the maturation time of offspring, which led to huge reproductive costs for females. Thus, there was a particularly strong sexual selection of males, in which sexual desire was accompanied by consistent caring behavior towards the female and her offspring. This attachment to a sexual partner may be evolutionarily linked to child-parent attachment (in some species, this connection is manifested in the features of sexual courtship rituals containing signs of childish behavior, which function to induce caring behavior and affection in a sexual partner). So according to this theory, the functional system of parental care and the functional system of mating became interconnected. Eibl-Eibesfeldt wrote that romantic love occurs through the fusion of parental care and sexual desire, and this fusion is an antecedent for children and adolescents to evoke romantic feelings in some adults (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1990 <ref name=":1" />).

In line with Eibl-Eibesfeldt, ethologist Herman Dienske argues that, in the course of evolution, due to the ability of human females to conceal ovulation and to be continuously sexually receptive, male sexual interest has evolved in turn to foster consistent male proximity (to invest in offspring that take so long to mature), and subsequently could promote male proximity with the infant (Dienske, 1990<ref name=":0" />). Indeed, the repertoire of pedosexual behavior observed in humans, besides sexual actions, may also include caring behavior: comforting/caressing, feeding, grooming (body care such as washing or massage), protecting, teaching (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":7" />).

Excerpts:
* '''Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6'''
*: “If one observes courtship and greeting rituals in birds and mammals, one soon becomes aware that the patterns by which a friendly affiliation is established, upheld, or strengthened are basically derived from maternal behaviors and infantile appeals that trigger these patterns.”
*: “In human sexual behavior, strata of different phylogenetic origins can be distinguished. Sexuality based upon the mechanisms of male dominance and female submission, which characterizes the reptiles, also constitutes the basic layer of human sexuality. This reptilian heritage is superimposed, however, by a more recently acquired sexuality characterized by affiliation and love. The new potentiality to act in a friendly manner evolved with the development of parental care independently in birds and in mammals. In normal human sexual behavior, the archaic agonal sexuality is controlled by affiliative sexuality and, therefore, is characterized by love. Agonal sexuality is still with us, however, as indicated, among other features, by the phallic male-dominance displays, by a male hormonal response linked to dominance achievement, and by the sexual fantasies of submission that are experienced by females. Agonal sexuality normally is under the control of affiliative sexuality, and therefore, humans correctly associate sex with love. Certain forms of sexuality, such as sadomasochism and a particular form of male homosexuality, are explained as being a regression to the archaic agonal sexuality. Pedophilia and pedosexual behavior are explained within the regression context, too. Children have characteristics, such as small size, that facilitate adult males' feeling dominant to them, as occurs in pedosexual behavior. Since human adult/adult romantic love is derived by phylogeny from parental caregiving behavior, it is easily seen how, in some adult humans, the feeling of love toward children has been retained and eroticized, which is the true meaning of the term "pedophilia.”

*'''Dienske, Herman (1990). The Concept of Function in the Behavioral Sciences with Specific Reference to Pedophilia and Pedosexual Behavior: A Biophilosophical Perspective. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*:"it was pointed out that the continuous sexual activity of humans promotes the coherence of the adult-male/adult-female pair and that it encourages the male parent to participate in rearing his offspring. This assumption requires (1) that sex induces affiliation (i.e., the maintenance of proximity and the extension of favors) and (2) that this affiliation is continued after offspring are born and (3) is accompanied by male paternal care. The associations among sex, affiliation, and paternal care seem to be common in humans. This situation does not imply, however, a simple causal relationship. Infrequent or absent sex may precede divorce. It cannot be decided whether infrequent sex reduces affiliation or whether the decreased affiliation reduces sex. It is likely that sex and affiliation mutually enhance each other and that the absence of one of the two leads to a declining spiral that eventually results in separation or disinterest."
*: “the associations among sex, affiliation, and paternal care are not compelling in that alternative functional solutions exist. Nevertheless, the affiliation-promoting effect of sex seems apparent.”
*: “Human females, in contrast, lack such signals and thus have what is called "concealed ovulation" (Alexander and Noonan, 1979); in fact, the timing of human ovulation was not known until recently. Uncertainty concerning the time at which ovulation occurs would promote frequent copulations. It is possible that continuous sexual behavior in human females is their afflliation-promoting strategy, since it can induce more consistent male proximity (Daniels, 1983).”
*:“[P]edophilic and homosexual nonprocreative sexual contacts could be considered functional, since favors resulting from the affiliation, which is maintained in part by sexual behavior, can be considerable.”

*'''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2'''
*: "some of the components of parental investment, collectively called "nurturing behavior", are seen in both pedo-and ephebophilia and can be considered and discussed as (1) comforting and contact, (2) feeding, (3) grooming, (4) protecting, and (5) teaching."

* '''Money, J. (1990). Pedophilia: A Specific Instance of New Phylism Theory as Applied to Paraphilic Lovemaps. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions]. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_18'''
*:"This author's way of circumventing the debate is to say that there are in the human species phylogenetic building blocks, or phylisms, that in the course of individual sexuoerotic development are capable of being diverted from their usual expression, so as to become entrained to sexuoerotic arousal. In the case of pedophilia, the phylism of parent/child pairbonding becomes diverted and entrained to sexuoerotic, lover /lover pairbonding. The pedophile's attachment to a child represents a merger of parental and erotic love."
*:"The universal male/male pedophilia of the Sambia demonstrates the sexological plasticity of the human organism and the making of pedophilia into the social norm."

This hypothesis is also mentioned in modern scientific encyclopedias:

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. (2017). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1 Sexual Pathology.] In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] (pp. 7439 - 7445). Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1'''
*:“the evolutionary explanation behind the origin of pedophilia refers to the fusion of two evolutionarily ancient adaptive systems – reproduction and nurturing. Money (1990) states that a pedophile’s relationship to a child qualitatively, and also neurologically, resembles a blend between parental and erotic love. Likewise, it can be linked to the close cohesion between these two systems that can be observed also between phylogenetically close species.”.
*:”The founder of the human ethnology field, Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1973), directly warns about the type of affiliative-erotic relationship that connects to the composition of long-term partnership, which was developed both in mammals and birds together with nurturing behavior, and therefore it is not surprising that they are occasionally mixed in humans.”

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. "Male Sexual Disorders" In: Todd K. Shackelford (ed.), 2022, [https://annas-archive.org/md5/2d84ebccbbaafc78b4516ef6b129e5a2 The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology. Vol 4.] ''Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)''.'''
:: "A phylogenetic explanation of pedophilia refers to the fusion of two evolutionarily old systems– reproduction and nurturing (Money, 1990). It is also in line with the results of neuroimaging studies in which pedophilic men could be distinguished from controls by their increased fMRI activity in reaction to child versus adult faces (Ponseti et al., 2016) and increased brain responses to not only human but also animal infants in pedophiles (Ponseti et al., 2018), interpreted as an over-responsive nurturing system. This view agrees with older ethological theories that sees pedophilia as a mixture of parental and erotic love indicated by behavioral displays of both (Money, 2012)."

* '''Stevens, A., & Price, J. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315740577 Evolutionary Psychiatry: A new beginning] (Classic Ed.) (pp. 206-218) Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. doi:10.4324/9781315740577'''
*: “We would entertain the hypothesis proposed separately by Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1990) and by Money (1990) that two innate biosocial propensities – caregiving and sex-mating – have become fused in the course of ontogeny in those who display the paedophilic orientation.”
*:“[A]ffiliative erotic love, as Eibl-Eibesfeldt points out, itself evolved in birds and mammals together with the development of parental care-giving behaviour. ‘Since human adult/adult romantic love is derived by phylogeny from parent care-giving behaviour,’ asserts EiblEibesfeldt, ‘it is easily seen how, in some adult humans, the feeling of love toward children has been retained and eroticised, which is the true meaning of the term “pedophilia”.“.

Cross-species research indicate that the sexuality-attachment fusion in intergenerational relationships is widespread in nature and not restricted to humans:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"Intense sexually based friendships or consort relationships between older and younger animals have been documented in various species, including gorillas, orangutans, macaques (crab-eating, Japanese, rhesus, stumptail), Hamadryas baboons, and squirrel monkeys. Takenoshita (1998) observed consort relationships between adult and juvenile male Japanese macaques, where these pairs, in addition to engaging in homosexual interactions, foraged together, groomed one another, and attacked other monkeys together. Chevalier-Skolnikoff (1976) described intensely affectionate relationships between mature and immature stumptail male macaques, in which both older and younger partners responded with sexual excitement to the sexual interactions. Zuckerman (1932) observed a three-year sexual relationship between an adult and an immature male Hamadryas baboon. Redican, Gomber, and Mitchell (1974) observed an intense attachment between an adult male rhesus macaque and a much younger male, in which the latter took strong initiative in establishing the relationship and sexual interaction. Hamilton (1914), also studying rhesus macaques, reported that he “found that friendships between immature males and mature males are of frequent occurrence, and that they seem to have a sexual basis” (p. 308). In one illustrative case, Hamilton reported, when a separated mature-immature pair was allowed to reunite, the two rushed into an embrace, smacking their lips. Both animals showed marked sexual excitement, and the older mounted the younger, who rotated his head to achieve lip contact with the older partner."

=== Neurological, endocrinological and psychological evidence ===

Human sexuality researchers have confirmed the neurobiological interconnection of sexual and attachment systems. The release of oxytocin, vasopressin and prolactin, hormones associated with parental behavior, during sex and orgasm stimulates the formation of attachment, altruistic behavior and care for a partner. The reverse is also true: trusting and caring relationships can evoke sexual interest (Dewitte & Marieke, 2012 <ref> [https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/00224499.2011.576351 Dewitte, Marieke (2012). Different Perspectives on the Sex-Attachment Link: Towards an Emotion-Motivational Account.] The Journal of Sex Research, 49, 105–124. https://doi=10.1080/00224499.2011.576351</ref>; Fleischman, 2021 <ref> [https://www.dianafleischman.com/_files/ugd/cb1e47_2914fac5806e4843a8544c1cdee5a69a.pdf Fleischman, D. (2021). Sex as Bonding Mechanisms.] In: Shackelford, T.K., Weekes-Shackelford, V.A. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717</ref>).

Two decades after Eibl-Eibesfeldt suggested that the neural systems of sex and care are relatively more connected in people who are sexually attracted to children, neuroscientists have found some experimental evidence for that. Brain structures responsible for social connections, altruistic and parental motivation (such as the left anterior insula), in people with pedophilic interest, respond to infant stimuli more intensively, receiving reinforcement from the neural circuits responsible for mating. In addition, a greater connection between parental and mating systems is characteristic of males, which is explained by evolutionarily different ways of forming maternal and paternal investments (Ponseti et al., (2018). <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645 Ponseti J, Bruhn D, Nolting J, Gerwinn H, Pohl A, Stirn A, Granert O, Laufs H, Deuschl G, Wolff S, Jansen O, Siebner H, Briken P, Mohnke S, Amelung T, Kneer J, Schiffer B, Walter H, Kruger THC. Decoding Pedophilia: Increased Anterior Insula Response to Infant Animal Pictures.] Front Hum Neurosci. 2018 Jan 23;11:645. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645. PMID: 29403367; PMCID: PMC5778266.</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''Ponseti et al., (2018). "[https://sci-hub.se/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645 Decoding Pedophilia: Increased Anterior Insula Response to Infant Animal Pictures".] Front Hum Neurosci.'''
*: “This gives rise to the assumption that increased brain responses to infant stimuli in pedophilia are rather a consequence of an over-active nurturing system than of an over-active sexual system.”
*: “The left anterior insula, being a crucial area of nurturing processing, was also frequently found to be activated in sexual brain studies (Stoleru et al., 2012). Furthermore, the left anterior insula (as well as the SMA) is a constituent of the human attachment system, thereby enabling both nurturing and pair-bonding (Feldman, 2016). Based on both observations, (i) the over-responding to nurturing stimuli in various motivational areas and (ii) the functional overlap of nurturing and sexual processing of the involved left anterior insula a tentative and simple model of pedophilia could be as follows: Nurturing stimuli receive additional processing resources by mating-circuits. In case of human infant stimuli this leads to a sexual connotation of infant stimuli. This idea is supported by the suggestion that nurturing and pair-bonding are two closely inter-related domains in humans at the level of physiological functions, brain processing, and involved neuropeptides”
*: "In any case, from an evolutionary perspective, paternal nurturing is an unusual and probably more recently evolved male behavior. Phylogenetically speaking, male brains are not “geared” to handle infant stimuli. This may explain why the “parental caregiving” network of males and females displays differences (Abraham et al., 2014).
*: It might be hypothesized that, in contrast to ancient maternal infant stimulus processing, human male brains process infant stimuli with brain areas that might not be associated primarily with caregiving. If so, it is conceivable that the involvement of brain areas not “geared” to the paternal nurturing aspects associated with infant stimuli makes male brains vulnerable to not maintaining the functional division between the domains of nurturing and mating behavior."

*'''Schuler, M. et al (2019). "[https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/abn-abn0000412.pdf Empathy in pedophilia and sexual offending against children: A multifaceted approach]," ''Journal of Abnormal Psychology'', 128(5), 453–464.'''
*:"Participants included 85 pedophilic men who committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P+CSO), 72 pedophilic men who never committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P−CSO), and 128 nonoffending teleiophilic male controls (TC). Several affective and cognitive aspects of empathy were assessed using the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Whereas in self-reports (IRI) P+CSO scored lower than TC (P−CSO intermediate) in cognitive perspective-taking abilities, a performance-based measure (MET) revealed evidence for a better differentiation of emotional states in P−CSO as compared with P+CSO (TC intermediate). In addition, P+CSO and P−CSO showed significantly higher affective resonance while observing children (MET), which was paralleled by higher self-reported levels of personal distress in social situations (IRI). The results indicate evidence for higher general affective empathic resonance to children in pedophilic men but superior cognitive empathy abilities in nonoffending pedophiles only, which may act as a protective factor in the prevention of sexual offending."

=== Sex and attachment in general ===
*'''Fletcher, G. J. O.; Simpson, J. A.; Campbell, L.; Overall, N. C. . (2015). [https://pismin.com/10.1177/1745691614561683 Pair-Bonding, Romantic Love, and Evolution: The Curious Case of Homo sapiens.] Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(1), 20–36. doi:10.1177/1745691614561683'''
*:"Factor analytic studies of perceptions of romantic love in Western samples support these models, typically revealing three components (e.g., Aron & Westbay, 1996). The labels assigned to each factor vary across studies, but they reflect passion (sexual attraction), emotional bonding (intimacy), and commitment (caregiving)."
*:"romantic love provides a potent motivational push toward the kind of devotion and commitment required for the huge investment needed to support a mate and raise children successfully."
*:"romantic love is an adaptation — a commitment device — that facilitated longterm pair-bonding"
*:"The striking similarity between the behavioral manifestations of parent–infant love and romantic love suggests that evolution may have borrowed these ancient bonding mechanisms, originally evolved in mammals to bond mothers to their offspring, and applied them to men and women in the context of romantic pair-bonding."
*:"Using phylogenetic comparative methods with 230 different species, Opie et al. (2013) found that the evolution of monogamy is strongly related to paternal care of offspring"

== Evolutionary (by)product of human neotenization ==
Another factor of pedosexual attraction emergence is a human neotenization. The evolutionary advantage of retaining neotenic (childish) traits which elicit nurturing responses from adults, results in the retention of neotenic genetic traits due to sexual competition. Therefore such traits become sexually attractive. That leads to the observable progressive neotenization of humans in comparison with ancestors and subsequently increases likelihood of juveniles being sexually attractive. Since fertile females retained juvenile traits into their fertile years, the line between fertile and infertile female age became blurred. Thus, some males become oriented toward females who are too young for reproduction (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":5" />).

Excerpts:
* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23'''
*:“All of these genetically and culturally transmitted processes blur the distinction between reproductively competent adults and children and adolescents. Therefore, all of these processes must be considered to be determinants, at some level, of pedo- and ephebophilia.”
*:“pedo-and ephebophiles, like chins and spandrels, may have no primary adaptive function in themselves but, instead, may be rank-ordered by-products of selection for more adaptive attributes in their kin.”

*'''Lievesley, R. and Harper, C.A. (2024) “[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19419899.2024.2321149#d1e314 The interaction between perceived chronological age and physical sexual development in attractiveness judgments made by people who are attracted to children]”, ''Psychology and Sexuality'', DOI:10.1080/19419899.2024.2321149'''
*:"From an evolutionary perspective, men typically perceive more youthful faces as more attractive due to these indicating a greater degree of fertility (Gallup & Frederick, Citation2010, Little, Citation2015, Thornhill & Grammer, Citation1999). [...] [A]n increased degree of closeness of facial features appears to be encoded as indicating youth (Albert et al., Citation2007), and in turn, this youthfulness is associated with beauty (Sutherland et al., Citation2013)."

*'''Bogin, B. (1997). [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281997%2925%20%3C63%3A%3AAID-AJPA3%3E3.0.CO%3B2-8 Evolutionary hypotheses for human childhood]. ''Yearbook of Physical Anthropology'', 40, 63–89.'''
*:"Taken together, these studies indicate that adults are more likely to protect or nuture individuals with ‘‘neotenous’’ facial features. McCabe defines such features as having a relatively large ratio of cranium size to lower face size."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Our ability to imagine young children as sexual partners is probably increased substantially by two other unusual characteristics: neoteny and hidden estrus. Neoteny, the retention of juvenile traits in adulthood, is far more extensive in Homo sapiens than in any other primate (Bonner, 1980; Gould, 1977). Human adults resemble their small children a great deal more than adult primates do their immature offspring. [...] Moreover, many adolescent boys and young adults are beardless and they often have a complexion similar to that of young women and children. To confuse our senses further and muddle our minds, one- to two-fifths of young adolescent boys experience breast enlargement for a year or more (Katchadourian, 1977; Tanner, 1978). A similar case can be made for behavior. When we find in other animals the behavioral or physical traits of the young to be similar to adult female patterns we often find males courting the immature."
::"A concealed estrus combined with continuous female sexual receptivity and neoteny ought to increase the likelihood that men will find young girls sexually attractive, especially since males are not known anyway for making subtle differentiations between appropriate and inappropriate sex partners. Since women are more discriminating and, furthermore, would not be as confused by the facial resemblance of potential immature and adult sexual partners or by the conundrum of hidden estrus, female pedophilia should be much less common. Male homosexual pedophilia should fall somewhere in between."

The common hypothesis about pedosexuality is that it is merely a by-product of human neotenization. However, there are also arguments that diverse sexuality in adults (including homosexuality and pedosexuality, as seen, for example, in bonobos) in itself is a form of adaptive neoteny. Juvenile bisexual play is widespread among mammals and serves to acquire reproductive skills. Retaining this ability in adulthood may serve a range of sociosexual functions.

* '''Poiani, A. (2010). [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/animal-homosexuality/0352ED7E7645EE35B14FAAF3AE3A127B Animal homosexuality: A biosocial perspective.] ''Cambridge University Press''. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511762192'''
::"Indeed, under various potential selective mechanisms, canalisation of neotenic traits may favour the expression of a great diversity of sexual behaviours that are characteristic of the juvenile stages of development. That is, although from an ontogenetic perspective juvenile homosexual play is a route to efficient heterosexuality in most species, from a phylogenetic perspective neotenic processes, by retaining those juvenile traits past the period of sexual maturation throughout evolution, may produce adult homosexuals or bisexuals. In the adult, homosexual behaviours may then undergo further adaptations related to social life. A potential example of this process may be found in the bonobo, where juvenile same-sex sexual behaviours are as common as they are in the congeneric chimpanzee, but in adults they occur much more frequently than in chimpanzees, being expressed in specific socio-sexual contexts."
::Note: Although the authors make this claim about homosexuality only, there is no obstacle to extending the same conclusion to pedosexuality as well.

== Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis ==
On the basis of previously available evolutionary explanations (Mackey, 1990 <ref name=":6" />; Muscarella, 2000 <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1300/j082v40n01_03 Muscarella, F. (2000). The evolution of homoerotic behavior in humans.] Journal of Homosexuality, 40, 51–77.</ref>; Kirkpatrick, 2000 <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1086/300145 Kirkpatrick, R. C. (2000). The evolution of human homosexual behavior.] Current Anthropology, 41, 385–413</ref>; Neil, 2009<ref>[http://humanbehaviors.free.fr/Livre%20-%20Human%20bisexuality%20-%20The%20Origins%20and%20Role%20of%20Same-Sex%20Relations%20in%20Human%20Societies%202009.pdf Neill, J. (2009). The origins and role of same-sex relations in human societies.] Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.</ref>), [[Bruce Rind]] developed a hypothesis explaining the most widely documented type of male homosexuality in human history, namely [[pederasty]] (the relationship between a man and a peripubertal/[[Adolescence|adolescent]] boy) (Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4" />).

It is assumed that the evolutionary function of man-boy sexual relationships comes from our evolutionary past, when the environment was very different from the modern one. Humans have had a long evolutionary history as [[Wikipedia:Hunter-gatherer|hunter-gatherers]]. This time was characterized by intergroup warfare and the hunting of large animals. To do this, it was necessary to form close-knit same-sex male groups, to form specific male skills of war and hunting, and to maintain the specific masculine culture of this group. This created a selection pressure to create a mechanism to facilitate such rallying, recruitment and enculturation of new members, which is a long-term and labor-intensive undertaking. It is hypothesized that the sexual attraction between a boy and a man became such a mechanism, through the ability to form a strong emotional connection, prompting the mentor to teach and care, and the boy to seek training and a role model.<ref name=":4" />

The evolutionary benefit of such a mechanism is assumed both at the individual level (for the junior this is training, protection, and promotion in the male hierarchy, for the adult this is the expansion of the network of alliances) and at the group level (the clan received a reliable replenishment of group members, well-prepared, enculturated and committed to the culture of the group, which gave a competitive advantage).<ref name=":4" />

This hypothesis is supported by [[Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships|cross-cultural]] and [[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History|historical studies]], where a variety of independent cultures demonstrate the prevalence of institutionalized sexual relations between men and boys of peripubertal age. In many instances boys begin sexual practices with older boys and men long before the beginning of puberty (e.g. at age of 7), so in such cases this can't be called [[Pederasty|pederasty]] in the narrow sense, rather [[Pedophilia|pedophilia]].

These relationships are built into these cultures and are part of growing up and becoming a man. The readiness, desire and initiative for sexual contact comes not only from adult men, but also from boys, and this is recorded as a typical phenomenon in these cultures (see Table III in Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4" />). This also confirms the existence of an evolutionary benefit for younger participants.<ref name=":4" />

Moreover, this attraction is not associated with reproductive losses, unlike exclusive homosexuality. It is typical of all these cultures that, upon reaching adulthood, men get wives and at the same time have sexual relations with boys themselves. It is assumed that this ability of the average heterosexual male to experience pederastic attraction is specific to our species.<ref name=":4" />

But this ability is optional (facultative). That is, unlike obligate heterosexual attraction, pederastic interest is to a large extent activated or suppressed by the social environment. This explains the fact that there is a sharp difference in the prevalence of pederastic behavior and attraction between cultures, and the fact that in modern Western cultures it does not manifest itself widely.<ref name=":4" />

Excerpts:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
*:“Formally, this hypothesis holds that pederasty evolved in the early human hunter-gatherer EEA [Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness] as an adaptation (i.e., exaptation), whose function it was to reproduce the male group by facilitating the mentoring and enculturation of boys from peripubescence through adolescence, as well as their emotional and psychological binding with the group. This function was a solution to the recurring adaptive problems in the EEA of surviving and exploiting an extremely dangerous and competitive social and physical environment”
*:“In short, the ages of boys sought out as recruits in male groups, the period in which they are mentored and enculturated, the ages of boys that men in such societies (and our own) find erotically appealing, the ages at which boys are especially open to being mentored (and capable as well, owing to an emergent adult-cognitive capacity), and the ages at which they are open to pederastic relations appear to be part of a single package, in which each of these characteristics seems to be a design feature and element of a larger design, whose function is reproducing the male group.”
*:“It is important to emphasize that pederasty’s relatively infrequent expression in societies such as ours does not imply that it is not an adaptation. In our society, developmental inputs have traditionally been intensely hostile toward homosexual behavior, often accompanied by severe social sanctions, including public disgrace and punishment, which can be expected to have had a significant dampening effect on the emergence and activation of pederastic desire and the expression of pederastic behavior.”
*:“Thus, even though adaptive in the EEA , pederasty, being a facultative trait, is nevertheless rare in our environment. On the other hand, in cultures with cultural ideologies and social structures facilitative of pederastic desire and expression, its occurrence has been widespread across the male population, which is consistent with the assumptions that most males have at least a moderate potential for the behavior and that such potential is sufficient for the behavior to emerge, provided other factors are not inhibitory.”

* '''Schiefenhövel, W. (1990). Ritualized Adult-Male/Adolescent-Male Sexual Behavior in Melanesia: An Anthropological and Ethological Perspective. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) Pedophilia. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_16'''
*: "Men are expected to plan, work, fight, and sometimes, die together. The necessary altruistic behavior and effective cooperation of the warriors as well as the acceptance of a male hierarchy would have been fostered by the institution of prescribed homosexuality."

* '''Riegel, D. L. (2011). [https://web.archive.org/web/20130425190309/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Role%20of%20Androphilia%20in%20the%20Psychosexual%20Development%20of%20Boys.pdf The role of androphilia in the psychosexual development of boys.] ''International Journal of Sexual Health'', 23(1), 2–13. doi:10.1080/19317611.2010.509696'''
*:"Proceeding from Feierman's (1990) thesis, it can be postulated that in prehistoric times it is likely that many children, due to violence, disease, poor nutrition, and life spans that were considerably shorter than what we have considered normal for the past couple of centuries, found themselves without either parents or other adults who would be willing to take on the burden of looking after and feeding a not yet productive child. However, a boy who was sexually androphilic (Vanggaard, 1969) would have the potential advantage of closely bonding with an older male whose sexuality included a male-directed pedosexual component, and who would preferentially protect, provide for, and teach the boy the skills necessary to survive and prosper. Studies have identified such secondary boy-attracted pedosexual tendencies in 20% to 30% of self-identified heterosexual adult males (Freund, 1970; cf. Briere & Runtz, 1989, Quinsey, 1984, West, 1980), and these tendencies would not be selected against so long as the bearers were primarily heterosexual and only secondarily male-oriented pedosexual. There is no reason to believe that these percentages were not similar in prehistoric times; there is some evidence for familial transmission (Gaffney, Lurie, & Berlin, 1984). In the absence of our modern-day taboos, such adaptive and beneficial boy/older male relationships could proceed unimpeded, the boy's juvenile androphilic sexuality would typically be supplanted by heterosexuality as he matured (Sandfort, 1987), he would then pass on his genes, and thus both of these traits would be maintained in the gene pool."

* '''Rind, Bruce. (2014). [https://pismin.com/10.1080/19317611.2014.956853 Trends in evolutionary explanations for human male same-sex eroticism: a commentary on Riegel (2011).] ''International Journal of Sexual Health'', (), 1–11. doi:10.1080/19317611.2014.956853'''
*:"In this commentary, I discuss his social critique and focus on his evolutionary hypothesis, reviewing seven earlier hypotheses for comparison. "
*:"Werner (2006) focused exclusively on the evolution of male homosexual behavior. Based on selected cross-species data, he posited that male homosexual behavior evolved in stages over eons of time. In the first, involving primitive species (e.g., reptiles), single adult males controlled territories, where they waited for females for mating. Adolescent or transvestite males, who resembled adult females in form and/or behavior, gained entry to these territories because of their female mimicry and they were tolerated once there because they submitted homosexually to the adult resident. Their benefit for this submission was mating opportunities with visiting females, which otherwise would not have been available to them. In the second stage, male homosexual behavior changed function (i.e., was an exaptation) in various more complex descendent species with greater cognitive capacities (so that deception via female mimicry no longer worked) and in which adult males lived together in groups rather than as isolates. Here, the changed function of homosexual submission was to elicit tolerance from the dominant male, which served to uphold the dominance hierarchy, which in turn facilitated multi-male group living. The third and final phase occurred when multiple males did not simply live together but cooperated on common tasks. Here, male homosexual behavior changed function once again, in which it facilitated alliance formation, which in turn enabled pursuit of common tasks. He called his explanation the hierarchy/cooperation theory for human male homosexual behavior. Werner claimed that pathic (i.e., transgenderal) homosexuality was the most common form of male homosexual behavior cross-culturally, followed by transgenerational homosexuality. He speculated that different social structures produce different strategies for male/male cooperation, which in turn determine the form by which male homoeroticism is expressed."

* '''Jaroslava Varella Valentova, Andreone Teles Medrado, and Marco Antonio Correa Varella “Male Bisexuality”. In: Todd K. Shackelford (ed.), 2022, [https://annas-archive.org/md5/2d84ebccbbaafc78b4516ef6b129e5a2 The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology. Vol 4.] ''Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)''.'''
::"The alternative sneaking tactic can apply to transitory bisexual men, who would pursue predominantly same-sex relationships early in life when they do not possess status and/or resources to attract females, and create and maintain a family. In the younger age, they might have same-sex tutors or they might sexually serve to dominant males possessing resources. However, they might also sneak among the female partners of the dominant male, and gain at least some copulations and a nonzero reproductive success. Later in life they might switch to predominantly other-sex mating."

==Childhood as a target for sexual selection==

Some authors have suggested that not only adolescence but also middle childhood are involved in sexual selection process, and evolved as a stage at which individuals not only could but should take responsibilities. This appears to contradict how childhood is constructed in modern society (see also [[Research:_Cognitive_ability#Competence|research on childhood competence]]). According to such theories, in middle childhood, individuals become "nest helpers", helping in nurturing for younger siblings, foraging, and chores. This is a fine tuning stage of later social and sexual life-history strategies. First sexual or romantic attractions, sexual play, separation in gender roles typically emerge several years before puberty reflecting the fact that children are drawn into the evolutionary process of sexual selection much earlier than they become fertile. At this stage they actively learn sociosexual behavior and receive feedback about their sociosexual success from peer and adults, adapting their sexual competitive strategy to the environmental input. They engage in sexual and romantic relationship along with adults benefiting from learning, resources and social status they gain. This contributes to their sexual success in later life stages.

*'''Del Giudice M. (2014) [https://iris.unito.it/retrieve/handle/2318/1853338/974935/DelGiudice_2018_middle-childhood_chapter_pre.pdf Middle childhood: an evolutionary-developmental synthesis.]; 8:193–200. doi:10.1111/cdep.12084. in: Halfon N, Forrest CB, Lerner RM, et al., editors. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK543707/ Handbook of Life Course Health Development]. ''Cham (CH): Springer''; 2018. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-47143-3'''
*:"In summary, the life stage of juvenility/middle childhood has two major interlocking functions: social learning and social integration in a system of roles, norms, activities, and shared knowledge. While children are still receiving sustained investment from parents and other relatives—in the form of food, protection, knowledge, and so forth—they also start to actively contribute to their family economy. By providing resources and sharing the burden of child care, juveniles can boost their parents’ reproductive potential. The dual nature of juveniles as both receivers and providers explains many psychological features of middle childhood and has likely played a major role in the evolution of human life history (Kramer, 2011)."
*:"Middle childhood is one of the main stages of human development, marked by the eruption of the first permanent molars around age 6 and the onset of androgen secretion by the adrenal glands at about 6-8 years (Bogin, 1997)."
*:"The transition to middle childhood is typically associated with a strong separation in gender roles, even in societies where tasks are not rigidly assigned by sex."
*:"The stress response system plays a major role in gathering and storing information about environmental safety, predictability, and availability of resources; adrenarche contributes by translating that information into adaptive, sexually differentiated patterns of behavior (Del Giudice et al., 2011; Ellis & Del Giudice, 2014). Consistent with this view, both early relational stress and early nutrition have been found to modulate the timing of adrenarche (Ellis & Essex, 2007; Hochberg, 2008). It is no coincidence that the first sexual and romantic attractions typically develop in middle childhood, in tandem with the intensification of sexual play (Bancroft, 2003; Herdt & McClintock, 2000). By interacting with peers and adults, juveniles receive feedback about the effectiveness of their nascent behavioral strategies. The information collected during middle childhood feeds into the next developmental switch point, that of gonadarche (Ellis, 2013)"
*:"By determining children’s initial place in social networks and hierarchies, competition in middle childhood indirectly affects their ability to attract sexual and romantic partners later. In other words, middle childhood is a likely target for sexual selection — that is, natural selection arising from the processes of choosing mates (mate choice) and competing for mates (mating competition). My colleagues and I (Del Giudice et al., 2009) argued that sexual selection is one reason why sex differences emerge and intensify in middle childhood."

== Complementary behavior among minors ==
The hypothesis of pedophilic/pederastic attraction as a promoter of affection, care, and reproductive benefits in general on the side of youth is confirmed by the very existence of complementary behavior of minors, who [[Testimony: CSA (Children's Sexual Advances)|often show initiative and willingness for sexual relations with adults]]<ref>[https://ia802202.us.archive.org/16/items/rind-2022-reactions-to-minor-older-and-minor-peer-sex-in-finnish-survey/Rind%202022%20-%20Reactions%20to%20Minor-Older%20and%20Minor-Peer%20Sex%20in%20Finnish%20survey.pdf Rind, B. Reactions to Minor-Older and Minor-Peer Sex as a Function of Personal and Situational Variables in a Finnish Nationally Representative Student Sample. Arch Sex Behav 51, 961–985 (2022).], see also [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/images/Rindbasics.pdf Yesmap Primer] and [https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02224-0 DOI.org].</ref>. It’s assumed that such a behavior could function to receive affection and extra resources not available from the child's default caregiver, or as a way to indirect reproductive value (for example, through group survival by successful [[Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis|bonding to mentors]] during male warfare recruiting), or just as an attempt to develop sexual skills. This testifies to the evolutionarily beneficial and reciprocal essence of intergenerational attraction (Klapilová & Bártová, 2017; Stevens & Price, 2016; Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4"> [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Rind, B. (2013). Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) ''New York: Routledge.'' doi:10.4324/9781315432458</ref>).

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. (2017). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1 Sexual Pathology.] In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] (pp. 7439 - 7445). Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1'''
*:“The child’s adaptive behavioral function to demand nurture from adults and his prospective urge to perform sexual activities is not mentioned too often. Still, it is a rather widespread behavior across cultures and historical periods that can help the child receive extra resources not available from their own parents. It would therefore be a complementary strategy – from the pedophile’s side, there is the eroticization of nurturing behavior and attraction to signalization that encourages caretaking, whereas from the child’s side, it is a functional, environmentally conditioned strategy that brings benefits in the form of resources and possibly even acquisition of sexual experience and calibration of child sexuality”.

* '''Stevens, A., & Price, J. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315740577 Evolutionary Psychiatry: A new beginning] (Classic Ed.) (pp. 206-218) Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. doi:10.4324/9781315740577'''
*:“it is undeniable that many children in our society – especially those in boarding schools and childrens’ homes – suffer from ‘parent hunger’. They are what Mia Kellmer-Pringle has called ‘touch-hungry children’. It is possible that the care-eliciting ‘phylism’ in these children may become eroticized just as the care-giving phylism may be eroticized in adult paedophiles. Thus, children starved of parental affection may compete for the love and attention of adults in their environment by using erotic solicitation as a strategy for survival. To suggest this possibility is not to excuse adults who exploit the emotional needs of children for their personal gratification but to provide an evolutionary explanation as to how and why erotic bonds between adults and juveniles may occur. We would propose that both care-eliciting and care-giving phylisms can be eroticized.”

[[Bruce Rind]] gathered evidence of widespread minors' positive reactions, even in our restrictive culture, in his research. (Also, some relevant excerpts are in [[Research: Prevalence of Harm and Negative Outcomes#Simple or informed consent as predictive of positive reactions?|this section]]).

Here is some evidence from [[Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships|Nonwestern cultures]]:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"Anthropological studies on preindustrial societies with culturally institutionalized or widespread pederasty provide reports on how the younger males responded to sexual contacts with older males (see Table III ). Among the Javanese, men remembered their boyhood pederastic experiences entirely positively, despite the researcher’s probing to uncover negative cases (Williams, 2011). Sambian boys showed much initiative in these contacts, especially at older ages (Herdt, 1991, 1997). Keraki men believed that they could not have developed properly without these relations as boys (Williams, 1936). Kaluli men looked back on the complex of grueling hunting, living in a sex-segregated men’s lodge, ritual discipline, unity of purpose, vigorous manly ethos, and growth-stimulating insemination by older males as the highlight of their lives (Schieffelin, 1982). East Bay boys discussed their sexual experiences with men freely and without shame in the presence of their parents and friends (Davenport, 1965). Gebusi boys aged 11 to 14 initiated sexual relations with older males based on personal affection rather than obligation (Herdt, 1991). The bond between Marind-Anim boys and their adult male partners was extremely strong, which was apparently facilitated by the sexual interactions (Van Baal, 1966). Likewise, pederastic relations were extremely close among the Big Nambas (Layard, 1942). Among the Kiman, pederastic behavior would stop after adolescence, but “nevertheless, a lifelong emotional relationship often” resulted (Serpenti, 1984, p. 305). In various southern Mexican Indian tribes, adolescent boys were proud to have been chosen for pederastic relationships, seeing it as an honor to be their men’s lovers (Ross, 1991). And being a Tsongan boy-wife was not just good for security, but for the “fun” it afforded (Murray & Roscoe, 1998)."

And from [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|cross-species]] studies:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"In many species, the younger animals involved in age-discrepant homosex were frequently observed not simply assenting to the sexual interactions but actually initiating them (e.g., bonobos, chimps, gorillas, gibbons, Hanuman and Nilgiri langurs, crab-eating macaques, rhesus macaques, Tibetan macaques, patas monkeys). Specific examples include juvenile Tibetan macaques jumping up to the faces of adult males to be fellated (Ogawa, 1995), an adolescent gibbon repeatedly soliciting sex from his father (Edwards & Todd, 1991), and juvenile rhesus macaques fiercely competing to be the one mounted by an adult male (Kempf, 1917). In a number of species, the researchers noted the sexual excitement exhibited by the immature partners in age-discrepant homosex (e.g., rhesus, stumptail, and Tibetan macaques). In several species, sometimes immature males were assenting and sometimes not (e.g., siamangs, proboscis monkeys, crab-eating macaques, and squirrel monkeys)."

::"In humans’ closest relatives, bonobos and chimps, juvenile males frequently and preferentially solicit adult females and attempt to copulate with them. In most cases, they show sexual arousal with erections. Adult females are usually tolerant and even cooperative, but when they are not, the juvenile males frequently protest with whimpering or tantrums (Bagemihl, 1999; Hashimoto, 1997; Kano, 1980; Kollar, Beckwith, & Edgerton, 1968). Similar patterns have been observed in many other primate species (Bagemihl, 1999). Anderson and Bielert (1990) noted that “Among nonhuman primates . . . sexual interaction between adult females and immature males is universal” (p. 192). It may be that primate patterns do not extend to humans, but the similarity of the observed human and primate patterns in juvenile male-adult female sex suggests a phylogenetic continuum (cf. Ford & Beach, 1951)."

== Development of intergenerational sexuality into an evolutionary mismatch ==
Intergenerational sexuality is discussed as an evolutionary mismatch between our evolved mechanisms and modern moral norms. More often, we encounter moral, political, and ideological justifications for restricting of intergenerational sexual activity, but there are also natural evolutionary, economic, and ecological factors that may contribute to this. What follows is a synthesis of several independent lines of evidence: evolutionary demography, human-capital theory, cultural evolution, and the costs of early sex and early parenthood. This is worth taking into account for a better understanding of the background of the current ideological landscape.

=== The increased disadvantage of early pregnancy ===

[https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] and [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01357-3 Borgerhoff Mulder (1998)] suggest that under the conditions of human evolution, the accumulation of resources and status generally increased reproductive success, so selection may have entrenched the pursuit of these as a primary motivation. In a highly competitive environment, this may lead not to maximizing the number of children but to greater investment in oneself and in a smaller number of children. This is the quantity–quality trade-off, observed, for example, in the data of [https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1635 Lawson, Alvergne & Gibson (2012)].

The modern economy expands opportunities for accumulating property and status. The returns on these investments increase, so early reproduction entails greater opportunity costs. At the same time, standards of competition in the mating market rise. All that significantly increases the desire for higher capital and social status and the volume of necessary investments. In the model of [https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] this effect is shown in skill-based competitive labour markets. [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0150 Shenk, Kaplan & Hooper (2016)] show that status competition and inequality additionally increase optimal investments in children’s education and social status and can sharply reduce fertility. ([https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)]; [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0150 Shenk et al. (2016)])

An additional ecological factor may be population density. [https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000086 Sng et al. (2017)] found that it was associated with greater future orientation, investment in education and children, later marriage, and lower fertility. Experimentally increasing the salience of high population density also shifted decisions toward these strategies.
But a central constraint on the viability of early motherhood is the availability of alloparental support. Human child-rearing has historically been cooperative. In almost all populations, the presence of kin helpers was associated with greater child survival, earlier onset of reproduction, and greater reproductive intensity. Thus, in many traditional populations reproduction can easily begin before full economic and social independence. The modern decline in access to alloparenting greatly increases the costs of early pregnancy. ([https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.10.001 Sear & Mace (2008)]; [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2011.00379.x Sear & Coall (2011)]; [https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-010-9098-9 Kaptijn et al. (2010)]; [https://doi.org/10.3109/03014460903563434 Kramer & Lancaster (2010)]).

In prehistoric times puberty had begun by 13.5 years of age for the majority of individuals. But the age of menarche appears to have occurred between 16 and 17 years of age ([https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39266410/ Lewis et al. (2025)]). The same pattern is observed in many historical populations: puberty could begin at 10–12 years of age, but menarche was delayed until 15–17 years. Menarche is thought to be directly influenced by nutritional abundance, physical demands, and infections. [https://doi.org/10.1186/1687-9856-2011-2 Hochberg, Gawlik & Walker (2011)]

But modernization has shifted biological and socioeconomic reproductive timing in opposite directions. Improved nutrition and health have moved female biological maturation several years earlier ([https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-023-00919-z Anderson et al. (2024)]). In modern times, menarche occurs at an average age of about 12–13 years ([https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dez015 Mishra et al. (2019)]). While education and human-capital accumulation have shifted the socioeconomically advantageous timing of reproduction much later than 16. Modernization has therefore widened the discrepancy between biological fecundity and the age of social and economic readiness. ([https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-4038-7_5 Kramer (2017)]; [https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)]; [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0150 Shenk et al. (2016)]).

Very early pregnancy (before age 14-15) also associated with increased health risks for the mother herself ([https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000004807 Staniczenko et al. (2022)]; [https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003225 Leppälahti et al. (2013)]).

Hence, there arises a pressure for culturally constructed means of delaying and restraining pregnancy. Independent quasi-experimental evidence shows that delaying adolescent childbearing and child marriage increases subsequent education, employment, and earnings ([https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2017.11.006 Branson & Byker (2018)]; [https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20200008 Wilson (2022)]). While the association isn’t that persistent (see [[Research:_Teen_pregnancy]]).

Age-asymmetric adolescent relationships are more risky in terms of pregnancy. Girls with substantially older male partners have higher pregnancy rates. Among pregnant adolescents those with older adult partners are more likely to desire the pregnancy, greater likelihood of planning another pregnancy, to be married or cohabiting, and to have discontinued school, or have lower school enrollment. This is explained, on the one hand, by the fact that older male partners are more likely to be employed and may offer greater immediate economic and emotional security. At the same time, substantial selection is present: girls with weaker family support and lower educational aspirations are themselves more likely to enter early relationships with older men. ([https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10435214/ Darroch et al. (1999)]; [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9080937/ Rickert et al. (1997)]; [https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/190780 Agurcia et al. (2001)]; [https://doi.org/10.1363/4001708 Ryan et al. (2008)]).

=== Increased risk of STIs ===

Sex carries infectious risks, and age asymmetry may amplify them: older partners have spent more time in sexual networks and are therefore more likely to belong to groups with a higher accumulated prevalence of infection ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000002037 Stoner et al. (2019)]).

In the United States, girls who began having sex before age 16 with a partner ≥3 years older had approximately 2.1 times higher odds of STIs than girls who began equally early with a similar-aged partner ([https://doi.org/10.1363/4001708 Ryan et al. (2008)]).

For HIV, prospective incidence data are also available: a partner ≥5 years older was associated with an approximately 1.9-fold hazard of new infection in South Africa ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000002037 Stoner et al. (2019)]), while in Zimbabwe each additional year of age gap was associated with an approximately 5% increase in hazard ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000001506 Schaefer et al. (2017)]). A meta-analysis of 24 studies found RR = 1.39 for HIV and RR = 1.57 for unprotected sex in age-disparate relationships among girls and young women ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000002582 Bajunirwe, Semakula & Izudi (2020)]).

=== Sexual trajectories after early sexual initiation ===

Early sexual contact, even in the absence of risk of pregnancy and STIs, may be associated with a subsequent more active and risky sexual trajectory, which in turn reduces a person’s well-being.

Among women, adult–child sexual contact was associated with 2.1-fold higher odds of intercourse before age 16, 3.4-fold higher odds of having ≥11 partners in adulthood, and 1.6-fold higher odds of STI; the association with teenage childbearing and a number of later outcomes operated to a substantial extent through the subsequent sexual trajectory ([https://doi.org/10.2307/2657425 Browning & Laumann (1997)]).

In [https://doi.org/10.1363/4001708 Ryan et al. (2008)] girls who began sex early with an older man subsequently had more partners; it was the subsequent number of partners that partially explained the increased probability of nonmarital birth.

Among men, [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0049-089X(02)00019-4 Browning (2002)] also found an association between childhood sexual contacts and greater subsequent sexual activity and a larger number of partners, with the resulting infectious risks. In addition, trajectory specificity was observed: oral sex in childhood experience predicted oral sex in adulthood, while contact with a male partner predicted approximately seven-fold higher odds of the appeal of same-gender sex. This is consistent with the hypothesis that some sexual scripts are reinforced by early experience.

A secondary risk is that moral incongruence surrounding sexual behavior may contribute to poorer psychological well-being: more frequent non-marital sex among women and same-sex sexual activity among men were associated with greater unhappiness when these behaviors conflicted with moral beliefs. [https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01860-2 Perry, Grubbs & McElroy (2021)]

[https://doi.org/10.1016/S0049-089X(02)00019-4 Browning (2002)] acknowledges that early sexual contact does not necessarily cause the subsequent sexual trajectory: both variables may be partly explained by third factors. But he considers the specific recurrence of characteristics of the early experience to be evidence in favor of some effect of sexual learning.

There's strong evidence for the reproductive advantage of juvenile sexual learning in many [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|animals]]. But the modern human demographic and economic conditions don’t seemingly favor that.

=== Do restrictions work? ===

'''Compulsory schooling'''

Mechanisms that keep girls in school do indeed reduce early childbearing: [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2008.02159.x Black, Devereux & Salvanes (2008)]; [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.102268 DeCicca & Krashinsky (2020)]; [https://doi.org/10.1086/700076 Kırdar, Dayıoğlu & Koç (2018)].
Evidence for infectious outcomes is more limited than for adolescent pregnancy. However, structural interventions that prolong schooling can reduce HIV risk [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26134875/ De Neve et al. (2015)].

'''Minimum marriage age'''

In an analysis of more than 250,000 women from 17 countries, raising the minimum legal age of marriage to 18 increased age at marriage and age at first birth; in urban areas, it also reduced the prevalence of child marriage and increased education ([https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20200008 Wilson (2022)]).

'''Statutory rape laws'''

[https://doi.org/10.1093/aler/ahv013 Frakes & Harding (2015)] calculated what share of adolescent sexual encounters in each state falls under felony liability for the older partner. A one-standard-deviation increase in this effective coverage by the law was associated with a reduction in the teen live-birth rate of approximately 4.5% relative to baseline. Simply increasing the severity of punishment had no additional effect.

'''Negative information about older partners'''

Providing adolescents with information that older partners had higher HIV prevalence delayed sexual debut, reduced the number of sexual partners, and lowered pregnancy risk. [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6844-8 Angrist et al. (2019)]

'''Contraception'''

Modern contraception partly decouples adolescent sexual activity from risk. In the United States between 1995 and 2002, improved contraceptive use accounted for an estimated 77% of the decline in pregnancy risk among 15–17-year-olds, while reduced sexual activity accounted for 23%; among 18–19-year-olds, the decline was entirely attributable to improved contraceptive use. Thus, reducing risks in modern societies does not necessarily require a corresponding reduction in sexual activity. [https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2006.089169 Santelli et al. (2007)]

=== Prestige bias ===

The demographic transition, like the tightening of the age of consent, initially affected affluent strata more strongly. In the model of [https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] it is highly educated and high-income parents who receive the greatest returns from delaying reproduction and making large investments in fewer children, because such investments particularly strongly increase the competitiveness of offspring.

Historically, this was partly reflected in American statutory rape / age-of-consent laws, early versions of which were applied asymmetrically and primarily protected the sexual “virtue” of white girls from privileged groups. But as the economic opportunities of girls from less affluent strata expanded, the opportunity costs of early motherhood increased for them as well. In the nineteenth century, increases in the age of consent occurred alongside young women’s entry into the labour market and growth in their economic independence ([https://doi.org/10.1515/9780791485965 Cocca (2004)]; [https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520255654.001.0001 Lancaster (2011)]).

However, reproductive norms that emerge in higher strata can spread regardless of whether they produce the same economic returns for other groups. Prestige/success bias means that people tend to copy successful and high-status models as entire packages of behavior, including elements that do not necessarily increase the copier’s success in themselves. [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0152 Colleran (2016)], for example, considers prestige-biased transmission as one possible mechanism for the spread of low fertility across social strata during the demographic transition; the same mechanism is discussed by [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01357-3 Borgerhoff Mulder (1998)]. Therefore, a package including prolonged education, late marriage, a small number of children, and strict restriction of their sexual behavior may spread as a marker of a prestigious lifestyle beyond contexts where it provides a real reproductive advantage.

=== Demographic transition as an evolutionary mismatch ===
[https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] and [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01357-3 Borgerhoff Mulder (1998)] view the demographic transition itself as an evolutionary mismatch: motivation to accumulate resources and status, following prestigious models, and large investments in a smaller number of offspring usually increased fitness. But in a modern environment of extensive opportunities, high competition, and low availability of alloparenting, this can lead to excessive delay and restriction of reproduction, so that fertility can easily fall below the level required simply to maintain population size.

== Other relevant information ==

=== Ontogenetic plasticity ===

Here's an explanation for why, if a minor attraction was adaptive, it may not be ubiquitous today.
*'''Alanko K, Salo B, Mokros A, Santtila P, (2013). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235369954_Evidence_for_Heritability_of_Adult_Men's_Sexual_Interest_in_Youth_under_Age_16_from_a_Population-Based_Extended_Twin_Design "Evidence for heritability of adult men's sexual interest in youth under age 16 from a population-based extended twin design."] ''J Sex Med,'' 10(4):1090-9.'''
*:"Adult men's sexual interest in youthfulness‐related cues may be genetically influenced. [...] The amount of variance attributable to nonadditive genetic influences (heritability) was estimated at 14.6%.[...] Compared with the variance attributable to nonshared environmental effects (plus measurement error), the contribution of any genetic factors seems comparatively weak."
*::'''Editor''': Note, that a heritability coefficient close to zero does not mean the weakness/absence of genetic control over the trait, counter wise may point to high genetic consistency among population, in which case the trait variance is naturally more dependent on the environment. ("Traits such as walking and breathing have low heritability, because these are usually universal traits with slight variations. [...] as heredity becomes more similar, the environment becomes the primary explanation for differences."<ref>[https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/psychology/biological-bases-of-behavior/heritability/ Studysmarter.co.uk: Explanation on heritability]</ref>) This finding of low heritability may be interpreted to mean that the genetic ability to develop minor attraction is highly pervasive among humans and modified by nurture and other environments. This goes along with the [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding%2FEnculturation-Alliance_Hypothesis|Rind's conclusion]] on pederasty as evolutionary determined but a facultative trait.

*'''Bhugra, D. (2000). [https://sci-hub.ru/10.1080/14681990050001574 Disturbances in objects of desire: Cross-cultural issues.] Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 15(1), 67–78. doi:10.1080/14681990050001574'''
*:"Paraphilias are defined as sexual attractions to objects or individuals not normally found attractive. [...] It is argued that, in some types of individual deviance, cultural factors are more likely to play an important role. Some cultures are seen as sex-positive and others as sex-negative but, within each cultural setting, attitudes towards sex and the function of sexual activity are a key to understanding the development of sexual deviance. In cultures where sex is seen as an attraction-led phenomenon rather than a purely procreative one, individuals are more likely to be attracted to 'objects'."

===Undesirable traits as adaptations===

Both pedohebephilic attraction and childhood sexuality are likely influenced somewhat by environmental factors. For example, there exist theories of [[Research:_Psychopathy_and_abnormal_psychology#Adverse_childhood|adverse childhood in pedohebephiles]] and [[Research:_Youth_sexuality#Factors_of_earlier_sexual_development|factors of earlier sexual development]] in youth sexuality. These are unproven and causality is hard to infer. It has been speculated that these are [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Complementary_behavior_among_minors|complementary]] adaptations to difficult circumstances.

From a layman's point of view, undesirable traits that arise as a result of adverse environment are mental breakdowns. From an evolutionary perspective, these may be ways to adapt in a harsh, primordial context. It is worth keeping this perspective in mind.

*'''Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., & Draper, P. (1991). Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Development, 62, 647–670.'''
*:"The concept of "reproductive strategy" drawn from the field of behavioral ecology is applied to the study of childhood experience and interpersonal development in order to develop an evolutionary theory of socialization. The theory is presented in terms of 2 divergent development pathways considered to promote reproductive success in the contexts in which they have arisen. One is characterized, in childhood, by a stressful rearing environment and the development of insecure attachments to parents and subsequent behavior problems; in adolescence by early pubertal development and precocious sexuality; and, in adulthood, by unstable pair bonds and limited investment in child rearing, whereas the other is characterized by the opposite."

*'''Del Giudice, M. (2014b). [https://iris.unito.it/retrieve/e27ce435-4226-2581-e053-d805fe0acbaa/DelGiudice_2014_early-stress_jdohad_pre.pdf Early stress and human behavioral development: Emerging evolutionary perspectives.] Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, 5, 270-280.'''
*:“Stress experienced early in life exerts a powerful, lasting influence on development. Converging empirical findings show that stressful experiences become deeply embedded in the child's neurobiology, with an astonishing range of long-term effects on cognition, emotion, and behavior. In contrast with the prevailing view that such effects are the maladaptive outcomes of 'toxic' stress, adaptive models regard them as manifestations of evolved developmental plasticity.”
*:“Building on the concept of developmental plasticity, researchers have been increasingly advancing alternative models in which early stress does not primarily impair or dysregulate children’s developmental trajectories, but rather shifts them toward behavioral strategies that have proven biologically adaptive in harsh or unpredictable conditions”
*:“Exposure to stress works as a cue to local environmental conditions, and feeds into plasticity mechanisms that coordinate the development of alternative phenotypes.”
*:“In this perspective, many putative maladaptive traits such as anxiety, aggression, and impulsivity can be reframed as costly but adaptive phenotypes that improve an individual’s survival and reproduction prospects in hostile, unpredictable contexts. For example, increased vigilance and anxiety can be regarded as defensive reactions to potential threats, whereas aggression and impulsivity can be effective competitive strategies in harsh, unstable social environments. Furthermore, there is evidence that high levels of physiological and emotional reactivity increase an individual’s sensitivity to context, making him/her more open to both negative and positive social influences. Of course, some of these adaptive traits are going to have undesirable consequences for the individual and/or the social group, and may even be diagnosed as symptoms of psychopathology (e.g., conduct disorders). According to adaptive models, children exposed to early stress should exhibit patterns of impaired cognitive and emotional functioning when tested in safe, stress-free contexts and/or with tasks that mimic the demands of those contexts; but they should often perform better than their peers on tasks that reproduce key features of the dangerous, unpredictable environments they are adapted to. The initial evidence suggests that this may be the case.“

=== Response to critique of evolutionary explanations ===

*'''Karen Franklin. (2010). [https://pismin.com/10.1007/s10508-010-9616-1 Why the Rush to Create Dubious New Sexual Disorders?]. , 39(4), 819–820. doi:10.1007/s10508-010-9616-1'''
*:"As all students of Darwin know, evolutionary success strategies must be understood on a population-wide basis, not an individual level. Moreover, social scientists generally agree that biological evolution is rarely sufficient to understand human behavior in modern, complex social systems. Thus, to say that a trait may have emerged as evolutionarily adaptive in prehistoric times implies nothing of its presence or function on an individual level in contemporary society."

== See also ==

*[[Debate_Guide: Evolutionary logic|Debate Guide: Evolutionary logic]]
*[[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in_History|Intergenerational Relationships in History]]
*[[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals]]

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category: Research: Broader Perspectives]]

== References ==

Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality

2026-08-28T17:35:09Z

Thorn: /* Natural factors contributing to the development of intergenerational sexuality into an evolutionary mismatch */

<div style="margin-right: 25px; float: left;">__TOC__</div>
:''This article has been written in standard format mixed with an anthology.''

While the [[Debate_Guide:_Evolutionary_logic|evolutionary logic]] of intergenerational sexual behaviour and [[Hebephilia|hebephilic]] attraction towards pubertal [[Adolescence|adolescents]] of the opposite sex is easily explained by fertility potential of such behaviour ([[Research: Pedophilia as a sexual/erotic orientation|see mentions of hebephilia)]], the explanation of intergenerational attractions toward prepubertal children ([[pedophilia]]/pedosexuality), or adolescent homosexual partners ([[Pederasty|pederastic]] inclination), or the very existence of prepubertal [[child]] sexuality, is less obvious.

The emergence of such sexuality has several [[Wikipedia:Darwinism|evolutionary explanations]] with varying degrees of evidence, which come from [[Wikipedia:Ethology|ethology]] and [[Wikipedia:Neuroscience|neuroscience]]. There are suggestions that, in our evolutionary past, pedosexual behaviors could have had some evolutionary functions or been an evolutionary by-product of human sexuality development. These explanations may have pragmatic implications for the [[Research: A "cure" for pedophilia?#Psychological wellbeing for MAPs|well-being]] of both MAPs and minors. "Evolutionary scenarios are not just interesting explanatory “stories,” but can illuminate limits as well as opportunities for intervention" (Del Giudice M., 2014). Here is an attempt to categorize these hypotheses, although they overlap greatly and can hardly be considered separately. Rather, they describe different aspects of a complex evolutionary process.

== Adaptation to the lack of success in sexual competition ==
One hypothesis is that if a male is unsuccessful in sexual competition for fertile females, and he chronically feels inferior to others and is afraid of other adults, then his sexuality towards adults may be suppressed and redirected towards children, because children do not cause fear, and next to them the male feels his strength and superiority. Male's sexuality is more associated with dominance and this may explain the greater prevalence of attraction to children among men than among women.<ref>[https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5 Medicus, G., Hopf, S. (1990). The Phylogeny of Male/Female Differences in Sexual Behavior.] In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5</ref>

Excerpts:
* '''Medicus, G., Hopf, S. (1990). [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5 The Phylogeny of Male/Female Differences in Sexual Behavior.] In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5'''
*:"As has been pointed out, adult human sexual behavior with children and adolescents can be understood within the context of dimorphism. Male/ female differences in sexual behavior result at least in part from the different amounts of energy and time each sex expends for reproduction (see Table 4.1). This initial difference produces a difference in the functional proximity of the moods of fear and aggression to sexual mood (see Table 4.11), as well as a difference in the likelihood for active pursuit of sexual opportunities"
*:"One of the most consistent psychological correlates that has been identified is that many adult males who are sexually attracted to children and adolescents show manifestations of (real or self-perceived) social inadequacy with peers. Such males may suffer from feelings of anxiety when they consider sexual behavior with an adult partner (Johnston and Johnston, 1986; Panton, 1979; Segal and Marshall, 1985). Because sex and fear are such functionally distant moods in males, many human adult males cannot perform sexual actions when they feel inferior to their sexual partner or when they feel anxious (e.g., Bancroft, 1985; Eicher, 1980). This explanation is in accordance with the previously mentioned male/female dimorphism in the relationship of mood and behavior (see Table 4.11). Because of their small size, lack of experience, and sense of insecurity, children and adolescents of either sex do not arouse feelings of inferiority, fear, and anxiety in adult males. Thus, children and adolescents can become "sexual objects" for males who in sociosexual relations with adults feel inferior or anxious."

* '''Glenn D. Wilson and David N. Cox. 1983. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130410124803/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Child-Lovers%20-%20A%20Study%20of%20Paedophiles%20in%20Society.pdf The Child-Lovers: A Study of Paedophiles in Society.] By London: Peter Owen. Pp 132. British Journal of Psychiatry. 1983;143(4):430-430. doi:10.1192/S0007125000200780'''
*: "Examination of the characteristics of children that the paedophiles found most attractive points to the conclusion that the ability to achieve social dominance over the child may be the key to understanding the paedophile’s choice of sex target."
*: "Viewed in this way, paedophilia would seem to be one of several alternative adaptations to the problem of lack of success (or perceived inability to succeed) in intermale competition for access to females. It has been often noted by ethologists that the males of any species are thrown into strong Darwinian competition with one another. Those that are most successful monopolise an unequal share of female resources, and the others have to make do with various substitute sexual outlets. Following this model, we would not expect to find any genetic predisposition toward paedophilia per se, but as with homosexuality and certain other sex deviations, some degree of heritability would be mediated by the constitutional basis of dominance versus submissiveness. In other words, paedophiles may inherit their submissive nature, which in turn makes for difficulties in establishing normal sexual roles."

*'''Connie M. Anderson (1990). "Adolescent/Adult Copulatory Behavior in Nonhuman Primates." In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*: "Adult, subadult, and adolescent females are monopolized by adult male harem-holders, leaving a few adult and all subadult males without adult sexual partners. Under these conditions, males without harems choose a particular juvenile female to follow and display intense parental-like behavior towards her. Eventually, she becomes the first individual in the male's harem, and he begins mating with her at her first estrous swelling. Thus, both parental-like and copulatory motor patterns are directed at the same individual over the course of time and, for a brief period, even simultaneously."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Neither very young mature females nor males are desirable mates. [...] On the other hand, the lowest ranking, and therefore unattractive adult males and females do seek matings with adolescents. Low-status females are especially prone to seducing the almost always eager and obliging young males. It is quite likely that these inferior adults are making the best of a bad draw; any available mate is better than none at all in the harsh world of reproductive competition."

== Reproductive value pressure ==
Another close explanation is that the total reproductive potential is highest at the point far before fertility maximum, namely closely to the beginning of puberty. And along with selective pressure toward fully fertile partners, there is selective pressure toward maximum reproductive value, that may become stronger if long term mating strategies are more adaptive in a given evolutionary circumstances.

*'''Seto, M. C. (2017). The puzzle of male chronophilias. ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 46(1), 3-22.'''
::"Evolutionary theories about human mating strategies distinguish between reproductive value and fertility (Buss, 1989). Reproductive value refers to the potential number of offspring that could be produced over time, and thus focusing on reproductive value represents a longer-term strategy, as in the case of marriage to pubescent or even prepubescent girls. [...] Fertility, on the other hand, means maximizing the chances of reproduction, and thus would represent a shorter-term strategy focusing on young adult women (e.g., in their early to mid-20s). This is reflected in male-typical age preferences for casual sex partners, pornography actors, and models(Kenrick & Keefe,1992; Ogas & Gaddam, 2011; Rudder, 2014). Though preferences for other than sexually mature,fertile partners would probably be suboptimal, variations from heterosexual teleiophilia might be maintained in the human population — at a low frequency — as a result of opposing selection pressures (e.g., frequency-dependent selection) or as a byproduct of other adaptations."

== "Nest helper" hypothesis ==
{{research}}
The concept of "nest helper", is an explanation of a few individuals within a group being nonreproductive, yet aiding their group's survival. They may be affectionately disposed and caring towards others without reproducing, since this promotes the reproduction of peers who share some of the same genes due to being genetic relatives in the group. Due to sexual competition and the costs of human reproduction, not every individual ''can'' reproduce, hence there are indirect genetic benefits of "nest helping" that may overcome benefits of direct reproductive efforts for some individuals. This evolutionary hypothesis applies to both exclusive homosexuality and exclusive pedophilia, although due to a lack of investigation, there is at present little evidence for it (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":5">[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Feierman, Jay R. (1990). Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23</ref>).

Excerpts:
* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23'''
*:"Whereas a similar challenge has been met somewhat reasonably in terms of the "nest helper" concept of adult homosexuality, hypothesizing that another type of nest helper would have to erotically love and sexually interact with the children for whom he was caring"

== Help in developing sexual ability ==

Sex play between immature mammals is widespread, and among primates it is nearly universal. Sexual play functions as learning adequate mating skills. Sexual play mostly occurs among immature peers, but adults also often engage in sexual play with juveniles and help them develop sexual skills too.<ref>Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7</ref> In addition, sex can trigger the onset of fertility. Such a function could have played a role in the human evolutionary past (Dienske, 1990<ref name=":0">Dienske, Herman (1990). The Concept of Function in the Behavioral Sciences with Specific Reference to Pedophilia and Pedosexual Behavior: A Biophilosophical Perspective. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13</ref>). In some species, this function has built in to that extent that without early sexual experience with an adult an individual grows up unable to conceive.<ref name=":7">Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2</ref>

* '''Connie M. Anderson (1990). "Adolescent/Adult Copulatory Behavior in Nonhuman Primates". In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*: "Among nonhuman primates, then, sexual interaction between adult females and immature males is universal [...] Adult females do interact sexually with males of all ages, including infants too young to be capable of intromission or ejaculation. Females have little to lose by doing so, since they do not deplete their egg supply by unsuccessful matings and since they are unlikely to be seriously injured in the process. They may also help their immature male relatives by allowing them access to experienced females to practice sexual behavior so that they can perform successfully from the time spermatogenesis begins."

* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2'''
*: "In the squirrel monkey (Saimin), captivity-raised individuals of both sexes in mixed-sex peer groups were not even able to conceive unless they had been allowed, when they were juveniles, to have sexual contact with opposite-sex adults (Hopf, 1979, personal communication)."

*'''De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15'''
*: "Thus, juvenile male chimpanzees are attracted to females in estrus, and pubertal females begin to explore sexual contact with older males as soon as their genital swellings develop (van der Weel, 1978; de Waal, 1982; Goodall, 1986). Such intergenerational experience undoubtedly contributes to the development of adequate sexual skills."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Any behavior that is indisputably essential to survival, adaptation, or reproductive success develops in many different forms in different species, and often even varies in the same species in different environments. ‘The evolution of sex and sexual behavior is certainly no exception (Margulis & Sagan, 1986). It is, therefore, not surprising to find that mature and immature conspecifics engage each other in myriad sexual practices (Crews & Moore, 1986). [...] It is certainly no accident that species in which the immature play are also the ones most involved in preadolescent sex. Of those warmblooded, slowly maturing organisms that play (mostly mammals), an undetermined, but probably very large, number engage in sexual ventures. On the other hand, young animals that metamorphize into adult form and those with an exceedingly brief immaturity are obviously poor candidates for sexual participation with adults."
::"The fascinating evolutionary component is the appearance of play; sexual encounters of mature with immature animals that do not play differ sharply from the sexual interactions of those that do. [...] Sexual activity of young mammals is a clear aid to their performing adequately and sex play is probably essential to the development of normal adult primate copulation (Harlow, 1962; Wallen, Goldfoot, & Goy, 1981)."
::"[T]he mere fact that sex play with adults is so widespread in polygamous (i.e., multimale—multifemale mating) species supports speculation that encounters with adults provide the winning edge. "

== Advantage in sexual competition ==
The emergence of nonexclusive pedophilic interest could be due to males experiencing selection pressure to display affiliative behavior towards minors. Such a display aims to convince fertile females that the male is ready for paternal investment, thus giving advantages in access to the fertile female (Taub, 1990<ref>Taub, David M. (1990). The Functions of Primate Paternalism: A Cross-Species Review. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 338–377). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_14</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''Taub, David M. (1990). The Functions of Primate Paternalism: A Cross-Species Review. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 338–377). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_14'''
*: "Why then are these unrelated males forming special affiliations with and investing in these infants? Proponents of this view suggest that males form special relationships with infants as a means whereby they may develop a closer and stronger affiliative relationship with the infant's mother. This enhanced, or special, relationship with the mother, in turn, enhances the male's chances of mating with this female in the future."

== Sex as a buffer against aggression ==
Ethologist Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt suggested that the interconnection between sex and dominance is the basic ("reptilian") way of vertebrate sexuality organization. Aggression and dominance acquired a functional connection with male sexuality due to the fact that aggressive and dominant males tended to win in sexual competition. In contrast, submission was embedded in female sexuality. The submissive posture of the female ready for mating is a stimulus to transform male’s aggressive drive to the sexual drive. This prevents injuries and allows mating to occur. Thus aggression, dominance and submission were sexualized, and sexuality acquired the ability to buffer aggression in hierarchical relationships. (The manifestation of that ability is that the appeasing posture of a defeated enemy in animals often resembles the posture of a female ready to mate). Eibl-Eibesfeldt supposed that it is possible that this function could be partly transferred into the adult-juvenile hierarchical relationship (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1990<ref name=":1">[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6</ref>).

Excerpts:
* '''Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6'''
*: “Dominance between group members is also expressed by ritualized mounting, and submission, in turn, is expressed by female-type presenting. From these kinds of greeting rituals have evolved behaviors such as those of hamadryas baboons, in which males approaching high-ranking individuals present as if they, the presenters, were females. Their buttocks are hairless and red in mimicry of the female buttocks, thus enhancing the signal value of presenting (Wiclder, 1966, 1967b). The high-ranking individual may mount or just perform the intention to mount in response to the other's presenting. This use by primates of sexual motor patterns to acknowledge dominance rank order has often been interpreted as being equivalent to human homosexuality. This interpretation is an oversimplification. These sexual motor patterns are derived from copulatory behaviors but, then, have acquired a new function related to social hierarchies: mounting serves as an indication of dominance, and presenting serves as an indication of submission, an agonistic buffer in a greeting context”
*:“Children have characteristics, such as small size, that facilitate adult males' feeling dominant to them, as occurs in pedosexual behavior.”

== Sex for reconciliation and food sharing ==
The reduction of social tension mediated by sociosexual contact is widespread in the communities of human closest relatives, the [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|Bonobos]]. The tension arises in situations of competition or inequality referring to any kind of resources such as food, access to reproduction or any interesting stimulus matter. In addition to the reconciliation effect, sexual contacts allow them to willingly share resources with one another. Ethologist Frans de Waal pointed that this mechanism works for individuals of any status, sex and age, including contacts between adults and infants. Via this mechanism, adults share food with juveniles who are not their descendants and are not of reproductive interest. The emergence of this mechanism presumably occurred as a result of an evolutionary shift in relationships between males and females towards the more tolerant and equal in the case of Bonobos (de Waal, 1990<ref>[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15</ref>). Among most other primates except for humans, cases of adults, especially males, sharing food with another's offspring are quite rare (Mackey, 1990<ref name=":6">Mackey, Wade C. (1990). Adult·Male/Juvenile Association as a Species-Characteristic Human Trait: A Comparative Field Approach. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 299–323). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_12</ref>).

Frans de Waal suggests that our ancestor’s sexual behavior may have been similar to Bonobo's. This sex-for-food mechanism then allowed females to exchange sex for male commitment and paternal investment, thus giving rise to the human nuclear family. And subsequently, the very development of the nuclear family led to an increasing restriction of sex functions to heterosexual reproductive bonding only (de Waal, 2006<ref> [https://sci-hub.se/10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp de Waal, Frans B. M. (2006). Bonobo Sex and Society. Scientific American, 16, 14-21], doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15'''
*: "Typically, upon the introduction of food, the bonobos would become very active, engaging in aggressive competition but also inviting one another for sociosexual contact These contacts appeared to reduce the tension and to allow for food sharing. Thus, it could be demonstrated that subordinate group members more often asserted themselves toward dominant food possessors following a sociosexual contact than without such prior contact (de Waal, 1987). The interaction could even take the form of an exchange, e.g., a female presents to a male who is holding a large bundle of branches and leaves and takes the entire bundle out of his hands immediately following sexual intercourse. On other occasions, sociosexual behavior was used as a reconciliation. The majority of instances of genital massage, for instance, followed aggressive incidents in which the adult male had chased one of the adolescent males. After a couple of minutes, the younger male would return to the aggressor to present his genitals."
*:“Sociosexual behavior occurred with equal frequency and equal intensity in all age and sex combinations possible. Intergenerational sex was part of this general pattern. The bonobo's sexual reconciliation and reassurance patterns were described and contrasted with the behavior of the chimpanzee, which virtually lacks this nonreproductive function of sexual behavior. The evolutionary origin of this difference was sought in heterosexual bonding among bonohos in their natural habitat. [...] Coexistence of plural males and females without agonistic competition in mating could be guaranteed by changing the character of sexual behavior into affiliative behavior in which all individuals can participate, and by decreasing the reproductive meaning (Mori, 1984, p.277).[...] This possible evolutionary background of the phenomena observed in bonobos is of relevance in connection with human sexuality, both because of the shared biological ancestry and the fact that heterosexual bonding is characteristic of the human species as well."
*:"[T]he most logical pathway by which sexual behavior evolved into a general reassurance mechanism is that this mechanism was first established in the adult male/female relationship, after which it was adopted in other age and sex combinations. In other words, the widespread application of sexual behavior patterns in the bonobo' s social life has its origin in an emphasis on heterosexual bonding (de Waal, 1987). Field research supports this view in that male/female relationships seem closer and more tolerant in bonobos than in chimpanzees."

*'''de Waal, Frans B. M. (2006). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp Bonobo Sex and Society.] Scientific American, 16, 14-21, doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp'''
*:"Ocasionally, the role of sex in relation to food is taken one step further, bringing bonobos very close to humans in their behavior. It has been speculated by anthropologists--including C. Owen Lovejoy of Kent State University and Helen Fisher of Rutgers University--that sex is partially separated from reproduction in our species because it serves to cement mutually profitable relationships between men and women. The human females capacity to mate throughout her cycle and her strong sex drive allow her to exchange sex for male commitment and paternal care, thus giving rise to the nuclear family."
*:"This arrangement is thought to be favored by natural selection because it allows women to raise more offspring than they could if they were on their own."
*:"Given its peacemaking and appeasement functions, it is not surprising that sex among bonobos occurs in so many different partner combinations, including between juveniles and adults. The need for peaceful coexistence is obviously not restricted to adult heterosexual pairs."
*:“In fact, nuclear families are probably incompatible with the diverse use of sex found in bonobos. If our ancestors started out with a sex life similar to that of bonobos, the evolution of the family would have required dramatic change.
*: Human family life implies paternal investment, which is unlikely to develop unless males can be reasonably certain that they are caring for their own, not someone elses, offspring. Bonobo society lacks any such guarantee, but humans protect the integrity of their family units through all kinds of moral restrictions and taboos. Thus, although our species is characterized by an extraordinary interest in sex, there are no societies in which people engage in it at the drop of a hat (or a cardboard box, as the case may be). A sense of shame and a desire for domestic privacy are typical human concepts related to the evolution and cultural bolstering of the family."

* '''Mackey, Wade C. (1990). Adult·Male/Juvenile Association as a Species-Characteristic Human Trait: A Comparative Field Approach. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 299–323). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_12'''
*: "As pointed out earlier, human adult males share food/provisions with their young, and this sharing by adult males is relatively rare across the zoological kingdom. It is reasonable that the sharing of a most valuable commodity -- food -- is much easier emotionally for the provisioner if the provisioner "likes" the recipient, and conversely, a recipient tends to like someone who feeds him or her, especially during the dependency of preadulthood. Accordingly, the behavioral enhancement of any neurohormonal mechanisms (subtended by the relevant genetic material) that resulted in greater affiliative feelings, toward juveniles, for example, would facilitate food sharing. The facilitation might be further sensitized by the stimulus of those young who are provisioned showing outward signs of affiliation towards the provisioner. Across generations, the increased provisioning of juveniles by adult males would marginally increase those juveniles' viability, thereby increasing those adult males' chances of having descendants. Thus, the alleles in adult males and juveniles that canalized reciprocal adult-male/juvenile affiliative behavior, in general, and the resultant specific adult-male/juvenile association, in particular, would gradually and systematically displace competing alleles that did not facilitate the development of affiliation between adult males and juveniles. In the 20th century, food sharing from human adult males to juveniles has been found to be a universal practice"

*'''Woods, Vanessa; Hare, Brian (2011-04-01). "Bonobo but not chimpanzee infants use socio-sexual contact with peers". Primates. 52 (2): 111–116. doi:10.1007/s10329-010-0229-z.'''
::"Even as infants, bonobos use socio-sexual behaviour, whereas the same behaviour is completely absent in chimpanzee infants. Findings suggest that sociosexual behaviour in infant bonobos serves functions during social feeding that is not closely tied to reproduction."

== Nonconceptive sociosexual behavior as a result of self-domestication ==
It has been suggested that nonconceptive sociosexual behaviour, which include homosexual and intergenerational sexual contacts, consistently accompanies both natural and artificial selection against aggression ("domestication") being embedded in general pattern of juvenilization (like mammalian juvenile sex play).
*'''Hare, B., Wobber, V., & Wrangham, R. (2012). [https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/site-images/hare-et-al-2012-self-domestication.original.pdf The self-domestication hypothesis: Evolution of bonobo psychology is due to selection against aggression.] ''Animal Behaviour'', 83(3), 573–585. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.12.007'''
::"Experiments indicate that selection against aggression in mammals can have multiple effects on their morphology, physiology, behaviour and psychology, and that these results resemble a syndrome of changes observed in domestic animals. [...] In domesticated species, the characteristic down-regulation of aggressiveness and increased tolerance is accompanied by other differences, [...] behavioural changes include [...] increased pro-social behaviours, particularly play, nonconceptive sexual behaviour and grooming (Hemmer 1990; Clutton-Brock 1992; Coppinger & Coppinger 1998; Kunzl & Sachser 1999; Gariépy et al. 2001)."

::examples:
::"[Compared with chimpanzees:] Bonobos show more play and sociosexual behaviour as adults"
::"[Compared with wolves:] Dogs show more play and sociosexual behaviour as adults"
::"[Compared with wild guinea pigs:] Guinea pigs are more playful and show more sexual behaviour than cavies"

::"Typically, a new bonobo, even as an infant, can be introduced without incident; and two groups, including multiple adult males separated for weeks, months or years, can be reintegrated with little more than play and sexual contact as a result (B. Hare, V. Wobber & R. Wrangham, personal observations)."

::"Behaviourally, bonobos are similar to many domesticates (e.g. Kunzl & Sachser 1999) in showing intensified sexual behaviour. [...] they also display a substantial emancipation of sexual behaviour into nonconceptive functions that often involve same-sex partners (Savage-Rumbaugh & Wilkerson 1978; Kuroda 1984; Thompson-Handler et al. 1984; de Waal 1987, 1995; Kano 1989, 1992; Enomoto 1990; Dixson 1998; Hohmann & Fruth 2000; Furuichi & Hashimoto 2004; Paoli et al. 2007; Clay & Zuberbühler 2011; Woods & Hare 2011)."

::"selection for juvenile levels of aggression could explain the cascade of behavioural, physiological and morphological traits typical of juveniles that tend to be retained in adults of the descendant domesticated species (Trut 2001)."

::"The self-domestication hypothesis is therefore a potentially powerful tool for understanding the processes by which selection shapes both psychological and other seemingly unrelated traits, including those in humans (e.g. Leach et al. 2003; Dorus et al. 2004)."

== Sex as an attachment promoter. Development of paternal investment==
In addition to the “reptilian” connection between sex and dominance, Eibl-Eibesfeldt described another way of sexuality organization. That evolutionary later way is the interweaving of sex and attachment, which is typical for birds and some mammals forming long-term reproductive alliances. The ability of males to form attachment and exhibit caring behavior to a sexual partner is highly beneficial for females. Human evolution went through an increase in the maturation time of offspring, which led to huge reproductive costs for females. Thus, there was a particularly strong sexual selection of males, in which sexual desire was accompanied by consistent caring behavior towards the female and her offspring. This attachment to a sexual partner may be evolutionarily linked to child-parent attachment (in some species, this connection is manifested in the features of sexual courtship rituals containing signs of childish behavior, which function to induce caring behavior and affection in a sexual partner). So according to this theory, the functional system of parental care and the functional system of mating became interconnected. Eibl-Eibesfeldt wrote that romantic love occurs through the fusion of parental care and sexual desire, and this fusion is an antecedent for children and adolescents to evoke romantic feelings in some adults (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1990 <ref name=":1" />).

In line with Eibl-Eibesfeldt, ethologist Herman Dienske argues that, in the course of evolution, due to the ability of human females to conceal ovulation and to be continuously sexually receptive, male sexual interest has evolved in turn to foster consistent male proximity (to invest in offspring that take so long to mature), and subsequently could promote male proximity with the infant (Dienske, 1990<ref name=":0" />). Indeed, the repertoire of pedosexual behavior observed in humans, besides sexual actions, may also include caring behavior: comforting/caressing, feeding, grooming (body care such as washing or massage), protecting, teaching (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":7" />).

Excerpts:
* '''Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6'''
*: “If one observes courtship and greeting rituals in birds and mammals, one soon becomes aware that the patterns by which a friendly affiliation is established, upheld, or strengthened are basically derived from maternal behaviors and infantile appeals that trigger these patterns.”
*: “In human sexual behavior, strata of different phylogenetic origins can be distinguished. Sexuality based upon the mechanisms of male dominance and female submission, which characterizes the reptiles, also constitutes the basic layer of human sexuality. This reptilian heritage is superimposed, however, by a more recently acquired sexuality characterized by affiliation and love. The new potentiality to act in a friendly manner evolved with the development of parental care independently in birds and in mammals. In normal human sexual behavior, the archaic agonal sexuality is controlled by affiliative sexuality and, therefore, is characterized by love. Agonal sexuality is still with us, however, as indicated, among other features, by the phallic male-dominance displays, by a male hormonal response linked to dominance achievement, and by the sexual fantasies of submission that are experienced by females. Agonal sexuality normally is under the control of affiliative sexuality, and therefore, humans correctly associate sex with love. Certain forms of sexuality, such as sadomasochism and a particular form of male homosexuality, are explained as being a regression to the archaic agonal sexuality. Pedophilia and pedosexual behavior are explained within the regression context, too. Children have characteristics, such as small size, that facilitate adult males' feeling dominant to them, as occurs in pedosexual behavior. Since human adult/adult romantic love is derived by phylogeny from parental caregiving behavior, it is easily seen how, in some adult humans, the feeling of love toward children has been retained and eroticized, which is the true meaning of the term "pedophilia.”

*'''Dienske, Herman (1990). The Concept of Function in the Behavioral Sciences with Specific Reference to Pedophilia and Pedosexual Behavior: A Biophilosophical Perspective. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*:"it was pointed out that the continuous sexual activity of humans promotes the coherence of the adult-male/adult-female pair and that it encourages the male parent to participate in rearing his offspring. This assumption requires (1) that sex induces affiliation (i.e., the maintenance of proximity and the extension of favors) and (2) that this affiliation is continued after offspring are born and (3) is accompanied by male paternal care. The associations among sex, affiliation, and paternal care seem to be common in humans. This situation does not imply, however, a simple causal relationship. Infrequent or absent sex may precede divorce. It cannot be decided whether infrequent sex reduces affiliation or whether the decreased affiliation reduces sex. It is likely that sex and affiliation mutually enhance each other and that the absence of one of the two leads to a declining spiral that eventually results in separation or disinterest."
*: “the associations among sex, affiliation, and paternal care are not compelling in that alternative functional solutions exist. Nevertheless, the affiliation-promoting effect of sex seems apparent.”
*: “Human females, in contrast, lack such signals and thus have what is called "concealed ovulation" (Alexander and Noonan, 1979); in fact, the timing of human ovulation was not known until recently. Uncertainty concerning the time at which ovulation occurs would promote frequent copulations. It is possible that continuous sexual behavior in human females is their afflliation-promoting strategy, since it can induce more consistent male proximity (Daniels, 1983).”
*:“[P]edophilic and homosexual nonprocreative sexual contacts could be considered functional, since favors resulting from the affiliation, which is maintained in part by sexual behavior, can be considerable.”

*'''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2'''
*: "some of the components of parental investment, collectively called "nurturing behavior", are seen in both pedo-and ephebophilia and can be considered and discussed as (1) comforting and contact, (2) feeding, (3) grooming, (4) protecting, and (5) teaching."

* '''Money, J. (1990). Pedophilia: A Specific Instance of New Phylism Theory as Applied to Paraphilic Lovemaps. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions]. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_18'''
*:"This author's way of circumventing the debate is to say that there are in the human species phylogenetic building blocks, or phylisms, that in the course of individual sexuoerotic development are capable of being diverted from their usual expression, so as to become entrained to sexuoerotic arousal. In the case of pedophilia, the phylism of parent/child pairbonding becomes diverted and entrained to sexuoerotic, lover /lover pairbonding. The pedophile's attachment to a child represents a merger of parental and erotic love."
*:"The universal male/male pedophilia of the Sambia demonstrates the sexological plasticity of the human organism and the making of pedophilia into the social norm."

This hypothesis is also mentioned in modern scientific encyclopedias:

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. (2017). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1 Sexual Pathology.] In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] (pp. 7439 - 7445). Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1'''
*:“the evolutionary explanation behind the origin of pedophilia refers to the fusion of two evolutionarily ancient adaptive systems – reproduction and nurturing. Money (1990) states that a pedophile’s relationship to a child qualitatively, and also neurologically, resembles a blend between parental and erotic love. Likewise, it can be linked to the close cohesion between these two systems that can be observed also between phylogenetically close species.”.
*:”The founder of the human ethnology field, Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1973), directly warns about the type of affiliative-erotic relationship that connects to the composition of long-term partnership, which was developed both in mammals and birds together with nurturing behavior, and therefore it is not surprising that they are occasionally mixed in humans.”

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. "Male Sexual Disorders" In: Todd K. Shackelford (ed.), 2022, [https://annas-archive.org/md5/2d84ebccbbaafc78b4516ef6b129e5a2 The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology. Vol 4.] ''Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)''.'''
:: "A phylogenetic explanation of pedophilia refers to the fusion of two evolutionarily old systems– reproduction and nurturing (Money, 1990). It is also in line with the results of neuroimaging studies in which pedophilic men could be distinguished from controls by their increased fMRI activity in reaction to child versus adult faces (Ponseti et al., 2016) and increased brain responses to not only human but also animal infants in pedophiles (Ponseti et al., 2018), interpreted as an over-responsive nurturing system. This view agrees with older ethological theories that sees pedophilia as a mixture of parental and erotic love indicated by behavioral displays of both (Money, 2012)."

* '''Stevens, A., & Price, J. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315740577 Evolutionary Psychiatry: A new beginning] (Classic Ed.) (pp. 206-218) Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. doi:10.4324/9781315740577'''
*: “We would entertain the hypothesis proposed separately by Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1990) and by Money (1990) that two innate biosocial propensities – caregiving and sex-mating – have become fused in the course of ontogeny in those who display the paedophilic orientation.”
*:“[A]ffiliative erotic love, as Eibl-Eibesfeldt points out, itself evolved in birds and mammals together with the development of parental care-giving behaviour. ‘Since human adult/adult romantic love is derived by phylogeny from parent care-giving behaviour,’ asserts EiblEibesfeldt, ‘it is easily seen how, in some adult humans, the feeling of love toward children has been retained and eroticised, which is the true meaning of the term “pedophilia”.“.

Cross-species research indicate that the sexuality-attachment fusion in intergenerational relationships is widespread in nature and not restricted to humans:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"Intense sexually based friendships or consort relationships between older and younger animals have been documented in various species, including gorillas, orangutans, macaques (crab-eating, Japanese, rhesus, stumptail), Hamadryas baboons, and squirrel monkeys. Takenoshita (1998) observed consort relationships between adult and juvenile male Japanese macaques, where these pairs, in addition to engaging in homosexual interactions, foraged together, groomed one another, and attacked other monkeys together. Chevalier-Skolnikoff (1976) described intensely affectionate relationships between mature and immature stumptail male macaques, in which both older and younger partners responded with sexual excitement to the sexual interactions. Zuckerman (1932) observed a three-year sexual relationship between an adult and an immature male Hamadryas baboon. Redican, Gomber, and Mitchell (1974) observed an intense attachment between an adult male rhesus macaque and a much younger male, in which the latter took strong initiative in establishing the relationship and sexual interaction. Hamilton (1914), also studying rhesus macaques, reported that he “found that friendships between immature males and mature males are of frequent occurrence, and that they seem to have a sexual basis” (p. 308). In one illustrative case, Hamilton reported, when a separated mature-immature pair was allowed to reunite, the two rushed into an embrace, smacking their lips. Both animals showed marked sexual excitement, and the older mounted the younger, who rotated his head to achieve lip contact with the older partner."

=== Neurological, endocrinological and psychological evidence ===

Human sexuality researchers have confirmed the neurobiological interconnection of sexual and attachment systems. The release of oxytocin, vasopressin and prolactin, hormones associated with parental behavior, during sex and orgasm stimulates the formation of attachment, altruistic behavior and care for a partner. The reverse is also true: trusting and caring relationships can evoke sexual interest (Dewitte & Marieke, 2012 <ref> [https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/00224499.2011.576351 Dewitte, Marieke (2012). Different Perspectives on the Sex-Attachment Link: Towards an Emotion-Motivational Account.] The Journal of Sex Research, 49, 105–124. https://doi=10.1080/00224499.2011.576351</ref>; Fleischman, 2021 <ref> [https://www.dianafleischman.com/_files/ugd/cb1e47_2914fac5806e4843a8544c1cdee5a69a.pdf Fleischman, D. (2021). Sex as Bonding Mechanisms.] In: Shackelford, T.K., Weekes-Shackelford, V.A. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717</ref>).

Two decades after Eibl-Eibesfeldt suggested that the neural systems of sex and care are relatively more connected in people who are sexually attracted to children, neuroscientists have found some experimental evidence for that. Brain structures responsible for social connections, altruistic and parental motivation (such as the left anterior insula), in people with pedophilic interest, respond to infant stimuli more intensively, receiving reinforcement from the neural circuits responsible for mating. In addition, a greater connection between parental and mating systems is characteristic of males, which is explained by evolutionarily different ways of forming maternal and paternal investments (Ponseti et al., (2018). <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645 Ponseti J, Bruhn D, Nolting J, Gerwinn H, Pohl A, Stirn A, Granert O, Laufs H, Deuschl G, Wolff S, Jansen O, Siebner H, Briken P, Mohnke S, Amelung T, Kneer J, Schiffer B, Walter H, Kruger THC. Decoding Pedophilia: Increased Anterior Insula Response to Infant Animal Pictures.] Front Hum Neurosci. 2018 Jan 23;11:645. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645. PMID: 29403367; PMCID: PMC5778266.</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''Ponseti et al., (2018). "[https://sci-hub.se/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645 Decoding Pedophilia: Increased Anterior Insula Response to Infant Animal Pictures".] Front Hum Neurosci.'''
*: “This gives rise to the assumption that increased brain responses to infant stimuli in pedophilia are rather a consequence of an over-active nurturing system than of an over-active sexual system.”
*: “The left anterior insula, being a crucial area of nurturing processing, was also frequently found to be activated in sexual brain studies (Stoleru et al., 2012). Furthermore, the left anterior insula (as well as the SMA) is a constituent of the human attachment system, thereby enabling both nurturing and pair-bonding (Feldman, 2016). Based on both observations, (i) the over-responding to nurturing stimuli in various motivational areas and (ii) the functional overlap of nurturing and sexual processing of the involved left anterior insula a tentative and simple model of pedophilia could be as follows: Nurturing stimuli receive additional processing resources by mating-circuits. In case of human infant stimuli this leads to a sexual connotation of infant stimuli. This idea is supported by the suggestion that nurturing and pair-bonding are two closely inter-related domains in humans at the level of physiological functions, brain processing, and involved neuropeptides”
*: "In any case, from an evolutionary perspective, paternal nurturing is an unusual and probably more recently evolved male behavior. Phylogenetically speaking, male brains are not “geared” to handle infant stimuli. This may explain why the “parental caregiving” network of males and females displays differences (Abraham et al., 2014).
*: It might be hypothesized that, in contrast to ancient maternal infant stimulus processing, human male brains process infant stimuli with brain areas that might not be associated primarily with caregiving. If so, it is conceivable that the involvement of brain areas not “geared” to the paternal nurturing aspects associated with infant stimuli makes male brains vulnerable to not maintaining the functional division between the domains of nurturing and mating behavior."

*'''Schuler, M. et al (2019). "[https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/abn-abn0000412.pdf Empathy in pedophilia and sexual offending against children: A multifaceted approach]," ''Journal of Abnormal Psychology'', 128(5), 453–464.'''
*:"Participants included 85 pedophilic men who committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P+CSO), 72 pedophilic men who never committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P−CSO), and 128 nonoffending teleiophilic male controls (TC). Several affective and cognitive aspects of empathy were assessed using the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Whereas in self-reports (IRI) P+CSO scored lower than TC (P−CSO intermediate) in cognitive perspective-taking abilities, a performance-based measure (MET) revealed evidence for a better differentiation of emotional states in P−CSO as compared with P+CSO (TC intermediate). In addition, P+CSO and P−CSO showed significantly higher affective resonance while observing children (MET), which was paralleled by higher self-reported levels of personal distress in social situations (IRI). The results indicate evidence for higher general affective empathic resonance to children in pedophilic men but superior cognitive empathy abilities in nonoffending pedophiles only, which may act as a protective factor in the prevention of sexual offending."

=== Sex and attachment in general ===
*'''Fletcher, G. J. O.; Simpson, J. A.; Campbell, L.; Overall, N. C. . (2015). [https://pismin.com/10.1177/1745691614561683 Pair-Bonding, Romantic Love, and Evolution: The Curious Case of Homo sapiens.] Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(1), 20–36. doi:10.1177/1745691614561683'''
*:"Factor analytic studies of perceptions of romantic love in Western samples support these models, typically revealing three components (e.g., Aron & Westbay, 1996). The labels assigned to each factor vary across studies, but they reflect passion (sexual attraction), emotional bonding (intimacy), and commitment (caregiving)."
*:"romantic love provides a potent motivational push toward the kind of devotion and commitment required for the huge investment needed to support a mate and raise children successfully."
*:"romantic love is an adaptation — a commitment device — that facilitated longterm pair-bonding"
*:"The striking similarity between the behavioral manifestations of parent–infant love and romantic love suggests that evolution may have borrowed these ancient bonding mechanisms, originally evolved in mammals to bond mothers to their offspring, and applied them to men and women in the context of romantic pair-bonding."
*:"Using phylogenetic comparative methods with 230 different species, Opie et al. (2013) found that the evolution of monogamy is strongly related to paternal care of offspring"

== Evolutionary (by)product of human neotenization ==
Another factor of pedosexual attraction emergence is a human neotenization. The evolutionary advantage of retaining neotenic (childish) traits which elicit nurturing responses from adults, results in the retention of neotenic genetic traits due to sexual competition. Therefore such traits become sexually attractive. That leads to the observable progressive neotenization of humans in comparison with ancestors and subsequently increases likelihood of juveniles being sexually attractive. Since fertile females retained juvenile traits into their fertile years, the line between fertile and infertile female age became blurred. Thus, some males become oriented toward females who are too young for reproduction (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":5" />).

Excerpts:
* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23'''
*:“All of these genetically and culturally transmitted processes blur the distinction between reproductively competent adults and children and adolescents. Therefore, all of these processes must be considered to be determinants, at some level, of pedo- and ephebophilia.”
*:“pedo-and ephebophiles, like chins and spandrels, may have no primary adaptive function in themselves but, instead, may be rank-ordered by-products of selection for more adaptive attributes in their kin.”

*'''Lievesley, R. and Harper, C.A. (2024) “[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19419899.2024.2321149#d1e314 The interaction between perceived chronological age and physical sexual development in attractiveness judgments made by people who are attracted to children]”, ''Psychology and Sexuality'', DOI:10.1080/19419899.2024.2321149'''
*:"From an evolutionary perspective, men typically perceive more youthful faces as more attractive due to these indicating a greater degree of fertility (Gallup & Frederick, Citation2010, Little, Citation2015, Thornhill & Grammer, Citation1999). [...] [A]n increased degree of closeness of facial features appears to be encoded as indicating youth (Albert et al., Citation2007), and in turn, this youthfulness is associated with beauty (Sutherland et al., Citation2013)."

*'''Bogin, B. (1997). [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281997%2925%20%3C63%3A%3AAID-AJPA3%3E3.0.CO%3B2-8 Evolutionary hypotheses for human childhood]. ''Yearbook of Physical Anthropology'', 40, 63–89.'''
*:"Taken together, these studies indicate that adults are more likely to protect or nuture individuals with ‘‘neotenous’’ facial features. McCabe defines such features as having a relatively large ratio of cranium size to lower face size."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Our ability to imagine young children as sexual partners is probably increased substantially by two other unusual characteristics: neoteny and hidden estrus. Neoteny, the retention of juvenile traits in adulthood, is far more extensive in Homo sapiens than in any other primate (Bonner, 1980; Gould, 1977). Human adults resemble their small children a great deal more than adult primates do their immature offspring. [...] Moreover, many adolescent boys and young adults are beardless and they often have a complexion similar to that of young women and children. To confuse our senses further and muddle our minds, one- to two-fifths of young adolescent boys experience breast enlargement for a year or more (Katchadourian, 1977; Tanner, 1978). A similar case can be made for behavior. When we find in other animals the behavioral or physical traits of the young to be similar to adult female patterns we often find males courting the immature."
::"A concealed estrus combined with continuous female sexual receptivity and neoteny ought to increase the likelihood that men will find young girls sexually attractive, especially since males are not known anyway for making subtle differentiations between appropriate and inappropriate sex partners. Since women are more discriminating and, furthermore, would not be as confused by the facial resemblance of potential immature and adult sexual partners or by the conundrum of hidden estrus, female pedophilia should be much less common. Male homosexual pedophilia should fall somewhere in between."

The common hypothesis about pedosexuality is that it is merely a by-product of human neotenization. However, there are also arguments that diverse sexuality in adults (including homosexuality and pedosexuality, as seen, for example, in bonobos) in itself is a form of adaptive neoteny. Juvenile bisexual play is widespread among mammals and serves to acquire reproductive skills. Retaining this ability in adulthood may serve a range of sociosexual functions.

* '''Poiani, A. (2010). [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/animal-homosexuality/0352ED7E7645EE35B14FAAF3AE3A127B Animal homosexuality: A biosocial perspective.] ''Cambridge University Press''. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511762192'''
::"Indeed, under various potential selective mechanisms, canalisation of neotenic traits may favour the expression of a great diversity of sexual behaviours that are characteristic of the juvenile stages of development. That is, although from an ontogenetic perspective juvenile homosexual play is a route to efficient heterosexuality in most species, from a phylogenetic perspective neotenic processes, by retaining those juvenile traits past the period of sexual maturation throughout evolution, may produce adult homosexuals or bisexuals. In the adult, homosexual behaviours may then undergo further adaptations related to social life. A potential example of this process may be found in the bonobo, where juvenile same-sex sexual behaviours are as common as they are in the congeneric chimpanzee, but in adults they occur much more frequently than in chimpanzees, being expressed in specific socio-sexual contexts."
::Note: Although the authors make this claim about homosexuality only, there is no obstacle to extending the same conclusion to pedosexuality as well.

== Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis ==
On the basis of previously available evolutionary explanations (Mackey, 1990 <ref name=":6" />; Muscarella, 2000 <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1300/j082v40n01_03 Muscarella, F. (2000). The evolution of homoerotic behavior in humans.] Journal of Homosexuality, 40, 51–77.</ref>; Kirkpatrick, 2000 <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1086/300145 Kirkpatrick, R. C. (2000). The evolution of human homosexual behavior.] Current Anthropology, 41, 385–413</ref>; Neil, 2009<ref>[http://humanbehaviors.free.fr/Livre%20-%20Human%20bisexuality%20-%20The%20Origins%20and%20Role%20of%20Same-Sex%20Relations%20in%20Human%20Societies%202009.pdf Neill, J. (2009). The origins and role of same-sex relations in human societies.] Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.</ref>), [[Bruce Rind]] developed a hypothesis explaining the most widely documented type of male homosexuality in human history, namely [[pederasty]] (the relationship between a man and a peripubertal/[[Adolescence|adolescent]] boy) (Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4" />).

It is assumed that the evolutionary function of man-boy sexual relationships comes from our evolutionary past, when the environment was very different from the modern one. Humans have had a long evolutionary history as [[Wikipedia:Hunter-gatherer|hunter-gatherers]]. This time was characterized by intergroup warfare and the hunting of large animals. To do this, it was necessary to form close-knit same-sex male groups, to form specific male skills of war and hunting, and to maintain the specific masculine culture of this group. This created a selection pressure to create a mechanism to facilitate such rallying, recruitment and enculturation of new members, which is a long-term and labor-intensive undertaking. It is hypothesized that the sexual attraction between a boy and a man became such a mechanism, through the ability to form a strong emotional connection, prompting the mentor to teach and care, and the boy to seek training and a role model.<ref name=":4" />

The evolutionary benefit of such a mechanism is assumed both at the individual level (for the junior this is training, protection, and promotion in the male hierarchy, for the adult this is the expansion of the network of alliances) and at the group level (the clan received a reliable replenishment of group members, well-prepared, enculturated and committed to the culture of the group, which gave a competitive advantage).<ref name=":4" />

This hypothesis is supported by [[Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships|cross-cultural]] and [[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History|historical studies]], where a variety of independent cultures demonstrate the prevalence of institutionalized sexual relations between men and boys of peripubertal age. In many instances boys begin sexual practices with older boys and men long before the beginning of puberty (e.g. at age of 7), so in such cases this can't be called [[Pederasty|pederasty]] in the narrow sense, rather [[Pedophilia|pedophilia]].

These relationships are built into these cultures and are part of growing up and becoming a man. The readiness, desire and initiative for sexual contact comes not only from adult men, but also from boys, and this is recorded as a typical phenomenon in these cultures (see Table III in Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4" />). This also confirms the existence of an evolutionary benefit for younger participants.<ref name=":4" />

Moreover, this attraction is not associated with reproductive losses, unlike exclusive homosexuality. It is typical of all these cultures that, upon reaching adulthood, men get wives and at the same time have sexual relations with boys themselves. It is assumed that this ability of the average heterosexual male to experience pederastic attraction is specific to our species.<ref name=":4" />

But this ability is optional (facultative). That is, unlike obligate heterosexual attraction, pederastic interest is to a large extent activated or suppressed by the social environment. This explains the fact that there is a sharp difference in the prevalence of pederastic behavior and attraction between cultures, and the fact that in modern Western cultures it does not manifest itself widely.<ref name=":4" />

Excerpts:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
*:“Formally, this hypothesis holds that pederasty evolved in the early human hunter-gatherer EEA [Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness] as an adaptation (i.e., exaptation), whose function it was to reproduce the male group by facilitating the mentoring and enculturation of boys from peripubescence through adolescence, as well as their emotional and psychological binding with the group. This function was a solution to the recurring adaptive problems in the EEA of surviving and exploiting an extremely dangerous and competitive social and physical environment”
*:“In short, the ages of boys sought out as recruits in male groups, the period in which they are mentored and enculturated, the ages of boys that men in such societies (and our own) find erotically appealing, the ages at which boys are especially open to being mentored (and capable as well, owing to an emergent adult-cognitive capacity), and the ages at which they are open to pederastic relations appear to be part of a single package, in which each of these characteristics seems to be a design feature and element of a larger design, whose function is reproducing the male group.”
*:“It is important to emphasize that pederasty’s relatively infrequent expression in societies such as ours does not imply that it is not an adaptation. In our society, developmental inputs have traditionally been intensely hostile toward homosexual behavior, often accompanied by severe social sanctions, including public disgrace and punishment, which can be expected to have had a significant dampening effect on the emergence and activation of pederastic desire and the expression of pederastic behavior.”
*:“Thus, even though adaptive in the EEA , pederasty, being a facultative trait, is nevertheless rare in our environment. On the other hand, in cultures with cultural ideologies and social structures facilitative of pederastic desire and expression, its occurrence has been widespread across the male population, which is consistent with the assumptions that most males have at least a moderate potential for the behavior and that such potential is sufficient for the behavior to emerge, provided other factors are not inhibitory.”

* '''Schiefenhövel, W. (1990). Ritualized Adult-Male/Adolescent-Male Sexual Behavior in Melanesia: An Anthropological and Ethological Perspective. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) Pedophilia. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_16'''
*: "Men are expected to plan, work, fight, and sometimes, die together. The necessary altruistic behavior and effective cooperation of the warriors as well as the acceptance of a male hierarchy would have been fostered by the institution of prescribed homosexuality."

* '''Riegel, D. L. (2011). [https://web.archive.org/web/20130425190309/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Role%20of%20Androphilia%20in%20the%20Psychosexual%20Development%20of%20Boys.pdf The role of androphilia in the psychosexual development of boys.] ''International Journal of Sexual Health'', 23(1), 2–13. doi:10.1080/19317611.2010.509696'''
*:"Proceeding from Feierman's (1990) thesis, it can be postulated that in prehistoric times it is likely that many children, due to violence, disease, poor nutrition, and life spans that were considerably shorter than what we have considered normal for the past couple of centuries, found themselves without either parents or other adults who would be willing to take on the burden of looking after and feeding a not yet productive child. However, a boy who was sexually androphilic (Vanggaard, 1969) would have the potential advantage of closely bonding with an older male whose sexuality included a male-directed pedosexual component, and who would preferentially protect, provide for, and teach the boy the skills necessary to survive and prosper. Studies have identified such secondary boy-attracted pedosexual tendencies in 20% to 30% of self-identified heterosexual adult males (Freund, 1970; cf. Briere & Runtz, 1989, Quinsey, 1984, West, 1980), and these tendencies would not be selected against so long as the bearers were primarily heterosexual and only secondarily male-oriented pedosexual. There is no reason to believe that these percentages were not similar in prehistoric times; there is some evidence for familial transmission (Gaffney, Lurie, & Berlin, 1984). In the absence of our modern-day taboos, such adaptive and beneficial boy/older male relationships could proceed unimpeded, the boy's juvenile androphilic sexuality would typically be supplanted by heterosexuality as he matured (Sandfort, 1987), he would then pass on his genes, and thus both of these traits would be maintained in the gene pool."

* '''Rind, Bruce. (2014). [https://pismin.com/10.1080/19317611.2014.956853 Trends in evolutionary explanations for human male same-sex eroticism: a commentary on Riegel (2011).] ''International Journal of Sexual Health'', (), 1–11. doi:10.1080/19317611.2014.956853'''
*:"In this commentary, I discuss his social critique and focus on his evolutionary hypothesis, reviewing seven earlier hypotheses for comparison. "
*:"Werner (2006) focused exclusively on the evolution of male homosexual behavior. Based on selected cross-species data, he posited that male homosexual behavior evolved in stages over eons of time. In the first, involving primitive species (e.g., reptiles), single adult males controlled territories, where they waited for females for mating. Adolescent or transvestite males, who resembled adult females in form and/or behavior, gained entry to these territories because of their female mimicry and they were tolerated once there because they submitted homosexually to the adult resident. Their benefit for this submission was mating opportunities with visiting females, which otherwise would not have been available to them. In the second stage, male homosexual behavior changed function (i.e., was an exaptation) in various more complex descendent species with greater cognitive capacities (so that deception via female mimicry no longer worked) and in which adult males lived together in groups rather than as isolates. Here, the changed function of homosexual submission was to elicit tolerance from the dominant male, which served to uphold the dominance hierarchy, which in turn facilitated multi-male group living. The third and final phase occurred when multiple males did not simply live together but cooperated on common tasks. Here, male homosexual behavior changed function once again, in which it facilitated alliance formation, which in turn enabled pursuit of common tasks. He called his explanation the hierarchy/cooperation theory for human male homosexual behavior. Werner claimed that pathic (i.e., transgenderal) homosexuality was the most common form of male homosexual behavior cross-culturally, followed by transgenerational homosexuality. He speculated that different social structures produce different strategies for male/male cooperation, which in turn determine the form by which male homoeroticism is expressed."

* '''Jaroslava Varella Valentova, Andreone Teles Medrado, and Marco Antonio Correa Varella “Male Bisexuality”. In: Todd K. Shackelford (ed.), 2022, [https://annas-archive.org/md5/2d84ebccbbaafc78b4516ef6b129e5a2 The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology. Vol 4.] ''Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)''.'''
::"The alternative sneaking tactic can apply to transitory bisexual men, who would pursue predominantly same-sex relationships early in life when they do not possess status and/or resources to attract females, and create and maintain a family. In the younger age, they might have same-sex tutors or they might sexually serve to dominant males possessing resources. However, they might also sneak among the female partners of the dominant male, and gain at least some copulations and a nonzero reproductive success. Later in life they might switch to predominantly other-sex mating."

==Childhood as a target for sexual selection==

Some authors have suggested that not only adolescence but also middle childhood are involved in sexual selection process, and evolved as a stage at which individuals not only could but should take responsibilities. This appears to contradict how childhood is constructed in modern society (see also [[Research:_Cognitive_ability#Competence|research on childhood competence]]). According to such theories, in middle childhood, individuals become "nest helpers", helping in nurturing for younger siblings, foraging, and chores. This is a fine tuning stage of later social and sexual life-history strategies. First sexual or romantic attractions, sexual play, separation in gender roles typically emerge several years before puberty reflecting the fact that children are drawn into the evolutionary process of sexual selection much earlier than they become fertile. At this stage they actively learn sociosexual behavior and receive feedback about their sociosexual success from peer and adults, adapting their sexual competitive strategy to the environmental input. They engage in sexual and romantic relationship along with adults benefiting from learning, resources and social status they gain. This contributes to their sexual success in later life stages.

*'''Del Giudice M. (2014) [https://iris.unito.it/retrieve/handle/2318/1853338/974935/DelGiudice_2018_middle-childhood_chapter_pre.pdf Middle childhood: an evolutionary-developmental synthesis.]; 8:193–200. doi:10.1111/cdep.12084. in: Halfon N, Forrest CB, Lerner RM, et al., editors. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK543707/ Handbook of Life Course Health Development]. ''Cham (CH): Springer''; 2018. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-47143-3'''
*:"In summary, the life stage of juvenility/middle childhood has two major interlocking functions: social learning and social integration in a system of roles, norms, activities, and shared knowledge. While children are still receiving sustained investment from parents and other relatives—in the form of food, protection, knowledge, and so forth—they also start to actively contribute to their family economy. By providing resources and sharing the burden of child care, juveniles can boost their parents’ reproductive potential. The dual nature of juveniles as both receivers and providers explains many psychological features of middle childhood and has likely played a major role in the evolution of human life history (Kramer, 2011)."
*:"Middle childhood is one of the main stages of human development, marked by the eruption of the first permanent molars around age 6 and the onset of androgen secretion by the adrenal glands at about 6-8 years (Bogin, 1997)."
*:"The transition to middle childhood is typically associated with a strong separation in gender roles, even in societies where tasks are not rigidly assigned by sex."
*:"The stress response system plays a major role in gathering and storing information about environmental safety, predictability, and availability of resources; adrenarche contributes by translating that information into adaptive, sexually differentiated patterns of behavior (Del Giudice et al., 2011; Ellis & Del Giudice, 2014). Consistent with this view, both early relational stress and early nutrition have been found to modulate the timing of adrenarche (Ellis & Essex, 2007; Hochberg, 2008). It is no coincidence that the first sexual and romantic attractions typically develop in middle childhood, in tandem with the intensification of sexual play (Bancroft, 2003; Herdt & McClintock, 2000). By interacting with peers and adults, juveniles receive feedback about the effectiveness of their nascent behavioral strategies. The information collected during middle childhood feeds into the next developmental switch point, that of gonadarche (Ellis, 2013)"
*:"By determining children’s initial place in social networks and hierarchies, competition in middle childhood indirectly affects their ability to attract sexual and romantic partners later. In other words, middle childhood is a likely target for sexual selection — that is, natural selection arising from the processes of choosing mates (mate choice) and competing for mates (mating competition). My colleagues and I (Del Giudice et al., 2009) argued that sexual selection is one reason why sex differences emerge and intensify in middle childhood."

== Complementary behavior among minors ==
The hypothesis of pedophilic/pederastic attraction as a promoter of affection, care, and reproductive benefits in general on the side of youth is confirmed by the very existence of complementary behavior of minors, who [[Testimony: CSA (Children's Sexual Advances)|often show initiative and willingness for sexual relations with adults]]<ref>[https://ia802202.us.archive.org/16/items/rind-2022-reactions-to-minor-older-and-minor-peer-sex-in-finnish-survey/Rind%202022%20-%20Reactions%20to%20Minor-Older%20and%20Minor-Peer%20Sex%20in%20Finnish%20survey.pdf Rind, B. Reactions to Minor-Older and Minor-Peer Sex as a Function of Personal and Situational Variables in a Finnish Nationally Representative Student Sample. Arch Sex Behav 51, 961–985 (2022).], see also [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/images/Rindbasics.pdf Yesmap Primer] and [https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02224-0 DOI.org].</ref>. It’s assumed that such a behavior could function to receive affection and extra resources not available from the child's default caregiver, or as a way to indirect reproductive value (for example, through group survival by successful [[Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis|bonding to mentors]] during male warfare recruiting), or just as an attempt to develop sexual skills. This testifies to the evolutionarily beneficial and reciprocal essence of intergenerational attraction (Klapilová & Bártová, 2017; Stevens & Price, 2016; Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4"> [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Rind, B. (2013). Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) ''New York: Routledge.'' doi:10.4324/9781315432458</ref>).

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. (2017). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1 Sexual Pathology.] In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] (pp. 7439 - 7445). Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1'''
*:“The child’s adaptive behavioral function to demand nurture from adults and his prospective urge to perform sexual activities is not mentioned too often. Still, it is a rather widespread behavior across cultures and historical periods that can help the child receive extra resources not available from their own parents. It would therefore be a complementary strategy – from the pedophile’s side, there is the eroticization of nurturing behavior and attraction to signalization that encourages caretaking, whereas from the child’s side, it is a functional, environmentally conditioned strategy that brings benefits in the form of resources and possibly even acquisition of sexual experience and calibration of child sexuality”.

* '''Stevens, A., & Price, J. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315740577 Evolutionary Psychiatry: A new beginning] (Classic Ed.) (pp. 206-218) Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. doi:10.4324/9781315740577'''
*:“it is undeniable that many children in our society – especially those in boarding schools and childrens’ homes – suffer from ‘parent hunger’. They are what Mia Kellmer-Pringle has called ‘touch-hungry children’. It is possible that the care-eliciting ‘phylism’ in these children may become eroticized just as the care-giving phylism may be eroticized in adult paedophiles. Thus, children starved of parental affection may compete for the love and attention of adults in their environment by using erotic solicitation as a strategy for survival. To suggest this possibility is not to excuse adults who exploit the emotional needs of children for their personal gratification but to provide an evolutionary explanation as to how and why erotic bonds between adults and juveniles may occur. We would propose that both care-eliciting and care-giving phylisms can be eroticized.”

[[Bruce Rind]] gathered evidence of widespread minors' positive reactions, even in our restrictive culture, in his research. (Also, some relevant excerpts are in [[Research: Prevalence of Harm and Negative Outcomes#Simple or informed consent as predictive of positive reactions?|this section]]).

Here is some evidence from [[Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships|Nonwestern cultures]]:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"Anthropological studies on preindustrial societies with culturally institutionalized or widespread pederasty provide reports on how the younger males responded to sexual contacts with older males (see Table III ). Among the Javanese, men remembered their boyhood pederastic experiences entirely positively, despite the researcher’s probing to uncover negative cases (Williams, 2011). Sambian boys showed much initiative in these contacts, especially at older ages (Herdt, 1991, 1997). Keraki men believed that they could not have developed properly without these relations as boys (Williams, 1936). Kaluli men looked back on the complex of grueling hunting, living in a sex-segregated men’s lodge, ritual discipline, unity of purpose, vigorous manly ethos, and growth-stimulating insemination by older males as the highlight of their lives (Schieffelin, 1982). East Bay boys discussed their sexual experiences with men freely and without shame in the presence of their parents and friends (Davenport, 1965). Gebusi boys aged 11 to 14 initiated sexual relations with older males based on personal affection rather than obligation (Herdt, 1991). The bond between Marind-Anim boys and their adult male partners was extremely strong, which was apparently facilitated by the sexual interactions (Van Baal, 1966). Likewise, pederastic relations were extremely close among the Big Nambas (Layard, 1942). Among the Kiman, pederastic behavior would stop after adolescence, but “nevertheless, a lifelong emotional relationship often” resulted (Serpenti, 1984, p. 305). In various southern Mexican Indian tribes, adolescent boys were proud to have been chosen for pederastic relationships, seeing it as an honor to be their men’s lovers (Ross, 1991). And being a Tsongan boy-wife was not just good for security, but for the “fun” it afforded (Murray & Roscoe, 1998)."

And from [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|cross-species]] studies:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"In many species, the younger animals involved in age-discrepant homosex were frequently observed not simply assenting to the sexual interactions but actually initiating them (e.g., bonobos, chimps, gorillas, gibbons, Hanuman and Nilgiri langurs, crab-eating macaques, rhesus macaques, Tibetan macaques, patas monkeys). Specific examples include juvenile Tibetan macaques jumping up to the faces of adult males to be fellated (Ogawa, 1995), an adolescent gibbon repeatedly soliciting sex from his father (Edwards & Todd, 1991), and juvenile rhesus macaques fiercely competing to be the one mounted by an adult male (Kempf, 1917). In a number of species, the researchers noted the sexual excitement exhibited by the immature partners in age-discrepant homosex (e.g., rhesus, stumptail, and Tibetan macaques). In several species, sometimes immature males were assenting and sometimes not (e.g., siamangs, proboscis monkeys, crab-eating macaques, and squirrel monkeys)."

::"In humans’ closest relatives, bonobos and chimps, juvenile males frequently and preferentially solicit adult females and attempt to copulate with them. In most cases, they show sexual arousal with erections. Adult females are usually tolerant and even cooperative, but when they are not, the juvenile males frequently protest with whimpering or tantrums (Bagemihl, 1999; Hashimoto, 1997; Kano, 1980; Kollar, Beckwith, & Edgerton, 1968). Similar patterns have been observed in many other primate species (Bagemihl, 1999). Anderson and Bielert (1990) noted that “Among nonhuman primates . . . sexual interaction between adult females and immature males is universal” (p. 192). It may be that primate patterns do not extend to humans, but the similarity of the observed human and primate patterns in juvenile male-adult female sex suggests a phylogenetic continuum (cf. Ford & Beach, 1951)."

== Development of intergenerational sexuality into an evolutionary mismatch ==
Intergenerational sexuality is discussed as an evolutionary mismatch between our evolved mechanisms and modern moral norms. More often, we encounter moral, political, and ideological justifications for restricting of intergenerational sexual activity, but there are also natural evolutionary, economic, and ecological factors that may contribute to this. What follows is a synthesis of several independent lines of evidence: evolutionary demography, human-capital theory, cultural evolution, and the costs of early sex and early parenthood. This is worth taking into account for a better understanding of the background of the current ideological landscape.

=== The increased disadvantage of early pregnancy ===

[https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] and [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01357-3 Borgerhoff Mulder (1998)] suggest that under the conditions of human evolution, the accumulation of resources and status generally increased reproductive success, so selection may have entrenched the pursuit of these as a primary motivation. In a highly competitive environment, this may lead not to maximizing the number of children but to greater investment in oneself and in a smaller number of children. This is the quantity–quality trade-off, observed, for example, in the data of [https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1635 Lawson, Alvergne & Gibson (2012)].

The modern economy expands opportunities for accumulating property and status. The returns on these investments increase, so early reproduction entails greater opportunity costs. At the same time, standards of competition in the mating market rise. All that significantly increases the desire for higher capital and social status and the volume of necessary investments. In the model of [https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] this effect is shown in skill-based competitive labour markets. [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0150 Shenk, Kaplan & Hooper (2016)] show that status competition and inequality additionally increase optimal investments in children’s education and social status and can sharply reduce fertility. ([https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)]; [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0150 Shenk et al. (2016)])

An additional ecological factor may be population density. [https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000086 Sng et al. (2017)] found that it was associated with greater future orientation, investment in education and children, later marriage, and lower fertility. Experimentally increasing the salience of high population density also shifted decisions toward these strategies.
But a central constraint on the viability of early motherhood is the availability of alloparental support. Human child-rearing has historically been cooperative. In almost all populations, the presence of kin helpers was associated with greater child survival, earlier onset of reproduction, and greater reproductive intensity. Thus, in many traditional populations reproduction can easily begin before full economic and social independence. The modern decline in access to alloparenting greatly increases the costs of early pregnancy. ([https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.10.001 Sear & Mace (2008)]; [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2011.00379.x Sear & Coall (2011)]; [https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-010-9098-9 Kaptijn et al. (2010)]; [https://doi.org/10.3109/03014460903563434 Kramer & Lancaster (2010)]).

In prehistoric times puberty had begun by 13.5 years of age for the majority of individuals. But the age of menarche appears to have occurred between 16 and 17 years of age ([https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39266410/ Lewis et al. (2025)]). The same pattern is observed in many historical populations: puberty could begin at 10–12 years of age, but menarche was delayed until 15–17 years. Menarche is thought to be directly influenced by nutritional abundance, physical demands, and infections. [https://doi.org/10.1186/1687-9856-2011-2 Hochberg, Gawlik & Walker (2011)]

But modernization has shifted biological and socioeconomic reproductive timing in opposite directions. Improved nutrition and health have moved female biological maturation several years earlier ([https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-023-00919-z Anderson et al. (2024)]). In modern times, menarche occurs at an average age of about 12–13 years ([https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dez015 Mishra et al. (2019)]). While education and human-capital accumulation have shifted the socioeconomically advantageous timing of reproduction much later than 16. Modernization has therefore widened the discrepancy between biological fecundity and the age of social and economic readiness. ([https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-4038-7_5 Kramer (2017)]; [https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)]; [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0150 Shenk et al. (2016)]).

Very early pregnancy (before age 14-15) also associated with increased health risks for the mother herself ([https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000004807 Staniczenko et al. (2022)]; [https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003225 Leppälahti et al. (2013)]).

Hence, there arises a pressure for culturally constructed means of delaying and restraining pregnancy. Independent quasi-experimental evidence shows that delaying adolescent childbearing and child marriage increases subsequent education, employment, and earnings ([https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2017.11.006 Branson & Byker (2018)]; [https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20200008 Wilson (2022)]). While the association isn’t that persistent (see [[Research:_Teen_pregnancy]]).

Age-asymmetric adolescent relationships are more risky in terms of pregnancy. Girls with substantially older male partners have higher pregnancy rates. Among pregnant adolescents those with older adult partners are more likely to desire the pregnancy, greater likelihood of planning another pregnancy, to be married or cohabiting, and to have discontinued school, or have lower school enrollment. This is explained, on the one hand, by the fact that older male partners are more likely to be employed and may offer greater immediate economic and emotional security. At the same time, substantial selection is present: girls with weaker family support and lower educational aspirations are themselves more likely to enter early relationships with older men. ([https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10435214/ Darroch et al. (1999)]; [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9080937/ Rickert et al. (1997)]; [https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/190780 Agurcia et al. (2001)]; [https://doi.org/10.1363/4001708 Ryan et al. (2008)]).

=== Increased risk of STIs ===

Sex carries infectious risks, and age asymmetry may amplify them: older partners have spent more time in sexual networks and are therefore more likely to belong to groups with a higher accumulated prevalence of infection ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000002037 Stoner et al. (2019)]).

In the United States, girls who began having sex before age 16 with a partner ≥3 years older had approximately 2.1 times higher odds of STIs than girls who began equally early with a similar-aged partner ([https://doi.org/10.1363/4001708 Ryan et al. (2008)]).

For HIV, prospective incidence data are also available: a partner ≥5 years older was associated with an approximately 1.9-fold hazard of new infection in South Africa ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000002037 Stoner et al. (2019)]), while in Zimbabwe each additional year of age gap was associated with an approximately 5% increase in hazard ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000001506 Schaefer et al. (2017)]). A meta-analysis of 24 studies found RR = 1.39 for HIV and RR = 1.57 for unprotected sex in age-disparate relationships among girls and young women ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000002582 Bajunirwe, Semakula & Izudi (2020)]).

=== Sexual trajectories after early sexual initiation ===

Early sexual contact, even in the absence of risk of pregnancy and STIs, may be associated with a subsequent more active and risky sexual trajectory, which in turn reduces a person’s well-being.

Among women, adult–child sexual contact was associated with 2.1-fold higher odds of intercourse before age 16, 3.4-fold higher odds of having ≥11 partners in adulthood, and 1.6-fold higher odds of STI; the association with teenage childbearing and a number of later outcomes operated to a substantial extent through the subsequent sexual trajectory ([https://doi.org/10.2307/2657425 Browning & Laumann (1997)]).

In [https://doi.org/10.1363/4001708 Ryan et al. (2008)] girls who began sex early with an older man subsequently had more partners; it was the subsequent number of partners that partially explained the increased probability of nonmarital birth.

Among men, [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0049-089X(02)00019-4 Browning (2002)] also found an association between childhood sexual contacts and greater subsequent sexual activity and a larger number of partners, with the resulting infectious risks. In addition, trajectory specificity was observed: oral sex in childhood experience predicted oral sex in adulthood, while contact with a male partner predicted approximately seven-fold higher odds of the appeal of same-gender sex. This is consistent with the hypothesis that some sexual scripts are reinforced by early experience.

A secondary risk is that moral incongruence surrounding sexual behavior may contribute to poorer psychological well-being: more frequent non-marital sex among women and same-sex sexual activity among men were associated with greater unhappiness when these behaviors conflicted with moral beliefs. [https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01860-2 Perry, Grubbs & McElroy (2021)]

[https://doi.org/10.1016/S0049-089X(02)00019-4 Browning (2002)] acknowledges that early sexual contact does not necessarily cause the subsequent sexual trajectory: both variables may be partly explained by third factors. But he considers the specific recurrence of characteristics of the early experience to be evidence in favor of some effect of sexual learning.

There's strong evidence for the reproductive advantage of juvenile sexual learning in many [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|animals]]. But the modern human demographic and economic conditions don’t seemingly favor that.

=== Do restrictions work? ===

'''Compulsory schooling'''

Mechanisms that keep girls in school do indeed reduce early childbearing: [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2008.02159.x Black, Devereux & Salvanes (2008)]; [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.102268 DeCicca & Krashinsky (2020)]; [https://doi.org/10.1086/700076 Kırdar, Dayıoğlu & Koç (2018)].
Evidence for infectious outcomes is more limited than for adolescent pregnancy. However, structural interventions that prolong schooling can reduce HIV risk [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26134875/ De Neve et al. (2015)].

'''Minimum marriage age'''

In an analysis of more than 250,000 women from 17 countries, raising the minimum legal age of marriage to 18 increased age at marriage and age at first birth; in urban areas, it also reduced the prevalence of child marriage and increased education ([https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20200008 Wilson (2022)]).

'''Statutory rape laws'''

[https://doi.org/10.1093/aler/ahv013 Frakes & Harding (2015)] calculated what share of adolescent sexual encounters in each state falls under felony liability for the older partner. A one-standard-deviation increase in this effective coverage by the law was associated with a reduction in the teen live-birth rate of approximately 4.5% relative to baseline. Simply increasing the severity of punishment had no additional effect.

'''Negative information about older partners'''

Providing adolescents with information that older partners had higher HIV prevalence delayed sexual debut, reduced the number of sexual partners, and lowered pregnancy risk. [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6844-8 Angrist et al. (2019)]

'''Contraception'''

Modern contraception partly decouples adolescent sexual activity from risk. In the United States between 1995 and 2002, improved contraceptive use accounted for an estimated 77% of the decline in pregnancy risk among 15–17-year-olds, while reduced sexual activity accounted for 23%; among 18–19-year-olds, the decline was entirely attributable to improved contraceptive use. Thus, reducing risks in modern societies does not necessarily require a corresponding reduction in sexual activity. [https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2006.089169 Santelli et al. (2007)]

=== Prestige bias ===

The demographic transition, like the tightening of the age of consent, initially affected affluent strata more strongly. In the model of [https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] it is highly educated and high-income parents who receive the greatest returns from delaying reproduction and making large investments in fewer children, because such investments particularly strongly increase the competitiveness of offspring.

Historically, this was partly reflected in American statutory rape / age-of-consent laws, early versions of which were applied asymmetrically and primarily protected the sexual “virtue” of white girls from privileged groups. But as the economic opportunities of girls from less affluent strata expanded, the opportunity costs of early motherhood increased for them as well. In the nineteenth century, increases in the age of consent occurred alongside young women’s entry into the labour market and growth in their economic independence ([https://doi.org/10.1515/9780791485965 Cocca (2004)]; [https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520255654.001.0001 Lancaster (2011)]).

However, reproductive norms that emerge in higher strata can spread regardless of whether they produce the same economic returns for other groups. Prestige/success bias means that people tend to copy successful and high-status models as entire packages of behavior, including elements that do not necessarily increase the copier’s success in themselves. [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0152 Colleran (2016)], for example, considers prestige-biased transmission as one possible mechanism for the spread of low fertility across social strata during the demographic transition; the same mechanism is discussed by [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01357-3 Borgerhoff Mulder (1998)]. Therefore, a package including prolonged education, late marriage, a small number of children, and strict restriction of their sexual behavior may spread as a marker of a prestigious lifestyle beyond contexts where it provides a real reproductive advantage.

=== Demographic transition as an evolutionary mismatch ===
[https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] and [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01357-3 Borgerhoff Mulder (1998)] view the demographic transition itself as an evolutionary mismatch: motivation to accumulate resources and status, following prestigious models, and large investments in a smaller number of offspring usually increased fitness. But in a modern environment of extensive opportunities, high competition, and low availability of alloparenting, this can lead to excessive delay and restriction of reproduction, so that fertility can easily fall below the level required simply to maintain population size.

== Other relevant information ==

=== Ontogenetic plasticity ===

Here's an explanation for why, if a minor attraction was adaptive, it may not be ubiquitous today.
*'''Alanko K, Salo B, Mokros A, Santtila P, (2013). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235369954_Evidence_for_Heritability_of_Adult_Men's_Sexual_Interest_in_Youth_under_Age_16_from_a_Population-Based_Extended_Twin_Design "Evidence for heritability of adult men's sexual interest in youth under age 16 from a population-based extended twin design."] ''J Sex Med,'' 10(4):1090-9.'''
*:"Adult men's sexual interest in youthfulness‐related cues may be genetically influenced. [...] The amount of variance attributable to nonadditive genetic influences (heritability) was estimated at 14.6%.[...] Compared with the variance attributable to nonshared environmental effects (plus measurement error), the contribution of any genetic factors seems comparatively weak."
*::'''Editor''': Note, that a heritability coefficient close to zero does not mean the weakness/absence of genetic control over the trait, counter wise may point to high genetic consistency among population, in which case the trait variance is naturally more dependent on the environment. ("Traits such as walking and breathing have low heritability, because these are usually universal traits with slight variations. [...] as heredity becomes more similar, the environment becomes the primary explanation for differences."<ref>[https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/psychology/biological-bases-of-behavior/heritability/ Studysmarter.co.uk: Explanation on heritability]</ref>) This finding of low heritability may be interpreted to mean that the genetic ability to develop minor attraction is highly pervasive among humans and modified by nurture and other environments. This goes along with the [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding%2FEnculturation-Alliance_Hypothesis|Rind's conclusion]] on pederasty as evolutionary determined but a facultative trait.

*'''Bhugra, D. (2000). [https://sci-hub.ru/10.1080/14681990050001574 Disturbances in objects of desire: Cross-cultural issues.] Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 15(1), 67–78. doi:10.1080/14681990050001574'''
*:"Paraphilias are defined as sexual attractions to objects or individuals not normally found attractive. [...] It is argued that, in some types of individual deviance, cultural factors are more likely to play an important role. Some cultures are seen as sex-positive and others as sex-negative but, within each cultural setting, attitudes towards sex and the function of sexual activity are a key to understanding the development of sexual deviance. In cultures where sex is seen as an attraction-led phenomenon rather than a purely procreative one, individuals are more likely to be attracted to 'objects'."

===Undesirable traits as adaptations===

Both pedohebephilic attraction and childhood sexuality are likely influenced somewhat by environmental factors. For example, there exist theories of [[Research:_Psychopathy_and_abnormal_psychology#Adverse_childhood|adverse childhood in pedohebephiles]] and [[Research:_Youth_sexuality#Factors_of_earlier_sexual_development|factors of earlier sexual development]] in youth sexuality. These are unproven and causality is hard to infer. It has been speculated that these are [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Complementary_behavior_among_minors|complementary]] adaptations to difficult circumstances.

From a layman's point of view, undesirable traits that arise as a result of adverse environment are mental breakdowns. From an evolutionary perspective, these may be ways to adapt in a harsh, primordial context. It is worth keeping this perspective in mind.

*'''Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., & Draper, P. (1991). Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Development, 62, 647–670.'''
*:"The concept of "reproductive strategy" drawn from the field of behavioral ecology is applied to the study of childhood experience and interpersonal development in order to develop an evolutionary theory of socialization. The theory is presented in terms of 2 divergent development pathways considered to promote reproductive success in the contexts in which they have arisen. One is characterized, in childhood, by a stressful rearing environment and the development of insecure attachments to parents and subsequent behavior problems; in adolescence by early pubertal development and precocious sexuality; and, in adulthood, by unstable pair bonds and limited investment in child rearing, whereas the other is characterized by the opposite."

*'''Del Giudice, M. (2014b). [https://iris.unito.it/retrieve/e27ce435-4226-2581-e053-d805fe0acbaa/DelGiudice_2014_early-stress_jdohad_pre.pdf Early stress and human behavioral development: Emerging evolutionary perspectives.] Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, 5, 270-280.'''
*:“Stress experienced early in life exerts a powerful, lasting influence on development. Converging empirical findings show that stressful experiences become deeply embedded in the child's neurobiology, with an astonishing range of long-term effects on cognition, emotion, and behavior. In contrast with the prevailing view that such effects are the maladaptive outcomes of 'toxic' stress, adaptive models regard them as manifestations of evolved developmental plasticity.”
*:“Building on the concept of developmental plasticity, researchers have been increasingly advancing alternative models in which early stress does not primarily impair or dysregulate children’s developmental trajectories, but rather shifts them toward behavioral strategies that have proven biologically adaptive in harsh or unpredictable conditions”
*:“Exposure to stress works as a cue to local environmental conditions, and feeds into plasticity mechanisms that coordinate the development of alternative phenotypes.”
*:“In this perspective, many putative maladaptive traits such as anxiety, aggression, and impulsivity can be reframed as costly but adaptive phenotypes that improve an individual’s survival and reproduction prospects in hostile, unpredictable contexts. For example, increased vigilance and anxiety can be regarded as defensive reactions to potential threats, whereas aggression and impulsivity can be effective competitive strategies in harsh, unstable social environments. Furthermore, there is evidence that high levels of physiological and emotional reactivity increase an individual’s sensitivity to context, making him/her more open to both negative and positive social influences. Of course, some of these adaptive traits are going to have undesirable consequences for the individual and/or the social group, and may even be diagnosed as symptoms of psychopathology (e.g., conduct disorders). According to adaptive models, children exposed to early stress should exhibit patterns of impaired cognitive and emotional functioning when tested in safe, stress-free contexts and/or with tasks that mimic the demands of those contexts; but they should often perform better than their peers on tasks that reproduce key features of the dangerous, unpredictable environments they are adapted to. The initial evidence suggests that this may be the case.“

=== Response to critique of evolutionary explanations ===

*'''Karen Franklin. (2010). [https://pismin.com/10.1007/s10508-010-9616-1 Why the Rush to Create Dubious New Sexual Disorders?]. , 39(4), 819–820. doi:10.1007/s10508-010-9616-1'''
*:"As all students of Darwin know, evolutionary success strategies must be understood on a population-wide basis, not an individual level. Moreover, social scientists generally agree that biological evolution is rarely sufficient to understand human behavior in modern, complex social systems. Thus, to say that a trait may have emerged as evolutionarily adaptive in prehistoric times implies nothing of its presence or function on an individual level in contemporary society."

== See also ==

*[[Debate_Guide: Evolutionary logic|Debate Guide: Evolutionary logic]]
*[[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in_History|Intergenerational Relationships in History]]
*[[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals]]

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category: Research: Broader Perspectives]]

== References ==

Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality

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While the [[Debate_Guide:_Evolutionary_logic|evolutionary logic]] of intergenerational sexual behaviour and [[Hebephilia|hebephilic]] attraction towards pubertal [[Adolescence|adolescents]] of the opposite sex is easily explained by fertility potential of such behaviour ([[Research: Pedophilia as a sexual/erotic orientation|see mentions of hebephilia)]], the explanation of intergenerational attractions toward prepubertal children ([[pedophilia]]/pedosexuality), or adolescent homosexual partners ([[Pederasty|pederastic]] inclination), or the very existence of prepubertal [[child]] sexuality, is less obvious.

The emergence of such sexuality has several [[Wikipedia:Darwinism|evolutionary explanations]] with varying degrees of evidence, which come from [[Wikipedia:Ethology|ethology]] and [[Wikipedia:Neuroscience|neuroscience]]. There are suggestions that, in our evolutionary past, pedosexual behaviors could have had some evolutionary functions or been an evolutionary by-product of human sexuality development. These explanations may have pragmatic implications for the [[Research: A "cure" for pedophilia?#Psychological wellbeing for MAPs|well-being]] of both MAPs and minors. "Evolutionary scenarios are not just interesting explanatory “stories,” but can illuminate limits as well as opportunities for intervention" (Del Giudice M., 2014). Here is an attempt to categorize these hypotheses, although they overlap greatly and can hardly be considered separately. Rather, they describe different aspects of a complex evolutionary process.

== Adaptation to the lack of success in sexual competition ==
One hypothesis is that if a male is unsuccessful in sexual competition for fertile females, and he chronically feels inferior to others and is afraid of other adults, then his sexuality towards adults may be suppressed and redirected towards children, because children do not cause fear, and next to them the male feels his strength and superiority. Male's sexuality is more associated with dominance and this may explain the greater prevalence of attraction to children among men than among women.<ref>[https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5 Medicus, G., Hopf, S. (1990). The Phylogeny of Male/Female Differences in Sexual Behavior.] In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5</ref>

Excerpts:
* '''Medicus, G., Hopf, S. (1990). [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5 The Phylogeny of Male/Female Differences in Sexual Behavior.] In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5'''
*:"As has been pointed out, adult human sexual behavior with children and adolescents can be understood within the context of dimorphism. Male/ female differences in sexual behavior result at least in part from the different amounts of energy and time each sex expends for reproduction (see Table 4.1). This initial difference produces a difference in the functional proximity of the moods of fear and aggression to sexual mood (see Table 4.11), as well as a difference in the likelihood for active pursuit of sexual opportunities"
*:"One of the most consistent psychological correlates that has been identified is that many adult males who are sexually attracted to children and adolescents show manifestations of (real or self-perceived) social inadequacy with peers. Such males may suffer from feelings of anxiety when they consider sexual behavior with an adult partner (Johnston and Johnston, 1986; Panton, 1979; Segal and Marshall, 1985). Because sex and fear are such functionally distant moods in males, many human adult males cannot perform sexual actions when they feel inferior to their sexual partner or when they feel anxious (e.g., Bancroft, 1985; Eicher, 1980). This explanation is in accordance with the previously mentioned male/female dimorphism in the relationship of mood and behavior (see Table 4.11). Because of their small size, lack of experience, and sense of insecurity, children and adolescents of either sex do not arouse feelings of inferiority, fear, and anxiety in adult males. Thus, children and adolescents can become "sexual objects" for males who in sociosexual relations with adults feel inferior or anxious."

* '''Glenn D. Wilson and David N. Cox. 1983. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130410124803/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Child-Lovers%20-%20A%20Study%20of%20Paedophiles%20in%20Society.pdf The Child-Lovers: A Study of Paedophiles in Society.] By London: Peter Owen. Pp 132. British Journal of Psychiatry. 1983;143(4):430-430. doi:10.1192/S0007125000200780'''
*: "Examination of the characteristics of children that the paedophiles found most attractive points to the conclusion that the ability to achieve social dominance over the child may be the key to understanding the paedophile’s choice of sex target."
*: "Viewed in this way, paedophilia would seem to be one of several alternative adaptations to the problem of lack of success (or perceived inability to succeed) in intermale competition for access to females. It has been often noted by ethologists that the males of any species are thrown into strong Darwinian competition with one another. Those that are most successful monopolise an unequal share of female resources, and the others have to make do with various substitute sexual outlets. Following this model, we would not expect to find any genetic predisposition toward paedophilia per se, but as with homosexuality and certain other sex deviations, some degree of heritability would be mediated by the constitutional basis of dominance versus submissiveness. In other words, paedophiles may inherit their submissive nature, which in turn makes for difficulties in establishing normal sexual roles."

*'''Connie M. Anderson (1990). "Adolescent/Adult Copulatory Behavior in Nonhuman Primates." In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*: "Adult, subadult, and adolescent females are monopolized by adult male harem-holders, leaving a few adult and all subadult males without adult sexual partners. Under these conditions, males without harems choose a particular juvenile female to follow and display intense parental-like behavior towards her. Eventually, she becomes the first individual in the male's harem, and he begins mating with her at her first estrous swelling. Thus, both parental-like and copulatory motor patterns are directed at the same individual over the course of time and, for a brief period, even simultaneously."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Neither very young mature females nor males are desirable mates. [...] On the other hand, the lowest ranking, and therefore unattractive adult males and females do seek matings with adolescents. Low-status females are especially prone to seducing the almost always eager and obliging young males. It is quite likely that these inferior adults are making the best of a bad draw; any available mate is better than none at all in the harsh world of reproductive competition."

== Reproductive value pressure ==
Another close explanation is that the total reproductive potential is highest at the point far before fertility maximum, namely closely to the beginning of puberty. And along with selective pressure toward fully fertile partners, there is selective pressure toward maximum reproductive value, that may become stronger if long term mating strategies are more adaptive in a given evolutionary circumstances.

*'''Seto, M. C. (2017). The puzzle of male chronophilias. ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 46(1), 3-22.'''
::"Evolutionary theories about human mating strategies distinguish between reproductive value and fertility (Buss, 1989). Reproductive value refers to the potential number of offspring that could be produced over time, and thus focusing on reproductive value represents a longer-term strategy, as in the case of marriage to pubescent or even prepubescent girls. [...] Fertility, on the other hand, means maximizing the chances of reproduction, and thus would represent a shorter-term strategy focusing on young adult women (e.g., in their early to mid-20s). This is reflected in male-typical age preferences for casual sex partners, pornography actors, and models(Kenrick & Keefe,1992; Ogas & Gaddam, 2011; Rudder, 2014). Though preferences for other than sexually mature,fertile partners would probably be suboptimal, variations from heterosexual teleiophilia might be maintained in the human population — at a low frequency — as a result of opposing selection pressures (e.g., frequency-dependent selection) or as a byproduct of other adaptations."

== "Nest helper" hypothesis ==
{{research}}
The concept of "nest helper", is an explanation of a few individuals within a group being nonreproductive, yet aiding their group's survival. They may be affectionately disposed and caring towards others without reproducing, since this promotes the reproduction of peers who share some of the same genes due to being genetic relatives in the group. Due to sexual competition and the costs of human reproduction, not every individual ''can'' reproduce, hence there are indirect genetic benefits of "nest helping" that may overcome benefits of direct reproductive efforts for some individuals. This evolutionary hypothesis applies to both exclusive homosexuality and exclusive pedophilia, although due to a lack of investigation, there is at present little evidence for it (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":5">[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Feierman, Jay R. (1990). Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23</ref>).

Excerpts:
* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23'''
*:"Whereas a similar challenge has been met somewhat reasonably in terms of the "nest helper" concept of adult homosexuality, hypothesizing that another type of nest helper would have to erotically love and sexually interact with the children for whom he was caring"

== Help in developing sexual ability ==

Sex play between immature mammals is widespread, and among primates it is nearly universal. Sexual play functions as learning adequate mating skills. Sexual play mostly occurs among immature peers, but adults also often engage in sexual play with juveniles and help them develop sexual skills too.<ref>Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7</ref> In addition, sex can trigger the onset of fertility. Such a function could have played a role in the human evolutionary past (Dienske, 1990<ref name=":0">Dienske, Herman (1990). The Concept of Function in the Behavioral Sciences with Specific Reference to Pedophilia and Pedosexual Behavior: A Biophilosophical Perspective. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13</ref>). In some species, this function has built in to that extent that without early sexual experience with an adult an individual grows up unable to conceive.<ref name=":7">Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2</ref>

* '''Connie M. Anderson (1990). "Adolescent/Adult Copulatory Behavior in Nonhuman Primates". In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*: "Among nonhuman primates, then, sexual interaction between adult females and immature males is universal [...] Adult females do interact sexually with males of all ages, including infants too young to be capable of intromission or ejaculation. Females have little to lose by doing so, since they do not deplete their egg supply by unsuccessful matings and since they are unlikely to be seriously injured in the process. They may also help their immature male relatives by allowing them access to experienced females to practice sexual behavior so that they can perform successfully from the time spermatogenesis begins."

* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2'''
*: "In the squirrel monkey (Saimin), captivity-raised individuals of both sexes in mixed-sex peer groups were not even able to conceive unless they had been allowed, when they were juveniles, to have sexual contact with opposite-sex adults (Hopf, 1979, personal communication)."

*'''De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15'''
*: "Thus, juvenile male chimpanzees are attracted to females in estrus, and pubertal females begin to explore sexual contact with older males as soon as their genital swellings develop (van der Weel, 1978; de Waal, 1982; Goodall, 1986). Such intergenerational experience undoubtedly contributes to the development of adequate sexual skills."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Any behavior that is indisputably essential to survival, adaptation, or reproductive success develops in many different forms in different species, and often even varies in the same species in different environments. ‘The evolution of sex and sexual behavior is certainly no exception (Margulis & Sagan, 1986). It is, therefore, not surprising to find that mature and immature conspecifics engage each other in myriad sexual practices (Crews & Moore, 1986). [...] It is certainly no accident that species in which the immature play are also the ones most involved in preadolescent sex. Of those warmblooded, slowly maturing organisms that play (mostly mammals), an undetermined, but probably very large, number engage in sexual ventures. On the other hand, young animals that metamorphize into adult form and those with an exceedingly brief immaturity are obviously poor candidates for sexual participation with adults."
::"The fascinating evolutionary component is the appearance of play; sexual encounters of mature with immature animals that do not play differ sharply from the sexual interactions of those that do. [...] Sexual activity of young mammals is a clear aid to their performing adequately and sex play is probably essential to the development of normal adult primate copulation (Harlow, 1962; Wallen, Goldfoot, & Goy, 1981)."
::"[T]he mere fact that sex play with adults is so widespread in polygamous (i.e., multimale—multifemale mating) species supports speculation that encounters with adults provide the winning edge. "

== Advantage in sexual competition ==
The emergence of nonexclusive pedophilic interest could be due to males experiencing selection pressure to display affiliative behavior towards minors. Such a display aims to convince fertile females that the male is ready for paternal investment, thus giving advantages in access to the fertile female (Taub, 1990<ref>Taub, David M. (1990). The Functions of Primate Paternalism: A Cross-Species Review. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 338–377). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_14</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''Taub, David M. (1990). The Functions of Primate Paternalism: A Cross-Species Review. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 338–377). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_14'''
*: "Why then are these unrelated males forming special affiliations with and investing in these infants? Proponents of this view suggest that males form special relationships with infants as a means whereby they may develop a closer and stronger affiliative relationship with the infant's mother. This enhanced, or special, relationship with the mother, in turn, enhances the male's chances of mating with this female in the future."

== Sex as a buffer against aggression ==
Ethologist Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt suggested that the interconnection between sex and dominance is the basic ("reptilian") way of vertebrate sexuality organization. Aggression and dominance acquired a functional connection with male sexuality due to the fact that aggressive and dominant males tended to win in sexual competition. In contrast, submission was embedded in female sexuality. The submissive posture of the female ready for mating is a stimulus to transform male’s aggressive drive to the sexual drive. This prevents injuries and allows mating to occur. Thus aggression, dominance and submission were sexualized, and sexuality acquired the ability to buffer aggression in hierarchical relationships. (The manifestation of that ability is that the appeasing posture of a defeated enemy in animals often resembles the posture of a female ready to mate). Eibl-Eibesfeldt supposed that it is possible that this function could be partly transferred into the adult-juvenile hierarchical relationship (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1990<ref name=":1">[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6</ref>).

Excerpts:
* '''Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6'''
*: “Dominance between group members is also expressed by ritualized mounting, and submission, in turn, is expressed by female-type presenting. From these kinds of greeting rituals have evolved behaviors such as those of hamadryas baboons, in which males approaching high-ranking individuals present as if they, the presenters, were females. Their buttocks are hairless and red in mimicry of the female buttocks, thus enhancing the signal value of presenting (Wiclder, 1966, 1967b). The high-ranking individual may mount or just perform the intention to mount in response to the other's presenting. This use by primates of sexual motor patterns to acknowledge dominance rank order has often been interpreted as being equivalent to human homosexuality. This interpretation is an oversimplification. These sexual motor patterns are derived from copulatory behaviors but, then, have acquired a new function related to social hierarchies: mounting serves as an indication of dominance, and presenting serves as an indication of submission, an agonistic buffer in a greeting context”
*:“Children have characteristics, such as small size, that facilitate adult males' feeling dominant to them, as occurs in pedosexual behavior.”

== Sex for reconciliation and food sharing ==
The reduction of social tension mediated by sociosexual contact is widespread in the communities of human closest relatives, the [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|Bonobos]]. The tension arises in situations of competition or inequality referring to any kind of resources such as food, access to reproduction or any interesting stimulus matter. In addition to the reconciliation effect, sexual contacts allow them to willingly share resources with one another. Ethologist Frans de Waal pointed that this mechanism works for individuals of any status, sex and age, including contacts between adults and infants. Via this mechanism, adults share food with juveniles who are not their descendants and are not of reproductive interest. The emergence of this mechanism presumably occurred as a result of an evolutionary shift in relationships between males and females towards the more tolerant and equal in the case of Bonobos (de Waal, 1990<ref>[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15</ref>). Among most other primates except for humans, cases of adults, especially males, sharing food with another's offspring are quite rare (Mackey, 1990<ref name=":6">Mackey, Wade C. (1990). Adult·Male/Juvenile Association as a Species-Characteristic Human Trait: A Comparative Field Approach. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 299–323). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_12</ref>).

Frans de Waal suggests that our ancestor’s sexual behavior may have been similar to Bonobo's. This sex-for-food mechanism then allowed females to exchange sex for male commitment and paternal investment, thus giving rise to the human nuclear family. And subsequently, the very development of the nuclear family led to an increasing restriction of sex functions to heterosexual reproductive bonding only (de Waal, 2006<ref> [https://sci-hub.se/10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp de Waal, Frans B. M. (2006). Bonobo Sex and Society. Scientific American, 16, 14-21], doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15'''
*: "Typically, upon the introduction of food, the bonobos would become very active, engaging in aggressive competition but also inviting one another for sociosexual contact These contacts appeared to reduce the tension and to allow for food sharing. Thus, it could be demonstrated that subordinate group members more often asserted themselves toward dominant food possessors following a sociosexual contact than without such prior contact (de Waal, 1987). The interaction could even take the form of an exchange, e.g., a female presents to a male who is holding a large bundle of branches and leaves and takes the entire bundle out of his hands immediately following sexual intercourse. On other occasions, sociosexual behavior was used as a reconciliation. The majority of instances of genital massage, for instance, followed aggressive incidents in which the adult male had chased one of the adolescent males. After a couple of minutes, the younger male would return to the aggressor to present his genitals."
*:“Sociosexual behavior occurred with equal frequency and equal intensity in all age and sex combinations possible. Intergenerational sex was part of this general pattern. The bonobo's sexual reconciliation and reassurance patterns were described and contrasted with the behavior of the chimpanzee, which virtually lacks this nonreproductive function of sexual behavior. The evolutionary origin of this difference was sought in heterosexual bonding among bonohos in their natural habitat. [...] Coexistence of plural males and females without agonistic competition in mating could be guaranteed by changing the character of sexual behavior into affiliative behavior in which all individuals can participate, and by decreasing the reproductive meaning (Mori, 1984, p.277).[...] This possible evolutionary background of the phenomena observed in bonobos is of relevance in connection with human sexuality, both because of the shared biological ancestry and the fact that heterosexual bonding is characteristic of the human species as well."
*:"[T]he most logical pathway by which sexual behavior evolved into a general reassurance mechanism is that this mechanism was first established in the adult male/female relationship, after which it was adopted in other age and sex combinations. In other words, the widespread application of sexual behavior patterns in the bonobo' s social life has its origin in an emphasis on heterosexual bonding (de Waal, 1987). Field research supports this view in that male/female relationships seem closer and more tolerant in bonobos than in chimpanzees."

*'''de Waal, Frans B. M. (2006). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp Bonobo Sex and Society.] Scientific American, 16, 14-21, doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp'''
*:"Ocasionally, the role of sex in relation to food is taken one step further, bringing bonobos very close to humans in their behavior. It has been speculated by anthropologists--including C. Owen Lovejoy of Kent State University and Helen Fisher of Rutgers University--that sex is partially separated from reproduction in our species because it serves to cement mutually profitable relationships between men and women. The human females capacity to mate throughout her cycle and her strong sex drive allow her to exchange sex for male commitment and paternal care, thus giving rise to the nuclear family."
*:"This arrangement is thought to be favored by natural selection because it allows women to raise more offspring than they could if they were on their own."
*:"Given its peacemaking and appeasement functions, it is not surprising that sex among bonobos occurs in so many different partner combinations, including between juveniles and adults. The need for peaceful coexistence is obviously not restricted to adult heterosexual pairs."
*:“In fact, nuclear families are probably incompatible with the diverse use of sex found in bonobos. If our ancestors started out with a sex life similar to that of bonobos, the evolution of the family would have required dramatic change.
*: Human family life implies paternal investment, which is unlikely to develop unless males can be reasonably certain that they are caring for their own, not someone elses, offspring. Bonobo society lacks any such guarantee, but humans protect the integrity of their family units through all kinds of moral restrictions and taboos. Thus, although our species is characterized by an extraordinary interest in sex, there are no societies in which people engage in it at the drop of a hat (or a cardboard box, as the case may be). A sense of shame and a desire for domestic privacy are typical human concepts related to the evolution and cultural bolstering of the family."

* '''Mackey, Wade C. (1990). Adult·Male/Juvenile Association as a Species-Characteristic Human Trait: A Comparative Field Approach. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 299–323). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_12'''
*: "As pointed out earlier, human adult males share food/provisions with their young, and this sharing by adult males is relatively rare across the zoological kingdom. It is reasonable that the sharing of a most valuable commodity -- food -- is much easier emotionally for the provisioner if the provisioner "likes" the recipient, and conversely, a recipient tends to like someone who feeds him or her, especially during the dependency of preadulthood. Accordingly, the behavioral enhancement of any neurohormonal mechanisms (subtended by the relevant genetic material) that resulted in greater affiliative feelings, toward juveniles, for example, would facilitate food sharing. The facilitation might be further sensitized by the stimulus of those young who are provisioned showing outward signs of affiliation towards the provisioner. Across generations, the increased provisioning of juveniles by adult males would marginally increase those juveniles' viability, thereby increasing those adult males' chances of having descendants. Thus, the alleles in adult males and juveniles that canalized reciprocal adult-male/juvenile affiliative behavior, in general, and the resultant specific adult-male/juvenile association, in particular, would gradually and systematically displace competing alleles that did not facilitate the development of affiliation between adult males and juveniles. In the 20th century, food sharing from human adult males to juveniles has been found to be a universal practice"

*'''Woods, Vanessa; Hare, Brian (2011-04-01). "Bonobo but not chimpanzee infants use socio-sexual contact with peers". Primates. 52 (2): 111–116. doi:10.1007/s10329-010-0229-z.'''
::"Even as infants, bonobos use socio-sexual behaviour, whereas the same behaviour is completely absent in chimpanzee infants. Findings suggest that sociosexual behaviour in infant bonobos serves functions during social feeding that is not closely tied to reproduction."

== Nonconceptive sociosexual behavior as a result of self-domestication ==
It has been suggested that nonconceptive sociosexual behaviour, which include homosexual and intergenerational sexual contacts, consistently accompanies both natural and artificial selection against aggression ("domestication") being embedded in general pattern of juvenilization (like mammalian juvenile sex play).
*'''Hare, B., Wobber, V., & Wrangham, R. (2012). [https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/site-images/hare-et-al-2012-self-domestication.original.pdf The self-domestication hypothesis: Evolution of bonobo psychology is due to selection against aggression.] ''Animal Behaviour'', 83(3), 573–585. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.12.007'''
::"Experiments indicate that selection against aggression in mammals can have multiple effects on their morphology, physiology, behaviour and psychology, and that these results resemble a syndrome of changes observed in domestic animals. [...] In domesticated species, the characteristic down-regulation of aggressiveness and increased tolerance is accompanied by other differences, [...] behavioural changes include [...] increased pro-social behaviours, particularly play, nonconceptive sexual behaviour and grooming (Hemmer 1990; Clutton-Brock 1992; Coppinger & Coppinger 1998; Kunzl & Sachser 1999; Gariépy et al. 2001)."

::examples:
::"[Compared with chimpanzees:] Bonobos show more play and sociosexual behaviour as adults"
::"[Compared with wolves:] Dogs show more play and sociosexual behaviour as adults"
::"[Compared with wild guinea pigs:] Guinea pigs are more playful and show more sexual behaviour than cavies"

::"Typically, a new bonobo, even as an infant, can be introduced without incident; and two groups, including multiple adult males separated for weeks, months or years, can be reintegrated with little more than play and sexual contact as a result (B. Hare, V. Wobber & R. Wrangham, personal observations)."

::"Behaviourally, bonobos are similar to many domesticates (e.g. Kunzl & Sachser 1999) in showing intensified sexual behaviour. [...] they also display a substantial emancipation of sexual behaviour into nonconceptive functions that often involve same-sex partners (Savage-Rumbaugh & Wilkerson 1978; Kuroda 1984; Thompson-Handler et al. 1984; de Waal 1987, 1995; Kano 1989, 1992; Enomoto 1990; Dixson 1998; Hohmann & Fruth 2000; Furuichi & Hashimoto 2004; Paoli et al. 2007; Clay & Zuberbühler 2011; Woods & Hare 2011)."

::"selection for juvenile levels of aggression could explain the cascade of behavioural, physiological and morphological traits typical of juveniles that tend to be retained in adults of the descendant domesticated species (Trut 2001)."

::"The self-domestication hypothesis is therefore a potentially powerful tool for understanding the processes by which selection shapes both psychological and other seemingly unrelated traits, including those in humans (e.g. Leach et al. 2003; Dorus et al. 2004)."

== Sex as an attachment promoter. Development of paternal investment==
In addition to the “reptilian” connection between sex and dominance, Eibl-Eibesfeldt described another way of sexuality organization. That evolutionary later way is the interweaving of sex and attachment, which is typical for birds and some mammals forming long-term reproductive alliances. The ability of males to form attachment and exhibit caring behavior to a sexual partner is highly beneficial for females. Human evolution went through an increase in the maturation time of offspring, which led to huge reproductive costs for females. Thus, there was a particularly strong sexual selection of males, in which sexual desire was accompanied by consistent caring behavior towards the female and her offspring. This attachment to a sexual partner may be evolutionarily linked to child-parent attachment (in some species, this connection is manifested in the features of sexual courtship rituals containing signs of childish behavior, which function to induce caring behavior and affection in a sexual partner). So according to this theory, the functional system of parental care and the functional system of mating became interconnected. Eibl-Eibesfeldt wrote that romantic love occurs through the fusion of parental care and sexual desire, and this fusion is an antecedent for children and adolescents to evoke romantic feelings in some adults (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1990 <ref name=":1" />).

In line with Eibl-Eibesfeldt, ethologist Herman Dienske argues that, in the course of evolution, due to the ability of human females to conceal ovulation and to be continuously sexually receptive, male sexual interest has evolved in turn to foster consistent male proximity (to invest in offspring that take so long to mature), and subsequently could promote male proximity with the infant (Dienske, 1990<ref name=":0" />). Indeed, the repertoire of pedosexual behavior observed in humans, besides sexual actions, may also include caring behavior: comforting/caressing, feeding, grooming (body care such as washing or massage), protecting, teaching (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":7" />).

Excerpts:
* '''Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6'''
*: “If one observes courtship and greeting rituals in birds and mammals, one soon becomes aware that the patterns by which a friendly affiliation is established, upheld, or strengthened are basically derived from maternal behaviors and infantile appeals that trigger these patterns.”
*: “In human sexual behavior, strata of different phylogenetic origins can be distinguished. Sexuality based upon the mechanisms of male dominance and female submission, which characterizes the reptiles, also constitutes the basic layer of human sexuality. This reptilian heritage is superimposed, however, by a more recently acquired sexuality characterized by affiliation and love. The new potentiality to act in a friendly manner evolved with the development of parental care independently in birds and in mammals. In normal human sexual behavior, the archaic agonal sexuality is controlled by affiliative sexuality and, therefore, is characterized by love. Agonal sexuality is still with us, however, as indicated, among other features, by the phallic male-dominance displays, by a male hormonal response linked to dominance achievement, and by the sexual fantasies of submission that are experienced by females. Agonal sexuality normally is under the control of affiliative sexuality, and therefore, humans correctly associate sex with love. Certain forms of sexuality, such as sadomasochism and a particular form of male homosexuality, are explained as being a regression to the archaic agonal sexuality. Pedophilia and pedosexual behavior are explained within the regression context, too. Children have characteristics, such as small size, that facilitate adult males' feeling dominant to them, as occurs in pedosexual behavior. Since human adult/adult romantic love is derived by phylogeny from parental caregiving behavior, it is easily seen how, in some adult humans, the feeling of love toward children has been retained and eroticized, which is the true meaning of the term "pedophilia.”

*'''Dienske, Herman (1990). The Concept of Function in the Behavioral Sciences with Specific Reference to Pedophilia and Pedosexual Behavior: A Biophilosophical Perspective. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*:"it was pointed out that the continuous sexual activity of humans promotes the coherence of the adult-male/adult-female pair and that it encourages the male parent to participate in rearing his offspring. This assumption requires (1) that sex induces affiliation (i.e., the maintenance of proximity and the extension of favors) and (2) that this affiliation is continued after offspring are born and (3) is accompanied by male paternal care. The associations among sex, affiliation, and paternal care seem to be common in humans. This situation does not imply, however, a simple causal relationship. Infrequent or absent sex may precede divorce. It cannot be decided whether infrequent sex reduces affiliation or whether the decreased affiliation reduces sex. It is likely that sex and affiliation mutually enhance each other and that the absence of one of the two leads to a declining spiral that eventually results in separation or disinterest."
*: “the associations among sex, affiliation, and paternal care are not compelling in that alternative functional solutions exist. Nevertheless, the affiliation-promoting effect of sex seems apparent.”
*: “Human females, in contrast, lack such signals and thus have what is called "concealed ovulation" (Alexander and Noonan, 1979); in fact, the timing of human ovulation was not known until recently. Uncertainty concerning the time at which ovulation occurs would promote frequent copulations. It is possible that continuous sexual behavior in human females is their afflliation-promoting strategy, since it can induce more consistent male proximity (Daniels, 1983).”
*:“[P]edophilic and homosexual nonprocreative sexual contacts could be considered functional, since favors resulting from the affiliation, which is maintained in part by sexual behavior, can be considerable.”

*'''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2'''
*: "some of the components of parental investment, collectively called "nurturing behavior", are seen in both pedo-and ephebophilia and can be considered and discussed as (1) comforting and contact, (2) feeding, (3) grooming, (4) protecting, and (5) teaching."

* '''Money, J. (1990). Pedophilia: A Specific Instance of New Phylism Theory as Applied to Paraphilic Lovemaps. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions]. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_18'''
*:"This author's way of circumventing the debate is to say that there are in the human species phylogenetic building blocks, or phylisms, that in the course of individual sexuoerotic development are capable of being diverted from their usual expression, so as to become entrained to sexuoerotic arousal. In the case of pedophilia, the phylism of parent/child pairbonding becomes diverted and entrained to sexuoerotic, lover /lover pairbonding. The pedophile's attachment to a child represents a merger of parental and erotic love."
*:"The universal male/male pedophilia of the Sambia demonstrates the sexological plasticity of the human organism and the making of pedophilia into the social norm."

This hypothesis is also mentioned in modern scientific encyclopedias:

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. (2017). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1 Sexual Pathology.] In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] (pp. 7439 - 7445). Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1'''
*:“the evolutionary explanation behind the origin of pedophilia refers to the fusion of two evolutionarily ancient adaptive systems – reproduction and nurturing. Money (1990) states that a pedophile’s relationship to a child qualitatively, and also neurologically, resembles a blend between parental and erotic love. Likewise, it can be linked to the close cohesion between these two systems that can be observed also between phylogenetically close species.”.
*:”The founder of the human ethnology field, Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1973), directly warns about the type of affiliative-erotic relationship that connects to the composition of long-term partnership, which was developed both in mammals and birds together with nurturing behavior, and therefore it is not surprising that they are occasionally mixed in humans.”

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. "Male Sexual Disorders" In: Todd K. Shackelford (ed.), 2022, [https://annas-archive.org/md5/2d84ebccbbaafc78b4516ef6b129e5a2 The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology. Vol 4.] ''Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)''.'''
:: "A phylogenetic explanation of pedophilia refers to the fusion of two evolutionarily old systems– reproduction and nurturing (Money, 1990). It is also in line with the results of neuroimaging studies in which pedophilic men could be distinguished from controls by their increased fMRI activity in reaction to child versus adult faces (Ponseti et al., 2016) and increased brain responses to not only human but also animal infants in pedophiles (Ponseti et al., 2018), interpreted as an over-responsive nurturing system. This view agrees with older ethological theories that sees pedophilia as a mixture of parental and erotic love indicated by behavioral displays of both (Money, 2012)."

* '''Stevens, A., & Price, J. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315740577 Evolutionary Psychiatry: A new beginning] (Classic Ed.) (pp. 206-218) Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. doi:10.4324/9781315740577'''
*: “We would entertain the hypothesis proposed separately by Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1990) and by Money (1990) that two innate biosocial propensities – caregiving and sex-mating – have become fused in the course of ontogeny in those who display the paedophilic orientation.”
*:“[A]ffiliative erotic love, as Eibl-Eibesfeldt points out, itself evolved in birds and mammals together with the development of parental care-giving behaviour. ‘Since human adult/adult romantic love is derived by phylogeny from parent care-giving behaviour,’ asserts EiblEibesfeldt, ‘it is easily seen how, in some adult humans, the feeling of love toward children has been retained and eroticised, which is the true meaning of the term “pedophilia”.“.

Cross-species research indicate that the sexuality-attachment fusion in intergenerational relationships is widespread in nature and not restricted to humans:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"Intense sexually based friendships or consort relationships between older and younger animals have been documented in various species, including gorillas, orangutans, macaques (crab-eating, Japanese, rhesus, stumptail), Hamadryas baboons, and squirrel monkeys. Takenoshita (1998) observed consort relationships between adult and juvenile male Japanese macaques, where these pairs, in addition to engaging in homosexual interactions, foraged together, groomed one another, and attacked other monkeys together. Chevalier-Skolnikoff (1976) described intensely affectionate relationships between mature and immature stumptail male macaques, in which both older and younger partners responded with sexual excitement to the sexual interactions. Zuckerman (1932) observed a three-year sexual relationship between an adult and an immature male Hamadryas baboon. Redican, Gomber, and Mitchell (1974) observed an intense attachment between an adult male rhesus macaque and a much younger male, in which the latter took strong initiative in establishing the relationship and sexual interaction. Hamilton (1914), also studying rhesus macaques, reported that he “found that friendships between immature males and mature males are of frequent occurrence, and that they seem to have a sexual basis” (p. 308). In one illustrative case, Hamilton reported, when a separated mature-immature pair was allowed to reunite, the two rushed into an embrace, smacking their lips. Both animals showed marked sexual excitement, and the older mounted the younger, who rotated his head to achieve lip contact with the older partner."

=== Neurological, endocrinological and psychological evidence ===

Human sexuality researchers have confirmed the neurobiological interconnection of sexual and attachment systems. The release of oxytocin, vasopressin and prolactin, hormones associated with parental behavior, during sex and orgasm stimulates the formation of attachment, altruistic behavior and care for a partner. The reverse is also true: trusting and caring relationships can evoke sexual interest (Dewitte & Marieke, 2012 <ref> [https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/00224499.2011.576351 Dewitte, Marieke (2012). Different Perspectives on the Sex-Attachment Link: Towards an Emotion-Motivational Account.] The Journal of Sex Research, 49, 105–124. https://doi=10.1080/00224499.2011.576351</ref>; Fleischman, 2021 <ref> [https://www.dianafleischman.com/_files/ugd/cb1e47_2914fac5806e4843a8544c1cdee5a69a.pdf Fleischman, D. (2021). Sex as Bonding Mechanisms.] In: Shackelford, T.K., Weekes-Shackelford, V.A. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717</ref>).

Two decades after Eibl-Eibesfeldt suggested that the neural systems of sex and care are relatively more connected in people who are sexually attracted to children, neuroscientists have found some experimental evidence for that. Brain structures responsible for social connections, altruistic and parental motivation (such as the left anterior insula), in people with pedophilic interest, respond to infant stimuli more intensively, receiving reinforcement from the neural circuits responsible for mating. In addition, a greater connection between parental and mating systems is characteristic of males, which is explained by evolutionarily different ways of forming maternal and paternal investments (Ponseti et al., (2018). <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645 Ponseti J, Bruhn D, Nolting J, Gerwinn H, Pohl A, Stirn A, Granert O, Laufs H, Deuschl G, Wolff S, Jansen O, Siebner H, Briken P, Mohnke S, Amelung T, Kneer J, Schiffer B, Walter H, Kruger THC. Decoding Pedophilia: Increased Anterior Insula Response to Infant Animal Pictures.] Front Hum Neurosci. 2018 Jan 23;11:645. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645. PMID: 29403367; PMCID: PMC5778266.</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''Ponseti et al., (2018). "[https://sci-hub.se/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645 Decoding Pedophilia: Increased Anterior Insula Response to Infant Animal Pictures".] Front Hum Neurosci.'''
*: “This gives rise to the assumption that increased brain responses to infant stimuli in pedophilia are rather a consequence of an over-active nurturing system than of an over-active sexual system.”
*: “The left anterior insula, being a crucial area of nurturing processing, was also frequently found to be activated in sexual brain studies (Stoleru et al., 2012). Furthermore, the left anterior insula (as well as the SMA) is a constituent of the human attachment system, thereby enabling both nurturing and pair-bonding (Feldman, 2016). Based on both observations, (i) the over-responding to nurturing stimuli in various motivational areas and (ii) the functional overlap of nurturing and sexual processing of the involved left anterior insula a tentative and simple model of pedophilia could be as follows: Nurturing stimuli receive additional processing resources by mating-circuits. In case of human infant stimuli this leads to a sexual connotation of infant stimuli. This idea is supported by the suggestion that nurturing and pair-bonding are two closely inter-related domains in humans at the level of physiological functions, brain processing, and involved neuropeptides”
*: "In any case, from an evolutionary perspective, paternal nurturing is an unusual and probably more recently evolved male behavior. Phylogenetically speaking, male brains are not “geared” to handle infant stimuli. This may explain why the “parental caregiving” network of males and females displays differences (Abraham et al., 2014).
*: It might be hypothesized that, in contrast to ancient maternal infant stimulus processing, human male brains process infant stimuli with brain areas that might not be associated primarily with caregiving. If so, it is conceivable that the involvement of brain areas not “geared” to the paternal nurturing aspects associated with infant stimuli makes male brains vulnerable to not maintaining the functional division between the domains of nurturing and mating behavior."

*'''Schuler, M. et al (2019). "[https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/abn-abn0000412.pdf Empathy in pedophilia and sexual offending against children: A multifaceted approach]," ''Journal of Abnormal Psychology'', 128(5), 453–464.'''
*:"Participants included 85 pedophilic men who committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P+CSO), 72 pedophilic men who never committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P−CSO), and 128 nonoffending teleiophilic male controls (TC). Several affective and cognitive aspects of empathy were assessed using the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Whereas in self-reports (IRI) P+CSO scored lower than TC (P−CSO intermediate) in cognitive perspective-taking abilities, a performance-based measure (MET) revealed evidence for a better differentiation of emotional states in P−CSO as compared with P+CSO (TC intermediate). In addition, P+CSO and P−CSO showed significantly higher affective resonance while observing children (MET), which was paralleled by higher self-reported levels of personal distress in social situations (IRI). The results indicate evidence for higher general affective empathic resonance to children in pedophilic men but superior cognitive empathy abilities in nonoffending pedophiles only, which may act as a protective factor in the prevention of sexual offending."

=== Sex and attachment in general ===
*'''Fletcher, G. J. O.; Simpson, J. A.; Campbell, L.; Overall, N. C. . (2015). [https://pismin.com/10.1177/1745691614561683 Pair-Bonding, Romantic Love, and Evolution: The Curious Case of Homo sapiens.] Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(1), 20–36. doi:10.1177/1745691614561683'''
*:"Factor analytic studies of perceptions of romantic love in Western samples support these models, typically revealing three components (e.g., Aron & Westbay, 1996). The labels assigned to each factor vary across studies, but they reflect passion (sexual attraction), emotional bonding (intimacy), and commitment (caregiving)."
*:"romantic love provides a potent motivational push toward the kind of devotion and commitment required for the huge investment needed to support a mate and raise children successfully."
*:"romantic love is an adaptation — a commitment device — that facilitated longterm pair-bonding"
*:"The striking similarity between the behavioral manifestations of parent–infant love and romantic love suggests that evolution may have borrowed these ancient bonding mechanisms, originally evolved in mammals to bond mothers to their offspring, and applied them to men and women in the context of romantic pair-bonding."
*:"Using phylogenetic comparative methods with 230 different species, Opie et al. (2013) found that the evolution of monogamy is strongly related to paternal care of offspring"

== Evolutionary (by)product of human neotenization ==
Another factor of pedosexual attraction emergence is a human neotenization. The evolutionary advantage of retaining neotenic (childish) traits which elicit nurturing responses from adults, results in the retention of neotenic genetic traits due to sexual competition. Therefore such traits become sexually attractive. That leads to the observable progressive neotenization of humans in comparison with ancestors and subsequently increases likelihood of juveniles being sexually attractive. Since fertile females retained juvenile traits into their fertile years, the line between fertile and infertile female age became blurred. Thus, some males become oriented toward females who are too young for reproduction (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":5" />).

Excerpts:
* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23'''
*:“All of these genetically and culturally transmitted processes blur the distinction between reproductively competent adults and children and adolescents. Therefore, all of these processes must be considered to be determinants, at some level, of pedo- and ephebophilia.”
*:“pedo-and ephebophiles, like chins and spandrels, may have no primary adaptive function in themselves but, instead, may be rank-ordered by-products of selection for more adaptive attributes in their kin.”

*'''Lievesley, R. and Harper, C.A. (2024) “[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19419899.2024.2321149#d1e314 The interaction between perceived chronological age and physical sexual development in attractiveness judgments made by people who are attracted to children]”, ''Psychology and Sexuality'', DOI:10.1080/19419899.2024.2321149'''
*:"From an evolutionary perspective, men typically perceive more youthful faces as more attractive due to these indicating a greater degree of fertility (Gallup & Frederick, Citation2010, Little, Citation2015, Thornhill & Grammer, Citation1999). [...] [A]n increased degree of closeness of facial features appears to be encoded as indicating youth (Albert et al., Citation2007), and in turn, this youthfulness is associated with beauty (Sutherland et al., Citation2013)."

*'''Bogin, B. (1997). [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281997%2925%20%3C63%3A%3AAID-AJPA3%3E3.0.CO%3B2-8 Evolutionary hypotheses for human childhood]. ''Yearbook of Physical Anthropology'', 40, 63–89.'''
*:"Taken together, these studies indicate that adults are more likely to protect or nuture individuals with ‘‘neotenous’’ facial features. McCabe defines such features as having a relatively large ratio of cranium size to lower face size."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Our ability to imagine young children as sexual partners is probably increased substantially by two other unusual characteristics: neoteny and hidden estrus. Neoteny, the retention of juvenile traits in adulthood, is far more extensive in Homo sapiens than in any other primate (Bonner, 1980; Gould, 1977). Human adults resemble their small children a great deal more than adult primates do their immature offspring. [...] Moreover, many adolescent boys and young adults are beardless and they often have a complexion similar to that of young women and children. To confuse our senses further and muddle our minds, one- to two-fifths of young adolescent boys experience breast enlargement for a year or more (Katchadourian, 1977; Tanner, 1978). A similar case can be made for behavior. When we find in other animals the behavioral or physical traits of the young to be similar to adult female patterns we often find males courting the immature."
::"A concealed estrus combined with continuous female sexual receptivity and neoteny ought to increase the likelihood that men will find young girls sexually attractive, especially since males are not known anyway for making subtle differentiations between appropriate and inappropriate sex partners. Since women are more discriminating and, furthermore, would not be as confused by the facial resemblance of potential immature and adult sexual partners or by the conundrum of hidden estrus, female pedophilia should be much less common. Male homosexual pedophilia should fall somewhere in between."

The common hypothesis about pedosexuality is that it is merely a by-product of human neotenization. However, there are also arguments that diverse sexuality in adults (including homosexuality and pedosexuality, as seen, for example, in bonobos) in itself is a form of adaptive neoteny. Juvenile bisexual play is widespread among mammals and serves to acquire reproductive skills. Retaining this ability in adulthood may serve a range of sociosexual functions.

* '''Poiani, A. (2010). [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/animal-homosexuality/0352ED7E7645EE35B14FAAF3AE3A127B Animal homosexuality: A biosocial perspective.] ''Cambridge University Press''. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511762192'''
::"Indeed, under various potential selective mechanisms, canalisation of neotenic traits may favour the expression of a great diversity of sexual behaviours that are characteristic of the juvenile stages of development. That is, although from an ontogenetic perspective juvenile homosexual play is a route to efficient heterosexuality in most species, from a phylogenetic perspective neotenic processes, by retaining those juvenile traits past the period of sexual maturation throughout evolution, may produce adult homosexuals or bisexuals. In the adult, homosexual behaviours may then undergo further adaptations related to social life. A potential example of this process may be found in the bonobo, where juvenile same-sex sexual behaviours are as common as they are in the congeneric chimpanzee, but in adults they occur much more frequently than in chimpanzees, being expressed in specific socio-sexual contexts."
::Note: Although the authors make this claim about homosexuality only, there is no obstacle to extending the same conclusion to pedosexuality as well.

== Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis ==
On the basis of previously available evolutionary explanations (Mackey, 1990 <ref name=":6" />; Muscarella, 2000 <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1300/j082v40n01_03 Muscarella, F. (2000). The evolution of homoerotic behavior in humans.] Journal of Homosexuality, 40, 51–77.</ref>; Kirkpatrick, 2000 <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1086/300145 Kirkpatrick, R. C. (2000). The evolution of human homosexual behavior.] Current Anthropology, 41, 385–413</ref>; Neil, 2009<ref>[http://humanbehaviors.free.fr/Livre%20-%20Human%20bisexuality%20-%20The%20Origins%20and%20Role%20of%20Same-Sex%20Relations%20in%20Human%20Societies%202009.pdf Neill, J. (2009). The origins and role of same-sex relations in human societies.] Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.</ref>), [[Bruce Rind]] developed a hypothesis explaining the most widely documented type of male homosexuality in human history, namely [[pederasty]] (the relationship between a man and a peripubertal/[[Adolescence|adolescent]] boy) (Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4" />).

It is assumed that the evolutionary function of man-boy sexual relationships comes from our evolutionary past, when the environment was very different from the modern one. Humans have had a long evolutionary history as [[Wikipedia:Hunter-gatherer|hunter-gatherers]]. This time was characterized by intergroup warfare and the hunting of large animals. To do this, it was necessary to form close-knit same-sex male groups, to form specific male skills of war and hunting, and to maintain the specific masculine culture of this group. This created a selection pressure to create a mechanism to facilitate such rallying, recruitment and enculturation of new members, which is a long-term and labor-intensive undertaking. It is hypothesized that the sexual attraction between a boy and a man became such a mechanism, through the ability to form a strong emotional connection, prompting the mentor to teach and care, and the boy to seek training and a role model.<ref name=":4" />

The evolutionary benefit of such a mechanism is assumed both at the individual level (for the junior this is training, protection, and promotion in the male hierarchy, for the adult this is the expansion of the network of alliances) and at the group level (the clan received a reliable replenishment of group members, well-prepared, enculturated and committed to the culture of the group, which gave a competitive advantage).<ref name=":4" />

This hypothesis is supported by [[Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships|cross-cultural]] and [[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History|historical studies]], where a variety of independent cultures demonstrate the prevalence of institutionalized sexual relations between men and boys of peripubertal age. In many instances boys begin sexual practices with older boys and men long before the beginning of puberty (e.g. at age of 7), so in such cases this can't be called [[Pederasty|pederasty]] in the narrow sense, rather [[Pedophilia|pedophilia]].

These relationships are built into these cultures and are part of growing up and becoming a man. The readiness, desire and initiative for sexual contact comes not only from adult men, but also from boys, and this is recorded as a typical phenomenon in these cultures (see Table III in Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4" />). This also confirms the existence of an evolutionary benefit for younger participants.<ref name=":4" />

Moreover, this attraction is not associated with reproductive losses, unlike exclusive homosexuality. It is typical of all these cultures that, upon reaching adulthood, men get wives and at the same time have sexual relations with boys themselves. It is assumed that this ability of the average heterosexual male to experience pederastic attraction is specific to our species.<ref name=":4" />

But this ability is optional (facultative). That is, unlike obligate heterosexual attraction, pederastic interest is to a large extent activated or suppressed by the social environment. This explains the fact that there is a sharp difference in the prevalence of pederastic behavior and attraction between cultures, and the fact that in modern Western cultures it does not manifest itself widely.<ref name=":4" />

Excerpts:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
*:“Formally, this hypothesis holds that pederasty evolved in the early human hunter-gatherer EEA [Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness] as an adaptation (i.e., exaptation), whose function it was to reproduce the male group by facilitating the mentoring and enculturation of boys from peripubescence through adolescence, as well as their emotional and psychological binding with the group. This function was a solution to the recurring adaptive problems in the EEA of surviving and exploiting an extremely dangerous and competitive social and physical environment”
*:“In short, the ages of boys sought out as recruits in male groups, the period in which they are mentored and enculturated, the ages of boys that men in such societies (and our own) find erotically appealing, the ages at which boys are especially open to being mentored (and capable as well, owing to an emergent adult-cognitive capacity), and the ages at which they are open to pederastic relations appear to be part of a single package, in which each of these characteristics seems to be a design feature and element of a larger design, whose function is reproducing the male group.”
*:“It is important to emphasize that pederasty’s relatively infrequent expression in societies such as ours does not imply that it is not an adaptation. In our society, developmental inputs have traditionally been intensely hostile toward homosexual behavior, often accompanied by severe social sanctions, including public disgrace and punishment, which can be expected to have had a significant dampening effect on the emergence and activation of pederastic desire and the expression of pederastic behavior.”
*:“Thus, even though adaptive in the EEA , pederasty, being a facultative trait, is nevertheless rare in our environment. On the other hand, in cultures with cultural ideologies and social structures facilitative of pederastic desire and expression, its occurrence has been widespread across the male population, which is consistent with the assumptions that most males have at least a moderate potential for the behavior and that such potential is sufficient for the behavior to emerge, provided other factors are not inhibitory.”

* '''Schiefenhövel, W. (1990). Ritualized Adult-Male/Adolescent-Male Sexual Behavior in Melanesia: An Anthropological and Ethological Perspective. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) Pedophilia. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_16'''
*: "Men are expected to plan, work, fight, and sometimes, die together. The necessary altruistic behavior and effective cooperation of the warriors as well as the acceptance of a male hierarchy would have been fostered by the institution of prescribed homosexuality."

* '''Riegel, D. L. (2011). [https://web.archive.org/web/20130425190309/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Role%20of%20Androphilia%20in%20the%20Psychosexual%20Development%20of%20Boys.pdf The role of androphilia in the psychosexual development of boys.] ''International Journal of Sexual Health'', 23(1), 2–13. doi:10.1080/19317611.2010.509696'''
*:"Proceeding from Feierman's (1990) thesis, it can be postulated that in prehistoric times it is likely that many children, due to violence, disease, poor nutrition, and life spans that were considerably shorter than what we have considered normal for the past couple of centuries, found themselves without either parents or other adults who would be willing to take on the burden of looking after and feeding a not yet productive child. However, a boy who was sexually androphilic (Vanggaard, 1969) would have the potential advantage of closely bonding with an older male whose sexuality included a male-directed pedosexual component, and who would preferentially protect, provide for, and teach the boy the skills necessary to survive and prosper. Studies have identified such secondary boy-attracted pedosexual tendencies in 20% to 30% of self-identified heterosexual adult males (Freund, 1970; cf. Briere & Runtz, 1989, Quinsey, 1984, West, 1980), and these tendencies would not be selected against so long as the bearers were primarily heterosexual and only secondarily male-oriented pedosexual. There is no reason to believe that these percentages were not similar in prehistoric times; there is some evidence for familial transmission (Gaffney, Lurie, & Berlin, 1984). In the absence of our modern-day taboos, such adaptive and beneficial boy/older male relationships could proceed unimpeded, the boy's juvenile androphilic sexuality would typically be supplanted by heterosexuality as he matured (Sandfort, 1987), he would then pass on his genes, and thus both of these traits would be maintained in the gene pool."

* '''Rind, Bruce. (2014). [https://pismin.com/10.1080/19317611.2014.956853 Trends in evolutionary explanations for human male same-sex eroticism: a commentary on Riegel (2011).] ''International Journal of Sexual Health'', (), 1–11. doi:10.1080/19317611.2014.956853'''
*:"In this commentary, I discuss his social critique and focus on his evolutionary hypothesis, reviewing seven earlier hypotheses for comparison. "
*:"Werner (2006) focused exclusively on the evolution of male homosexual behavior. Based on selected cross-species data, he posited that male homosexual behavior evolved in stages over eons of time. In the first, involving primitive species (e.g., reptiles), single adult males controlled territories, where they waited for females for mating. Adolescent or transvestite males, who resembled adult females in form and/or behavior, gained entry to these territories because of their female mimicry and they were tolerated once there because they submitted homosexually to the adult resident. Their benefit for this submission was mating opportunities with visiting females, which otherwise would not have been available to them. In the second stage, male homosexual behavior changed function (i.e., was an exaptation) in various more complex descendent species with greater cognitive capacities (so that deception via female mimicry no longer worked) and in which adult males lived together in groups rather than as isolates. Here, the changed function of homosexual submission was to elicit tolerance from the dominant male, which served to uphold the dominance hierarchy, which in turn facilitated multi-male group living. The third and final phase occurred when multiple males did not simply live together but cooperated on common tasks. Here, male homosexual behavior changed function once again, in which it facilitated alliance formation, which in turn enabled pursuit of common tasks. He called his explanation the hierarchy/cooperation theory for human male homosexual behavior. Werner claimed that pathic (i.e., transgenderal) homosexuality was the most common form of male homosexual behavior cross-culturally, followed by transgenerational homosexuality. He speculated that different social structures produce different strategies for male/male cooperation, which in turn determine the form by which male homoeroticism is expressed."

* '''Jaroslava Varella Valentova, Andreone Teles Medrado, and Marco Antonio Correa Varella “Male Bisexuality”. In: Todd K. Shackelford (ed.), 2022, [https://annas-archive.org/md5/2d84ebccbbaafc78b4516ef6b129e5a2 The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology. Vol 4.] ''Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)''.'''
::"The alternative sneaking tactic can apply to transitory bisexual men, who would pursue predominantly same-sex relationships early in life when they do not possess status and/or resources to attract females, and create and maintain a family. In the younger age, they might have same-sex tutors or they might sexually serve to dominant males possessing resources. However, they might also sneak among the female partners of the dominant male, and gain at least some copulations and a nonzero reproductive success. Later in life they might switch to predominantly other-sex mating."

==Childhood as a target for sexual selection==

Some authors have suggested that not only adolescence but also middle childhood are involved in sexual selection process, and evolved as a stage at which individuals not only could but should take responsibilities. This appears to contradict how childhood is constructed in modern society (see also [[Research:_Cognitive_ability#Competence|research on childhood competence]]). According to such theories, in middle childhood, individuals become "nest helpers", helping in nurturing for younger siblings, foraging, and chores. This is a fine tuning stage of later social and sexual life-history strategies. First sexual or romantic attractions, sexual play, separation in gender roles typically emerge several years before puberty reflecting the fact that children are drawn into the evolutionary process of sexual selection much earlier than they become fertile. At this stage they actively learn sociosexual behavior and receive feedback about their sociosexual success from peer and adults, adapting their sexual competitive strategy to the environmental input. They engage in sexual and romantic relationship along with adults benefiting from learning, resources and social status they gain. This contributes to their sexual success in later life stages.

*'''Del Giudice M. (2014) [https://iris.unito.it/retrieve/handle/2318/1853338/974935/DelGiudice_2018_middle-childhood_chapter_pre.pdf Middle childhood: an evolutionary-developmental synthesis.]; 8:193–200. doi:10.1111/cdep.12084. in: Halfon N, Forrest CB, Lerner RM, et al., editors. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK543707/ Handbook of Life Course Health Development]. ''Cham (CH): Springer''; 2018. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-47143-3'''
*:"In summary, the life stage of juvenility/middle childhood has two major interlocking functions: social learning and social integration in a system of roles, norms, activities, and shared knowledge. While children are still receiving sustained investment from parents and other relatives—in the form of food, protection, knowledge, and so forth—they also start to actively contribute to their family economy. By providing resources and sharing the burden of child care, juveniles can boost their parents’ reproductive potential. The dual nature of juveniles as both receivers and providers explains many psychological features of middle childhood and has likely played a major role in the evolution of human life history (Kramer, 2011)."
*:"Middle childhood is one of the main stages of human development, marked by the eruption of the first permanent molars around age 6 and the onset of androgen secretion by the adrenal glands at about 6-8 years (Bogin, 1997)."
*:"The transition to middle childhood is typically associated with a strong separation in gender roles, even in societies where tasks are not rigidly assigned by sex."
*:"The stress response system plays a major role in gathering and storing information about environmental safety, predictability, and availability of resources; adrenarche contributes by translating that information into adaptive, sexually differentiated patterns of behavior (Del Giudice et al., 2011; Ellis & Del Giudice, 2014). Consistent with this view, both early relational stress and early nutrition have been found to modulate the timing of adrenarche (Ellis & Essex, 2007; Hochberg, 2008). It is no coincidence that the first sexual and romantic attractions typically develop in middle childhood, in tandem with the intensification of sexual play (Bancroft, 2003; Herdt & McClintock, 2000). By interacting with peers and adults, juveniles receive feedback about the effectiveness of their nascent behavioral strategies. The information collected during middle childhood feeds into the next developmental switch point, that of gonadarche (Ellis, 2013)"
*:"By determining children’s initial place in social networks and hierarchies, competition in middle childhood indirectly affects their ability to attract sexual and romantic partners later. In other words, middle childhood is a likely target for sexual selection — that is, natural selection arising from the processes of choosing mates (mate choice) and competing for mates (mating competition). My colleagues and I (Del Giudice et al., 2009) argued that sexual selection is one reason why sex differences emerge and intensify in middle childhood."

== Complementary behavior among minors ==
The hypothesis of pedophilic/pederastic attraction as a promoter of affection, care, and reproductive benefits in general on the side of youth is confirmed by the very existence of complementary behavior of minors, who [[Testimony: CSA (Children's Sexual Advances)|often show initiative and willingness for sexual relations with adults]]<ref>[https://ia802202.us.archive.org/16/items/rind-2022-reactions-to-minor-older-and-minor-peer-sex-in-finnish-survey/Rind%202022%20-%20Reactions%20to%20Minor-Older%20and%20Minor-Peer%20Sex%20in%20Finnish%20survey.pdf Rind, B. Reactions to Minor-Older and Minor-Peer Sex as a Function of Personal and Situational Variables in a Finnish Nationally Representative Student Sample. Arch Sex Behav 51, 961–985 (2022).], see also [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/images/Rindbasics.pdf Yesmap Primer] and [https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02224-0 DOI.org].</ref>. It’s assumed that such a behavior could function to receive affection and extra resources not available from the child's default caregiver, or as a way to indirect reproductive value (for example, through group survival by successful [[Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis|bonding to mentors]] during male warfare recruiting), or just as an attempt to develop sexual skills. This testifies to the evolutionarily beneficial and reciprocal essence of intergenerational attraction (Klapilová & Bártová, 2017; Stevens & Price, 2016; Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4"> [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Rind, B. (2013). Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) ''New York: Routledge.'' doi:10.4324/9781315432458</ref>).

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. (2017). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1 Sexual Pathology.] In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] (pp. 7439 - 7445). Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1'''
*:“The child’s adaptive behavioral function to demand nurture from adults and his prospective urge to perform sexual activities is not mentioned too often. Still, it is a rather widespread behavior across cultures and historical periods that can help the child receive extra resources not available from their own parents. It would therefore be a complementary strategy – from the pedophile’s side, there is the eroticization of nurturing behavior and attraction to signalization that encourages caretaking, whereas from the child’s side, it is a functional, environmentally conditioned strategy that brings benefits in the form of resources and possibly even acquisition of sexual experience and calibration of child sexuality”.

* '''Stevens, A., & Price, J. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315740577 Evolutionary Psychiatry: A new beginning] (Classic Ed.) (pp. 206-218) Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. doi:10.4324/9781315740577'''
*:“it is undeniable that many children in our society – especially those in boarding schools and childrens’ homes – suffer from ‘parent hunger’. They are what Mia Kellmer-Pringle has called ‘touch-hungry children’. It is possible that the care-eliciting ‘phylism’ in these children may become eroticized just as the care-giving phylism may be eroticized in adult paedophiles. Thus, children starved of parental affection may compete for the love and attention of adults in their environment by using erotic solicitation as a strategy for survival. To suggest this possibility is not to excuse adults who exploit the emotional needs of children for their personal gratification but to provide an evolutionary explanation as to how and why erotic bonds between adults and juveniles may occur. We would propose that both care-eliciting and care-giving phylisms can be eroticized.”

[[Bruce Rind]] gathered evidence of widespread minors' positive reactions, even in our restrictive culture, in his research. (Also, some relevant excerpts are in [[Research: Prevalence of Harm and Negative Outcomes#Simple or informed consent as predictive of positive reactions?|this section]]).

Here is some evidence from [[Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships|Nonwestern cultures]]:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"Anthropological studies on preindustrial societies with culturally institutionalized or widespread pederasty provide reports on how the younger males responded to sexual contacts with older males (see Table III ). Among the Javanese, men remembered their boyhood pederastic experiences entirely positively, despite the researcher’s probing to uncover negative cases (Williams, 2011). Sambian boys showed much initiative in these contacts, especially at older ages (Herdt, 1991, 1997). Keraki men believed that they could not have developed properly without these relations as boys (Williams, 1936). Kaluli men looked back on the complex of grueling hunting, living in a sex-segregated men’s lodge, ritual discipline, unity of purpose, vigorous manly ethos, and growth-stimulating insemination by older males as the highlight of their lives (Schieffelin, 1982). East Bay boys discussed their sexual experiences with men freely and without shame in the presence of their parents and friends (Davenport, 1965). Gebusi boys aged 11 to 14 initiated sexual relations with older males based on personal affection rather than obligation (Herdt, 1991). The bond between Marind-Anim boys and their adult male partners was extremely strong, which was apparently facilitated by the sexual interactions (Van Baal, 1966). Likewise, pederastic relations were extremely close among the Big Nambas (Layard, 1942). Among the Kiman, pederastic behavior would stop after adolescence, but “nevertheless, a lifelong emotional relationship often” resulted (Serpenti, 1984, p. 305). In various southern Mexican Indian tribes, adolescent boys were proud to have been chosen for pederastic relationships, seeing it as an honor to be their men’s lovers (Ross, 1991). And being a Tsongan boy-wife was not just good for security, but for the “fun” it afforded (Murray & Roscoe, 1998)."

And from [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|cross-species]] studies:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"In many species, the younger animals involved in age-discrepant homosex were frequently observed not simply assenting to the sexual interactions but actually initiating them (e.g., bonobos, chimps, gorillas, gibbons, Hanuman and Nilgiri langurs, crab-eating macaques, rhesus macaques, Tibetan macaques, patas monkeys). Specific examples include juvenile Tibetan macaques jumping up to the faces of adult males to be fellated (Ogawa, 1995), an adolescent gibbon repeatedly soliciting sex from his father (Edwards & Todd, 1991), and juvenile rhesus macaques fiercely competing to be the one mounted by an adult male (Kempf, 1917). In a number of species, the researchers noted the sexual excitement exhibited by the immature partners in age-discrepant homosex (e.g., rhesus, stumptail, and Tibetan macaques). In several species, sometimes immature males were assenting and sometimes not (e.g., siamangs, proboscis monkeys, crab-eating macaques, and squirrel monkeys)."

::"In humans’ closest relatives, bonobos and chimps, juvenile males frequently and preferentially solicit adult females and attempt to copulate with them. In most cases, they show sexual arousal with erections. Adult females are usually tolerant and even cooperative, but when they are not, the juvenile males frequently protest with whimpering or tantrums (Bagemihl, 1999; Hashimoto, 1997; Kano, 1980; Kollar, Beckwith, & Edgerton, 1968). Similar patterns have been observed in many other primate species (Bagemihl, 1999). Anderson and Bielert (1990) noted that “Among nonhuman primates . . . sexual interaction between adult females and immature males is universal” (p. 192). It may be that primate patterns do not extend to humans, but the similarity of the observed human and primate patterns in juvenile male-adult female sex suggests a phylogenetic continuum (cf. Ford & Beach, 1951)."

== Natural factors contributing to the development of intergenerational sexuality into an evolutionary mismatch ==
Intergenerational sexuality is discussed as an evolutionary mismatch between our evolved mechanisms and modern moral norms. More often, we encounter moral, political, and ideological justifications for restricting of intergenerational sexual activity, but there are also natural evolutionary, economic, and ecological factors that may contribute to this. What follows is a synthesis of several independent lines of evidence: evolutionary demography, human-capital theory, cultural evolution, and the costs of early sex and early parenthood. This is worth taking into account for a better understanding of the background of the current ideological landscape.

=== The increased disadvantage of early pregnancy ===

[https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] and [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01357-3 Borgerhoff Mulder (1998)] suggest that under the conditions of human evolution, the accumulation of resources and status generally increased reproductive success, so selection may have entrenched the pursuit of these as a primary motivation. In a highly competitive environment, this may lead not to maximizing the number of children but to greater investment in oneself and in a smaller number of children. This is the quantity–quality trade-off, observed, for example, in the data of [https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1635 Lawson, Alvergne & Gibson (2012)].

The modern economy expands opportunities for accumulating property and status. The returns on these investments increase, so early reproduction entails greater opportunity costs. At the same time, standards of competition in the mating market rise. All that significantly increases the desire for higher capital and social status and the volume of necessary investments. In the model of [https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] this effect is shown in skill-based competitive labour markets. [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0150 Shenk, Kaplan & Hooper (2016)] show that status competition and inequality additionally increase optimal investments in children’s education and social status and can sharply reduce fertility. ([https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)]; [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0150 Shenk et al. (2016)])

An additional ecological factor may be population density. [https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000086 Sng et al. (2017)] found that it was associated with greater future orientation, investment in education and children, later marriage, and lower fertility. Experimentally increasing the salience of high population density also shifted decisions toward these strategies.
But a central constraint on the viability of early motherhood is the availability of alloparental support. Human child-rearing has historically been cooperative. In almost all populations, the presence of kin helpers was associated with greater child survival, earlier onset of reproduction, and greater reproductive intensity. Thus, in many traditional populations reproduction can easily begin before full economic and social independence. The modern decline in access to alloparenting greatly increases the costs of early pregnancy. ([https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.10.001 Sear & Mace (2008)]; [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2011.00379.x Sear & Coall (2011)]; [https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-010-9098-9 Kaptijn et al. (2010)]; [https://doi.org/10.3109/03014460903563434 Kramer & Lancaster (2010)]).

In prehistoric times puberty had begun by 13.5 years of age for the majority of individuals. But the age of menarche appears to have occurred between 16 and 17 years of age ([https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39266410/ Lewis et al. (2025)]). The same pattern is observed in many historical populations: puberty could begin at 10–12 years of age, but menarche was delayed until 15–17 years. Menarche is thought to be directly influenced by nutritional abundance, physical demands, and infections. [https://doi.org/10.1186/1687-9856-2011-2 Hochberg, Gawlik & Walker (2011)]

But modernization has shifted biological and socioeconomic reproductive timing in opposite directions. Improved nutrition and health have moved female biological maturation several years earlier ([https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-023-00919-z Anderson et al. (2024)]). In modern times, menarche occurs at an average age of about 12–13 years ([https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dez015 Mishra et al. (2019)]). While education and human-capital accumulation have shifted the socioeconomically advantageous timing of reproduction much later than 16. Modernization has therefore widened the discrepancy between biological fecundity and the age of social and economic readiness. ([https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-4038-7_5 Kramer (2017)]; [https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)]; [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0150 Shenk et al. (2016)]).

Very early pregnancy (before age 14-15) also associated with increased health risks for the mother herself ([https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000004807 Staniczenko et al. (2022)]; [https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003225 Leppälahti et al. (2013)]).

Hence, there arises a pressure for culturally constructed means of delaying and restraining pregnancy. Independent quasi-experimental evidence shows that delaying adolescent childbearing and child marriage increases subsequent education, employment, and earnings ([https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2017.11.006 Branson & Byker (2018)]; [https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20200008 Wilson (2022)]). While the association isn’t that persistent (see [[Research:_Teen_pregnancy]]).

Age-asymmetric adolescent relationships are more risky in terms of pregnancy. Girls with substantially older male partners have higher pregnancy rates. Among pregnant adolescents those with older adult partners are more likely to desire the pregnancy, greater likelihood of planning another pregnancy, to be married or cohabiting, and to have discontinued school, or have lower school enrollment. This is explained, on the one hand, by the fact that older male partners are more likely to be employed and may offer greater immediate economic and emotional security. At the same time, substantial selection is present: girls with weaker family support and lower educational aspirations are themselves more likely to enter early relationships with older men. ([https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10435214/ Darroch et al. (1999)]; [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9080937/ Rickert et al. (1997)]; [https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/190780 Agurcia et al. (2001)]; [https://doi.org/10.1363/4001708 Ryan et al. (2008)]).

=== Increased risk of STIs ===

Sex carries infectious risks, and age asymmetry may amplify them: older partners have spent more time in sexual networks and are therefore more likely to belong to groups with a higher accumulated prevalence of infection ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000002037 Stoner et al. (2019)]).

In the United States, girls who began having sex before age 16 with a partner ≥3 years older had approximately 2.1 times higher odds of STIs than girls who began equally early with a similar-aged partner ([https://doi.org/10.1363/4001708 Ryan et al. (2008)]).

For HIV, prospective incidence data are also available: a partner ≥5 years older was associated with an approximately 1.9-fold hazard of new infection in South Africa ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000002037 Stoner et al. (2019)]), while in Zimbabwe each additional year of age gap was associated with an approximately 5% increase in hazard ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000001506 Schaefer et al. (2017)]). A meta-analysis of 24 studies found RR = 1.39 for HIV and RR = 1.57 for unprotected sex in age-disparate relationships among girls and young women ([https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000002582 Bajunirwe, Semakula & Izudi (2020)]).

=== Sexual trajectories after early sexual initiation ===

Early sexual contact, even in the absence of risk of pregnancy and STIs, may be associated with a subsequent more active and risky sexual trajectory, which in turn reduces a person’s well-being.

Among women, adult–child sexual contact was associated with 2.1-fold higher odds of intercourse before age 16, 3.4-fold higher odds of having ≥11 partners in adulthood, and 1.6-fold higher odds of STI; the association with teenage childbearing and a number of later outcomes operated to a substantial extent through the subsequent sexual trajectory ([https://doi.org/10.2307/2657425 Browning & Laumann (1997)]).

In [https://doi.org/10.1363/4001708 Ryan et al. (2008)] girls who began sex early with an older man subsequently had more partners; it was the subsequent number of partners that partially explained the increased probability of nonmarital birth.

Among men, [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0049-089X(02)00019-4 Browning (2002)] also found an association between childhood sexual contacts and greater subsequent sexual activity and a larger number of partners, with the resulting infectious risks. In addition, trajectory specificity was observed: oral sex in childhood experience predicted oral sex in adulthood, while contact with a male partner predicted approximately seven-fold higher odds of the appeal of same-gender sex. This is consistent with the hypothesis that some sexual scripts are reinforced by early experience.

A secondary risk is that moral incongruence surrounding sexual behavior may contribute to poorer psychological well-being: more frequent non-marital sex among women and same-sex sexual activity among men were associated with greater unhappiness when these behaviors conflicted with moral beliefs. [https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01860-2 Perry, Grubbs & McElroy (2021)]

[https://doi.org/10.1016/S0049-089X(02)00019-4 Browning (2002)] acknowledges that early sexual contact does not necessarily cause the subsequent sexual trajectory: both variables may be partly explained by third factors. But he considers the specific recurrence of characteristics of the early experience to be evidence in favor of some effect of sexual learning.

There's strong evidence for the reproductive advantage of juvenile sexual learning in many [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|animals]]. But the modern human demographic and economic conditions don’t seemingly favor that.

=== Do restrictions work? ===

'''Compulsory schooling'''

Mechanisms that keep girls in school do indeed reduce early childbearing: [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2008.02159.x Black, Devereux & Salvanes (2008)]; [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.102268 DeCicca & Krashinsky (2020)]; [https://doi.org/10.1086/700076 Kırdar, Dayıoğlu & Koç (2018)].
Evidence for infectious outcomes is more limited than for adolescent pregnancy. However, structural interventions that prolong schooling can reduce HIV risk [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26134875/ De Neve et al. (2015)].

'''Minimum marriage age'''

In an analysis of more than 250,000 women from 17 countries, raising the minimum legal age of marriage to 18 increased age at marriage and age at first birth; in urban areas, it also reduced the prevalence of child marriage and increased education ([https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20200008 Wilson (2022)]).

'''Statutory rape laws'''

[https://doi.org/10.1093/aler/ahv013 Frakes & Harding (2015)] calculated what share of adolescent sexual encounters in each state falls under felony liability for the older partner. A one-standard-deviation increase in this effective coverage by the law was associated with a reduction in the teen live-birth rate of approximately 4.5% relative to baseline. Simply increasing the severity of punishment had no additional effect.

'''Negative information about older partners'''

Providing adolescents with information that older partners had higher HIV prevalence delayed sexual debut, reduced the number of sexual partners, and lowered pregnancy risk. [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6844-8 Angrist et al. (2019)]

'''Contraception'''

Modern contraception partly decouples adolescent sexual activity from risk. In the United States between 1995 and 2002, improved contraceptive use accounted for an estimated 77% of the decline in pregnancy risk among 15–17-year-olds, while reduced sexual activity accounted for 23%; among 18–19-year-olds, the decline was entirely attributable to improved contraceptive use. Thus, reducing risks in modern societies does not necessarily require a corresponding reduction in sexual activity. [https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2006.089169 Santelli et al. (2007)]

=== Prestige bias ===

The demographic transition, like the tightening of the age of consent, initially affected affluent strata more strongly. In the model of [https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] it is highly educated and high-income parents who receive the greatest returns from delaying reproduction and making large investments in fewer children, because such investments particularly strongly increase the competitiveness of offspring.

Historically, this was partly reflected in American statutory rape / age-of-consent laws, early versions of which were applied asymmetrically and primarily protected the sexual “virtue” of white girls from privileged groups. But as the economic opportunities of girls from less affluent strata expanded, the opportunity costs of early motherhood increased for them as well. In the nineteenth century, increases in the age of consent occurred alongside young women’s entry into the labour market and growth in their economic independence ([https://doi.org/10.1515/9780791485965 Cocca (2004)]; [https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520255654.001.0001 Lancaster (2011)]).

However, reproductive norms that emerge in higher strata can spread regardless of whether they produce the same economic returns for other groups. Prestige/success bias means that people tend to copy successful and high-status models as entire packages of behavior, including elements that do not necessarily increase the copier’s success in themselves. [https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0152 Colleran (2016)], for example, considers prestige-biased transmission as one possible mechanism for the spread of low fertility across social strata during the demographic transition; the same mechanism is discussed by [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01357-3 Borgerhoff Mulder (1998)]. Therefore, a package including prolonged education, late marriage, a small number of children, and strict restriction of their sexual behavior may spread as a marker of a prestigious lifestyle beyond contexts where it provides a real reproductive advantage.

=== Demographic transition as an evolutionary mismatch ===
[https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281996%2923%2B%3C91%3A%3AAID-AJPA4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-C Kaplan (1996)] and [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(98)01357-3 Borgerhoff Mulder (1998)] view the demographic transition itself as an evolutionary mismatch: motivation to accumulate resources and status, following prestigious models, and large investments in a smaller number of offspring usually increased fitness. But in a modern environment of extensive opportunities, high competition, and low availability of alloparenting, this can lead to excessive delay and restriction of reproduction, so that fertility can easily fall below the level required simply to maintain population size.

== Other relevant information ==

=== Ontogenetic plasticity ===

Here's an explanation for why, if a minor attraction was adaptive, it may not be ubiquitous today.
*'''Alanko K, Salo B, Mokros A, Santtila P, (2013). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235369954_Evidence_for_Heritability_of_Adult_Men's_Sexual_Interest_in_Youth_under_Age_16_from_a_Population-Based_Extended_Twin_Design "Evidence for heritability of adult men's sexual interest in youth under age 16 from a population-based extended twin design."] ''J Sex Med,'' 10(4):1090-9.'''
*:"Adult men's sexual interest in youthfulness‐related cues may be genetically influenced. [...] The amount of variance attributable to nonadditive genetic influences (heritability) was estimated at 14.6%.[...] Compared with the variance attributable to nonshared environmental effects (plus measurement error), the contribution of any genetic factors seems comparatively weak."
*::'''Editor''': Note, that a heritability coefficient close to zero does not mean the weakness/absence of genetic control over the trait, counter wise may point to high genetic consistency among population, in which case the trait variance is naturally more dependent on the environment. ("Traits such as walking and breathing have low heritability, because these are usually universal traits with slight variations. [...] as heredity becomes more similar, the environment becomes the primary explanation for differences."<ref>[https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/psychology/biological-bases-of-behavior/heritability/ Studysmarter.co.uk: Explanation on heritability]</ref>) This finding of low heritability may be interpreted to mean that the genetic ability to develop minor attraction is highly pervasive among humans and modified by nurture and other environments. This goes along with the [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding%2FEnculturation-Alliance_Hypothesis|Rind's conclusion]] on pederasty as evolutionary determined but a facultative trait.

*'''Bhugra, D. (2000). [https://sci-hub.ru/10.1080/14681990050001574 Disturbances in objects of desire: Cross-cultural issues.] Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 15(1), 67–78. doi:10.1080/14681990050001574'''
*:"Paraphilias are defined as sexual attractions to objects or individuals not normally found attractive. [...] It is argued that, in some types of individual deviance, cultural factors are more likely to play an important role. Some cultures are seen as sex-positive and others as sex-negative but, within each cultural setting, attitudes towards sex and the function of sexual activity are a key to understanding the development of sexual deviance. In cultures where sex is seen as an attraction-led phenomenon rather than a purely procreative one, individuals are more likely to be attracted to 'objects'."

===Undesirable traits as adaptations===

Both pedohebephilic attraction and childhood sexuality are likely influenced somewhat by environmental factors. For example, there exist theories of [[Research:_Psychopathy_and_abnormal_psychology#Adverse_childhood|adverse childhood in pedohebephiles]] and [[Research:_Youth_sexuality#Factors_of_earlier_sexual_development|factors of earlier sexual development]] in youth sexuality. These are unproven and causality is hard to infer. It has been speculated that these are [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Complementary_behavior_among_minors|complementary]] adaptations to difficult circumstances.

From a layman's point of view, undesirable traits that arise as a result of adverse environment are mental breakdowns. From an evolutionary perspective, these may be ways to adapt in a harsh, primordial context. It is worth keeping this perspective in mind.

*'''Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., & Draper, P. (1991). Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Development, 62, 647–670.'''
*:"The concept of "reproductive strategy" drawn from the field of behavioral ecology is applied to the study of childhood experience and interpersonal development in order to develop an evolutionary theory of socialization. The theory is presented in terms of 2 divergent development pathways considered to promote reproductive success in the contexts in which they have arisen. One is characterized, in childhood, by a stressful rearing environment and the development of insecure attachments to parents and subsequent behavior problems; in adolescence by early pubertal development and precocious sexuality; and, in adulthood, by unstable pair bonds and limited investment in child rearing, whereas the other is characterized by the opposite."

*'''Del Giudice, M. (2014b). [https://iris.unito.it/retrieve/e27ce435-4226-2581-e053-d805fe0acbaa/DelGiudice_2014_early-stress_jdohad_pre.pdf Early stress and human behavioral development: Emerging evolutionary perspectives.] Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, 5, 270-280.'''
*:“Stress experienced early in life exerts a powerful, lasting influence on development. Converging empirical findings show that stressful experiences become deeply embedded in the child's neurobiology, with an astonishing range of long-term effects on cognition, emotion, and behavior. In contrast with the prevailing view that such effects are the maladaptive outcomes of 'toxic' stress, adaptive models regard them as manifestations of evolved developmental plasticity.”
*:“Building on the concept of developmental plasticity, researchers have been increasingly advancing alternative models in which early stress does not primarily impair or dysregulate children’s developmental trajectories, but rather shifts them toward behavioral strategies that have proven biologically adaptive in harsh or unpredictable conditions”
*:“Exposure to stress works as a cue to local environmental conditions, and feeds into plasticity mechanisms that coordinate the development of alternative phenotypes.”
*:“In this perspective, many putative maladaptive traits such as anxiety, aggression, and impulsivity can be reframed as costly but adaptive phenotypes that improve an individual’s survival and reproduction prospects in hostile, unpredictable contexts. For example, increased vigilance and anxiety can be regarded as defensive reactions to potential threats, whereas aggression and impulsivity can be effective competitive strategies in harsh, unstable social environments. Furthermore, there is evidence that high levels of physiological and emotional reactivity increase an individual’s sensitivity to context, making him/her more open to both negative and positive social influences. Of course, some of these adaptive traits are going to have undesirable consequences for the individual and/or the social group, and may even be diagnosed as symptoms of psychopathology (e.g., conduct disorders). According to adaptive models, children exposed to early stress should exhibit patterns of impaired cognitive and emotional functioning when tested in safe, stress-free contexts and/or with tasks that mimic the demands of those contexts; but they should often perform better than their peers on tasks that reproduce key features of the dangerous, unpredictable environments they are adapted to. The initial evidence suggests that this may be the case.“

=== Response to critique of evolutionary explanations ===

*'''Karen Franklin. (2010). [https://pismin.com/10.1007/s10508-010-9616-1 Why the Rush to Create Dubious New Sexual Disorders?]. , 39(4), 819–820. doi:10.1007/s10508-010-9616-1'''
*:"As all students of Darwin know, evolutionary success strategies must be understood on a population-wide basis, not an individual level. Moreover, social scientists generally agree that biological evolution is rarely sufficient to understand human behavior in modern, complex social systems. Thus, to say that a trait may have emerged as evolutionarily adaptive in prehistoric times implies nothing of its presence or function on an individual level in contemporary society."

== See also ==

*[[Debate_Guide: Evolutionary logic|Debate Guide: Evolutionary logic]]
*[[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in_History|Intergenerational Relationships in History]]
*[[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals]]

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category: Research: Broader Perspectives]]

== References ==

Research: Prevalence of Harm and Negative Outcomes

2026-08-15T19:09:09Z

Thorn: /* Outcomes and "severity" */

{{research}}__NOTOC__
:''[https://web.archive.org/web/20211021023155/https://cchain2021.tiiny.site/ Web Archive (within series)]''
Research (much of it outdated) investigating CSA as a clinical/legal/traumatic phenomenon, using similarly obtained samples is wrongly generalized by practitioners and educators to the entire population. Society is not an enormous clinic, so why should we assume these studies are representative?

This article pools mainly nonclinical, nonlegal and nontraumatic sampled research articles documenting the prevalence of harm. [[Rind et al]] (1998) confirmed that CSA is not a reliable predictor of later maladjustment, when other factors are accounted for. [[Research:_Secondary_Harm#Self-appraisal_of_abuse,_Self-Perception_and_%22Consent%22|Self-perception of (simple) consent]] is also a strong predictor of indifferent or positive outcomes. These results have been re-affirmed as recently as 2021 by Daly. On the other hand, non-consent is even correlated with negative outcomes for adult men victimized by women.<ref>[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-023-02717-0 Madjlessi, J., Loughnan, S. Male Sexual Victimization by Women: Incidence Rates, Mental Health, and Conformity to Gender Norms in a Sample of British Men. Arch Sex Behav (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02717-0]</ref>

As a side note, prevalence of CSA is widely held to be "1 in 10" for the purpose of clarity in victim advocacy, but varies by gender and depending on definition of abuse (peer vs adults only, etc). None of these are settled debates.<ref>[https://www.d2l.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Updated-Prevalence-White-Paper-1-25-2016_2020.pdf Darkness To Light]</ref>

==Outcomes==
*'''[[Bruce Rind|Rind, Bruce]]; Tromovitch, Philip; Bauserman, Robert (1998). [https://sci-hub.mksa.top/10.1037/0033-2909.124.1.22 "A Meta-Analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples"], ''Psychological Bulletin'', 124(1), 22-53, doi:10.1037/0033-2909.124.1.22 '''
*:'''Note:''' Successfully replicated by Ulrich<ref>[https://emilkirkegaard.dk/en/wp-content/uploads/A-replication-of-the-meta-analytic-examination-of-child-sexual-abuse-by-Rind-Tromovitch-and-Bauserman.pdf Ulrich - A replication of the meta-analytic examination of child sexual abuse by Rind, Tromovitch, and Bauserman (1998)]</ref> and Daly below.
*:"Many lay persons and professionals believe that child sexual abuse (CSA) causes intense harm, regardless of gender, pervasively in the general population. The authors examined this belief by reviewing 59 studies based on college samples. Meta-analyses revealed that students with CSA were, on average, slightly less well adjusted than controls. However, this poorer adjustment could not be attributed to CSA because [[Research: Family Environment|family environment]] (FE) was consistently confounded with CSA, FE explained considerably more adjustment variance than CSA, and CSA-adjustment relations generally became nonsignificant when studies controlled for FE. Self-reported reactions to and effects from CSA indicated that negative effects were neither pervasive nor typically intense, and that men reacted much less negatively than women. The college data were completely consistent with data from national samples. [...]
*:Fifteen studies presented data on participants' retrospectively recalled immediate reactions to their CSA experiences that were classifiable as positive, neutral, or negative. Overall, 72% of female experiences, but only 33% of male experiences, were reported to have been negative at the time. On the other hand, 37% of male experiences, but only 11% of female experiences, were reported as positive. [...] Seven female and three male samples contained reports of positive, neutral, and negative current reflections (i.e., current feelings) about CSA experiences. Results were similar to retrospectively recalled immediate reactions, with 59% of 514 female experiences being reported as negative compared with 26% of 118 male experiences. Conversely, 42% of current reflections of male experiences, but only 16% of female experiences, were reported as positive. [...] The overall picture that emerges from these self-reports is that (a) the vast majority of both men and women reported no negative sexual effects from their CSA experiences; (b) lasting general negative effects were uncommon for men and somewhat more common for women, although still comprising only a minority; and (c) temporary negative effects were more common, reported by a minority of men and a minority to a majority of women."

*'''Daly, N. R. (2021). [https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1135&context=cps_stuetd Relationship of Child Sexual Abuse Survivor Self-Perception of Consent to Current Functioning], PhD thesis.'''
*:"In 1998 Rind, Tromovitch and Bauserman conducted a meta-analysis using a college sample which challenged the prevailing belief that childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has inherent deleterious effects. Resultantly, the authors proposed alternative terminology (e.g., child-adult sex), without adequate investigation into what distinguishes child-adult sex from CSA. In response, the current study investigated the relationship between CSA, [[consent]] and adult functioning in a college sample [...] These results suggest that based on CSA status, a college sample does not exhibit significant deficits in psychological functioning or family environment and may not be comparable to samples of CSA survivors in the general population."

*'''Lahtinen, H., et al., (2018). "[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29096161/ Children's disclosures of sexual abuse in a population-based sample]," ''Child abuse and Neglect'', Feb 2018; 76: 84-94.'''
*:'''Note:''' 2.4% of the sample (12 and 15 year olds) reported CSA experiences, of which the majority found them to be positive. For the boys, the experience was often positive (71%) vs (9% negative), whereas for the girls it was less often so evaluated (26%) vs (46%) negative. The most popular reason for not disclosing the contact to an adult was considering the experience not serious enough (41%). Despite a CSA sample of 256, the authors bizarrely refused to test for statistical significance of trends.
*:"The small number of answers to the question of whether a sexual incident with an adult was considered negative or positive does not enable testing statistical significance [...] Most of the children reported these incidents as positive. This highlights the potentially contradictory views of an incident from the perspective of the respondent compared to that of society and the law [...] These results, taken together with the finding that many of the children did not label their experiences as sexual abuse, indicate that more age-appropriate safety education for children and adolescents is needed to encourage disclosures to adults early enough [...] Early disclosure is crucial, both for ending the abuse and for preventing perpetrators from moving on to new victims."

*'''[[Bruce Rind|Rind, B.]] (2020). [https://sci-hub.mksa.top/10.1007/s10508-020-01721-y "First Sexual Intercourse in the Irish Study of Sexual Health and Relationships: Current Functioning in Relation to Age at Time of Experience and Partner Age,"] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 50(1):289-310.'''
*:"The vast majority of cases involved postpubertal heterosexual coitus. Overall, minors involved with adults were not significantly less well adjusted than adults involved with other adults on a majority of measures, effect size differences in adjustment were mostly small, and mean adjustment responses consistently indicated good rather than poor adjustment."

*'''[[Bruce Rind|Rind, B.]] (2022). [https://ia601505.us.archive.org/10/items/rind-2022-reactions-to-minor-older-and-minor-peer-sex-in-finnish-survey/Rind%202022%20-%20Reactions%20to%20Minor-Older%20and%20Minor-Peer%20Sex%20in%20Finnish%20survey.pdf "Reactions to Minor-Older and Minor-Peer Sex as a Function of Personal and Situational Variables in a Finnish Nationally Representative Student Sample",] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 51, p. 961–985.'''
*:"Felson et al. (2019) used a large-scale nationally representative Finnish sample of sixth and ninth graders to estimate the population prevalence of negative subjective reactions to sexual experiences between minors under age 18 and persons at least 5 years older and between minors and peer-aged partners for comparison. They then accounted for these reactions in multivariate analysis based on contextual factors. The present study argued that focusing exclusively on negative reactions short-changed a fuller scientific understanding. It analyzed the full range of reactions in the same sample, focusing on positive reactions. For reactions in retrospect, boys frequently reacted positively to minor-older sex (68%, n = 280 cases), on par with positive reactions to boy-peer sex (67%, n = 1510). Girls reacted positively to minor-older sex less often (36%, n = 1047) and to girl-peer sex half the time (48%, n = 1931). In both minor-older and minor-peer sex, rates of positive reactions were higher for boys vs. girls, adolescents vs. children, when partners were friends vs. strangers or relatives, with intercourse vs. lesser forms of sexual intimacy, with more frequent sex, and when not coerced. Boys reacted positively more often with female than male partners. In minor-older sex, partner age difference mattered for girls but not boys, and the minor’s initiating the sex (14% for girls, 46% for boys) produced equally high rates of positive reactions. Most of these factors remained significant in multivariate analysis. The frequency of positive reactions, their responsiveness to context, the similarity in reaction patterns with minor-peer sex, and the generalizability of the sample were argued to contradict the trauma view often applied to minor-older sex, holding it to be intrinsically aversive irrespective of context."
*:'''Note:''' Rind's analysis also identified that boys initiated 46% of their encounters with significantly older people (recalling 82% of such experiences positively), and likewise 14% for girls (79% positive recall). For girls, rates of positive reactions increased from noncontact sex to sexual touching to sexual intercourse in both minor-peer and minor-older sex, with similar rates at each level of intimacy. For intercourse, most girls reacted positively, whether with peers (57%) or older partners (63%). On the other hand, for non-contact sex, few reacted positively, whether with peers (14%) or older partners (8%). Era-related degradation in quality of experience was also indicated, suggesting moral values were to blame for some negative subjective recall. Girls with older partners reacted more negatively (46% vs. 31%) and less positively (26% vs. 47%) in the 2008–2013 surveys than in the 1988 survey. For boys, however, no signifcant diferences occurred.
*:For a fuller analysis of this paper and its findings see [[Media:Rindbasics.pdf|our primer]].

*'''[[Bruce Rind|Rind, B.]] (2023). [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37286764/ Subjective Reactions to First Coitus in Relation to Participant Sex, Partner Age, and Context in a German Nationally Representative Sample of Adolescents and Young Adults.] ''Arch Sex Behav.'' Jul;52(5):2229-2247. doi: 10.1007/s10508-023-02631-5. Epub 2023 Jun 7. PMID: 37286764.'''
*:"Analysis of a Finnish nationally representative student sample found that subjective reactions to first intercourse (mostly heterosexual; usually in adolescence) were highly positive for boys and mostly positive for girls, whether involved with peers or adults (Rind, 2022). The present study examined the generality of these findings by examining subjective reactions to first coitus (heterosexual intercourse) in a German nationally representative sample of young people (data collected in 2014). Most first coitus was postpubertal. Males reacted mostly positively and uncommonly negatively in similar fashion in all age pairings: boy-girl (71% positive, 13% negative); boy-woman (73% positive; 17% negative); man-woman (73% positive, 15% negative). Females' reactions were more mixed, similar in the girl-boy (48% positive; 37% negative) and woman-man (46% positive, 36% negative) groups, but less favorable in the girl-man group (32% positive, 47% negative). In logistic regressions, adjusting for other factors, rates of positive reactions were unrelated to age groups. These rates did increase, in order of importance, when participants were male, their partners were close, they expected the coitus to happen, and they affirmatively wanted it. Reaction rates were computed from the Finnish sample, restricting cases to first coitus occurring in the 2000s, and then compared to minors' reactions in the German sample. The Finns reacted more favorably, similarly in both minor-peer and minor-adult coitus, with twice the odds of reacting positively. It was argued that this discrepancy was due to cultural differences (e.g., Finnish culture is more sex-positive)."

*'''Larsen, K. & Larsen, H. (2007). "[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16982501/ The prevalence of unwanted and unlawful sexual experiences reported by Danish adolescents: Results from a national youth survey in 2002]," ''Acta Paediatrica'', 2006 Oct;95(10):1270-6.'''
*:'''Note:''' The youth were all aged 15. Specific data in tables revealed that 7.5% of girls and 2% of boys reported encounters with a 5+ year age gap or more - 59 and 65% respectively felt they had not been abused.
*:"Multimedia computer-based self-administered questionnaires (CASI) were completed by a national representative sample of 15–16-y-olds. Child sexual abuse was defined according to the penal code and measured by questions defining specific sexual activities, the relationship between the older person and the child, and the youth's own perception of the incident. Results: Among 5829 respondents, 11% reported unlawful sexual experiences, 7% of boys and 16% of girls. Only 1% of boys and 4% of girls felt that they “definitely” or “maybe” had been sexually abused. Conclusion: A relatively high percentage of Danish adolescents have early, unlawful sexual experiences. However, young people's own perception of sexual abuse tends to differ from that of the authorities, or their tolerance of abusive incidents is high. Gender differences were found in factors predicting perception of abuse."

*'''Miriam Junco, Marta Ferragut & Maria J. Blanca (2022). [https://asociacionconciencia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022-Child-Sexual-Abuse-Andalucia.pdf Prevalence of Child Contact Sexual Abuse in the Spanish Region of Andalusia], ''Journal of Child Sexual Abuse'''''
*:'''Note:''' It appears that of the respondents affirming that they were exposed to what the author of this paper defined as "sexual abuse", over half (53%) believed that at ''no point'' in their youth were they subjected to sexual abuse.

*'''Madu, S. N., & Peltzer, K. (2001). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1023/A:1002704331364 Prevalence and Patterns of Child Sexual Abuse and Victim–Perpetrator Relationship Among Secondary School Students in the Northern Province (South Africa).] Archives of Sexual Behavior, 30(3), 311–321.'''
*:"Among those who answered the first question, 21 (9.3%) indicated that they perceived themselves as sexually abused as a child while 195 (90.7%) did not. Among those who perceived themselves as sexually abused as a child, 7 were males (i.e., 6.5% of the male victims) and 13 were females (i.e., 11.3% of the female victims). Among those who did not perceive themselves as sexually abused as a child, 99 were males (i.e., 91.7% of the male victims) and 97 were females (i.e., 84.4% of the female victims)."

*'''[[Bruce Rind|Rind, Bruce]] (1995). [https://sci-hub.mksa.top/10.2307/3812792 "An Analysis of Human Sexuality Textbook Coverage of the Psychological Correlates of Adult - Nonadult Sex"], ''Journal of Sex Research'', 32(3), p. 219-233'''
*:"First, researchers using college samples who have investigated consequences of adult-nonadult sex have generally found either no effects on psychological adjustment attributable to this experience (e.g., Cole, 1987; Fromuth, 1986; Harter, Alexander, & Neimeyer, 1988; Hatfield, 1987; Higgins & McCabe, 1994; Hrabowy & Allgeier, 1987; Pallotta, 1991; Predieri, 1991; Silliman, 1993; Zetzer, 1990), or only a few effects out of many measures--effects that have been small in terms of effect size (e.g., Alexander & Lupfer, 1987; Bergdahl, 1982; Edwards & Alexander, 1992; Fromuth & Burkhart, 1987; Haggard & Emery, 1989; Sarbo, 1984; White & Strange, 1993). Thus, college students who have experienced sex with adults when they were younger do not, as a group, exhibit the kind of maladjustment that has been frequently reported in clinical studies (for reviews of clinical studies, see, e.g., Beitchman, Zucker, Hood, DaCosta, & Akman, 1991; Beitchman et al., 1992)."

*'''Baurmann, Michael C. (1983). ''[https://michaelbaurmann.info/ Sexuality, Violence and Psychological After-Effects: A Longitudinal Study of Cases of Sexual Assault which were Reported to the Police]''. In: Sessar, K., Kerner, HJ. (eds) [https://annas-archive.org/md5/e11e71b71a6847dec4b3ae2c2623fa3c Developments in Crime and Crime Control Research. Research in Criminology]. Springer, New York, NY. ([https://www.ipce.info/library_2/files/baurmann.htm Ipce backup]), ([https://web.archive.org/web/20130425190201/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/Sexuality_%20Violence%20and%20Psychological%20After-Effects.pdf webarchive copy of the summary chapter])'''
*:"The victimological analysis was based on a 4-year questionnaire study (1969 - 1972) of virtually all sexual victims known to the police in the German state of Lower Saxony (n = 8058). [...] To recapitulate, only half of the declared victims (51.8%) of indecent assault suffered from injuries or even severe trauma. The other 48.2% had no problems in connection with the experience. In most of these cases the sexual offense was relatively superficial and harmless and/or the "victim" consented to the offense (page 459). [...] Homosexual contacts played no important statistical or criminological role in this study. On the one hand, they composed only 10-15% of the cases, and on the other, the sexual contacts were described by the victims themselves as "harmless", almost exclusively without the use of violence by the suspect (page 287), and as a result, none of the male victims questioned felt themselves to have been injured. In addition no injury could be determined in these cases with the help of test procedures."

*'''Steever, E. E., Follette, V. M., & Naugle, A. E. (2001). [https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007852002481 "The correlates of male adults' perceptions of their early sexual experiences"], ''Journal of Traumatic Stress'', 14(1), 189–204.'''
*:"Three groups of participants were assessed for this study: (1) men who report no history of childhood sexual experiences or report a history of consensual childhood and adolescent sexual experiences with peers (less than five years age difference; NSA), (2) men who do not identify themselves as survivors of childhood sexual abuse, but report a history of childhood or adolescent (before age eighteen) sexual experiences that were coercive/forced in nature, occurred with an individual at least 5 years older than the subject, or were incestuous in nature (involved an older family member), thus satisfying typical research definitions of child sexual abuse (ESE), and (3) men who report a history of childhood sexual experiences that they label as sexual abuse (CSA). [...] Analysis of variance between groups revealed that Group CSA (''M'' = .71, ''SD'' = .42) reported significantly more distress than Group NSA (''M'' = .40, ''SD'' = .36) or Group ESE did (''M'' = .46, ''SD'' = .22). [...] Consistent with our hypotheses, participants in Group CSA were twice as likely to have participated in psychotherapy as participants in Group ESE. In fact, more than half of Group CSA reported that they had sought mental health treatment. [...] Participants in Group ESE, who by standard research criteria would be classified as "abused" did not seek out mental health counseling to a statistically greater degree than participants in Group NSA. Because the participants in Group ESE did not report higher levels of psychological distress than those in Group NSA, it seems likely that these men did not seek treatment because of lack of distress."

*'''[[Paul Okami|Paul Okami]]. (1991). [https://sci-hub.wf/10.1007/bf01542407 Self-reports of “positive” childhood and adolescent sexual contacts with older persons: An exploratory study], ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 20, pp. 437–457.'''
*:"An exploratory, descriptive study of 37 male and 26 female subjects reporting childhood or adolescent intergenerational sexual contacts about which subjects maintained, at least in part, "positive" feelings is reported. An informal comparison group of 7 female victims of sexual abuse also participated. Subjects were administered a 21-page, 130-item questionnaire designed to explore and evaluate childhood functioning and development, the nature of the sexual experience, and its possible impact on adult life. Eight subjects also participated in subsequent in-depth telephone interviews. A wide range of characteristics and possible effects of the experiences were reported, suggesting that intergenerational sexual contacts may represent a continuum of experience rather than a unitary and discrete pathological phenomenon".
*:"Results of this study are consistent with Haugaard and Emery's (1989) observation that persons reporting "positive" childhood or adolescent intergenerational sexual contacts appear to have had "a different experience from the others." In the present investigation, positive responders' descriptions of affect and assessment of long-term effects are in sharp contrast to those of negative responders. In place of the sense of helplessness, rage, guilt, or "numbness" that typically emerge from accounts of negative experiences, one finds in many of the positive reports - particularly as expressed in the more detailed, open-ended replies and interviews - expression of warmth, pleasure, affection, humor, and even lustiness. Positive responders did not label their experiences ''sexual abuse'', did not describe experiences that would warrant application of the term ''abuse'', if the term were used in the sense of ''maltreatment'', and generally reported no harm as a result of their experiences. In fact, they frequently claimed positive benefit." (p. 453).

*'''[[David Finkelhor|Finkelhor, David]] (1990). [https://sci-hub.st/10.1037/0735-7028.21.5.325 Early and long-term effects of child sexual abuse: An update], ''Professional Psychology: Research and Practice'', 21(5), pp. 325-330.'''
*:'''Note:''' The studies referenced here primarily utilized clinical samples.
*:"Almost every study of the impact of sexual abuse has found a substantial group of victims with little or no symptomatology. Runyon (personal communication, September 23, 1988) found one quarter to one third of the victims without symptoms on the study's major clinician-rated measure of trauma. Mannarino and Cohen (1986) found 31% to be symptom-free. Tong et al. (1987) noted 36% of the children within the normal range on the Child Behavior Checklist. Conte and Schuerman (1987), using an extensive list of symptoms that included such minor items as “fearful of abuse stimuli” or such global items as “emotional upset,” found that 21% of abused children had no symptoms whatsoever (see also Sirles, Smith, & Kusama, 1989). [...] Research shows that such asymptomatic children are more likely to have been abused for a shorter period of time, without force and violence or penetration, by someone who is not a father figure and to have gotten support from parents in the context of a relatively well-functioning family (Browne & Finkelhor, 1986)."

*'''[[David Finkelhor|Finkelhor, David]] and Hines, Denise (2007). [http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV150.pdf "Statutory sex crime relationships between juveniles and adults: A review of social scientific research"], ''Aggression and Violent Behavior'', 12, 300–314.'''
*:[Rind Summarizes the paper] "Hines and Finkelhor (2007) focused on voluntary sexual relations between adolescents (aged 13 and older) and adults. They argued that the adolescent-adult form should be considered separately from the child–adult form, because the evidence indicates that adolescents have a greater capacity (e.g., decision-making ability, agency) to engage in sex and choose partners. Using five studies with relevant data, they reviewed each participant-partner gender combination in terms of reactions by the adolescents to the sex and the dynamics of the relationships. Combining results from these studies for the present article, rates of positive reactions for the different gender combinations were: girl-man, 46% (n = 50); boy-man, 83% (n = 54); boy-woman, 67% (n = 191); and girl-woman, 75% (n= 4). These results revealed a gender difference, with boys reacting more positively (OR = 2.59). These results were clearly not representative of the general population, being based on select convenience and college samples, but nevertheless their review added to the literature by emphasizing conceptual distinctions between child–adult and adolescent–adult sex, alerting that positive reactions can be expected in the latter in relation to certain dynamics. In their discussion of dynamics, they identified various benefits in the overall relationship that the adolescent could receive or perceive, depending on the participant-partner gender combination, which could help account for the positive reactions to the sexual aspects that did occur."

*'''Adrian Coxell et al. (1999). [https://www.bmj.com/content/318/7187/846 'Lifetime prevalence, characteristics, and associated problems of non-consensual sex in men: cross sectional survey'], ''British Medical Journal (BMJ)'', vol. 318, pp. 846–50.'''
*:Summarized by Rind et al. (2001)<ref>Rind et al. (2001). The Validity and Appropriateness of Methods, Analyses, and Conclusions in Rind et al. (1998): A Rebuttal of Victimological Critique From Ondersma et al. (2001) and Dallam et al. (2001)', in ''Psychological Bulletin'', Vol. 127. No. 6. pp. 734-758.</ref>: "In a recent large-scale, non-clinical study, Coxell, King, Mezey, and Gordon (1999) examined a sample of 2,474 men aged 18 to 94 in Great Britain recruited from general medical practices. Participants were asked about CSA occurring before 16 with someone at least 5 years older. In the entire sample, 7.7% of participants [i.e. 185 people] had "consensual" CSA — the authors' term — whereas 5.3% had nonconsenting CSA. Thus, 59% of CSA was consenting." (p. 744).

*'''[[Bruce Rind|Rind, Bruce]] & Tromovitch, Philip (1997). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3813384 "A meta-analytic review of findings from national samples on psychological correlates of child sexual abuse"], ''Journal of Sex Research'', 34, 237-255.'''
*:"The self-reported effects data contradict the conclusions or implications presented in previous literature reviews that harmful effects stemming from CSA are pervasive and intense in the population of persons with this experience. Baker and Duncan (1985) found that, although some respondents reported permanent harm stemming from their CSA experiences (4% of males and 13% of females), the overwhelming majority did not (96% of males and 87% of females). Severe or intense harm would be expected to linger into adulthood, but this did not occur for most respondents in this national sample, according to their self-reports, contradicting the conclusion or implication of intense harm stemming from CSA in the typical case. Meta-analyses of CSA-adjustment relations from the five national studies that reported results of adjustment measures revealed a consistent pattern: SA respondents were less well adjusted than control respondents. Importantly, however, the size of this difference (i.e., effect size) was consistently small in the case of both males and females. The unbiased effect size estimate for males and females combined was ru = .08, which indicates that CSA, assuming that it was responsible for the adjustment difference between SA and control respondents, did not produce intense problems on average."

*'''Wilson, Glenn & Cox, David (1983). ''[http://www.ipce.info/host/wilson_83/index.htm The Child-Lovers: A Study of Paedophiles in Society]''. London: Peter Owen Publishers. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20130425190214/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Child-Lovers%20-%20A%20Study%20of%20Paedophiles%20in%20Society.pdf webarchive copy])
*:"[N]umerous empirical attempts to demonstrate that lasting psychological harm is done to a child through sexual contact with adults (e.g. changing his sex orientation, or making him impotent) have generally failed to adduce any such evidence (e.g. Tindall, 1978; Bernard, 1979). Most researchers seem to be agreed that except in the case of physical assault against an unwilling child (tantamount to rape), no lasting harm to the sexual or social development of the child ‘victim’ can be detected (Powell and Chalkley, 1981)."

*'''Halina Sklenarova et al. 2018 [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0145213417304209 Online sexual solicitation by adults and peers – Results from a population based German sample]. ''Child Abuse & Neglect'''''
*:"Findings illustrated that 51.3% (n = 1148) of adolescents had experienced online sexual activity, which mostly involved peers (n = 969; 84.4%). In contrast, [...] 22.2% (n = 490) reporting online sexual interactions with adults, of which 10.4% (n = 51) were perceived as negative. The findings suggest that adolescents frequently engage in sexual interactions on the Internet with only a relatively small number perceiving such contacts as exploitative."

=== Outcomes and "severity" ===
Much literature has suggested more negative outcomes in victims of more "severe" forms of sexual abuse, such as those involving penetration, longer duration, younger age of debut, age of partner. The observed "dose–response" relationship supports a causal interpretation: greater exposure produces a stronger effect. Nevertheless, this is highly inconsistent, the results of many studies do not confirm that. (''see more in [[Research: Association or Causation]]'')

*'''Browning, C. R., & Laumann, E. O. (1997). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273078559_Sexual_Contact_between_Children_and_Adults_A_Life_Course_Perspective Sexual Contact between Children and Adults: A Life Course Perspective.] ''American Sociological Review'', 62(4), 540. doi:10.2307/2657425'''
*:"We adjudicate between two competing models of the long-term effects on women of sexual contact in childhood. The psychogenic perspective conceptualizes adult-child sexual contact as a traumatic event generating intense affect that must be resolved. Behavioral attempts to deal with the trauma of adult-child sexual contact can take opposing forms - some victims will engage in compulsive sexual behavior while others withdraw from sexual activity. The more severe the sexual contact, the more adverse the long-term effects (including sexual dysfunction and diminished well-being). From our alternative life course perspective, sexual contact with an adult during childhood provides a culturally inappropriate model of sexual behavior that increases the child's likelihood of engaging in an active and risky sexual career in adolescence and adulthood. These behaviors, in turn, create long-term adverse outcomes. Using data from the National Health and Social Life Survey, we find evidence of heightened sexual activity in the aftermath of adult-child sex (predicted by both perspectives), but we find no evidence of a tendency to avoid sexual activity (predicted by the psychogenic perspective). Moreover, we find little evidence to support the hypothesis that the severity of the sexual contact increases the likelihood of long-term adverse outcomes. In contrast, we find strong evidence that sexual trajectories account for the association between adult-child sex and adult outcomes."
*:"Finally, telling evidence of the influence of sexual trajectories was revealed in our analysis of the mediating impact of intervening sexual events on long-term adverse outcomes. When we controlled for intervening sexual career variables (teenage childbirth and number of sexual partners) and intervening adverse sexual experience variables (sexually transmitted infection and forced sex) we found that the direct effect of adult-child sex disappeared in most cases. More active and riskier sexual trajectories were associated with high rates of sexual dysfunction and low well-being in adulthood"

* '''Edward O. Laumann, Christopher R. Browning, Arnout van de Rijt, and Mariana Gatzeva. Sexual Contact between Children and Adults: A Life Course Perspective with a special reference to men.''' in: '''[[John Bancroft|Bancroft]], J. (Ed.) (2003). [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=C3F0A409AC9F1193E0BA75B847BC19E4 Sexual development in childhood]. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.'''
*:"The effect of adult-child sex on measures of sexual behavior over longer periods of the life course (last five years and since age 18) indicates that these experiences heighten levels of sexual activity for men but do not result in sexual withdrawal.
*:The evidence suggests that childhood sexual contact tends to result in reinforcement of sexual activity generally as well as acts and relationship characteristics specific to the early sexual event. This conclusion is supported with respect to the heightened interest on oral sex if this occurred in the early event as well as the association between same-gender sexual activity during childhood and its subsequent appeal.
*:Contrary to the expectations of the psychogenic perspective, the level of event severity is not associated with long-term outcomes.
*:Peer contacts were associated—at magnitudes and significance levels comparable to adult-child sexual contacts—with overall well-being and sexual adjustment during adulthood. In short, age of the partner is not associated with sexual adjustment during adulthood.[...]
*:The effect of adult-child sex on adult sexual adjustment appears to be mediated by a range of intervening events in the life course."
*:"The importance of marital status and the appeal of short-term sexual partnering as mechanisms linking early sexual contact with adult relationship satisfaction conform to the expectations of the life course perspective. Early sexual experience may result in the assimilation of models or scripts of sexual interaction that do not facilitate the development of stable intimate relationships."
*:'''Note:''' They tested two large samples, referred to as NHSLS and CHSLS, which yielded divergent results: "For the NHSLS, men’s adult-child sex is associated with all the adult adjustment variables, while for the CHSLS, it is not associated with any of these variables. Moreover, consistent with the life course perspective, for the NHSLS, peer sexual contacts were associated with both adult overall well-being and high sexual dysfunction[...] These results also run counter to the psychogenic assumption that those who experience sexual contacts with age peers will not manifest similar adult outcomes. However, for the CHSLS no significant differences in adult well-being or sexual adjustment between men with and without peer sexual experiences were found."
*:'''Note:''' For the last two studies [[Research:_Secondary_Harm#Stigma_as_a_factor|stigma as a factor]] may be of relevance. [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-020-01860-2?error=cookies_not_supported&code=af0a3560-1e1c-45a1-bfdd-79c359fac45c Moral Incongruence] typically targets non-marital sexual activity in women and same-sex sexual activity in men.
*: '''Note:''' these findings were also publicized a year earlier in '''Browning, C. R. (2002). [https://sci-hub.su/10.1016/S0049-089X(02)00019-4 Trauma or transition: A life-course perspective on the link between childhood sexual experiences and men’s adult well-being]. ''Social Science Research'', 31(4), 473–510. doi:10.1016/S0049-089X(02)00019-4'''

*'''Rind, B., Tromovitch, P., & Bauserman, R. (2001). The validity and appropriateness of methods, analyses, and conclusions in Rind et al. (1998): A rebuttal of victimological critique from Ondersma et al. (2001) and Dallam et al. (2001). ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 30(5), 463–499. Doi:10.1023/A:1010271214506'''
*:"Clearly, meta-analyses of nonclinical samples show that both men and women with a history of CSA are slightly less well adjusted than controls. However, in our society, minors in general who have precocious sex—for example, willing peer intercourse at a young age—are also less well adjusted (e.g., Jessor, Costa, Jessor, & Donovan, 1983; Ketterlinus, Lamb, Nitz, & Elster, 1992; Resnick & Blum, 1994; D. Rosenthal, Smith, & de Visser, 1999). Early sex is nonconventional in our society, but not cross culturally (Ford & Beach, 1951), and reflects a package of emotional, behavioral, familial, and social correlates that are maladaptive according to our society's standards. Jessor et al. (1983) described this package in terms of behavior problem theory, which is composed of three systems that promote nonnormative behavior. In the personality system, proneness is represented in the motivational structure; for example, the young person places a lower value on academic achievement, is more tolerant toward deviance, and is less religious. In the environment system, proneness comes from lesser parental control, greater peer influence, and social models for problem behaviors. In the behavior system, proneness is reflected in greater involvement in other problem behaviors and simultaneous less involvement in conventional behaviors, such as doing well in school. Early sex is seen as originating in these systems rather than causing them. This point is relevant to cause and effect regarding CSA"

*'''Shen, F., Liu, Y. (2023). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370523396_Perceived_Parental_Attachment_and_Psychological_Distress_Among_Child_Sexual_Abuse_Survivors_The_Mediating_Role_of_Coping_Strategies Perceived Parental Attachment and Psychological Distress Among Child Sexual Abuse Survivors: The Mediating Role of Coping Strategies.] ''J Fam Viol''. DOI:10.1007/s10896-023-00568-w'''
*:"[W]e did not find that either approach coping or avoidance coping mediated the effect of CSA severity on the psychological distress; CSA severity was not significantly associated with coping or psychological distress."

*'''Maniglio, R. (2012). [https://sci-hub.st/10.1177/1524838012470032 Child Sexual Abuse in the Etiology of Anxiety Disorders. A Systematic Review of Reviews]. ''TRAUMA, VIOLENCE, & ABUSE'''''
*:"Four meta-analyses, including 3,214,482 subjects from 171 studies, were analyzed."
*:"There is evidence that child sexual abuse is a significant, although general and nonspecific, risk factor for anxiety disorders, especially posttraumatic stress disorder, regardless of gender of the victim and severity of abuse."
*:"Of the moderators concerning aspects of the abuse experience and definition (i.e., penetration, force, frequency, and duration of abuse, relationship to the perpetrator, age when abused, and definition of child sexual abuse based on maximum age of victim, level of contact, and consent), definition of abuse including consent, abuse involving contact, and relationship to the perpetrator generated conflicting results, with some evidence suggesting greater risk of anxiety problems in college survivors of intrafamilial abuse, and, only for females in college victims of abuse including both willing and unwanted sex. All the other moderators concerning abuse characteristics generated nonsignificant results. As described in the introduction section, much literature has suggested more negative outcomes in victims of more severe and traumatic forms of sexual victimization, such as those involving force, violence, and multiple perpetrators. Nevertheless, the results of this systematic review do not confirm suspicions that such factors along with other variables concerning aspects of the victimization experience (such as younger age when abused, longer duration or higher frequency of abuse) increase anxiety symptoms or disorders in people who have been sexually victimized as children."
*:“Importantly, most studies investigating the relationship between child sexual abuse and anxiety disorders have not controlled for the overlap with other traumatic events, especially co-occurring forms of maltreatment such as physical and emotive abuse. [Only Rind et al. 1998 has, and show that...] Family variables were more strongly linked with anxiety problems, especially for generic anxiety symptoms and obsessive–compulsive symptomatology, than was child sexual abuse"

*'''Nagtegaal, M. H., & Boonmann, C. (2021). [https://doi.org/10.1080/10538712.2021.1985673 Child Sexual Abuse and Problems Reported by Survivors of CSA: A Meta-Review. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse], 31(2), 147–176. This is a shortened and adapted version of a study conducted in 2012 for and at the request of the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security. See English summary of the [https://repository.wodc.nl/bitstream/handle/20.500.12832/115/cahier-2012-6-summary_tcm28-72523.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y Self-reported problems following child sexual abuse. A meta-review.]''' (Cahier 2012-6) .
*:"The results showed that the attitude and reactions by people who are working in health care can sort their influence on the severity of the reported problems. Further, the number of sexual partners that someone has had, influenced adult sexual revictimization. Next, different coping styles influenced the severity of the problems, that is, coping styles that deny or suppress the CSA are related to more problems in adulthood. Finally, persons who are being treated in a clinical setting report more problems than other persons. The other circumstances/characteristics that were examined, but overall did not sort moderating influence were: the nature of CSA (CSA in general or CSA with specific characteristics), the frequency of CSA, the age at which CSA took place, the way CSA was ascertained, the relation between the perpetrator and the victim and gender. This means that problems after CSA are reported broadly by all victims of CSA." [Editor's note: this meta-review openly state its government association and concern regarding "a paedophile organization called ‘Vereniging Martijn’", thus compromising its scientific aim, also it did not evaluate cofounding variables, and in depth reading show significant inconsistency in findings on perpetrator-victim relations.]

==LGBT Outcomes==

Urban American LGBT males have a uniquely low mean average age of sexual debut (14.5).<ref>[Halkitis, P. N., LoSchiavo, C., Martino, R. J., De La Cruz, B. M., Stults, C. B., & Krause, K. D. (2020). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/00224499.2020.1783505 Age of Sexual Debut among Young Gay-identified Sexual Minority Men: The P18 Cohort Study]. The Journal of Sex Research, 1–8. doi:10.1080/00224499.2020.1783505]</ref> The average age difference for partners among such youth is around 6 years, making the age gap too great for most legal "[[Consent|close in age exemptions]]" and in violation of most definitions of "Child Sexual Abuse".<ref>[https://nyuscholars.nyu.edu/en/publications/sexual-risk-behaviors-of-gay-lesbian-and-bisexual-youths-in-new-y Rosario, M., Meyer-Bahlburg, H. F. L., Hunter, J., & Gwadz, M. (1999). Sexual risk behaviors of gay, lesbian, and bisexual youths in New York City: Prevalence and correlates. AIDS Education and Prevention, 11(6), 476-496.]</ref>

Gay/Trans people have recalled positive experiences in surveys addressing early sexual encounters with an adult. This is of strategic relevance, particularly to trans people who are attacked by Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists and the Alternative Right for supposedly seeking to "normalize" adult-minor relations. If such claims of benign intergenerational and age gap relationships are being made by some gay and trans people, and [[Gays Against Groomers|opposed by others]], ''the personal experiences of LGBT people'' can be said to favor the claimant.

*'''[[Bruce Rind|Rind, Bruce]] (2018): [https://sci-hub.mksa.top/10.1007/s10508-018-1196-5 First Postpubertal Same-Sex Sex in Kinsey's General and Prison Male Same-Sex Samples: Comparative Analysis and Testing Common Assumptions in Minor-Adult Contacts]. ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', published online 5-JUN-2018. DOI: 10.1007/s10508-018-1196-5'''
*:"Prison participants had a minor–adult contact as their first postpubertal same-sex sex twice as often as general participants, and their experience involved penetration in three-quarters of cases compared to only half the time for general participants, and it was paid for (i.e., prostitution) three times as often. Despite these differences, reactions to these events by prison and general participants were the same, with combined results of 66% positive reactions (i.e., enjoyed it “much”) versus 15% emotionally negative reactions (e.g., shock, disgust, guilt). [...] Comparing prison and general participants also showed that the CSA–trauma–crime link often claimed (i.e., where minor–adult sex is said to produce trauma that leads to later criminal behavior) did not hold in the Kinsey same-sex samples, because trauma (the middle element) was mostly missing. This null result for the link alerts that trauma needs to be shown rather than assumed when considering this link."
*:"Examining reactions in relation to technique is useful for assessing claims about seriousness, with its assumed greater trauma, often made in reference to minor–adult sex [...] Younger boys with men reacted emotionally negatively ''less'' often with increasing levels of invasiveness in a significant linear trend: outercourse (28%), oral intercourse (16%), and anal intercourse (0%)."
*:"Regarding minors with adults, participants with no arousal on seeing males still reacted positively in the majority of cases and infrequently reacted emotionally negatively."

*'''[[Bruce Rind|Rind, Bruce]] (2017): [https://sci-hub.mksa.top/10.1007/s10508-017-1025-2 First Postpubertal Male Same-Sex Sexual Experience in the National Health and Social Life Survey: Current Functioning in Relation to Age at Time of Experience and Partner Age]. ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', published online 17-JUL-2017. DOI: 10.1007/s10508-017-1025-2'''
*:"Men whose first postpubertal same-sex sexual experience was as a minor with an adult were as well adjusted as controls. [...] these men were just as healthy, happy, sexually well adjusted, and successful in educational and career achievement. [...] This result is sharply at odds with the pathology perspectives, from which evidence for harm would be expected in ''any'' sample."
*:"It revealed, for example, that nearly all the minor–adult experiences involved intercourse (i.e., oral or anal) as the most intense form of contact. Despite the view within the pathology perspectives that more intense or invasive forms of sex are more ‘‘severe’’ and thus pathogenic, no supporting evidence in the minor–adult group emerged. For example, the minor–adult group, with its mostly ‘‘severe’’ experiences, was just as well adjusted as minors with peers, who had far fewer such experiences."
*:"The pathology perspectives do not distinguish between opposite-sex and same-sex attracted male minors in terms of how they might respond to minor–adult contacts. The current results, however, showed that same-sex attracted adolescent minors were especially receptive to these relations."

*'''[[Bruce Rind|Rind, B.]] (2016). [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27783171/ "Reactions to First Postpubertal Female Same-Sex Sexual Experience in the Kinsey Sample: A Comparison of Minors with Peers, Minors with Adults, and Adults with Adults,"] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 46(5):1517-1528.'''
*:"Data were collected by Kinsey interviewers between 1939 and 1961 (M year = 1947). Girls under 18 (M age = 14.9), whose sexual experience was with a woman (M age = 26.3), reacted positively just as often as girls under 18 (M age = 14.1) with peers (M age = 15.0) and women (M age = 22.7) with women (M age = 26.3). The positive-reaction rates were, respectively, 85, 82, and 79 %. In a finer-graded analysis, younger adolescent girls (≤14) (M age = 12.8) with women (M age = 27.4) had a high positive-reaction rate (91 %), a rate reached by no other group. For women (M age = 22.2) with same-aged peers (M age = 22.3), this rate was 86 %."

*'''[[Bruce Rind|Rind, Bruce]] and Max Welter (2016): [https://sci-hub.mksa.top/10.1080/19317611.2016.1150379 Reactions to First Postpubertal Coitus and First Male Postpubertal Same-Sex Experience in the Kinsey Sample: Examining Assumptions in German Law Concerning Sexual Self-Determination and Age Cutoffs]. ''International Journal of Sexual Health'', published online 11-FEB-2016. DOI: 10.1080/19317611.2016.1150379'''
*:”Contrary to assumptions, for example, minors ≤13 with adults reacted just as positively and no more negatively than adults with adults.”

*'''[[Bruce Rind|Rind, B.]] (2016). [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27178172/ "Reactions to First Postpubertal Male Same-Sex Sexual Experience in the Kinsey Sample: A Comparison of Minors With Peers, Minors With Adults, and Adults With Adults,"] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 45(7):1771-1786.'''
*:"Rind and Welter (2014) examined first postpubertal coitus using the Kinsey sample, finding that reactions were just as positive, and no more negative, among minors with adults compared to minors with peers and adults with adults. In the present study, we examined first postpubertal male same-sex sexual experiences in the Kinsey same-sex sample (i.e., participants mostly with extensive postpubertal same-sex behavior), comparing reactions across the same age categories. These data were collected between 1938 and 1961 (M year: 1946). Minors under age 18 years with adults (M ages: 14.0 and 30.5, respectively) reacted positively (i.e., enjoyed the experience "much") often (70 %) and emotionally negatively (e.g., fear, disgust, shame, regret) infrequently (16 %). These rates were the same as adults with adults (M ages: 21.2 and 25.9, respectively): 68 and 16 %, respectively. Minors with peers (M ages: 13.3 and 13.8, respectively) reacted positively significantly more often (82 %) and negatively nominally less often (9 %). Minors with adults reacted positively to intercourse (oral, anal) just as often (69 %) as to outercourse (body contact, masturbation, femoral) (72 %) and reacted emotionally negatively significantly less often (9 vs. 25 %, respectively). For younger minors (≤14) with adults aged 5-19 years older, reactions were just as positive (83 %) as for minors with peers within 1 year of age (84 %) and no more emotionally negative (11 vs. 7 %, respectively). Results are discussed in relation to findings regarding first coitus in the Kinsey sample and to the cultural context particular to Kinsey's time."

*'''[[Bruce Rind|Rind, Bruce]] (2013): [https://sci-hub.mksa.top/10.1007/s10508-013-0080-6 Homosexual Orientation - From Nature, Not Abuse: A Critique of Roberts, Glymour, and Koenen (2013)]. ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 42 (8) 1653-1664. DOI: 10.1007/s10508-013-0080-6'''
*:"Roberts, Glymour, and Koenen (2013), using instrumental variable models, argued that child abuse causes homosexual orientation, defined in part as any same-sex attractions. Their instruments were various negative family environment factors. In their analyses, they found that child sexual abuse (CSA) was more strongly related to homosexual orientation than non-sexual maltreatment was, especially among males. The present commentary therefore focused on male CSA. It is argued that Roberts et al.’s ‘‘abuse model’’ is incorrect and an alternative is presented. Male homosexual behavior is common in primates and has been common in many human societies, such that an evolved human male homosexual potential, with individual variation, can be assumed. Cultural variation has been strongly influenced by cultural norms. In our society, homosexual expression is rare because it is counternormative. The‘‘counternormativity model’’offered here holds that negative family environment weakens normative controls and increases counternormative thinking and behavior, which, in combination with sufficient homosexual potential and relevant, reinforcing experiences, can produce a homosexual orientation. This is a benign or positive model (innate potential plus release and reinforcement), in contrast to Roberts et al.’s negative model (abuse plus emotional compensation or cognitive distortion). The abuse model is criticized for being based on the sexual victimological paradigm, which developed to describe the female experience in rape and incest. This poorly fits the gay male experience, as demonstrated in a brief non-clinical literature review. Validly understanding male homosexuality, it is argued, requires the broad perspective, as employed here."

*'''Kronenfeld, O. and Nadan, Y. (2023). [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0190740923005340 “Will There Always Be this Dark Side?” Gay teenage boys’ sexual experiences with adult men.] ''Children and Youth Services Review''. Preprint.'''
*:"The analysis yielded four themes: (1) dimensions of closet and risk; (2) mentoring versus exploitation; (3) dimensions of self-agency; and (4) the effects of the sexual experiences on the subsequent lives of the participants. These themes reflect complex experiences of the participants that varied between “dark” experiences to more “lightful” ones, with many different “shades” in between. [...] Our analysis portrays the complexity and ambivalence inherent in the experiences of gay adolescent boys in their sexual experiences with older men. We propose that these experiences be viewed on a spectrum with different variations, thereby contributing to the body of knowledge on the subject, which has tended to depict these experiences in a dichotomous manner as either positive or negative. The findings also shed light on several possible aspects enabling age-discrepant relationships, such as being in the closet and a need for gay men role models."

*'''Dolezal, C. et al (2014). [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0145213413002603 "Childhood sexual experiences with an older partner among men who have sex with men in Buenos Aires, Argentina,"] ''Child Abuse & Neglect'', Volume 38, Issue 2, Pages 271-279.'''
*:'''Note:''' Eighteen percent of the respondents reported sex before 13 with an age-gap partner, the majority of whom did not feel they were hurt by the experience and did not consider it to be childhood sexual abuse (CSA). Over two-thirds of reporters said that their older partner was a female. Only 4% of those with a female partner felt their experience was CSA compared to 44% of those who had a male partner.

*'''Carballo-Diéguez, A. et al (2012). [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21484505/ "Recalled sexual experiences in childhood with older partners: a study of Brazilian men who have sex with men and male-to-female transgender persons,"] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 41(2):363-76.'''
*:"For data analysis, raw scores were weighted based on participants' reported network size. Of 575 participants (85% men and 15% transgender), 32% reported childhood sexual experiences with an older partner. Mean age at first experience was 9 years, partners being, on average, 19 years old, and mostly men. Most frequent behaviors were partners exposing their genitals, mutual fondling, child masturbating partner, child performing oral sex on partner, and child being anally penetrated. Only 29% of the participants who had had such childhood sexual experiences considered it abuse; 57% reported liking, 29% being indifferent and only 14% not liking the sexual experience at the time it happened. Transgender participants were significantly more likely to report such experiences and, compared with men, had less negative feelings about the experience at the time of the interview. No significant associations were found between sexual experiences in childhood and unprotected receptive or insertive anal intercourse in adulthood."

*'''Arreola, Sonya; Neilands, Torsten; Pollack, Lance; Paul, Jay; Catania, Joseph (2008). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/00224490802204431 "Childhood Sexual Experiences and Adult Health Sequelae Among Gay and Bisexual Men: Defining Childhood Sexual Abuse,"] ''Journal of Sex Research'', 45(3), pp. 246 - 252.'''
*:"Childhood sexual experience [minor-minor and adult-minor was included in this definition] was composed of three categories: None (no sex before age 18); consensual only (sex before age 18 that was NOT considered by the respondent to have been forced); and forced (having been "forced or frightened by someone into doing something sexually" at least once before age 18). [...] Interestingly, the forced sex group and the no sex group were statistically indistinguishable in their level of well-being, while the consensual sex group was significantly more likely to have a higher level of well-being than either of the other two groups. This suggests that consensual sex before 18 years of age may have a positive effect, perhaps as an adaptive milestone of adolescent sexual development. The emphasis in these data on pathology does not permit further exploration of this possibility. [...] There were no differences in rates of depression and suicidal ideation between the consensual- and no-sex groups. The consensual- and forced-sex groups had higher rates of substance use and transmission risk than the no-sex group. The forced-sex group, however, had significantly higher rates of frequent drug use and high-risk sex than the consensual group. Findings suggest that forced CSEs result in a higher-risk profile than consensual or no childhood sexual experiences, the kind of risk pattern differs between forced and consensual childhood sexual experiences, and the underlying mechanisms that maintain risk patterns may vary. It is important to clarify risk patterns and mechanisms that maintain them differentially for forced and consensual sex groups so that interventions may be tailored to the specific trajectories related to each experience."

*'''[[Bruce Rind|Rind, Bruce]] (2001). "[http://www.ipce.info/library_2/rind/rind_gay_boys_frame.htm Gay and Bisexual Adolescent Boys' Sexual Experiences With Men: An Empirical Examination of Psychological Correlates in a Nonclinical Sample]", ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 30(4), 345-368'''
*:"Over the last quarter century the incest model, with its image of helpless victims exploited and traumatized by powerful perpetrators, has come to dominate perceptions of virtually all forms of adult-minor sex. Thus, even willing sexual relations between gay or bisexual adolescent boys and adult men, which differ from father-daughter incest in many important ways, are generally seen by the lay public and professionals as traumatizing and psychologically injurious. This study assessed this common perception by examining a nonclinical, mostly college sample of gay and bisexual men. Of the 129 men in the study, 26 were identified as having had age-discrepant sexual relations (ADSRs) as adolescents between 12 and 17 years of age with adult males. Men with ADSR experiences were as well adjusted as controls in terms of self-esteem and having achieved a positive sexual identity. Reactions to the ADSRs were predominantly positive, and most ADSRs were willingly engaged in. Younger adolescents were just as willing and reacted at least as positively as older adolescents. Data on sexual identity development indicated that ADSRs played no role in creating same-sex sexual interests, contrary to the "seduction" hypothesis. Findings were inconsistent with the incest model. The incest model has come to act as a procrustean bed, narrowly dictating how adult-minor sexual relations quite different from incest are perceived."

*'''Stanley, Jessica L., Bartholomew, Kim, and Oram, Doug (2004). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20140325145604/http://www.sfu.ca/psyc/faculty/bartholomew/faq_files/stanley1.pdf Gay and Bisexual Men's Age-Discrepant Childhood Sexual Experiences]", ''The Journal of Sex Research'', 41(4), pp. 381-389'''
*:"This study examined childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in gay and bisexual men. We compared the conventional definition of CSA based on age difference with a modified definition of CSA based on perception to evaluate which definition best accounted for problems in adjustment. The sample consisted of 192 gay and bisexual men recruited from a randomly selected community sample. Men's descriptions of their CSA experiences were coded from taped interviews. Fifty men (26%) reported sexual experiences before age 17 with someone at least 5 years older, constituting CSA according to the age-based definition. Of these men, 24 (49%) perceived their sexual experiences as negative, coercive, and/or abusive and thus were categorized as perception-based CSA. Participants with perception-based CSA experiences reported higher levels of maladjustment than non-CSA participants. Participants with age-based CSA experiences who perceived their sexual experience as non-negative, noncoercive, and nonabusive were similar to non-CSA participants in their levels of adjustment. These findings suggest that a perception-based CSA definition more accurately represents harmful CSA experiences in gay and bisexual men than the conventional age-based definition. [...] no differences in adjustment were found between participants with CSE histories and participants who did not report an age-based CSA experience. Additionally, the perception-based definition predicted maladjustment in four areas of interpersonal difficulties over and above that predicted by the age-based criterion. [...] empirical evidence indicates that age-discrepant childhood sexual experiences are not necessarily harmful (e.g., Constantine, 1981; Rind et al., 1998; Steever et al., 2001). Therefore, it must be acknowledged that a violation of social norms, which is the basis for the age-based definition, does not necessarily result in harm. A definition of CSA based on social norm violations is further problematic for same-sex relations because same-sex sexual activity is considered a social norm violation by many. Some in the gay community believe that some sexual experiences involving mature adolescents and older partners may be beneficial (e.g., Sandfort, 1983; [[Ritch Savin-Williams|Savin-Williams]], 1998). Several arguments can be made supporting this position. These sexual experiences may provide these adolescents with the opportunity to explore their sexuality and feel affirmed by the gay community. Gay youth often speak of feeling different from their childhood peers and unaccepted by the dominant culture. It may be less threatening for young gay males to seekout an older gay male than to risk rejection and possible humiliation from making sexual advances toward a peer (cf. Savin-Williams, 1998). A sexual advance toward a peer may be dangerous for a gay youth if it is responded to with physical aggression, outing to the larger group of peers, and/or social rejection (Fisher & Akman, 2002). Combining perception-based CSA experience with noncoercive, nonnegative, nonabusive experiences, as the age-based definition does, presents a misleading picture of childhood sexual abuse. An age-based CSA definition inflates prevalence rates of childhood sexual abuse and inaccurately suggests that the maladjustment associated with perception-based CSA experiences applies to all childhood age-discrepant sexual encounters. In contrast, these results suggest that gay men with histories of nonnegative, noncoercive child-hood sexual experiences with older people are as well adjusted as those without histories of age-discrepant childhood sexual experiences."

*'''Riegel, David (2009) [https://web.archive.org/web/20130420132331/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/Boyhood%20Sexual%20Experiences%20with%20Older%20Males%20-%20Using%20the%20Internet%20for%20Behavioural%20Research.pdf Boyhood Sexual Experiences with Older Males: Using the Internet for Behavioral Research.] ''Archives of sexual behavior'' DOI - 10.1007/s10508-009-9500-z'''
*:“Victimology holds that all forms of boy/older male sexual contact are injurious to the younger participant (Finkelhor, 1984); therefore, ample evidence of harm should have been apparent even in this convenience sample. However, participants indicated that consent, in the ‘‘simple’’ sense, was common; enjoyment was more characteristic than displeasure or trauma; encouragement rather than resistance on their part (as the younger participant) characterized sexual interactions, especially after the first several encounters; feelings that the sexual contacts could appropriately be labeled ‘‘child sexual abuse’’ were in the minority; perceptions of shared or considerate use of power rather than being dominated in the relationships were in the majority; and self-perceived short-term and long-term effects were characteristically positive or neutral rather than negative. Finally, self-reports of current mental health indicated that most participants felt that they were emotionally healthy, coped fairly well with life’s problems, and generally had good social relations with others.”

=== A note about the "Gay" label ===
* '''David L. Riegel (unknown year) [http://www.sexarchive.info/BIB/riegel02.htm Categorizing “Gay Teens”: A Disservice to Boys?]''' ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250130153232/http://www.sexarchive.info/BIB/riegel02.htm web.archive])
*:"young males have a common, bordering on universal, predilection to experiment with every conceivable form of potential sexual pleasure, and a significant percentage go through a stage where they want to engage to some degree in sexual explorations with other males, observations which most candid adult males would confirm from their own boyhood. But despite TEEN sexual activities too diverse to attempt to catalog, the vast majority of these experimenters, perhaps 90% or more, eventually grow up to be primarily attracted to females.
*:We social scientists seem to be obsessive about categorizing people and behaviors, and compulsive about creating labels. Thus the “category/label” of “Gay Teen/Gay Youth” – and even “Gay Boy,” which presumably includes the pre-teen – has come into vogue. When invented and arbitrary “buzzwords” such as these are institutionalized and proclaimed on the Internet and other media as if they were scientifically supported truths, a boy who is simply going through a stage of TEEN sex play with other males may be unduly influenced to jump to the hasty and ill-considered conclusion that he is unalterably and permanently gay. Alternately, this Gay Teen label may be imposed by others on a boy who is discovered to have willingly participated in such TEEN activities. Such categorization is unfortunate, and makes it much more difficult for a boy to be able to choose to explore other aspects of his pansexuality."

===Misuse of the "[[incest model]]"===

*'''[[Bruce Rind|Rind, Bruce]] (2001). "[http://www.ipce.info/library_2/rind/rgb_disc.htm#Model Gay and Bisexual Adolescent Boys' Sexual Experiences With Men: An Empirical Examination of Psychological Correlates in a Nonclinical Sample]", ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 30(4), 345-368. doi: 10.1023/a:1010210630788 '''
*:"The discrepancy between findings in the current study and expectations based on the incest model is so great as to warrant further consideration. Summit (1983) wrote an influential paper based on clinical incest cases, in which he described the "child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome." He cautioned that his syndrome "should not be viewed as a procrustean bed which defines and dictates a narrow perception of something as complex as child sexual abuse" (p. 180). Despite this warning, in the very next paragraph, even though his syndrome was built almost entirely on cases of father-daughter incest, he asserted that "male victims are at least as frequent, [and] just as helpless" (p. 180). This sort of extrapolation has become commonplace since the early 1980s. Sexual phenomena that have only age-discrepancy in common with incest are reshaped in a narrow, rigid manner to fit the demands of the incest model. Media commentators conclude that willing sexual relations between adolescent boys and unrelated men are invariably profoundly damaging (e.g., Philadelphia Inquirer, September 13, 1984, p. 22A). Professionals reject or distort data regarding these relations that are inconsistent with the incest stereotype, reaching instead the obligatory conclusion of pervasive harm (e.g., Bartholow et at., 1994; Masters et at., 1985). A 1993 case in London, Ontario, illustrates paradigmatically the procrustean influence of the incest model when applied too broadly. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) documented on its premier informational show IDEAS (1994, 1995, 1999) what it termed the biggest sex scandal in North America. About 60 men sexually involved with adolescent boys were arrested in the midst of a "moral, panic ... generated by the police, with the help of therapists and social workers, and ... fueled by the media" (IDEAS, 1994, p. 29). CBC interviews with the boys indicated that they generally were gay or bisexual, were "sexually active teenagers who were having sex for fun or for profit" (IDEAS, 1994, p. 31 ), engaged willingly, had reached Canada's age of consent of 14 when the sex occurred, and were treated well by the men. For example, one teen commented:
*::"I knew what I was doing. ... I wanted it. ... [I]t's not a recruitment thing, it's not that you 're forced into it. ... [W]hen you're 14 and gay it's as natural to want to be with a man as it is when you're 14 and straight and want to be with a girl ... I was doing it when I was 14. I was picking up the guys. It wasn't them picking me up. And you can't be a victim unless you're forced into something." (IDEAS, 1995, pp. 55,56)"

*'''Roger N. Lancaster (2011) [[Sex Panic and the Punitive State]]'''
*:"[S]ome feminists and child advocates were using definitions of consent and coercion developed around discussions of father-daughter incest — a situation where power inequalities are manifest and extreme — to portray any erotic contact of any sort between unrelated adults (of any age) and minors (of any age, including advanced teenagers) as the moral equivalent of incestuous rape."

==Rind's series of 4 Kinsey Reviews, comparing age-gap reactions with same-age experiences==

In the mid-late 10s, [[Bruce Rind]] published a series of secondary analyses, comparing positively recalled reactions to minor-adult and adult-adult relations in the same [[Alfred Kinsey|Kinsey]] Data set that was used so thoroughly to argue for gay liberation. This revealed later subjective recall of early experiences was equal or superior in the case of minor-adult relations, and there was no greater emotional disturbance. Our infographic in the excerpt library at the bottom of the page neatly summarizes these articles, which include the below study, the 2016 Lesbian article and Gay article featured in our above section on ''LGBT outcomes'', and a further analysis of Kinsey's prison data we have cited.<ref>[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29872973/ Rind: First Postpubertal Same-Sex Sex in Kinsey's General and Prison Male Same-Sex Samples: Comparative Analysis and Testing Common Assumptions in Minor-Adult Contacts]</ref>

*'''[[Bruce Rind|Rind, B.]] and Welter, M. (2014). [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24233327/ "Enjoyment and emotionally negative reactions in minor–adult versus minor–peer and adult–adult first postpubescent coitus: A secondary analysis of the Kinsey data,"] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 43(2):285-97.'''
*:"Given widely held professional and lay assumptions that minor–adult sex is intrinsically traumatic or aversive, tested was whether reactions to minor–adult coitus were characteristically negative, irrespective of gender, and distinctly more negative than minor–peer and adult–adult coitus. In general: minors with adults enjoyed the event as much as minors with peers or adults with adults; boys (i.e., male minors) enjoyed it substantially more than girls, irrespective of partner age; and minors with adults did not have more emotionally negative reactions than the other groups. Younger boys (14 and under) with women (mean ages: 13.37 and 24.27, respectively; mean age difference: 10.90 years), compared to men with peer-aged women (mean ages: 21.76 and 21.58, respectively; mean age difference: 0.18 years), enjoyed the coitus a great deal (the top scale value) significantly more often (63 % vs. 44 %) and had emotionally negative reactions no more often (15 % vs. 12 %). Younger girls (14 and under) with men (mean ages: 13.19 and 26.42, respectively; mean age difference: 13.23 years), compared to women with peer-aged men (mean ages: 22.38 and 23.78, respectively; mean age difference: 1.41 years), enjoyed the coitus a great deal at the same rate (17 % vs. 18 %) and had emotionally negative reactions no more often (18 % vs. 16 %). Assumptions of characteristic trauma or aversiveness in minor–adultfirst coitus, as well as gender equivalence in response, were contradicted."

==Poly Victimizations and Comorbidities==

Studies that contrast and compare differing forms of victimization (emotional, physical, neglect vs sexual - almost always defined as ''forceful or unwanted'' in this instance) often show that sexual experiences are much less related to later poor functioning. The association between sexual experiences and later functioning often even becomes insignificant once multivariate analysis is taken into account (should be taken with [[Research:_Methodological_flaws_and_syndrome_construction#Limitations_in_attempts_of_consideration_of_the_third_factors|caution]]). Instead, multiple combined victimizations are consistently associated with the sequelae. Furthermore, polyvictimization mostly occurs in dysfunctional family environments or in a broader unfavorable socioeconomic context, which in turn accounts for much of the CSA-well-being correlation. (See more in [[Research: Family Environment]])

*'''[[David Finkelhor|Finkelhor, David]] et al. (2007). [http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV91.pdf Poly-victimization: A neglected component in child victimization"] ''Child Abuse & Neglect'', 31, 7–26.'''
*:"Even more noteworthy, the inclusion of poly-victimization in the analyses either eliminated or greatly reduced the predictive power of individual types of victimization. Thus, as illustrated in Table 3, bottom section, sexual victimization by itself was significantly associated with elevated levels of anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms and anger, controlling for demographic factors and lifetime adversities (with the exception of anxiety for 2–9-year olds). But after poly-victimization is taken into account, the association between symptoms and sexual victimization drops below significance for all outcome measures"

*'''Lätsch, D. C., Nett, J. C., & Hümbelin, O. (2017). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1037/a0039993 Poly-victimization and its relationship with emotional and social adjustment in adolescence: Evidence from a national survey in Switzerland.] ''Psychology of Violence'', 7(1), 1–11.'''
*:"When poly-victimization was controlled for, individual victimization types showed largely diminished association with emotional and social functioning measures. Particularly weak associations were found for physical and sexual victimizations. By contrast, emotional assaults (including emotional bullying by peers and emotional abuse by parents) and maltreatment by parents retained the strongest links with levels of functioning. This general pattern of results held even when chronic individual victimization types were considered. '''Conclusions:''' Many previous studies may have underestimated adolescents’ capacities to cope with physical and sexual victimizations where these experiences happen in an otherwise functional environment..."

*'''Cohen JR, McNeil SL, Shorey RC, Temple JR. (2019). [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6934047/ Maltreatment subtypes, depressed mood, and anhedonia: A longitudinal study with adolescents.] Psychol Trauma. 11(7):704-712.'''
*:"Overall, both emotional abuse (p < .001) and neglect (p = .002) predicted levels of depressed mood over time, while only emotional neglect predicted levels (p < .001) and trajectories (p=.001) of anhedonia. Physical and sexual abuse did not predict depressive symptoms once accounting for emotional abuse and neglect (p = ns). These findings were largely invariant across sex and race."

*'''Xiao, Yuanyuan, et al. (2022). "[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1876201822003100 Childhood maltreatment and depressive disorders in Chinese children and adolescents: A population-based case-control study.]" ''Asian journal of psychiatry'' 78 : 103312.'''
*:“For the five specific types of CM [Childhood Maltreatment], emotional abuse was independently related to the highest odds of DD [Depressive Disorder] (OR=3.90, 95% CI: 2.75, 5.54), followed by physical neglect (OR=2.04, 95% CI: 1.45, 2.87) and physical abuse (OR=1.51, 95% CI: 1.06, 2.13), while insignificant associations were found between DDs and sexual abuse and emotional neglect.”

*'''Cyr K, Clément MÈ, Chamberland C. (2014) [https://sci-hub.se/10.1177/0886260513505220 Lifetime prevalence of multiple victimizations and its impact on children's mental health.] ''J Interpers Violence.'' 29(4):616-34.'''
*:"This study sought to document lifetime experiences of individual categories of victimizations and polyvictimization using the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire among children from the province of Quebec (Canada) to examine whether polyvictimization predicts mental health symptoms and to assess whether categories of victimization still contribute to mental health symptoms after considering polyvictimization. Polyvictimization accounted for the most variability in scores for depression, anxiety, and anger/aggression compared with individual victimization categories. None of the individual categories of victimization made an independent contribution to the prediction of trauma scores, once polyvictimization was considered."

*'''Hengartner, M. P., Cohen, L. J., Rodgers, S., Müller, M., Rössler, W., & Ajdacic-Gross, V. (2015). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1521/pedi_2014_28_143 Association Between Childhood Maltreatment and Normal Adult Personality Traits: Exploration of an Understudied Field.] ''Journal of Personality Disorders'', 29(1), 1–14.'''
*:"Moran et al. (2011) found that childhood sexual abuse was mainly related to lower agreeableness and higher neuroticism. Unfortunately, the authors focused only on childhood sexual abuse. Since multiple studies have found sexual abuse to be a predictor of psychopathology in bivariate analyses but not in multivariate analyses when adjusted for other forms of abuse (Cohen et al., 2013; Hengartner, Ajdacic-Gross, Rodgers, Müller, & Rössler, 2013; for reviews see Rind & Tromovitch, 1997; Rind, Tromovitch, & Bauserman, 1998), it is crucial to consider other forms of childhood maltreatment as well."
*:"We also ran separate multivariate analyses for each form of childhood maltreatment as the dependent variable and Big Five traits as the independent variables (again, adjusted for sex and age). Those results showed that the five personality traits accounted for the following proportion of variance explained: 8.6% in emotional abuse, 8.2% in emotional neglect, 2.4% in physical abuse, 2.9% in physical neglect, and 1.1% in sexual abuse."
*:"[...] sexual abuse was uniquely associated with neuroticism but with a very small effect size"
*:"Emotional abuse and neglect had the strongest effect sizes, and physical and sexual abuse the smallest."
*:"When mutually adjusted for each other the only forms of childhood maltreatment that were substantially related to Big Five traits were emotional abuse and neglect. "
*:" the CTQ sexual abuse scale is particularly limited as it does not specify either the perpetrator or nature of sexual abuse, which is of critical import in measuring the impact of sexual abuse (Collishaw et al., 2007; Cutajar et al., 2010)."

*'''Fuller-Thomson, E., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Goodman, D., Fallon, B., & Brennenstuhl, S. (2019). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1007/s00127-019-01767-x From surviving to thriving: factors associated with complete mental health among childhood sexual abuse survivors.] ''Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology''.'''
*:'''Note:''' As can be seen from the study itself, two-thirds ''(65%) of the childhood sexual-abuse survivors vs 77% of the general population'' in the sample met the criteria for complete mental health. This was ''despite'' the fact that (quoting the study), participants "were considered to have a history of CSA if, in response to the question, ‘how many times did an adult force you or attempt to force you into any unwanted sexual activity, by threatening you, holding you down or hurting you in some way?’ they reported at least one such incidence".
*:Eurekalert<ref>[https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/578239 Eurekalert - Majority of childhood sex-abuse survivors achieve complete mental health ]</ref> quotes the author of the study: ""Remarkably, two-thirds [65%] of the childhood sexual-abuse survivors in our sample met the criteria for complete mental health -- defined as being happy or satisfied with life most days in the past month, having high levels of social and psychological well-being in the past month, and being free of mental illness, suicidal thoughts and substance dependence in the past year," reported lead author Dr. Esme Fuller-Thomson, Professor at the University of Toronto's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW) and Director of the Institute for Life Course & Aging. "While the prevalence of complete mental health among childhood sexual-abuse survivors is higher than we had expected, it is still substantially less than that found in the general population [77%]. Greater understanding of factors associated with complete mental health among survivors is an important first step in helping survivors achieve the level of well-being found in the general adult population.""

*'''Rehan W, Antfolk J, Johansson A, Santtila P. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1177/0886260516647004 Do Single Experiences of Childhood Abuse Increase Psychopathology Symptoms in Adulthood?] ''J Interpers Violence.'' 3;34(5):1021-1038.'''
*:'''Note:''' Another study in which the definition of CSA implies unwillingness/aversion ("''tried'' to touch", etc).
*:"When we isolated individuals who only had a single experience of any type of abuse (i.e., emotional, physical, or sexual) to control for possible co-morbidity, no increased risk was found. This study shows that individuals who report experiencing single events of abuse of a specific abuse type have an increased risk of displaying psychopathology symptoms in adulthood. This increase is, however, mainly due to co-morbidity of abuse types."

*'''Ney, P. G., Fung, T., & Wickett, A. R. (1994). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/0145-2134(94)00037-9 The worst combinations of child abuse and neglect.] Child Abuse & Neglect, 18(9), 705–714.'''
*:'''Note:''' Unfortunately, this study only focused on abusive sex. Imagine what the results would have been if it included a voluntary sex group and also controlled for confounds.
*:"Ranked according to the average correlation, and beginning with the most devastating combination, verbal abuse appears seven times in the top 10, physical neglect six times, physical abuse five times, emotional neglect five times, sexual abuse once. Sexual abuse appears nine times in the rankings 11-20, usually in combination with physical or emotional neglect. The combination of physical neglect, verbal abuse, and sexual abuse (rank #S) is remarkably associated with a lack of enjoyment of living. In fact, most of these combinations of mistreatment appear to severely attack the enjoyment of living in their victims."

*'''Oellerich, T.D. (1998). [https://web.archive.org/web/20210425062040/http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume10/j10_1.htm "Identifying and Dealing with 'Child Savers'"], ''IPT Journal.'''''
*:"[[Allie_C._Kilpatrick|Kilpatrick]] (1992)<ref>[https://www.ipce.info/sites/ipce.info/files/biblio_attachments/kilpatrick_1992.pdf Kilpatrick - Long-range Effects of Child and Adolescent Sexual Experiences]</ref> concluded that early child and adolescent sexual experiences, unless there was force or high pressure involved, had no influence on later adult functioning regardless of the type of partner involved (i.e., relative or non-relative) or the age differences. She reported that, when she discussed her findings with professionals, they closed their ears to them. They were most closed to those findings that indicated positive reactions to these early sexual experiences and to those findings that indicated that incestuous experiences did not cause irreparable harm."

*'''Stewart A, Dennison S & Waterson E (2002). [https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi241 Pathways from child maltreatment to juvenile offending.] ''Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice'' no. 241.''', ([https://web.archive.org/web/20130425185912/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/Pathways%20from%20Child%20Maltreatment%20to%20Juvenile%20Offending.pdf web.archive])
*:"Focusing on the 41,700 children [...] the study finds that physical abuse and neglect are significant predictive factors for youth offending, but sexual and emotional abuse are not."

*'''Radell ML, Abo Hamza EG, Daghustani WH, Perveen A, Moustafa AA. (2021) [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8060108/ The Impact of Different Types of Abuse on Depression.] ''Depress Res Treat.'' doi: 10.1155/2021/6654503.'''
*:"The vast majority of studies on childhood abuse have focused on the impact of either sexual or physical abuse [118], linking both types of abuse to adult depression [119, 120]. However, studies that have examined the impact of multiple types of abuse have shown childhood emotional abuse to be more strongly related to depression compared to sexual and physical abuse [24, 26, 61]. Despite this, psychological abuse against children received less attention globally than other types of abuse."
*:"Vachon et al. [145] studied 1191 maltreated and 1099 nonmaltreated children from low-income families, comparable in racial or ethnic diversity, and other demographic factors. Both physical and emotional abuse, as well as neglect, predicted similar and broad internalizing and externalizing problems, with sexual abuse not related to either [145]."

*'''Infurna MR, Reichl C, Parzer P, Schimmenti A, Bifulco A, Kaess M. (2015) [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Adriano-Schimmenti-2/publication/282424271_Associations_between_depression_and_specific_childhood_experiences_of_abuse_and_neglect_A_meta-analysis/links/5723128208aef9c00b7ddf45/Associations-between-depression-and-spec Associations between depression and specific childhood experiences of abuse and neglect: A meta-analysis.] ''J Affect Disord.'' 2016 Jan 15;190:47-55. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2015.09.006.'''
*:"[P]sychological abuse presented a stronger association with depression than other forms of maltreatment. [...] Furthermore, findings from this meta-analysis extend the evidence of prior studies demonstrating the influence not only of psychological abuse but also of neglect on depressive disorders [...] As regards physical and sexual abuse [...] the stronger association found between physical abuse and depression confirms the results of a recent meta-analysis [...] In contrast, the association between sexual abuse and depression was not as strong as that with others forms of maltreatment."

*'''Baldwin JR, et al. (2023) [https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/appi.ajp.20220174 Childhood Maltreatment and Mental Health Problems: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Quasi-Experimental Studies.] Am J Psychiatry. 2023 Feb 1;180(2):117-126. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.20220174.'''
*:[E]motional abuse was more strongly associated with mental health than physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, and broader measures of maltreatment and ACEs [adverse childhood experiences], while institutional neglect was more strongly associated with mental health than ACEs." (Institutional neglect d = 0.53, Emotional abuse d = 0.52, Physical abuse d = 0.29, Sexual abuse d = 0.29)
*:"Regarding confounding, we found that the association between childhood maltreatment and mental health in quasi-experimental adjusted models was substantially (45%) smaller than in unadjusted models. [...] This reduction in effect size after quasi-experimental adjustment suggests that a large part of the overall relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health is confounded by preexisting risk factors for psychopathology"
*:"[But] we cannot draw firm conclusions about the specific effects of maltreatment types, because poly-victimization is common and studies rarely controlled for other co-occurring forms of maltreatment."

===Depression, Personality Disorders, Eating Disorders and other supposed consequences===

With respect to specific syndromes, such as Borderline Personality Disorder, we find that even correlational association with experimenter-defined "CSA" is absent far more often than other experimenter-defined forms of trauma. In one study, after controlling for confounds, there was no association between even broadly defined ''trauma'', which may include "abuse" and later development of the disorder.<ref>[https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1159678/full Jin et al (2023). ''Exploring the impact of childhood maltreatment and BPD on impulsivity in crimes of passion'']</ref><ref>[https://www.gwern.net/docs/psychiatry/2022-skaug.pdf Skaug, E., Czajkowski, N. O., Waaktaar, T., & Torgersen, S. (2022). Childhood trauma and borderline personality disorder traits: A discordant twin study. Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, 131(4), 365–374.]</ref> This also holds true for schizophrenia,<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-psychiatry/article/childhood-trauma-psychotic-symptoms-which-association/64C371F9B69F7EEFB13B42F317740744 Syrine, A., Rim, F., Imen, G., Najeh, S., Sana, O., Manel, M., . . . Mohamed, M. (2023). Childhood trauma, psychotic symptoms: Which association?]. European Psychiatry, 66(S1), S1040-S1040. doi:10.1192/j.eurpsy.2023.2205</ref> depression<ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.jad.2017.03.065 Gallo EAG, De Mola CL, Wehrmeister F, Gonçalves H, Kieling C, Murray J. Childhood maltreatment preceding depressive disorder at age 18 years: A prospective Brazilian birth cohort study. J Affect Disord. 2017 Aug 1;217:218-224. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2017.03.065. Epub 2017 Apr 1. PMID: 28431382; PMCID: PMC5469396.]</ref> and depression in old age - even when traumatic definitions of CSA are employed, and confounds are not eliminated.<ref>[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35232293/ Wang Y, Chen X, Zhou K, Zhang H. A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Childhood Maltreatment on Elderly Depression. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2022 Mar 1:15248380211073838. doi: 10.1177/15248380211073838. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35232293.]</ref>

*'''Richter LM, Mathews S, Nonterah E, Masilela L. (2018). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.07.016 A longitudinal perspective on boys as victims of childhood sexual abuse in South Africa: Consequences for adult mental health.] ''Child Abuse Negl.'' 84:1-10. '''
*:"There was no significant association between reports of childhood sexual abuse and mental health in adulthood and when personal and social vulnerabilities were taken into account."

*'''Kinzl, Johann F., et al. (1997) "[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/(SICI)1098-108X(199709)22:2%3C131::AID-EAT3%3E3.0.CO;2-G Eating‐disordered behavior in males: The impact of adverse childhood experiences.]" ''International Journal of Eating Disorders'' 22.2 (1997): 131-138.'''
*:“There were no significant differences in the risk for developing an eating disorder and in total EDI between victims and nonvictims [of physical or sexual abuse], but a significantly increased risk for eating disorders in men with an adverse family background.”

*'''Kennedy, M. Alexis, et al. (2007) "[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J135v07n01_02 The role of childhood emotional abuse in disordered eating.]" ''Journal of emotional abuse'' 7.1: 17-36.'''
*:“Anxiety and self-esteem mediated the relationship between CN [childhood neglect] and eating pathology, while CPA [childhood physical abuse] and CSA [childhood sexual abuse] were inconsistently related to disordered eating. Rather than exerting moderating effects, CEA [childhood emotional abuse] had a direct unmediated effect on eating pathology.

*'''Racine, N. M., Madigan, S. L., Plamondon, A. R., McDonald, S. W., & Tough, S. C. (2018). [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29306559/ Differential Associations of Adverse Childhood Experience on Maternal Health.] ''American journal of preventive medicine'', 54(3), 368–375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2017.10.028'''
*:"Data analyses were conducted from December 2016 to March 2017. Path analysis demonstrated that women who had experience with physical/emotional abuse in childhood were significantly more likely to enter pregnancy with a chronic health condition (AOR=1.25, 95% CI=1.02, 1.54) and to have psychosocial difficulties in their pregnancy (AOR=1.60, 95% CI=1.34, 1.89). Women who were exposed to household dysfunction in childhood were also significantly more likely to experience psychosocial difficulties during pregnancy (AOR=2.33, 95% CI=1.49, 3.65). There was no association between exposure to sexual abuse and maternal health or mental health outcomes."

*'''Mills R, Scott J, Alati R, O'Callaghan M, Najman JM, Strathearn L. (2013). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.11.008 Child maltreatment and adolescent mental health problems in a large birth cohort.] ''Child Abuse Negl''. May;37(5):292-302. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.11.008. Epub 2013 Feb 4. PMID: 23380430; PMCID: PMC3918944.'''
*:"Reported sexual abuse, as a non-exclusive category, was associated with internalizing behavior before adjustment, but not after adjustment [...] An unanticipated result of this study was the relative lack of association between sexual abuse and adverse psychological outcome in adolescence. The exception to this was the group that was reported for both sexual abuse and one or more additional maltreatment types, mostly neglect and/or emotional abuse, as discussed above. [...] it may be at least partly due to chance or bias – the incidence of agency-reported sexual abuse in the cohort was lower than that of the other maltreatment types, and only 3.6% of the total cohort. Given that self-reported rate of child sexual abuse is much higher than this, recently estimated at 12.7% worldwide (Stoltenborgh, van Ijzendoorn, Euser, & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2011), the possibility remains that the small cohort of notified sexual abuse cases in this study are not representative of sexually abused young people in general, either by chance or another unknown factor related to the process of being notified to the government agency. Thus, a proportion of participants classified as not exposed to sexual abuse may be false negatives. [...] Finally, the possibility remains that while sexual abuse is widely accepted to be highly relevant as a cause of psychopathology at a clinical level, on a population level its effects are only minimally evident (Rind, Tromovitch, & Bauserman, 1998), and where associated psychopathology is present, consideration needs to be given to the co-occurrence and impact of other maltreatment types"

* '''Jin M, Wang Z, Zhou Y and Zhong J (2023) [https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1159678/full Exploring the impact of childhood maltreatment and BPD on impulsivity in crimes of passion]. ''Front. Psychiatry.'' 14:1159678. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1159678'''
*:"In the crimes of passion cohort, the BPD score was particularly strongly associated with childhood maltreatment, with the high BPD trait group scoring significantly higher on all types of childhood maltreatment except for sexual abuse than the low BPD trait group."

* '''Skaug, E., Czajkowski, N. O., Waaktaar, T., & Torgersen, S. (2022). [https://gwern.net/doc/psychiatry/borderline/2022-skaug.pdf Childhood trauma and borderline personality disorder traits: A discordant twin study]. ''Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science'', 131(4), 365–374.'''
*:"Sexual abuse had the strongest independent association with BPD traits, followed by emotional abuse, physical abuse and witnessing violence." But "After controlling for shared environmental and genetic factors in the discordant twin pairs, the analyses showed little to no evidence for causal effects of CT on BPD traits. The results indicated that the associations between CT and BPD traits stem from common genetic influences. These findings are inconsistent with the widely held assumption that CT causes the development of BPD."
*:"These results indicate genetic confounding of the relationship between sexual abuse and BPD traits."
*:"In case of an evocative gene-environment correlation, the child’s genetically influenced characteristics elicit specific reactions from others. The child’s genetic predisposition to, for example, impulsivity or oppositional behavior may elicit reactions from others that increases the likelihood of exposure to adverse life events such as physical aggression from their parents"

*'''Gallo, E. A. G., De Mola, C. L., Wehrmeister, F., Gonçalves, H., Kieling, C., & Murray, J. (2017). [http://Childhood%20maltreatment%20preceding%20depressive%20disorder%20at%20age%2018%20years:%20A%20prospective%20Brazilian%20birth%20cohort%20study Childhood maltreatment preceding depressive disorder at age 18 years: A prospective Brazilian birth cohort study]. J''ournal of Affective Disorders'', 217, 218–224. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2017.03.065 '''
*:"For women, all forms of maltreatment were significantly associated (p < 0.001) with higher rates of major depression, except sexual abuse [insignificant (p=0.413)]. For men, only domestic violence was significantly (p=0.030) associated with increased risk of major depression."
*:"In their review, Alloy et al. (2006) concluded that, the consistent association between emotional abuse and depression contrasts with findings for physical and sexual abuse, which have been less consistent and weaker."
*:"Emotional abuse has been theorised to be particularly important for a negative cognitive style, “because the depressive cognitions (e.g., ‘‘You’re so stupid, you’ll never amount to anything’’) are directly supplied to the child by the abuser” (Gibb et al., 2001, p. 426), whereas physical and sexual abuse require children to make their own depressogenic interpretations."

*'''Wang Y, Chen X, Zhou K, Zhang H. (2022) [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35232293/ A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Childhood Maltreatment on Elderly Depression]. ''Trauma Violence Abuse''. doi: 10.1177/15248380211073838.'''
&:"Ten studies involving 30,308 older adults were included [...] Findings: Except for sexual abuse, four types of child maltreatment were found to be positively associated with late-life depression."

*'''Maniglio, R. (2010). [https://sci-hub.ru/10.1002/da.20687 Child sexual abuse in the etiology of depression: A systematic review of reviews]. ''Depression and Anxiety'', 27(7), 631–642. doi:10.1002/da.20687'''
*:"First, it has been suggested that certain variables, especially the negative family circumstances in which many maltreated children are raised (e.g. other forms of child maltreatment or high family conflict or dysfunction), might independently account for the higher levels of depression reported by subjects with a history of child sexual abuse (see, for example,[46,47]). For example, some reviews not included in this systematic review[7<ref>Alloy LB, Abramson LY, Smith JM, et al. (2006 )[https://sci-hub.ru/10.1007/s10567-006-0002-4 Role of parenting and maltreatment histories in unipolar and bipolar mood disorders: mediation by cognitive vulnerability to depression]. ''Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev'' ;9:23–64.</ref>,48<ref>Kaplan SJ, Pelcovitz D, Labruna V. [https://libgen.vg/ads.php?md5=0dad90e0cee755d96b00a381ca7484af&downloadname=10.1097/00004583-199910000-00009 Child and adolescent abuse and neglect research: a review of the past 10 years: part I. Physical and emotional abuse and neglect]. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1999;38:1214–1222. </ref>] have shown that the evidence for an association between child emotional maltreatment and depression is more consistent than that for a relationship between child sexual abuse and depression. Indeed, it has been noted that a large proportion of the studies on child emotional abuse that have controlled the overlap of emotional maltreatment with child sexual abuse have found that child emotional abuse is more strongly related to depression than is child sexual abuse.[7] Thus, there might be greater confidence that the association of child sexual abuse with depression may be due to the emotional and psychological aspects that might also be present in the early experience of sexual abuse rather than any sexual or physical components of such experience."

*'''Klonsky, E. D., & Moyer, A. (2008). [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/childhood-sexual-abuse-and-nonsuicidal-selfinjury-metaanalysis/32656A88888D805C6BC1F96BBEA453F8 Childhood sexual abuse and non-suicidal self-injury: meta-analysis]. ''British Journal of Psychiatry'', 192(3), 166–170. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.106.030650'''
*:"The relationship between childhood sexual abuse and self-injurious behaviour is relatively small (mean weighted aggregate ϕ=0.23). This figure may be inflated owing to publication bias. In studies that statistically controlled for psychiatric risk factors, childhood sexual abuse explained little or no unique variance in self-injurious behaviour. Theories that childhood sexual abuse has a central or causal role in the development of self-injurious behaviour are not supported by the available empirical evidence. Instead, it appears that the two are modestly related because they are correlated with the same psychiatric risk factors."

* '''Danese, A., Moffitt, T. E., Arseneault, L., Bleiberg, B. A., Dinardo, P. B., Gandelman, S. B., … Caspi, A. (2017). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.16030333 The Origins of Cognitive Deficits in Victimized Children: Implications for Neuroscientists and Clinicians. American Journal of Psychiatry, 174(4), 349–361.]'''
*:"Findings from two population-representative birth cohorts totaling more than 3,000 individuals and born 20 years and 20,000 km apart suggest that the association between childhood violence victimization and later cognition is largely noncausal, in contrast to conventional interpretations. These findings support the adoption of a more circumspect approach to causal inference in the neuroscience of stress."

*'''Spatz Widom C, DuMont K, Czaja SJ. (2007) [https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/209970 A Prospective Investigation of Major Depressive Disorder and Comorbidity in Abused and Neglected Children Grown Up]. ''Arch Gen Psychiatry''.;64(1):49–56. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.64.1.49'''
*:"Children with substantiated cases of physical and sexual abuse and neglect (before the age of 11 years) ... (n = 676) ... Children who were physically abused (OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.00-2.52; P≤.05) or experienced multiple types of abuse (OR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.01-3.02; P≤.05) were at increased risk of lifetime MDD, whereas neglect increased risk for current MDD (OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.10-2.29; P<.01). Childhood sexual abuse was not associated with elevated risk of MDD."

*'''Brown, A., Barker, E. D., & Rahman, Q. (2019). [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00224499.2019.1665619 A Systematic Scoping Review of the Prevalence, Etiological, Psychological, and Interpersonal Factors Associated with BDSM.] The Journal of Sex Research, 57(6), 781–811. doi.org:10.1080/00224499.2019.1665619'''
*:"Shulman and Home (2006) tested the guilt reduction theory [which] stipulates that those with high sex guilt will feel less guilty if they are in a sexual scenario where they are unable to reject sexual advances as they do not have the burden of asking for (or even saying yes to) sex. CSA may result in high levels of sex guilt, which would then cascade into fantasies of force (related to the domination and submission aspects of BDSM). However, results indicated that CSA was not directly related to sex guilt but did have a direct path to erotophilia (an individual’s general propensity to respond to sexual cues). Most notable was the finding that low levels of sex guilt and high levels of erotophilia predicted forceful sexual fantasies. Stronger feminist beliefs coupled with low levels of guilt were also related to erotophilia and more sexual experience. This indicated that, although CSA may be related to forceful sexual fantasies, it is not the only potential origin of these fantasies."

==Simple or informed consent as predictive of positive reactions?==

*'''[[Bruce Rind|Rind, Bruce]] (2010). [https://www.ipce.info/library/journal-article/social-response-age-gap "Social Response to Age-Gap Sex Involving Minors: Empirical, Historical, Cross-Cultural, and Cross-Species Considerations,"] ''Thymos'', Vol 4, Issue 2, p. 113.'''
*:"Constantine (1981) showed that reaction depends on perception of willingness and whether the minor had absorbed the moral negatives about the sex. If the minor both saw himself or herself as willing and had not absorbed the moral negatives, then he or she would likely respond positively; otherwise, negatively or neutral. Rind et al. (2001) in footnote 7 showed how non-clinical research since Constantine has confirmed his conclusion. "Informed consent" is a legal construct that varies widely across nations, from 12 to 18, and in the U.S. is at the high end (16 to 18). In the psychological literature, it has been assumed without any empirical evidence that informed consent relates directly to how persons react to sex. The unexamined assumption is that people under the U.S. age of consent of 16 or 18, by nature, will react negatively to age-gap sex, but those age 18 and above will react well. This is a serious conflation of moral and legal constructs with a scientific construct. Rather than informed consent, the scientific construct of "simple consent" (whether the minor was willing in the minor's own perception) is the one that has predictive validity with respect to reactions (Rind et al., 2001)."

*'''[[Theo_Sandfort|Sandfort, Theo]]. (1992). '[[Media:Sandfort_-_1992_-_Argument_for_Adult-Child_Sex_scan.pdf|The argument for adult-child sexual contact: A critical appraisal and new data]]'. In W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, pp. 38-48).'''
*:Contrasting a control group of people without sexual contact up to the age of 15 years, with people who had experiences they self-defined / identified as consensual or non-consensual, Sandfort wrote: "The results of these analyses suggest that there is no significant difference in the effects of voluntary sexual experience with peers, compared with adults. [...] Compared with others, subjects who had had consensual experiences before 16 had, at a later age, a stronger sexual desire and a higher level of sexual arousability; their sexual anxiety was also less. With respect to the other aspects there are no statistically significant differences." (pp. 45-46).
*:Also summarized by Rind et al. (2001): "Sandfort (1992) examined a Dutch sample of 283 young adults aged 18 to 23, consisting of both students and working people. CSA was restricted to contact sex before age 16 with someone at least 5 years older. Most men who had experienced CSA were "consenting" (71%)—Sandfort's term. Consenting participants were as well adjusted as controls."<ref>Bruce Rind et al., ‘The Validity and Appropriateness of Methods, Analyses, and Conclusions in Rind et al. (1998): A Rebuttal of Victimological Critique From Ondersma et al. (2001) and Dallam et al. (2001)’, in Psychological Bulletin, 127:6 (2001), 734-758 <DOI: IO.1O37//0O33-29O9.127.6.734></ref>

*'''Wang Y, Sun Y, Missmer S A, Rexrode K M, Roberts A L, Chavarro J E et al. (2023) [https://www.bmj.com/content/381/bmj-2022-073613 Association of early life physical and sexual abuse with premature mortality among female nurses: prospective cohort study] ''BMJ''; 381, doi:10.1136/bmj-2022-073613'''
*:“67 726 female nurses included in the current analysis” [...] “Sexual abuse was measured using modified questions from the Sexual Experiences Survey: “Were you ever touched in a sexual way” or “forced into any sexual activity” by an adult or an older child?”
*:Note: The study's design offered to participants only “none”, “forced” or “touched” as alternatives. One may only speculate if respondents who considered themselves willing or neutral regarding childhood sexual activity, they preferred to pick “touched”.
*:Throughout the article, the authors mentioned CSA and forced sexual activity in an interchangeable manner. They stated that CSA/forced sexual activity was associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, suicide, etc. But they didn’t mention associations for “touched sexually”, and avoided comparative statements about these two subgroups, which both definitely considered CSA in the wider literature. But [https://www.bmj.com/highwire/markup/1082113/expansion?width=1000&height=500&iframe=true&postprocessors=highwire_figures%2Chighwire_math Table 3 demonstrates] that the risks are higher for the "forced sexual activity in childhood and adolescence" only. "Touched sexually in childhood or adolescence" was associated with even slightly fewer risks in comparison to controls (no sexual activity), although insignificantly.

*'''Felson, Richard B., et al. (2019) "[https://sci-hub.mksa.top/10.1007/s10964-019-01111-1 Reactions of boys and girls to sexual abuse and to sexual encounters with peers]." ''Journal of youth and adolescence'' 48 (2019): 1869-1882. DOI: 10.1007/s10964-019-01111-1'''
*:"Both boys and girls had a much more negative reaction if the offender used overt force. Surprisingly, girls were less likely to have negative reactions when the encounters involved more intimate sexual activity or occurred with greater frequency. The likely explanation is that victims who had a negative reaction were more resistant to engaging in more intimate activities and repeating the encounter. In other words, the victim’s attitude toward the experience may have affected the level of intimacy and the frequency of the encounters. Boys who experienced sexual encounters that were more intimate and more frequent were less likely to have a negative reaction, although only the coefficient associated with the highest frequency (over 10 times) was statistically significant."
*:"Boys initiated more than 37% of the abuse encounters and were over five times more likely to initiate abuse encounters than girls. "
*:"Girls were more likely to have a negative reaction if the age difference was 12 years or more, while boys’ reactions were not sensitive to age difference."
*:"Both boys and girls were more likely to have a negative reaction when the offender was a stranger or a family member than when the offender was someone they knew outside the family, although the family member coefficient was of borderline significance (p < 0.10) among boys."

*'''[[David Riegel|Riegel, David]] (2009) [https://web.archive.org/web/20130420132331/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/Boyhood%20Sexual%20Experiences%20with%20Older%20Males%20-%20Using%20the%20Internet%20for%20Behavioural%20Research.pdf Boyhood Sexual Experiences with Older Males: Using the Internet for Behavioral Research.] ''Archives of sexual behavior'' DOI - 10.1007/s10508-009-9500-z'''
*:“Age at the beginning of the relationship, age differential, and adult sexual orientation were not associated with overall effects. However, type of consent given and willingness to continue the sexual activities were significantly associated with perceived effects and initial willingness was marginally associated. Higher levels of perceived consent or willingness in these latter three correlations were associated with positive evaluations of the relationship”

*'''[[Philip Tromovitch]] (2025) [https://doshisha.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/2000821/files/023065040009.pdf How do Men Describe Their Childhood and Early Adolescent Sexual Contacts with Older Partners]''', ''Harris Science Research Institute of Doshisha University''
*:"A total sample of N = 195 Japanese and U.S. men [...] overwhelmingly endorsed positive descriptors for their experiences. It is concluded that in general, men find their early, willing sexual contacts with older partners to be pleasurable, satisfying, and fun -- negative associations are uncommon."

*'''Tener D. (2020). Perspectives on Adolescent Sexual Relations With Older Persons: A Systematic Review of the Literature. ''Trauma, violence & abuse'', 21(2), 393–405. doi:10.1177/1524838018772287'''
*:"Physical attraction and sexual experience as well as the older person’s perceived emotional maturity played some part, but one of the most consistent factors was the emotional support provided by the older person."
*:"The older person is often perceived by both those who experienced such relations and by the general population as abusive, even if the relations were consensual at the time. [...But] Adolescents perceiving the relationship as a loving one were strongly opposed to its reframing as abusive. [...] In these cases, legal intervention, rather than the SR relations themselves, are experienced as offensive and abusive (Tener et al., 2014)."
*:"[E]ven when relations were perceived by minors as offensive and exploitative, legal intervention was still often perceived as harmful."

==Mainstream media==

*'''"Child Molesting: A Complex Illness" (The Washington Post, March 27, 1976)'''
*:"While some children panic and others become traumatized with fear after a sexual attack, still others will see their experience as an adventure or develop a relationship with their assailant who gives them a sense of belonging or importance, [psychologist Eugene] Stammeyer said. Studies have shown some children who are victims of sexual abuse exhibit "no compelling evidence of severe emotional problems" in later life, Stammeyer said. [...] [Psychiatrist Belinda] Straight said she thought it was very important for parents of a child who is sexually molested to openly express their shock and outrage--not conceal it-- so that the child can know "this is something that should haven't happened." [Psychiatrist and criminologist Bernard] Diamond, however, disagreed, saying that although it is "extremely difficult for the public to accept," some children "couldn't care less" about a sexual assault. "It's not a meaningful experience" for some children, Diamond said. "What makes it destructive is when everyone makes a fuss over it.""

*'''Henley, Jon. "[http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/jan/03/paedophilia-bringing-dark-desires-light Paedophilia: bringing dark desires to light]" (The Guardian, January 3, 2013)'''
*:"But not all experts are sure. A Dutch study published in 1987 found that a sample of boys in paedophilic relationships felt positively about them. And a major if still controversial 1998-2000 meta-study suggests – as J Michael Bailey of Northwestern University, Chicago, says – that such relationships, entered into voluntarily, are "nearly uncorrelated with undesirable outcomes". Most people find that idea impossible. But writing last year in the peer-reviewed Archives of Sexual Behaviour, Bailey said that while he also found the notion "disturbing", he was forced to recognise that "persuasive evidence for the harmfulness of paedophilic relationships does not yet exist"."

==Excerpt Graphic Library==

The EGL on '''Harm''' has some relevant information. Just open, right click/save and reproduce by uploading in short-form media to bypass character limits.

{{Template:EGLHarm}}

'''Consent''' debates are also brought up by their importance re. concept (in)validity for CSA:

{{Template:EGLConsent}}

==References==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Research into effects on Children]]

Research: Child Pornography

2026-08-07T16:07:35Z

Thorn: /* The effects of "CP" */

<div style="margin-left: 25px; float: right;">__TOC__</div>
:''To gain an holistic understanding of this complex and highly misrepresented topic, it may be necessary to start from our [[Child Pornography|main article]] on the subject.''
The discourse on "[[child pornography]]"/"CSAM" (erotica featuring a minor, usually a teenager) is dominated by law enforcement agencies, regulators and NGOs who have a vested interest in exaggerating its extent and impact. The actual rates of conviction depend more upon law enforcement activity than any underlying changes to the severity of the material,<ref>Wolak J., Finkelhor D., Mitchell K. Jand, Jones L.M. (2011) [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21788212/ Arrests for Child Pornography Production: Data at Two Time Points from a National Sample of US Law Enforcement Agencies], 16 (3) Child Maltreatment 84-195.</ref> or its production, which as this article reveals, is now predominantly done by minors.

The almost mythical child pornography hysteria appears to have started with [[Moral Enterprise|moral entrepreneurs]] such as [[Judianne Densen-Gerber]], now considered a disgraced puritanist zealot of the 1970s. It is her to whom the famed, and often reincarnated '''"multibillion dollar industry"''' quote is ascribed. Nevertheless, even crusaders such as [[ECPAT]] have admitted for decades that organized crime is rarely present within the "child pornography" sphere.<ref>[https://www.crime-research.org/articles/536/ MARGARET A. HEALY, ECPAT, CHILD PORNOGRAPHY: AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE (2004)]</ref> As this page will show, claims about child pornography in the popular media rarely stand the test of academic scrutiny. As explained in [[Bill Thompson]]'s report for the Thames Magistrates Court below, it's very hard to find any relationship between this kind of imagery and contact offending. Some limited evidence hints at an inverse relationship similar to that involving adult porn.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20120819160046/http://anthonydamato.law.northwestern.edu/Adobefiles/porn.pdf</ref>

For legal implications, see [[Child Pornography Laws]].

==The effects of "CP"==

The criminalization of "child pornography" is, in part, justified by the assumption that it will cause viewers to commit contact offenses against minors. No conclusive evidence substantiates this assumption. On the contrary, "child pornography" sometimes appears to have a cathartic effect on the user, and meticulous meta-analysis has demonstrated that offenders who are limited to consuming pornographic material have uniquely low rates of relapse.<ref>[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178925000497 Baskurt, S., Babchishin, K.M., Hilkes, G., & Seto, M. (2025). A meta-analysis of recidivism rates among individuals who commit child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) offending. Aggression and Violent Behavior.]</ref>

The association of CP consumption with offending is largely anecdotal and based on a simple kind of "backwards logic". After selecting a sample population who are already implicated in unlawful sex with a minor, it should not be surprising to unearth regular use of pornographic material - often considered a lesser offense, or "release valve" by those disposed towards seeking contact. This tells us nothing about CP users as a whole - a population whose scale is impossible to fully determine, despite what we already know about the lack of commercial activity. To be accurate, research needs to survey the wider population, its use of different kinds of pornography, and then look for contact-offending behavior over a fixed time-period.

[[Wikipedia:Relationship between child pornography and child sexual abuse|The usually biased Wikipedia]], comes to largely the same conclusions as us. In effect, this field of study is characterized by a battle over ''interpretations'' of correlational data between moralists, advocacy scientists and rational scientists.

*'''[[Bill Thompson|Thompson, W.]] (2018). [http://wapercyfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/news_resources_Dr_William_Thompson_expert_report_-Met_v_Adamson..pdf "Child pornography, pedophilia, and contact offending: the empirical research."], (Expert Report, presented in the Thames Magistrates Court).'''
*:Summary by the [[Percy Foundation]]. "Mere possession of child pornography (which includes images of sexually mature adolescents) – with charges often upgraded to “distribution” if one freely shares the images, or to “production” if one in any way alters or captions them – is one of the most rapidly growing offenses prosecuted in the U.S. federal system, earning those convicted an average sentence of 12.5 years (according to Department of Justice statistics). Often, the images in question are old and feature mere nudity, little different from what is found in naturist literature and legitimate art photography. This severe punishment is not based on the actual harm done to the minor portrayed, but the widespread perception that interest in such images is a mark of “pedophilic” (or hebephilic or ephebephilic – which categories together include most males) orientation and thus useful in detaining would-be sex criminals before they commit a contact offense. In this brief, a well-known criminologist and expert witness reviews the most recent scholarship on the question, and concludes that there is no credible link between viewing such images and committing hands-on offenses against minors. The analysis summons evidence that minor-attracted males are more likely to be child-pornography offenders, but not contact offenders, most of whom are opportunistic rather than men with primary affective focus on children or adolescents. The brief is a useful summation of where the scholarship now stands."

*'''Babchishin, K., Hanson, R.K., and VanZuylen, H. (2015) [https://sci-hub.ru/10.1007/s10508-014-0270-x Online child pornography offenders are different: A meta-analysis of the characteristics of online and offline sex offenders against children.] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 44, 45-66.'''
*:"Sex offenders against children and mixed offenders were found to score higher on indicators of antisociality than online child pornography offenders (CPOs). CPOs were also more likely to have psychological barriers to sexual offending than sex offenders against children and mixed offenders (e.g., greater victim empathy)."
{{research}}
*'''Seto, M., Ahmed, Ag (2014) [https://sci-hub.ru/10.1016/j.psc.2014.03.004 Treatment and Management of Child Pornography Use.] ''Psychiatric Clinics of North America.'' DOI 10.1016/j.psc.2014.03.004'''
*:“In contrast to these long-term findings for pedophilic sex offenders with child victims, the emerging evidence on child pornography offenders suggests they are relatively low risk to reoffend in the first few years of opportunity, especially if they have no prior criminal history and no history of contact sexual offending. 32,33 These results suggest that pedophilic disorder, which is expected among the majority of child pornography users, is not a necessary or sufficient cause of sexual offending in the future; variation in antisocial tendencies is critical, with more antisocial child pornography offenders being more likely to sexually offend. ”

*'''Hamilton, M. (2012) [https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1914496 The Child Pornography Crusade and its Net-widening Effect], ''Cardozo Law Review'''''
*:"The policy and the initiative rely on a presumption that child pornography consumers are in reality undetected pedophiles and child molesters who are at high risk of sexually abusing children. This article challenges the presumption by comprehensively analyzing certain of the most commonly cited studies that purport to empirically support correlations between child pornography, pedophilia, and child molestation. It also highlights other empirical evidence, as well as some practical considerations, that instead tend to show that most child pornography offenders are at low risk of committing contact sexual offenses. In sum, the concentration on child pornography crimes appears to be a misinformed policy that fails to directly protect real children from harm."

*'''Graf, M., and Dittmann, V. (2011) [https://sci-hub.ru/10.1002/9781119990420.ch25 Forensic-psychiatric treatment for Internet sex offenders], in D. P. Boer, R. Eher, L. A. Craig, M. H. Miner and F. Pfäfflin (Eds.), International perspectives on the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders: Theory, practice, and research (479-488).'''
*: “a certain number of Internet sex offenders tend to escalate to hands-on offenses. This number seems to be quite low, fortunately, however it’s not zero! Only a few studies cover this question, they mostly show low rates of escalation from Internet sex offenses to contact sex offenses within the range of 0.8 % (Endrass et al., 2009) and 1.3 % (Seto & Eke, 2005) in contrast to the at least tenfold higher specific reconviction rates for hands-on child abusers (Seto & Eke, 2005). Our own recent whole population-based study showed that from a total of 4,658 offenders with a criminal record for illegal pornography offenses in Switzerland in November 2008 during a median observation time of 5 years the reconviction rate for illegal pornography offenses was 2.9 % and the fraction with a progression to physical child abuse was 0.3 %. In the same sample, the group with concomitant illegal pornography as well as contact child abuse, reconviction rates for illegal pornography were 11.4 % and 6 % for contact child abuse (Goller, Graf, Frei, & Dittmann, 2010).”
*:“Forensic sciences continue to contribute with progress in definitions, 486 Assessment and Treatment of Sexual Offenders diagnoses, risk assessment, and treatment. This should help to destigmatize and categorize harmless people with socially unacceptable sexual preferences (Fiedler, 2004) from those with a high risk of progression.”

*'''Henshaw, Marie (2017) [https://researchbank.swinburne.edu.au/file/60ec74e4-5e7d-48b9-833f-8f2f9f15f05f/1/Marie%20Henshaw%20Thesis.pdf The Demographic, Mental Health and Offending Characteristics of Online Child Pornography Offenders: A Comparison with Contact-Only and Dual Sexual Offenders], Centre for Forensic Behavioral Science Faculty of Health, Arts and Design Swinburne University of Technology Melbourne, Australia. Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Psychology.'''
*:"In contrast, fewer than six per cent of CPOs reoffended with child contact sexual offences. Taken together, the findings of this research support prior characterisations of CPOs as a distinct type of sexual offender who are primarily defined by low levels of antisocial behaviour and high levels of sexual deviance."

*'''Magaletta, P. R., Faust, E., Bickart, W., & McLearen, A. M. (2014) [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23174820/ Exploring clinical and personality characteristics of adult male Internet only child pornography offenders.] ''International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology'', 58, 137-153.'''
*:"Results indicate that interpersonal deficits and depression featured most prominently in the profiles of the ICPOs [Internet-only Child Pornography Offenders]. Consistent with prior research, they also obtained lower scores on aggression and dominance compared with the child molesters and the male normative sample."

[[Image:Denmark.png|left|thumb|[http://scireview.de/sexualverbrechen.html Sex crimes dropped markedly in Denmark following porn legalization.]]]

*'''[[Michael Seto|Seto, Michael C.]], Hanson Karl R., & Babchishin Kelly M. [https://www.ipce.info/sites/ipce.info/files/biblio_attachments/seto_cs_2010-2011.pdf Contact Sexual Offending by Men With Online Sexual Offenses]. ''Annals of Sex Research''. December.'''
*:"The second meta-analysis revealed that 4.6% of online offenders committed a new sexual offense of some kind during a 1.5- to 6-year follow-up (k = 9, N = 2,630); 2.0% committed a contact sexual offense and 3.4% committed a new child pornography offense. The results of these two quantitative reviews suggest that there may be a distinct subgroup of online-only offenders who pose relatively low risk of committing contact sexual offenses in the future."

*'''[[Thomas O'Carroll|O'Carroll, Tom]] (2000). "[http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/tomoc/sexpriv_backgr_text.htm Sexual Privacy for Paedophiles and Children: A Complementary Background Paper.]"'''
*:"Such an effect has been proposed in relation to Denmark during the few years when child pornography was openly and legally available: in that period sex offences against children were significantly lower than either before or after. (5) A similar phenomenon occurred during a period of liberalisation in West Germany, where from 1972 to 1980 the total number of sex crimes known to the police in the Federal Republic of Germany decreased by 11%. (6) Sharpe himself, whose possession of pornography was in contention, made the astute point in an interview that if child pornography led to sexual assaults, then there would have been a huge increase in assaults as a result of the allegedly much greater availability of child porn on the Internet. (7)"

*'''Diamond, Milton, and Uchiyama, Ayako (1999). "[http://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/biblio/articles/1961to1999/1999-pornography-rape-sex-crimes-japan.html Pornography, rape, and sex crimes in Japan]", ''International Journal of Law and Psychiatry'', 22, 1-22.'''
*:"However, there are no specific child pornography laws in Japan and SEM depicting minors are readily available and widely consumed. [...] The most dramatic decrease in sex crimes was seen when attention was focused on the number and age of rapists and victims among younger groups (Table 2). We hypothesized that the increase in pornography [in general], without age restriction and in comics, if it had any detrimental effect, would most negatively influence younger individuals. Just the opposite occurred. The number of juvenile offenders dramatically dropped every period reviewed from 1,803 perpetrators in 1972 to a low of 264 in 1995; a drop of some 85% (Table 1). The number of victims also decreased particularly among the females younger than 13 (Table 2). In 1972, 8.3% of the victims were younger than 13. In 1995 the percentage of victims younger than 13 years of age dropped to 4.0%."

*'''Diamond, Milton; Jozifkova, Eva; Weiss, Petr (2011). "[http://hawaii.edu/PCSS/biblio/articles/2010to2014/2010-porn-in-czech-republic.html Pornography and Sex Crimes in the Czech Republic]", ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 40(5), pp. 1037-1043 ([http://www.ipce.info/library/journal-article/pornography-and-sex-crimes-czech-rep Ipce archive]).'''
*:"Following the effects of a new law in the Czech Republic that allowed pornography to a society previously having forbidden it allowed us to monitor the change in sex related crime that followed the change. As found in all other countries in which the phenomenon has been studied, rape and other sex crimes did not increase. Of particular note is that this country, like Denmark and Japan, had a prolonged interval during which possession of child pornography was not illegal and, like those other countries, showed a significant decrease in the incidence of child sex abuse. [...]
*:"Issues surrounding child pornography and child sex abuse are probably among the most contentious in the area of sex issues and crime. In this regard we consider instructive our findings for the Czech Republic that have echoed those found in Denmark ([https://web.archive.org/web/20220320132243/http://williamapercy.com/wiki/images/Studies_in_denmark.pdf Kutchinsky, 1973]) and Japan (Diamond & Uchiyama, 1999) that where so-called child-pornography was readily available without restriction the incidence of child sexual abuse was lower than when its availability was restricted. As with adult pornography appearing to substitute for sexual aggression everywhere it has been investigated, we believe the availability of child porn does similarly. We believe this particularly since the findings of Weiss (2002) have shown that a substantial portion of child sex abuse instances seemed to occur, not because of pedophilic interest of the abuser, but because the child was used as a substitute subject."

This linkage between porn (in general), sexual "responsibility" and celibacy is also supported by evidence following the advent of the internet.<ref>[https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/all-about-sex/200904/does-pornography-cause-social-harm Psychology Today: Does Pornography cause social harm?]</ref>

*'''Howitt, Dennis (1995). ''[http://www.ipce.info/host/howitt/6a.htm Paedophiles and Sexual Offences Against Children]'', p. 161-162.'''
*:"Common-sense theories tend to be contradictory. For example, there is a lot to be said for the notion of fantasy as substitute for action, a largely separate stream of experience or a substitute for reality. The original psychoanalytic view of fantasy as wish fulfillment took a similar stance. [...]
*:One cannot simply take evidence that offenders use and buy pornography as sufficient to implicate pornography causally in their offending. The most reasonable assessment based on the available research literature is that the relationship between pornography, fantasy and offending is unclear."

*'''Ferguson, J. and Hartley, R. (2009). "[https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/pleasure-momentarythe-expense-damnable-influence-pornography-rape The pleasure is momentary…the expense damnable?: The influence of pornography on rape and sexual assault]", ''Aggression and Violent Behavior'', 14(5), pp. 323–329.'''
*:"Evidence for a causal relationship between exposure to pornography and sexual aggression is slim and may, at certain times, have been exaggerated by politicians, pressure groups and some social scientists. Some of the debate has focused on violent pornography, but evidence of any negative effects is inconsistent, and violent pornography is comparatively rare in the real world. Victimization rates for rape in the United States demonstrate an inverse relationship between pornography consumption and rape rates."

*'''Endrass, Jérôme; Urbaniok, Frank; Hammermeister, Lea C.; Benz, Christian; Elbert, Thomas; Laubacher, Arja; and Rossegger, Astrid (2009). "[http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-244X-9-43.pdf The consumption of Internet child pornography and violent and sex offending]," ''BMC Psychiatry'', 9:43.
*:"Altogether, the empirical literature does not put forward any evidence that the consumers of child pornography pose a considerably increased risk for perpetrating hand-on sex offenses. Instead, the current research literature supports the assumption that the consumers of child pornography form a distinct group of sex offenders. Though some consumers do commit hands-on sex offenses as well – the majority of child pornography users do not. [...] The consumption of child pornographic material alone does not seem to predict hands-on sex offenses. [...] Similar to Seto and Eke, we found low rates of recidivism among our sample. When applying the broader definition of recidivism by taking investigations and charges into account, the recidivism rates were 0.8% for hands-on and 3.9% for hands-off sex offenses. These recidivism rates after a follow-up time of six years indicate that the risk of re-offending for child pornography consumers is quite low."

*'''Kirby, Stuart (2005). "[http://web.archive.org/web/20080725072444/http://www.xuk.biz/UKLR/Landslide/library/72/nolink.htm No link between child porn and sexual abuse,]" ''Life Style Extra, UK'', 15 December.'''
*:"There is no link between looking at child pornography and sexual abuse of youngsters, a senior police officer told a conference today. Studies have found no correlation between those who download graphic images of youngsters via the internet and child molesters. Dr Stuart Kirby, Detective Chief Superintendent with Lancashire Police, told the International Investigative Psychology Conference: "When you look at all the research that has been done nationally, the consensus is that there has not proven to be a link between the viewing of pornography and the committing of hands-on offences. In a follow-up study by Lancashire Police, that was found to be clearly the case."

*'''Kendall, Todd (2007). "[http://web.archive.org/web/20130824154215/http://maggiemcneill.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/pornography-rape-and-the-internet.pdf Pornography, Rape, and the Internet]." Paper presented at the Stanford Law and Economics Seminar.'''
*:This study found that "an increase in home internet access of 10 percentage points is associated with a 7.3% decline in [forcible] rape" of females of all ages as a group. [http://www.slate.com/id/2152487/ Slate Magazine] reported on this.

*'''Stanley, Janet (2001). "[http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/issues/issues15/issues15.html Pornography, Child Abuse and the Internet]," ''Child Abuse Prevention Issues'', 15.'''
*:"Research to date has not determined whether child sex offenders are more, or less, likely to offend if they view and/or collect child pornography (Queensland Crime Commission and Queensland Police Services 2000; Smallbone and Wortley 2000). Although a Queensland study found that non-familial offenders reported using adult pornography (72 per cent) and child pornography (9 per cent) (Smallbone and Wortley 2000), these findings need to be treated with caution. The study sample was almost exclusively comprised of male incarcerated offenders who had low Internet literacy (88 per cent had not used the Internet). Thus, the characteristics of incarcerated offenders may differ from the wider population of offenders and it would also appear that the Smallbone and Wortley sample may potentially represent a different group to those offenders who target children via the Internet".

*'''Sheldon, Kerry & Howitt, Dennis (2008). "Sexual fantasy in paedophile offenders: Can any model explain satisfactorily new findings from a study of Internet and contact sexual offenders?", ''Legal and Criminological Psychology'', 13, 137-158.'''
*:"Internet offenders may have less need to contact offend since they can generate fantasy more easily. The contact [offending] group may be unable to generate fantasies at all or may have weak and short-lived fantasies. Sex offenders are often described as concrete and/or unimaginative (Langevin, Lang, & Curnoe, 1998), and it is possible that contact child molesters do not have frequent or vivid fantasies and require activity with a child in order to generate later masturbatory thoughts. [...] Contact offenders seem to have less sexual fantasy pertinent to their offending than did Internet offenders. Fantasy deficit may be involved in contact offending against children."

*'''[http://www.cyber-rights.org/reports/rvsharpe.htm Decision] in [[R v. Sharpe]] by Justice Duncan Shaw in the Supreme Court of British Columbia'''
*:"There is no evidence which demonstrates any significant increase of danger to children related to the confirmation or augmentation of cognitive distortions caused by pornography. There is no evidence that "mildly erotic" images are used in the "grooming process." Only assumption supports the proposition that materials that advocate or counsel sexual crimes with children have the effect of increasing the occurrence of such crimes. Sexually explicit pornography is used by some pedophiles to relieve pent-up sexual tension. A person who is prone to act on his fantasies will likely do so irrespective of the availability of pornography. There is no evidence that the production of child pornography will be significantly reduced if simple possession is a made a crime."

*'''Knudsen, D.D. (1988). "Child sexual abuse and pornography: Is there a relationship?," ''Journal of Family Violence'', 3, pp. 253-267.'''
*:"Perhaps the most appropriate summary of the research pertaining to pornography involving both adults and children is that there are no clear relationships that can be identified between erotica and sex crimes. Individuals for whom pornography is the primary or direct motivator of violent acts appear to be relatively rare. And most violence toward women and children is undertaken without such aids to arouse aggressive feelings, though some indirect modeling effects may be identified in lowered inhibitions. If the problem is to determine whether access to pornography directly increases the probability of sexually exploitive behaviors toward children, there appears to be a general consensus among researchers that it does not (Nelson, 1982)."

*'''Williams, Katherine S. (2004). "[http://web.archive.org/web/20080522200538/http://www.xuk.biz/UKLR/Landslide/library/05/dissertation.htm Child Pornography Law: Does it Protect Children?]," ''Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law'', 26(3), 245-261.'''
*:"It seems reasonable to conclude that, on the evidence presently available, it is not possible even to clearly link child pornography and sexual assaults, much less to prove a causative link. In this context, to control the activity on this ground is not logical. Taylor and Quayle (2003: 80-83) found that child pornography on the internet was extensively used as a means of achieving sexual arousal and as an aid to masturbation: it was therefore actively used in the paedophile's fulfilment of their sexual attraction to children and in their sexual fantasies. This use as a masturbatory aid is not in itself illegal nor is it of itself dangerous to children, though it may be abhorrent. If this were enough to feed and satisfy their sexual desire, then pseudo-images might be seen as having social utility even if most of us would be wholly disgusted by their existence and the use made of them by the paedophile. Kutchinskey's work (1973, 1985) suggests that this is more likely to be the case, so pornography (adult or pseudo-photographs) might actually protect children. The crucial point remains, that there may be no necessary link between child pornography and further abuse of children and certainly no causative link."

*'''Adler, A. (2001). [https://sci-hub.se/10.2307/1123799 The Perverse Law of Child Pornography.] ''Columbia Law Review'', 101(2), 209.'''
*:"[Abs] In this article, Professor Adler argues that child pornography law, intended to protect children from sexual exploitation, threatens to reinforce the very problem it attacks. The article begins with a historical claim: our culture has become preoccupied with child sexual abuse and child pornography in a way that it did not used to be. The article traces the rapid development of child pornography law, showing that a cultural transformation in our notion of childhood sexual vulnerability has coincided with the birth and dramatic expansion of the law. Professor Adler then introduces various causal accounts of this chronological correlation between the regulation of child pornography and the growing crisis of child sexual abuse. First, she explores the possibility that the burgeoning law of child pornography may invite its own violation through a dialectic of taboo and transgression. She then presents another reading of the relationship between child pornography law and culture: the law may unwittingly perpetuate and escalate the sexual representation of children that it seeks to constrain. In this view, the legal tool that we designed to liberate children from sexual abuse threatens us all, by constructing a world in which we are enthralled -- anguished, enticed, bombarded -- by the spectacle of the sexual child."

*'''DutchNews.nl (2012). "[https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2012/10/virtual_child_porn_could_reduc/ ‘Virtual child porn could reduce child abuse’]."'''
*:"Van Lunsen says there is academic evidence the ban on child pornography has led to an increase in child abuse because paedophile leanings can only rarely be changed. Virtual child porn has been banned in the Netherlands since 2002. Only one in 20 users of child pornography may actually go on to physically abuse children, Van Beek told the paper."

*'''Seto, M. C. (2025). [http://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.14416311 Online sexual offending: Theory, practice, and policy] (2nd ed.). ''American Psychological Association''. '''
::"It is possible that virtual CSEM [child sexual exploitation material] or child sex dolls could be part of a harm reduction approach to CSEM offending, since it can be sexually gratifying for at least some people who are interested in CSEM and does not involve the sexual exploitation and harm of a real child. A well-known harm reduction example is the prescription of methadone for opioid addiction: Methadone is still addictive, but it can reduce risk of lethal overdose, associated crime, and unsafe use practices (e.g. sharing needles) compared to street purchased opioids. In this context, a harm reduction approach would try to shift some CSEM perpetrators to virtual CSEM and other alternatives rather than expecting full abstinence, especially for the subset who are exclusively interested in children." (p. 229)

*'''Lievesley, R., & Harper, C. A. (2026) "[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19419899.2026.2619511 Understanding the use of child-related sexual fantasy and fictional sexual materials by people who are attracted to children]" ''Psychology & Sexuality'', DOI: 10.1080/19419899.2026.2619511'''
::“In descriptive terms, engagement with FSM depicting children was correlated with self-reported willingness to engage in sexual offending against children. However, this correlation did not hold in multivariate Bayesian analyses controlling for other relevant constructs. Instead, there was evidence that sexual satisfaction was associated with lower levels of self-reported willingness to offend and permissive attitudes about sexual interactions between adults and children were associated with higher self-reported willingness to offend.”
::[a comment on this from [https://www.b4uact.org/b4qr/vol6/iss2/ B4QR volume 6, issue 2]: “the strong correlation between moral attitudes and willingness to offend is largely tautological, as these scales measure the same underlying construct twice. The authors also invoke Seto's (2019) Motivation-Facilitation Model, which incorporates trait and state facilitation factors (antisocial personality, hostile masculinity, negative affect) as mechanisms through which sexual motivations translate into offending— yet none of these moderators are operationalized in the models.”]

==The nature of "CP"==
[[File:Iwfpenetrative.png|thumb|IWF's 2021 annual report: Category A is the "most extreme" and generally the "rarest" material, yet consists of banal acts of digital stimulation]]
*'''[[Jan Schuijer|Schuijer, Jan]] and Rossen, Benjamin (1992). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20210126060534/http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume4/j4_2_1_5.htm The Trade in Child Pornography]," ''[[Issues in Child Abuse Accusations]]'', 4(4).'''
*:"We have called the claims about child pornography "myths." The existence of child pornography is certainly not. The myths are the exaggerated estimates of the number of children, the volume and value of the trade, the profits that are alleged to have been made, and the horrifying damage said to have been done to the children."

*'''[[Thomas O'Carroll|O'Carroll, Tom]] (2000). "[http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/tomoc/sexpriv_backgr_text.htm Sexual Privacy for Paedophiles and Children: A Complementary Background Paper]."'''
*:"A survey of images in commercial child porn magazines that were available in the 1970s and early 80s by Schuijer and Rossen shows that only 14% depicted children engaged in sexual conduct with adults. Most of the material, 61%, showed children either nude at play or posing erotically. (8)"

*'''[[Robert Bauserman|Bauserman, Robert]] (2003). "Child pornography online: myth, fact, and social control", ''Journal of Sex Research'', 40(2).'''
*:"Most of the CP images themselves appear to involve adolescents or children posing nude, which is not illegal in most Western countries. However, some hard-core images of adolescent and prepubescent children having sex with each other and with adults are available. While some appear to be recycled from 1970s magazines and films, other images seem to be "sex tourist" images created by men visiting Asian or Latin American countries in search of less risky sexual access to minors. Jenkins offers no estimate of the number of minors who currently appear in CP, but fortunately they seem to number far fewer than the tens or hundreds of thousands of children (defined to include adolescents) often claimed."

*'''Lanning, Kenneth (1992). [https://web.archive.org/web/20210318193311/https://www.religioustolerance.org/fbi_02.htm ''Investigator's Guide to Allegations of "Ritual" Child Abuse'', Chapter 2.1: "Stranger Danger"]. Quantico, VA: Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime.''' See also, [https://www.boychat.org/messages/1613090.htm html version] with less errors, and [http://web.archive.org/web/20230405213943/https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/136592NCJRS.pdf backup PDF].
*:"Child victims who, for example, simply behave like human beings and respond to the attention and affection of offenders by voluntarily and repeatedly returning to the offender's home are troubling. It confuses us to see the victims in child pornography giggling or laughing."

*'''O'Donnel, Ian, and Milner, Claire (2007). ''Child Pornography: Crime, Computers and Society,'' p. 123.''' (Paraphrased by [[Newgon#Potted_history|Brian Ribbon]]<ref name=BLueRibbon />)
*:"A recent study in Ireland, undertaken by Garda, revealed the most serious content in a sample of over 100 cases involving indecent images of children. In 44% of cases, the most serious images depicted nudity or erotic posing, in 7% they depicted sexual activity between children, in 7% they depicted non-penetrative sexual activity between adults and children, in 37% they depicted penetrative sexual activity between adults and children, and in 5% they depicted sadism or bestiality."

*'''Ribbon, Brian<ref name=BLueRibbon>Explanatory note: BLueRibbon is an anonymous online ''activist'' from the late 00s era. He is the individual who coined the term [[Minor Attracted Person]], and is considered a reliable anonymous source due to his continued contributions to research lists and anthologies.</ref> (2008). [http://www.boychat.org/messages/1123851.htm "How can anyone believe these claims?"]. Boychat.org'''
*:"I could only find a small number of websites (less than 20) which contained material which would be illegal if viewed in my home jurisdiction, despite the fact that my home jurisdiction prohibits simple nudity. It is clear that there are not 150,000 child pornography websites. The websites which did depict material which would be illegal if viewed in my home jurisdiction were much tamer than government-funded organisations claim. Over 99% of the images which would be illegal in the USA/UK/Australia showed no sexual contact."

*'''[[Judith Levine|Levine, Judith]] (2002). ''[[Harmful to Minors]]''.'''
*:"Aficionados and vice cops concede that practically all the sexually explicit images of children circulating cybernetically are the same stack of yellowing pages found at the back of those X-rated shops, only digitized. These pictures tend to be twenty to fifty years old, made overseas, badly re-reproduced, and for the most part pretty chaste. That may be why federal agents almost never show journalists the contraband. But when I got a peek at a stash downloaded by Don Huycke, the national program manager for child pornography at the U.S. Customs Service, in 1995, I was underwhelmed. Losing count after fifty photos, I'd put aside three that could be called pornographic: a couple of shots of adolescents masturbating and one half-dressed twelve-year-old spreading her legs in a position more like a gymnast's split than split beaver. The rest tended to be like the fifteen-year-old with a 1950s bob and an Ipana grin, sitting up straight, naked but demure, or the two towheaded six-year olds in underpants, astride their bikes."

*'''[[Harris Mirkin|Mirkin, Harris]] (2009). "The Social, Political, and Legal Construction of the Concept of Child Pornography," ''Journal of Homosexuality'', 56(2), pp. 233-267.'''
*:"Most of the actual acts depicted by the young models in child pornography are legal. Although some of the older pictures have sullen, battered looking children who look like they have been drugged or coerced, that is rarely true of more current photos. Impressionistically, the largest number of pictures on pornographic sites involves clothed photographs of pretty or good-looking children. Often they are in bathing suits. These are tainted simply because of their presence on pornographic sites, but, although they often have an erotic tinge, the pictures would not be considered pornographic in other settings. The next largest number consists of nudes of diverse quality and degrees of eroticism. Some pictures of boys show erections. Videos are a media that demand movement and they often show sex play and horseplay among the youths (especially boys), but no real sex (except masturbation or attempted masturbation). Masturbation, usually alone but sometimes in groups, and oral sex are also occasionally shown in still images. Generally both boys and girls look cheerful and healthy, although obviously this could be an act. Still the smiles and playfulness are often in hundreds of photographs of the same models, and giggles are ubiquitous in the films. The attempt is to portray an innocent and joyful sexuality, whether or not that is what is experienced by the models and actors. The pictures are far less tawdry and hard core than adult porn and are more playful. Domination is not an important theme and very few images (probably less than 1%) involve adults."

*'''Quayle, Ethen and Jones, Terry (2011). "Sexualized Images of Children on the Internet", ''Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment'', 23(1), pp. 7-21.'''
*:The authors reviewed a sample of 24,550 child pornography images from the UK's ChildBase database. After excluding "children who had reached sexual maturity" (14+), 47.9% of the sample were classified as pubescent, 51.4% as prepubescent, and only 0.7% as "very young" (children under two). "The final total of coded images was 24,550; the majority of these images depicted children in indecent or naked poses. [...] The images were initially sorted into the following categories: gender (female, male, and gender unknown), age (pubescent, prepubescent, and very young), and ethnic group (White and non-White). The decision to use these age groupings followed the publication by Cattaneo et al. (2008) of an empirical study that highlighted the difficulty in allocating an age to postpubertal individuals. It effectively meant that any person displaying sexual maturity was excluded and that the majority of the sample would have been aged 14 years or younger (Cooper, 2005). [...] There were very few very young children in the current sample, and this differs from data published by the IWF (2008)."

===Child pornography subcultures===

*'''[[Robert Bauserman|Bauserman, Robert]] (2003). "Child pornography online: myth, fact, and social control", ''Journal of Sex Research'', 40(2).'''
*:"Also of interest is Jenkins' finding that, like many other deviant groups (e.g., organized crime), the CP subculture does not represent a total break with conventional morality. This claim may be surprising, given the extent to which sexual interest in children or adolescents is socially and legally condemned. However, studies of deviant groups show that members may express mainstream or even conservative values on social and political issues, and share widely accepted goals such as material success. While subscribing to mainstream values, group members seek to rationalize or "neutralize" the illegal and socially condemned aspects of their behavior. Jenkins notes the use of techniques such as denial of victimization (the adolescent or child is said to be consenting), denial of harm, and condemnation of the condemners (e.g., as hypocrites). Users also self-label with nonderogatory terms such as "pedo" or "loli-lover." Reports of truly sadistic and violent crimes against children (such as the Dutroux case in Belgium, in which an offender kidnapped, raped, and killed young girls) are met with expressions of disgust and anger and claims that "true loli-lovers" are interested in mutual pleasure, not violence. Jenkins considers such statements genuine expressions of feeling, not a public front, because of the private nature of the bulletin board forums."

*'''Lehmann, R. J. B., Blokland, A., Schmidt, A. F., Gnielka, F. M., Huikuri, S., Gannon, C., … Reichel, R. (2025). [https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2025.2453813 Polling Pedophilic Preferences: Analyzing Responses to User-Generated Member Polls on a Darknet Child Sexual Abuse Forum]. ''Deviant Behavior'', 1–22.'''
*:"Fortin and Proulx (2019) found that the most frequent pattern observed among offenders (38% of cases) was an escalating trajectory, characterized by the collection of images depicting progressively younger victims and increasingly severe abuse. However, 23% of offenders followed a de-escalating pattern. Seto and Eke (2015) observed that the majority of seized CSAM depicted pubescent or prepubescent girls, with 79% of their sample collecting predominantly girl content (i.e., over 75% of the collection), and 47% exclusively collecting such content. In contrast, among the 53% of offenders who possessed any boy content, only 9% exclusively collected CSAM depicting boys. Additionally, approximately 22% of the collections contained material involving depictions of violence and bondage."
*:"[On a Darknet Forum] some users attempt to justify their preferences for extreme content, arguing that some pain is inevitable even during “consensual” sex and that very young children could be conditioned to enjoy it. However, this view is met with resistance from other users, indicating an internal conflict within the community about the extent of acceptable behavior. This conflict is critical for understanding the potential for internal regulation within such communities and suggests that reinforcing and enforcing existing rules could help curb the normalization of more extreme forms of abuse."

==A "billion-dollar" industry?==

:''See also: [http://web.archive.org/web/20140819030612/http://libertus.net/censor/resources/statistics-laundering.html Statistics Laundering: false and fantastic figures]''

Child pornography is generally exchanged without any money changing hands. The endlessly repeated statistic that child pornography is a "billion-dollar industry" has absolutely no basis. Government agencies are often the primary distributors of such material on the dark web, and any commercialization of these erotic images should be viewed as suspicious by the end user.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/07/australian-police-sting-brings-down-paedophile-forum-on-dark-web Guardian: Australian police sting brings down paedophile forum on dark web]</ref>

*'''Jenkins, Philip (2001). ''Beyond Tolerance: Child Pornography on the Internet,'' p. 102.'''
*:"Money is rarely involved in the child porn underworld, which is the preserve of truly motivated collectors."

*'''Bialik, Carl (2006). "[http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB114485422875624000.html Measuring the Child-Porn Trade]," ''The Wall Street Journal'', April 18.'''
*:"Unlike, say, the soft-drink or airline industries, the child-pornography industry doesn't report its annual sales to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Yet in a press release ahead of a recent House of Representatives hearing aimed at curbing the industry, Texas Republican Joe Barton said, "Child pornography is apparently a multibillion … my staff analysis says $20 billion-a-year business. Twenty billion dollars." Some press reports said the figure applied only to the industry's online segment. The New York Times reported, "the sexual exploitation of children on the Internet is a $20 billion industry that continues to expand in the United States and abroad," citing witnesses at the hearing.
*:What was Rep. Barton's staff analysis? A spokesman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee told me the source of the number was the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a group that advocates for the protection of children. When I first talked with that group's president, Ernie Allen, he told me that Standard Chartered bank, which has worked with the NCMEC to cut off funding to child-porn traffickers, wanted a quantitative analysis of the problem, so it asked for a measurement from consulting firm McKinsey & Co. Mr. Allen faxed me an NCMEC paper that cites the McKinsey study in placing the child-porn industry at $6 billion in 1999, and $20 billion in 2004.
*:But a McKinsey spokesman painted a different picture for me: "The number was not calculated or generated by McKinsey," he wrote in an email. Instead, for a pro bono analysis for Standard Chartered, he said, McKinsey used a number that appeared in a report last year by End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes, an international advocacy group.
*:But the trail didn't end there: That report, in turn, attributed the number to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as did a report last year from the Council of Europe, a Strasbourg, France-based human-rights watchdog. Both of those reports noted that estimates range widely, from $3 billion to $20 billion.
*:FBI spokesman Paul Bresson told me in an email, "The FBI has not stated the $20 billion figure... . I have asked many people who would know for sure if we have attached the $20 billion number to this problem. I have scoured our Web site, too. Nothing!""
*'''Bialik, Carl (2006). "[http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB114606007204936484.html?mod=2_1125_1 Measuring Chernobyl's Fallout]," ''The Wall Street Journal'', April 27.'''
*:"Meanwhile, I heard more about the number that was the subject of last week's column -- the claim, which I couldn't verify, that the child-pornography industry generates $20 billion in annual revenue. In a 2004 report, the Council of Europe, a Strasbourg, France-based human-rights watchdog, attributed the number to Unicef. But Allison Hickling, a spokeswoman for the United Nations child agency, told me in an email, "The number is not attributable to Unicef -- we do not collect data on this issue."
*:I told Alexander Seger, who worked on the Council of Europe reports, that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Unicef, both cited in Council reports, said they weren't the source for the $20 billion figure. He said the Council won't use the number in the future, and added in an email, "I think we have what I would call a case of information laundering: You state a figure on something, somebody else quotes it, and then you and others [quote] it back, and thus it becomes clean and true. ... Perhaps this discussion will help instill more rigor in the future.""

*'''[[Thomas O'Carroll|O'Carroll, Tom]] (2000). "[http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/tomoc/sexual_privacy.htm Sexual Privacy for Paedophiles and Children: A Complementary Background Paper.]"'''
*:"The production of such pictures is vanishingly rare, however, and there is no shortage of criminal law to deal with any perpetrators who are caught. Even in such cases, though, we would be hard put to blame the private viewer of such material for creating a market in it. There is no means, no even on the Internet, to buy and sell such material. Illegal images may be posted, but this will invariably be done anonymously or with a phoney "from" address – for obvious reasons. This means that it is impossible to make money on these activities. From time to time someone may naively hope do so, lured by claims in the media that it is a profitable business. These commercial attempts have always been stopped very quickly: If the potential customers can find the producer then so can the police. The notion that there is a vast child porn industry, organised by some ruthless mafia, is simply a myth."

*'''Rothery, Brian (2008). "[http://web.archive.org/web/20090211035156/http://inquisition21.com/index.php?module=announce&ANN_user_op=view&ANN_id=319 Every image of a child being abused]", inquisition21.com.'''
*:"By now, many journalists and activists concerned with how the police deal with the child pornography laws are aware that the American police and some related agencies are the main, and likely the sole, dealers in and publishers of images of child pornography, using them for entrapment purposes."

*'''Rosen, Jeffrey (2005). "The Internet Has Made Government Action Against Child Pornography Untenable," in ''Opposing Viewpoints: Mass Media''. Ed. William Dudley. San Diego: Greenhaven Press.'''
*:Child pornography is often alleged to be a 20 billion dollar industry. If this is true, that would put it at twice the size of the adult porn industry: "But today, as Frank Rich reported in The New York Times Magazine last May [2002] the porn industry—much of it hard-core—generates at least $10 billion per year in revenues for more than 70,000 websites, porn networks, pay-per-view and rental movies [700 million porn rentals per year], cable and satellite television, and magazine publishers."

*'''O'Donnel, Ian and Milner, Claire (2007). ''Child Pornography; Crime, Computers and Society'', p. 54.'''
*:"Because there is no way of estimating the amount of child pornography that was in circulation prior to the advent of the internet, it is possible that the quantity has not increased but has simply become more available and more copied."

*'''Udo Vetter (lawyer) in the ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (2009). ''[http://web.archive.org/web/20090809150031/http://www.sueddeutsche.de/25F38V/2996588/Simple-Loesungen-fuer-ein-komplexes-Problem.html Simple Lösungen für ein komplexes Problem]''. Translation found on [http://annabelleigh.net/messages/476566.htm GC].'''
*:"You cannot physically abuse children on the internet. But you can look at pictures or movies of child abuse and trade them. "Of course paedophiles use the internet to trade child porn," says lawyer Udo Vetter, who has acted as a defense lawyer in hundreds of child porn cases. "But there is no such thing as a commercial market." ... There is no effective system of money transfer for the distribution of illegal pictures and movies. According to Vetter, "you simply can't receive millions of dollars online anonymously." Money flow is monitored by the authorities of many states, including the USA. According to Vetter, none of his clients ever paid for pictures or movies. 80 to 90 percent of the files found by the police are identical. "Some of these pictures are 30 to 40 years old." In contrast to the claims made to justify net censorship the amount of child porn available on the internet is rising extremely slowly. None of these pictures and movies have been produced professionally (the only exceptions being movies with teenage victims which may have been legal when they were produced."

*'''[[Lawrence A. Stanley]] (1988). [http://www.cardozoaelj.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Stanley_7.2.pdf "The Child-Pornography Myth"] in ''Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal''.'''
*:"Not only was the business of child pornography largely fiction, so were most lurid reports of organized sexual exploitation. There is no credible evidence, for instance, to support claims of child auctions in Amsterdam, of toll-free numbers and mail-order houses for child prostitutes, of child "snuff" films, satanic molestation rituals or, as Michael Jupp, executive director of Defence for Children International, testified to Congress, "{American} chains of brothels and bordellos ... where children are kept under lock and key." There are no networks of individuals exchanging children. There in currently only one active pedophile organization - the North American Man/Boy Love Association - and NAMBLA operates wholly within the law as a lobbying and support organization. A recent report issued by the United States Senate cleared NAMBLA of any involvement in the production of child pornography. No children whose photographs appeared in child-pornography magazines and films were ever known or suspected to have been the victims of murder."

==Sex Doll use for MAPs==
[[File:Csadoll.png|thumb|Child dolls in the early 2020s]]
:''See also: [[Research: A "cure" for pedophilia?]]''

This is an emerging area of study, and is limited by confounding variables, as the samples are by their very nature voluntary. Neverthless, no association was found between child-like sex dolls and offending proclivity, but instead, sexual preoccupation was lower among users.<ref>[https://www.psychologytoday.com/nz/blog/women-who-stray/202304/can-sex-dolls-prevent-criminal-sexual-behavior Can Sex Dolls Prevent Criminal Sexual Behavior?]</ref>

*'''Harper, Craig A., and Rebecca Lievesley. [https://psyarxiv.com/zsufr “Exploring the Ownership of Child-like Sex Dolls.”] ''PsyArXiv'', 18 Feb. 2022.'''
*:"In this study we have presented what we believe to be the first empirical study into the psychological and risk-related constructs associated with the ownership of child-like sex dolls. In contrast to moralistic publications citing the potential risks of such dolls in related to child sexual abuse (Chatterjee, 2020; Danaher, 2017, 2019; Strikwerda, 2017), we found evidence for their functional use. In light of this, we hope that those working in psychological and sex science can launch systematic studies that explore how to best support MAPs in their search for safe sexual outlets, with ultimate aims of improving levels of mental health in this population and, subsequent to this, the prevention of the sexual abuse of children."

*'''Desbuleux, J.C. and Fuss, J. (2023) [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00224499.2023.2199727 "The Self-Reported Sexual Real-World Consequences of Sex Doll Use"] ''The Journal of Sex Research'', DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2023.2199727'''
*:Interestingly, pedo-hebephilic users reported a greater reduction of sexual compulsivity compared to teleiophilic participants following doll use. Additionally, pedo-hebephilic participants more often reported acting out of illegal sexual fantasies with their dolls and a loss of interest in (sexual) intimacy with real children through doll use in the qualitative data. These self-reported data challenge the view that doll use is dangerously affecting human sexuality and instead suggest that dolls may be used as a sexual outlet for potentially dangerous and illegal (sexual) fantasies.

*'''Desbuleux, J.C. and Fuss, J. (april 2024) [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/380114150_Berichtete_Konsequenzen_des_Verbots_von_Sexpuppen_mit_kindlichem_Erscheinungsbild_Eine_Inhaltsanalyse_von_Betroffenenaussagen Berichtete Konsequenzen des Verbots von Sexpuppen mit kindlichem Erscheinungsbild: Eine Inhaltsanalyse von Betroffenenaussagen], ''Zeitschrift für Sexualforschung'' 37(02)'''
*: "From the perspective of those affected, the ban on child sex dolls has a negative impact on their lives and the risk of sexual violence against children. The available data provide no evidence that the tightening of the law serves to protect children"

*'''Desbuleux, J.C. and Fuss, J. (September 2024) [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/384432301_Child-like_sex_dolls_legal_empirical_and_ethical_perspectives Child-like sex dolls: legal, empirical, and ethical perspectives]. ''International Journal of Impotence Research'' 36(7)'''
*: "Although a causal link is assumed by some legislators between the prohibition of such dolls and the protection of children from sexual abuse, empirical studies do not support this causality."
*: As mentioned by some researchers, one potential approach to safely study the use of highly realistic sex dolls would be to embed them as a therapeutic tool within existing treatment programs like Dunkelfeld or the Healthy Sex Programme in the UK, similar to other forms of fictional sexual materials such as written stories. [...] This aligns with harm reduction principles, as seen in drug addiction treatment, which aims to minimize harm when eradication isn’t feasible [53,54,55]. Societal moral disgust often obstructs such approaches, prompting the question of whether legislation should be based on disgust. The key issue is whether current laws focus on societal repulsion towards pedophilic fantasies or genuinely aim to protect children."

In some cases, researchers have made flawed assumptions about sex dolls and other forms of fiction, arguably equating them with non-fictional activities. In one 2023 report from Australia, denying the "wrongfulness" of sex dolls' and drawings was classed alongside other researcher-defined child sexual exploitation "myths" such as "Boys under 18 are sexually experimental and are not harmed when they interact sexually with an adult online" and "People under 18 who offer nude or sexual activity on livestream are exploring their sexuality and should not be censored".<ref>[https://www.humanrights.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/documents/Identifying%20and%20understanding%20child%20sexual%20offending%20behaviour%20and%20attitudes%20among%20Australian%20men.pdf Identifying and understanding child sexual offending behaviours and attitudes among Australian men - Nov, 2023, University of New South Wales and Jesuit Social Services]</ref>

==Impact on minor models==

:''See [[Research: Double-Taboo CSA]].''

A small amount of research has been done into the direct effect of modeling on minors. This is featured in the above article.

==Impact on "non-appreciative" adults==

It is often claimed anecdotally that officers and moderators investigating high volumes of CP suffer from "burnout" or may have to enter counseling.<ref>[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10374425/pdf/fpsyg-14-1245541.pdf Clements AJ, Woodhams J, Young JK and Duran F (2023) Editorial: The wellbeing of criminal justice personnel. Front. Psychol. 14:1245541. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1245541]</ref><ref>[https://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/crime-and-courts/a-nightmare-thats-never-going-to-end-child-porn-takes-a-toll-on-justice-system/article_09b8eb38-9e69-11ed-bdbe-e70d0d3b5c5e.html A nightmare that's never going to end': child porn takes a toll on justice system - Bismarck Tribune] <small>''"More internet service providers are reporting incidents, and more people, especially young people, have cellphones. It’s becoming more common for a minor to talk to people online and negotiate a price for a photo of himself or herself. “They’re almost exploiting themselves,” said Steve Harstad, chief North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation agent. “Once you hit send, that image is gone. There’s no coming back from that one.”"''</small></ref><ref>[https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/33166 Spence, R., Bifulco, A., Bradbury, P., Martellozzo, E., & DeMarco, J. (2023). The psychological impacts of content moderation on content moderators: A qualitative study. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 17(4), Article 8. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2023-4-8]</ref>

*'''Rothery, Brian (2008). "[http://web.archive.org/web/20080603090624/http://www.inquisition21.com/index.php?module=announce&ANN_user_op=view&ANN_id=337 From inside the police force]," inquisition21.com.
*:"We have a report from a police insider about how many of his colleagues actually reacted to both adult and child pornography [...] He received his first, much of it shocking to him, initiation into the world of pornography from his older police colleagues who ‘sickened him with their canteen culture’. They pushed the first ever hard core magazines he had seen right in front of his face, as he put it, “Gloating over them.” [...] Only as the number of women in the force increased, especially in senior ranks, did the macho culture of open pornographic display decrease and become more covert. [...] These men were now being paid to study child pornography and soon he could hear them tell the media about fatigue and burn-out concerning images they had formerly gloated over."

==Minor producers==

:''The criminalisation of youth is also covered in [[Ageism|a dedicated article]].''

92% of "child pornography" in circulation is self-produced (and the proportion is rising).<ref>[https://annualreport2020.iwf.org.uk/trends/international/selfgenerated IWF: Self-generated child sexual abuse (2020)] followed by [https://annualreport2021.iwf.org.uk/trends/selfgenerated Self-generated child sexual abuse (2021)] and [https://annualreport2022.iwf.org.uk/trends-and-data/self-generated-csam/ the 2022 report] and [https://www.iwf.org.uk/news-media/news/under-10s-groomed-online-like-never-before-as-hotline-discovers-record-amount-of-child-sexual-abuse/ the 2023 report]</ref> By 2022, even 70% of the prepubescent material was self generated. A survey published in 2026 has revealed that among self-reports of "image abuse", a greater number of "perpetrators" are minors than adults.<ref>Finkelhor, D., Colburn, D., Gewirtz-Meydan, A., O’Brien, J. E., Jones, L. M., Turner, H. A., & Mitchell, K. J. (2026). Youth-Produced Images Are the Majority of Child Sexual Abuse Materials: Categories of Youth and Adult Perpetrators From a Victim Based Study. Sexual Abuse, 38(3), 337-353. https://doi.org/10.1177/10790632261415819 (Original work published 2026)</ref>

Prohibitions (if they are to be applied universally) are therefore unworkable, as it is extremely hard to define who is "exploiting" who using a conventional victimological model. While activists have been pointing towards the trend of self-produced images for some time, it has taken much longer for "Child-Protection" officials to admit that minors are capable of producing child pornography, and more recently that a significant majority of said material is voluntarily produced.

*'''Finkelhor, D., Turner, H.A., Colburn, D., Mitchell, K.J., & Mathews, B. (2023). [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0145213423002508 Child sexual abuse images and youth produced images: The varieties of Image-based Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Children.] ''Child abuse & neglect'', 143, 106269'''
*:"Only 12 % of the image episodes qualified as adult produced, child sexual abuse images. Such adult produced image experiences were also not higher in negative emotional impact than the youth produced images. Only 10 % of the episodes involved images of children under age 13."

*'''Drejer, C., Riegler, M. A., Halvorsen, P., Johnson, M. S., & Baugerud, G. A. (2023). [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15248380221147564 Livestreaming Technology and Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse: A Scoping Review.] ''Trauma, Violence, & Abuse'', 0(0). DOI:10.1177/15248380221147564'''
*:"In cases of self-generated sexual content featuring children, it is often challenging to evaluate the level of coercion, as some of the young individuals are using streaming services to self-exploit, earn money and receive gifts, or receive “likes” (Internet Watch Foundation, 2018; Jonsson et al., 2014; Terre des Hommes, 2013). In addition, it is not always clear whether a crime is taking place or if (sexual) boundaries are being explored between youth (Koops, 2009). This makes for complex legal challenges as the child can be both considered the offender and the victim (Westlake, 2018)."

* '''[https://annualreport2021.iwf.org.uk/pdf/IWF-Annual-Report-2021.pdf Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) report on self-generated content (2021)]'''
*:"Of the 252,194 webpages actioned during 2021, almost three quarters (182,281 or 72%) were assessed as containing self-generated imagery. This is a 28 percentage point increase on 2020 when 44% of actioned reports (or 68,000) were self-generated."

* '''[https://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/crime-and-courts/a-nightmare-thats-never-going-to-end-child-porn-takes-a-toll-on-justice-system/article_09b8eb38-9e69-11ed-bdbe-e70d0d3b5c5e.html 'A nightmare that's never going to end': child porn takes a toll on justice system]'''
*:"More internet service providers are reporting incidents, and more people, especially young people, have cellphones. It’s becoming more common for a minor to talk to people online and negotiate a price for a photo of himself or herself. '''“They’re almost exploiting themselves,”''' said Steve Harstad, chief North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation agent. “Once you hit send, that image is gone. There’s no coming back from that one.”"

*'''"[https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/6109364ea51f0b14f7efeb5c/613b6ef4224bfeb57bfb0ca0_APPG%20on%20Social%20Media%20-%20Selfie%20Generation.pdf SELFIE GENERATION (2021) - A REPORT FROM THE APPG ON SOCIAL MEDIA]"
*:"When looking at these distinct categories, NetClean found that the most common type of self-produced material they recorded was voluntarily self-produced material (57.5%), followed by images as a result of grooming (22%)"

*'''The Courier Mail (2008). "Making child pornography is now kids' stuff."
*:"Teenagers are becoming major makers of child pornography in Victoria[Australia]. Statistics reveal adolescents last year outnumbered middle-aged men two to one as the main offenders in child porn production. Youths 10 to 14 were among the alleged offenders."

*'''Irish Independent (2008). "[https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/children-producing-their-own-web-porn-26454111.html Children producing their own web porn."]
*:"CHILDREN as young as 10 years of age are taking sexually explicit pictures of themselves before uploading them onto the internet -- according to Ireland's leading Criminal Intelligence Officer at Interpol [...] Irish Detective Sergeant Michael Moran, who is one of the world's leading experts in the fight against child exploitation, has warned parents to be extra vigilant about their children uploading self-made pornography. "Everything from posing naked to actual sex acts on web cams. We are seeing a lot more self-produced child pornography to the extent that self-taking child abusive material is one of our biggest problems at the moment."

*'''Inquisition21.com (2008). "The new pizza scam."
*:"The child sex abuse and child porn legislation have boosted the business of so-called ‘under-age’ minors scamming and blackmailing adult men. The latest to arise from the chat rooms is the pizza scam. [...] One of our other researchers went onto that chat room and asked if anyone had been approached by individuals offering to cam for pizza and one man from London replied. He said he had spoken to a male student who lived in his local area, aged 19. The student gave some sob story and said he would give a cam show for pizza. The man agreed. The boy named a local pizza place but gave another telephone number. The man phoned the number, who took his order and credit card details. Subsequently a PayPal account was set up using that credit card and money stolen from him. He reported this to PayPal who refused to do anything without a crime number. He then reported it to the police who simply took details. PayPal responded once he had a crime number, but the police apparently performed no investigation. A source close to the police has informed us that the police have a good laugh at this kind of thing. They regard the scammed as the perverts, or the guilty ones, and the scammers as having a right to sting them."

== See also ==
* [[Research:_The_effects_of_pornography|The effects of pornography on minors]]

== External links ==

* [[Wikipedia:Berl Kutchintsky| Berl Kutchintsky]] - a Danish Professor of Criminology whose findings were that increased availability of pornography had not led to an increase in sexual violence, and the incidence of certain sex crimes had in fact fallen, including rates of child sexual abuse.

==Excerpt Graphic Library==

This page has its own EGL, so please right click, save and upload in whatever character-limited social media form you are using.

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==Explanatory notes/refs==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Research into effects on Children]][[Category:Research on Minor Attraction]]

[[fr: Recherche: Pornographie enfantine]]

Research: Offender characteristics

2026-08-07T15:48:52Z

Thorn: /* Antisociality, impulsivity, lack of empathy, and other personality traits of "offenders" */

__NOTOC__{{research}}
Common assumptions about the characteristics of adult-minor sex offenders (including the prevalence of [[pedophilia]]) are unsupported. The Dutch Rapporteur<ref>[https://www.dutchrapporteur.nl/binaries/dutchrapporteur/documenten/reports/2015/03/19/on-solid-ground-tackling-sexual-violence-against-children-2014/dutch-rapporteur.on-solid-ground.tackling-sexual-violence-against-children.2014_tcm24-35335.pdf On Solid Ground - Dutch Rapporteur]</ref> recently carried out a fine graded analysis of "paraphilia" (i.e. pedophilia) rates among different types of child sex offender. Rather revealingly, although overall rates of pedophilia among CSOs were low (20%), levels fall to almost zero among the forcible contact offenders (see graphic at bottom of page).

==Prevalence of pedophilia among CSOs==

:''For discussion, see [[Research:_Prevalence#Non-offending_MAPs|Non-offending MAPs]]''

If pedophilia is defined as a preferential orientation towards prepubescent children, it is incredibly rare in the population of "child sex offenders" (including all minors under the [[Age of Consent|age of consent]]) and strikingly absent in many adult-prepubescent sex offenders. Within a socially prohibitive context, it is a [[self-fulfilling prophecy]] that many child sex offenders will be influenced by opportunistic motives and anti-social traits rather than a sexual preference for children.

A [[Penile Plethysmography|phallometric]] study by Michael Seto established that even if cut-offs assumed a massive 10% of controls to be pedophilic, only 27% of CSOs could be deemed pedophilic by the same standards.<ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1177/107906320101300103 Seto, M. C., & Lalumière, M. L. (2001). A Brief Screening Scale to Identify Pedophilic Interests Among Child Molesters. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 13(1), 15–25.]</ref>

*'''[[Paul Okami|Okami, P.]], & Goldberg, A. (1992). "[http://www.newgon.net/prd/lib/Okami1992.html Personality Correlates of Pedophilia: Are They Reliable Indicators?]," ''Journal of Sex Research'', 29(3), 297-328.'''
*:". . . most data suggest that only a relatively small portion of the population of incarcerated sexual offenders against minors consists of persons for whom minors (particularly children) represent the exclusive or even primary object of sexual interest or source of arousal (Freund, Watson, & Dickey, 1991; Gebhard et al., 1965; Howells, 1981; Lang et al., 1988; Langevin, 1983; McCormack & Selvaggio, 1989; Marshall, Babaree, & Butt, 1988; Marshall & Eccles, 1991; Mohr et al., 1964; Quinsey, Chaplin, & Carrigan, 1979; Righton, 1981; Rowan, 1988; Schofield, 1965; Swanson, 1968)."

*'''Kesicky, D. et al (2014). "[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0924933814777314 Pedophiles and (or) child molesters]," ''European Psychiatry'', Volume 29, Supp 1, Page 1.'''
*:"Experimental sample consists of 146 forensic cases (all men), they committed child molestation in years 2005–2012. According to the criteria (DSM-IV-TR) for pedophilia, penile plethysmography (PPG), actual clinical and case history data were used for the diagnosis determination. Obtained clinical and sociodemographic data were statistically evaluated. Only a small part (16,2 %) of sexual offenders against children meet the criteria (DSM-IV-TR) for pedophilia."

*'''World Health Organization (1986). "[https://books.google.com/books/about/Child_Sexual_Abuse.html?id=kH-WOAAACAAJ Child sexual abuse: report on a consultation, Copenhagen, 11-12 December 1985]."'''
*:"Some sex offences against children are committed by pedophiles, that is, persons who are sexually attracted to children rather than adults. Most child molestors, however, are not particularly attracted to children, but merely seeking sexual stimulation through encounters with children to compensate for a preferred, but unobtainable or inadequate (sexual) relationship with adults."

*'''Lautmann, Rüdiger (1994). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20081002230611/http://www.shfri.net/trans/lautmann/lautmann.htm Attraction to Children]." Ingrid Klein Pubs. Inc., Hamburg. ISBN 3-89521-015-3.'''
*:"This exhaustive and authoritative work is based on a three-tiered typology of offen[ders] against children, [the first type being] the true pedophile [who] has a general interest in social contact with children, including a sexual dimension. […] In this book I am concerned exclusively with the first type, which constitutes approximately 5% of all pedosexually active men."

*'''Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexology, "[http://web.archive.org/web/20080421215739/http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/ECE6P/html/pedophilia_2.html Prohibited Sexual Behavior and Sexual Violence]."'''
*:"In any case, as already mentioned, most sexual offenses against children are committed not by pedophiles, but by non-pedophilic men."

*'''Joint submission from the Northern Territory Government and Police, 9 March 1995, p. 4. Cited by the [http://web.archive.org/web/20110604234130/http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/acc_ctte/completed_inquiries/pre1996/ncapedo/report/c02.htm Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Crime Authority].'''
*:"Of [extrafamilial child sex offenders from 1990 to 1995], only ... 14.8% of the total ... had been identified as paedophiles or suspected paedophiles."

*'''Wilson, Singer, & Dowd (2006). Handbook of Children, Culture, And Violence, p. 68.'''
*:"Indeed, Howells (1981) maintains that "There is good reason to think that such persons [pedophiles] form a minority in the total population of people who become sexually involved with children" (p.76). Other researchers have come to a similar conclusion (Bromberg & Johnson, 2001; Mohr, Turner, & Jerry, 1964; Swanson, 1968)."

*'''Seto, M. C., Cantor, J. M., & Blanchard, R. (2006). "Child pornography offenses are a valid diagnostic indicator of pedophilia," ''Journal of Abnormal Psychology'', 115, 610-615.'''
*:"The proportions of men in each of the nine study groups—two groups of child pornography offenders, three groups of offenders against children, three groups of offenders against adults, and one group of general sexology patients [who had no history of charges for child pornography or sexual offenses] —who met a diagnostic criterion for pedophilia used at the Kurt Freund Laboratory (pedophilic index greater than .25; Blanchard et al., 2001) are shown in Figure 1. There was a significant difference between groups in the proportions who met this diagnostic criterion: 61% of child pornography offenders, 35% of offenders with child victims, 13% of offenders with adult victims, and 22% of general sexology patients." According to the authors, the 35% figure may be inflated because study participants were referred due to clinical or legal concerns about their sexual interests or behavior, and the study included an inordinate number of people who had convictions for both child pornography and child molestation.

*'''Kutchinsky, Berl (1973). "The effect of easy availability of pornography on the incidence of sex crimes: The Danish experience," ''Journal of Social Issues'', 29(3), p. 178.'''
*:"According to Gebhard et al. (1965), only one-fourth to one-third of the sexual offenders of girls examined were classified as pedophiles, and in about half of those cases "some degree of socio-sexual deprivation existed at the time of the offense, which may have triggered the behavior [p. 74]." Gebhard et al. further mention that "the term 'pedophile' is somewhat unfortunate since these men did not consciously prefer children as sexual partners, but simply found them acceptable [p. 74]." In other words, to the majority of sexual offenders against children the criminal interference with children was not a coveted goal in itself; rather it served as a poor substitute for a preferred, but unobtainable normal heterosexual experience. A number of other facts about the heterosexual offender of children (discussed by Gebhard et al., 1976) are relevant: [...] his masturbation fantasies are quite average, that is, he does not especially fantasize about children."

*'''Frenzel, R. R., & Lang, R. A. (1989). "Identifying sexual preferences in intrafamilial and extrafamilial child sexual abusers," ''Annals of Sex Research'', 2, 255-275.'''
*:"Erotic preference profiles among child sexual abusers, both familial and nonfamilial, are heterogeneous. Some men prefer adult females, others exclusively a male or female child, while others exhibit a pan-gynephilic profile, in which any aged female apparently has a similar erotic valence. Precisely how many of these incestuous or nonincestuous men are 'true' pedophiles is uncertain; possibly as many as 1 in 4 (Langevin, & Lang, 1988), or as few as 1 in 10, as suggested by the present data."

*'''Howells, K. (1981). "Adult sexual interest in children: Considerations relevant to theories of aetiology," in Cook, M. & Howells, K. (eds.), ''Adult sexual interest in children'', London: Academic Press, pp. 55-94; as summarized on [http://web.archive.org/web/20120904111717/http://www.mhamic.org/sources/howells.htm MHAMic].'''
*:Some have a persistent sexual preference for children beginning in adolescence, while others have a preference for adults but act with children due to situational factors (e.g., marital problems, loss of wife, abuse of alcohol, or stress). Most theories focus on the former type since the latter type are really not pedophiles. However, most clinical and criminal studies find the latter type to be the majority of those who offend.

*'''James, A. J. (2004). "Plethysmograph: a disputed device," tsroadmap.com, version of 12 April 2006.'''
*:''[The citation's use of "[[Pedophilia|pedophile]]" is almost certainly in reference to offenders - NewgonWiki].''
*:"Bradford (1997) candidly reviews the problems in penile response in testing. He collected data from a group of 200 subjects, 100 of whom were admitted child molesters and 100 of which were volunteer "community control" subjects. Even using an admitted population of child molesters, Dr. Bradford's penile tumescence testing could only correctly classify 62% of the admitted homosexual child molesters and 52% of the admitted heterosexual child molesters. According to the report, twenty-five (25%) accuracy in classification would have been expected from mere chance. Other studies report that plethysmography has an even poorer accuracy record. Simon & Schouten cite a study (Wormith) in which 42% of the pedophiles were classified as having normal sexual preferences. Another study they cite (Barbaree and Marshall) found that only 35% of pedophiles demonstrated the "pure" child-preference profile (Simon 1993, at 508). See also McAnulty 1990. [...] For instance, according to Bradford (1997), only 40% of child molesters are classified as pedophiles (p. 213). Johnston (1997) notes one-third of the molesters in study identified as fixated and 2/3 as regressed.; Abel (1988) states that the majority of subjects in the study could become involved with adult partners; paraphilic and nonparaphilic behavior and coexisted in most subjects."

*'''Levine, J. (2002). ''[[Harmful to Minors]]'', p. 25-26'''
*:"More important, sexual contact with a child does not a pedophile make. "The majority of reported acts of sexual abuse of children are not committed by pedophiles," but by men in relationships with adult women and men, said John Money, of Johns Hopkins, a preeminent expert on sexual abnormalities."

==Lack of intelligence among offenders or "pedophiles"==

:''For more information, see [[Research: Psychopathy and abnormal psychology]].''

The intellectual capacity of adults involved in intergenerational relationships, or pedophiles per se, does not appear to differ from the general population. On some occasions, differences have been identified within criminal sampes - however these differences are more likely to be confounded by general offender characteristics (impulsivity, tendency to act conspicuously and thus be detected). When "pedophilic offenders" are separated, they tend to be more intelligent than situational offenders, and even controls in some cases. The Eastvold study below defines "pedophilic offenders" very broadly (including totally normative self-admitted hebephilic/ephebophilic interest). While Eastvold does show higher functioning among the "pedophilic" offenders, other studies occasionally show little or no relationship.<ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.chiabu.2011.09.018 Strassberg et al. Psychopathy among pedophilic and nonpedophilic child molesters]</ref><ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1177/1079063208326930 Suchy - Facial and Prosodic Affect Recognition Among Pedophilic and Nonpedophilic Criminal Child Molesters]</ref>

*'''Eastvold, A et al. (2011). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1017/s1355617710001669 Executive function profiles of pedophilic and nonpedophilic child molesters], ''Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society'', 17 (2), 295-307.'''
*:"Results revealed that (a) child molesters exhibited an overall executive profile that was different from that of NSOs, with PEDs differing from NSOs but not from NPEDs; (b) child molesters on the whole performed better than NSOs on abstract reasoning and more poorly on inhibition; and (c) PEDs performed better than NPEDs on planning and exhibited better overall performance accuracy relative to NPEDs. These results suggest that PEDs exhibit a more deliberate, planful response style characterized by greater self-monitoring; whereas NPEDs appear to respond more impulsively. The current report further elucidates neurocognition among child molesters and highlights the need for future research examining subtypes of child molesters."

*'''Schiffer B., Vonlaufen C. (2011). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2010.02140.x Executive dysfunctions in pedophilic and nonpedophilic child molesters], ''Journal of Sexual Medicine'', 8: 1975–1984.'''
*:"Results indicate that pedophilic child molesters exhibited less performance deficits in cognitive functioning than nonpedophilic child molesters. Compared to healthy controls and nonsexual offenders, the pedophilic child molesters only showed executive dysfunction concerning response inhibition, whereas the nonpedophilic child molesters revealed more severe dysfunction, especially on tasks associated with cognitive flexibility and verbal memory. Conclusions: These results enhance our knowledge about executive dysfunction associated with criminality and/or pedophilia, as they suggest different profiles of impairment between groups. In summary, data suggest that nonpedophilic child molesters showed more severe cognitive deficits than pedophilic child molesters. However, as response inhibition is associated with prefrontal (i.e., orbitofrontal) functioning, the deficits observed in both child molester groups indicate dysfunction in the orbitofrontal cortex. This has to be further examined with functional imaging approaches in larger samples and a full-factorial approach which allows for a clear distinction between criminality and pedophilia in a factorial manner."''

*'''[[Paul Okami|Okami, P.]] & Goldberg, A. (1992). "Personality Correlates of Pedophilia: Are They Reliable Indicators?," ''Journal of Sex Research'', 29(3), 297-328.'''
*:"As can be seen, few if any differences in intelligence have been found for pedophiles or sex offenders against minors. The impression of pedophiles lacking intelligence may have origated in clinical work among samples which included persons suffering from senility and mental retardation (Langevin et al., 1985a)."
*:A chart is included:
*:[[Image:Okami intelligence.PNG|450px]]

*'''Howitt, Dennis (1995). ''[http://www.ipce.info/host/howitt/2b.htm Paedophiles and Sexual Offences Against Children]'', John Wiley & Sons, p. 44.'''
*:"The possibility of finding a simple personality profile that differentiates paedophiles from other men has appeared increasingly unrealistic as the research and clinical base has widened. Simplistic notions such as social inadequacy driving men to sex with children become unviable as highly socially skilled paedophiles are found."

*'''Leverett, S. D., & Tenbergen, G. (2023) [https://sotrap.psychopen.eu/index.php/sotrap/article/view/10515/10515.pdf Recent Advances in the Neuropsychology of Pedophilia]. ''Sexual Offending: Theory, Research, and Prevention'', DOI: 10.5964/sotrap.10515'''
*: "Cohen et al. (2002) investigated a sample of male, heterosexual, nonexclusive pedophilic individuals who offended sexually against children relative to healthy controls and found no significant neuropsychological differences in set shifting, attention, impulsivity or verbal fluency."
*: "Kruger and Schiffer (2011) investigated incarcerated individuals with pedophilia exclusively attracted to prepubescent children with a history of contact sexual offenses against at least two victims. [...] While these results suggest executive functioning weaknesses in the pedophilic group, the absolute values were within the normal range for all tasks."
*: "[S]lower processing speeds may suggest a more deliberate response style, reflecting greater self-monitoring required to conceal sexual attraction to children in everyday life."
*: "In a follow up study, Eastvold et al. (2011) found no evidence of generalized executive functioning deficits [...] Instead, each group showed distinct neuropsychological profiles [...] However, when considering inhibition accuracy, the pedophilic group was more accurate than the nonpedophilic group. Pedophilic individuals who had offended sexually against children also demonstrated better abstract reasoning and planning abilities relative to the nonpedophilic and non-sexual offense groups."
*: "When taken together, these findings support a main effect of child sexual abuse, whereby child sexual abuse is associated with impulsivity. These findings provide interesting nuance, wherein although individuals with pedophilia who offend sexually against children tend to have slower responses than nonpedophilic individuals, the nonpedophilic individuals tend to exhibit more pervasive neuropsychological impairments"
*: "[T]o truly differentiate the neuropsychological effects of incarceration or general criminality from those of pedophilia as a sexual preference, the field urgently needs to recruit community-dwelling, non-incarcerated darkfield individuals with sexual offenses against children and pedophilic nonoffense groups."
*: "As we have seen, the most pronounced neuropsychological impairments appear to apply to individuals who have committed contact child sexual abuse, and primarily for individuals ''without'' pedophilia."

== Antisociality, impulsivity, lack of empathy, and other personality traits of "offenders" ==
*'''Pritchard, C., & King, E. (2005). [https://pismin.com/10.1080/13811110590512903 Differential Suicide Rates in Typologies of Child Sex Offenders in a 6-year Consecutive Cohort of Male Suicides.] Archives of Suicide Research, 9(1), 35–43. doi:10.1080/13811110590512903'''
*:"Earlier research identified 3 typologies of Child Sex Offenders [CSO] with high rates of suicide. [...] Two significant results were ‘‘Sex Only’’ CSO suicides were 183 times the general population and 15 times the Multi-criminal CSO rates, with no suicides amongst the Violent CSO’s."
*:"The average annual number of men convicted of a sex offence against a child was 187 pa, and produced 95 Sex Only CSOs (51%); the remaining 92 men belonged to the Multi-Criminal (27%) and Violent & Multi-Criminal CSO group (22%)."
*:"The most important finding is that 15 of the 16 child sex offender suicides were Sex Only offenders. This confirms the previous study that the Sex Only offender is at risk of committing suicide (Pritchard & Bagley, 2001), whereas the Multi and Violent Criminal sex offenders are either no more, or are at even less risk of committing suicide than men in the general population."
*:"The fact that only one Multi-Criminal, compared with 15 Sex-only child sex offenders killed themselves adds further weight to the suggestion that there are very different types of child sex offenders. There are those who sexually abuse their victims, but who have no other history of crime or violence, and are at high risk of killing themselves if the abuse is disclosed. There is also, at the other extreme, a group of sex offenders with a history of crime and possibly physical violence, who may go on to kill their victims, but not themselves."

*'''Chronos, A., & Jahnke, S. (2026). [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10790632251389171 Distinguishing pedohebephebophilic actors and non-actors: A meta-analysis]. Sexual Abuse, 38(2). DOI:10.1177/10790632251389171'''
::“eight found significant average effects associated with acting, which were largest for male sex, prior therapy, older age, and adverse childhood sexual experiences (all gs > .38).”
::“Small significant effects were discovered for having own children, being preferentially attracted to children, [[Research:_Cognitive_Distortion|cognitive distortions]], and non-heterosexual orientation (all gs > .20) ”
::"[B]ased on '''fewer than 5 studies and fixed-effects''' meta-analysis,[...] these '''results need to be interpreted with caution''', results were significant for intelligence, stigma, interest in therapy, nonsexual adverse childhood experiences, height, lack of control of sexual impulses, head injuries after age 13, a history of falling in love with children, distress about sexual interests, non-righthandedness, and contact with children"
::"Average effect sizes for personality factors, mental disorders (e.g., affective or anxiety disorders), impulsivity or distress were very small (below g = .20) and non-significant."
::"Preferentiality for male children was not significantly related to child sexual offending in the meta-analysis."
::"Surprisingly, neither additional paraphilias nor hypersexuality/increased sexual desire were corroborated as motivating distinguishing factors"
::"Self-regulation problems, or lack of control of sexual impulses, as described in this meta-analysis, were significantly associated with acting, supporting previous findings on sex offenders’ recidivism (Hanson & Morton-Bourgon, 2005). [...] It is also of note that, while similar, lack of control of sexual impulses and impulsivity seem to present as distinct characteristics, with the former determined to be a significant factor and the latter not."
::"The non-significance of empathy as a distinguishing factor is particularly noteworthy, as it does not align with the well-established role of reduced empathy in predicting criminal or harmful behavior (Mann & Barnett, 2013)."
::"No significant differences emerged among any of the Big Five personality factors, affective disorders, anxiety, general distress, phobia, obsessive-compulsive traits, self-esteem, social desirability, or somatization, despite previous associations between personality traits and maladaptive behaviors (Babchishin et al., 2014; Kärgel et al., 2017)."

*'''Garant, E., and Proulx, J. (2026) "[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10790632261415814 The Role of Coping Strategies, Impulsivity and Hypersexuality on the Fear of Offending Among Minor Attracted Persons (MAPs)]." ''Sexual Abuse'', DOI: 10.1177/10790632261415814'''
::"[A]lthough sexual concerns and impulsivity have traditionally been considered risk factors for sexual offending in judicial populations (see Hanson & Bussiere, 1998; Hanson & Morton-Bourgon, 2019), and hypersexuality is recognized as important in evaluating sexual recidivism (see Etzler et al., 2020; Gregório et al., 2022), these factors do not seem to interact in the same way in our sample of MAPs. Indeed, neither impulsivity, the intensity of sexual fantasies nor the fear of offending predicted the perpetration of a sexual offense against a child by the participants of our study [299 male MAPs were recruited online]."

==Abused-abuser relationship==

Some psychologists have suggested that pedophilia or "abusing" itself is caused by childhood sexual abuse, or sexual interactions with adults as a minor. In some instances, even generalized "sexual behavior" in childhood has been linked to later offending, even though 40-70+% of children have behaved "sexually" by the age of 13.<ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1023/a:1015252903931 Larsson I, Svedin CG. Sexual experiences in childhood: young adults' recollections.] Arch Sex Behav. 2002;31(3):263-273.</ref><ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/0145-2134(93)90026-2 Lamb S, Coakley M. “Normal” childhood sexual play and games: differentiating play from abuse. Child Abuse Negl. 1993;17(4):515-526.]</ref><ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/0145-2134(88)90029-4 Haugaard JJ, Tilly C. Characteristics predicting children's responses to sexual encounters with other children. Child Abuse Negl. 1988;12(2):209-218.]</ref>

Empirical support for the abused-abuser hypothesis is thin, and plagued by methodological issues. Even victimologists such as [[Anna Salter]] (in her book ''Predators'') claim many men guilty of child sex crimes simply say they were "abused" as a sympathy play, when fewer than 10% of them actually were. Where a relationship is identified, it is also typically weak enough to have been caused by a confounding variable such as sexual agreeableness (perhaps via non-normative orientation), propensity for social nonconformity, sensation seeking behavior, etc.

*'''Widom, C. S., & Massey, C. (2015). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2014.3357 "A Prospective Examination of Whether Childhood Sexual Abuse Predicts Subsequent Sexual Offending"], ''JAMA Pediatrics'', January 5, 2015.'''
*:"The widespread belief that sexually abused children are uniquely at risk to become sex offenders was not supported by prospective empirical evidence. These new findings suggest that early intervention programs should target children with histories of physical abuse and neglect. They also indicate that existing policies and practices specifically directed at future risk for sex offending for sexually abused children may warrant reevaluation."

*'''Leach C, Stewart A, Smallbone S. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.10.024 Testing the sexually abused-sexual abuser hypothesis: A prospective longitudinal birth cohort study.] ''Child Abuse Negl.'' 2016 Jan;51:144-53.'''
*:"The sexually abused-sexual abuser hypothesis posits that persons, especially males, who are sexually abused as children are at particular risk of sexually abusing others later in life. We tested this hypothesis by prospectively examining associations between maltreatment and offending in a birth cohort of 38,282 males with a maltreatment history and/or at least one finalized offense. We examined these associations within the context of the wider birth population. Proportionally few boys were the subject of official notifications for sexual abuse (14.8% of maltreated boys, and 1.4% of the birth population); proportionally very few of these sexually abused boys (3%) went on to become sexual offenders; and, contrary to findings typically reported in retrospective clinical studies, proportionally few sexual offenders (4%) had a confirmed history of sexual abuse. Poly-victimization (exposure to multiple types of maltreatment) was significantly associated with sexual offending, violent offending, and general (nonsexual, nonviolent) offending. We found no specific association between sexual abuse and sexual offending, and nor did we find any association between sexual abuse and sexual offending specifically within the poly-victimized group."

*'''Freund, Kurt; Watson, R.; and Dickey, R. (1990). "Does sexual abuse in childhood cause pedophilia: an exploratory study," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 19(6), 557-568.'''
*:"The first however, to investigate the reliability of these offenders retrospective reports was Hindman (1988). This therapist compared paroled male adult sexual offenders against children in two periods: In the first (1980-1982) she interviewed 40 patients and in the second (1982-1988) she saw 129. The second period differed from the first in that the patients were told that they would have to submit to a polygraph test and that if their self-reports were contradicted they would be returned to jail. In the first period, during which patients were not threatened with polygraph testing, 67% indicated that they had been molested when children. In the second period, however, only 29% of the offenders indicated that they were abused as children. Hindman’s results imply that in a therapeutic climate where professionals tend to subscribe to the theory that pedophilia is caused by earlier sexual abuse of the offender himself, some offenders could fabricate such an event as an excuse for their erotic attraction to children. [...]
*:A second question addressed by this study, and which had been investigated only by the Hindman (1988) study, was whether positive reports about sexual abuse in childhood sufficiently reflect true events. [...] The results of the present study are in agreement with those of Hindman, in that they demonstrate that the empirical basis of the molestation theory of pedophilia is unreliable."

*'''McMillan, Dean; Hastings, Richard P.; Salter, Daniel C.; and Skuse, David H. (2007). "Developmental Risk Factor Research and Sexual Offending against Children: A Review of Some Methodological Issues," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 37(6), 877-890.'''
*:"Any observed association between a risk factor and sexual perpetration may be a result of the fabrication of an experience rather than the actual experience of the risk. Hindman and Peters (2001) examined this potential source of bias in three studies. The first, originally reported in Hindman (1988), obtained self-reports of sexual offenders who were referred to a clinic between 1980 and 1988. The clinic began polygraph testing in 1982, and this provided an opportunity to assess the effects of testing on self-reported rates of victimization. Before the introduction of testing, 40 offenders were interviewed about their sexual history, and 67% reported that they had been sexually victimized; this compares to a rate of 29% (N = 129) made by those referred after its introduction. A second study, conducted in 1994, compared adult sex offenders (N = 76) who gave self-reports of their sexual history with a group who took a polygraph test (N = 152). By this time, all offenders referred to the clinic were polygraphed, but the self-report group was either sentenced or excluded from the clinic before testing could take place. The results were similar to the 1988 study, with the non-polygraph group reporting a higher rate of child sexual abuse (65%) than the polygraph group (32%). The final study used a repeated-measures design in which the researchers compared the self-reports of sexual victimization made with and without polygraph testing in 173 adult offenders. The results were broadly comparable with the earlier studies (61% without testing vs. 30% with testing). Hindman and Peters (2001) concluded that the base rate of victimization appears to change markedly when subject to the scrutiny of a polygraph test. [...]
*:Hindman, J., & Peters, J. M. (2001). Polygraph testing leads to better understanding of adult and juvenile sex offenders. ''Federal Probation'', 65, 8–15."

*'''Hanson, R. K., and Slater, S. (2004). "Sexual victimization in the history of sexual abusers: A review," ''Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment'', 1(4), 485-499.'''
*:"While findings in individual studies ranged between 0% and 67%, on average about 28% of the offenders reported being sexually victimized as children. This rate is higher than the base rate for community samples of non-offending males (about 10%), but is similar to the rates found in other sexual or non-sexual offender populations. The relationship between childhood sexual victimization and sexually abusing children as an adult does not appear to be specific; rather, it is probable that many forms of childhood maltreatment can lead to many forms of behavioral and psychological problems in adulthood."

*'''Cannon, Mary (2001). "[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/invited-commentaries-on-cycle-of-child-sexual-abuse-links-between-being-a-victim-and-becoming-a-perpetrator/05A15A76D1F5CB3D6F7B7D430591128A Invited commentaries on: Cycle of child sexual abuse: links between being a victim and becoming a perpetrator]," ''The British Journal of Psychiatry'', 179, 495-496.'''
*:"The use of self-reports of childhood sexual abuse from individuals who are, themselves, child abusers is bound to raise questions about the reliability of these data. Reporting sexual victimisation in childhood may be an attempt on the part of the perpetrators to explain their abusive behaviour and elicit sympathy from the therapist. Glasser et al used information in social service, probation and medical reports to complement self-report data for the assessment of perpetrator status but it is not clear whether this was also done for victim status. Recall bias is usually thought of as an unconscious action, a form of ‘search after meaning’ rather than deliberate lying or fabrication, but all these processes will lead to biased associations. Additionally, a form of interviewer bias may have operated if the therapists subscribed to the idea of a cycle of child sexual abuse and were more likely to enquire about such childhood experiences during assessment of perpetrators. [...]
*:Widom & Ames (1994) used a prospective cohort design to assess the criminal consequences of childhood sexual abuse. Official criminal records were traced for a large sample (n=908) of children with a validated history of sexual abuse, physical abuse or neglect, and a control group matched for age, gender, race and family socio-economic status. The authors found no evidence for a cycle of sexual abuse as proposed by Glasser et al. Rather, they found that all three of the abuse groups (sexual, physical and neglect) were significantly more likely to be arrested for a sexual offence (including prostitution) than were the controls. In fact, although children who had been sexually abused were significantly more likely than controls to have an adult arrest for prostitution, they were not significantly more likely than controls to have adult arrests for other sex crimes."

*'''Garland, R.J., Dougher M.J. (1990). "[http://www.newgon.net/prd/lib/Garland1990.html The Abused/Abuser Hypothesis of Child Sexual Abuse: A Critical Review of Theory and Research]," in Feierman, J. (ed.), ''Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions'', 489-509.'''
*:"In summary, the abused/abuser hypothesis - the belief that sexual behavior between adults and children or adolescents causes those children to become sexually involved with other children and adolescents - is inadequate and incorrect."

*'''Feierman, J. (1994). "Pedophilia: Paraphilic Attraction to Children," in Krivacska J. J., and Money, J. (eds.), ''The Handbook of Forensic Sexology: Biomedical & Criminological Perspectives (New Concepts in Human Sexuality)'', 49-79.'''
*:"The 'abused/abuser hypothesis,' which perhaps should be renamed "the master's myth" because of its uncritical acceptance by so many master's level psychotherapists, is an example of a learning theory model gone awry. The best one can say about the abused/abuser hypothesis is as follows: Having been sexually abused as a child is neither a necessary nor a sufficent determinant of a previously sexual abused child’s becoming an adult sexual abuser of children. Nevertheless, there appears to be a weak correlation between being sexually abused as a child and again as an adult. No casual relationship can be concluded from a mere correlation, however (Garland & Dougher 1990). Most of the myriad adult psychopathologies attributed to the sequelae of previous childhood sexual contact with an adult are without scientific bases."

*'''Jahnke S., Schmidt, A.F., Hoyer, J. (2022). [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10790632221098341 Pedohebephilia and Perceived Non-coercive Childhood Sexual Experiences: Two Non-matched Case-Control Studies]. ''Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment'', DOI:10.1177/10790632221098341.'''
*:"Research on the link between childhood sexual abuse experiences (CSAE) and pedohebephilia is limited by its focus on events that the respondents rate as abusive. We asked 199 German-speaking (Study 1) and 632 English-speaking (Study 2) men with and without self-reported pedohebephilia to complete the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and scales to assess perceived non-coercive childhood sexual experiences with adults (PNCSE-A), and peers (PNCSE-P, only Study 2). A substantial number of participants with PNCSE-A disagreed with all items of the CTQ Sexual Abuse subscale (e.g., 35% and 26% of pedohebephilic men in Studies 1 and 2, 38% of teleiophilic men in Study 2). While pedohebephilic men reported more CSAE than teleiophilic men, the effects for PNCSE-A did not consistently point in the expected direction. In Study 2, conviction status for sexual offenses among pedohebephilic men was linked to higher rates of CSAE, PNCSE-A, PNCSE-P, physical neglect, and physical abuse. Pedohebephilic men in Study 2 also reported more PNCSE-P than teleiophilic men."
*: “From a theoretical perspective, the idea that CSAE [Childhood Sexual Abuse Experiences] in itself causes pedohebephilia is recognized as being too simplistic (Garland & Dougher, 1990). The results of the present studies should not let us forget that a large number of pedohebephilic men in both studies did not report any CSAE, irrespective of whether these were framed as coercive and unpleasant or not. Moreover, the fact that a non-negligible rate of teleiophilic men (particularly in Study 2) also report CSAE casts further doubt on the simplistic idea that CSAE cause sexual attraction to children. There are likely multiple (i.e., genetic, parental, neurobiological, see Tenbergen et al., 2015) factors that lead to all possible configurations of developing pedohebephilic or teleiophilic sexual attraction and committing sexual offenses against children (or not; Papalia et al., 2018).“
*:"Yet, it is also possible that some men who have been sexually abused as children do not evaluate these experiences as negative and/or may even have felt sexually aroused (Felson et al., 2019; Rind et al., 1998; Rind & Welter, 2014, 2016). Furthermore, pedohebephilic men do not only report higher rates of CSAE and non-sexual adverse childhood experiences than nonpedohebephilic men, but also higher rates of early sexual experiences with peers (Breiling et al., 2020; Santtila et al., 2010)."

==Excerpt Graphic Library==

Although arguments re. offender characteristics are less commonly deployed nowadays (meaning that quoting directly from the relevant paper will usually suffice), our below summary of the prevalence of pedophilia in criminal vs general samples may be of use.

<gallery>
File:Devped.png|Development of Pedophilia with some abused/abuser rebuttals
File:Nonoffendingpedo.png|Non-offending pedophilia and impulse control
File:Retards.png|Retarded or perturbed pedophile myth
File:Untitled.png|Prevalence of pedophilia in a criminal sample
File:Paraphilia-frequency.jpg|Dutch Rapporteur: [https://www.dutchrapporteur.nl/binaries/dutchrapporteur/documenten/reports/2015/03/19/on-solid-ground-tackling-sexual-violence-against-children-2014/dutch-rapporteur.on-solid-ground.tackling-sexual-violence-against-children.2014_tcm24-35335.pdf "On Solid Ground"] Prevalence of pedophilia in a criminal sample
File:Psycho.jpeg|The myth of psychopathy (in actual pedophiles vs CSOs)
File:Emotionalempathy.jpg|High Emotional Empathy in pedophiles vs CSOs (Schuler et al, 2019)
</gallery>

==References==

[[Category: Official Encyclopedia]][[Category: Research on "Child Molesters"]][[Category: Research on Minor Attraction]]

Research: A "cure" for pedophilia?

2026-08-07T15:46:33Z

Thorn: /* Psychological wellbeing for MAPs */

__NOTOC__{{research}}
Attempts to "treat" pedophilia are ineffectual and in many cases harmful. It's important to point out that pedophilia is the ''direction'' of one's sexuality, not the intensity of one's sexual interest. While there are drugs that can reduce sexual desire, reorientation is not possible.
__NOTOC__
==Treatment==
===Efficacy===
*'''Stelzmann, D., Jahnke, S., & Kuhle, L. F. (2022). [https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9356 Media Coverage of Pedophilia and Its Impact on Help-Seeking Persons with Pedophilia in Germany - A Focus Group Study.] ''International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health'' 19 (15), DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19159356'''
*:“Both sexual preferences for prepubescent (pedophilia) and pubescent (hebephilia) children are only considered pathological if the sexual attraction to children resulted in previous sexual offending against children, or causes significant distress and/or interpersonal difficulties (pedophilic disorder or unspecified paraphilic disorder [10]). Currently, there is little evidence showing that the sexual attraction to children can be “cured” in the sense that it can be converted into a sexual attraction to adults (teleiophilia; overview see [23]). Therefore, preventive treatment often focuses on behavioral control and/or the reduction of psychological distress.”

*'''[[Fred Berlin|Berlin, Fred S.]] (2000). "[http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=174135 Treatments to Change Sexual Orientation]," ''American Journal of Psychiatry'', 157, p. 838.'''
*:"It may be no easier for a person with pedophilia to change his or her sexual orientation than it is for a homosexual or heterosexual individual to do so."

*'''[[Dennis Howitt|Howitt, D.]] (1995). "[http://www.helping-people.info/articles/howitt_trtmnt.htm The Treatment of Paedophiles]," in ''Paedophiles and Sexual Offences Against Children'', pp. 189-192.'''
*:"Many of the early behaviour therapy treatments for paedophilia emerged from attempts to make homosexuals "normal" or, at least, stop "doing their thing". [...] As we will see, there is a degree of uncertainty about the effectiveness of even the best researched therapies for paedophiles. There are a number of reasons for this. Many of the therapies have not been subject to specific empirical evaluation of any sort; some have been tried with only a few clients. Often the criteria of therapeutic success have fallen well short of evidence of a decline in recidivism in offending, obviously one of the most important criteria. Research that includes a control or an alternatively treated group is in the minority of the evaluations. With a situation like this, claims of therapeutic success may sometimes be wishful thinking on the part of the clinician, the client or both."

*'''Van-Zessen, G. (1990). "[http://www.helping-people.info/articles/van_zessen.htm A model for group counseling with male pedophiles]," ''Journal of Homosexuality'', 20(1-2), 189-198.'''
*:"The majority of the reported studies have roots in behavior therapy. The early behavioral approaches were aimed at reducing the deviant sexual arousal by aversion therapy (Quinsey et al., 1976). The attraction to children is viewed as purely sexual (Howells, 1979). In its simplest form, the child is the stimulus that elicits sexual excitement in the adult (Quinsey et al., 1975). All other motivations and meanings of pedophile attraction are ignored. [...] In an overview of the literature concerning homosexual conversion therapies, James (1978) concluded that the majority of studies were unsuccessful in changing sexual orientation. It is likely that the same holds for pedophile conversion therapy."

*'''Seto, M. (2009). "Pedophilia," ''Annual Review of Clinical Psychology'', 5, 391-407.'''
*:"There is no evidence to suggest that pedophilia can be changed. [...] Across the following interventions, the underlying assumption is that pedophilia is a stable sexual preference that is unlikely to change, just as there is little, if any, evidence that heterosexual or homosexual orientation can be changed. Recent etiological research on neurodevelopmental correlates of pedophilia—including cognitive functioning, non-right-handedness, and structural volume differences—suggests that pedophilia is influenced by prenatal factors and thus is unlikely to respond to interventions delivered when the individual is an adult (e.g., Cantor et al. 2008)."

*'''Quinsey, V. L. (2008). "Seeking Enlightenment on the Dark Side of Psychology," ''Trauma, Violence, & Abuse'', 9(2), 72-83.'''
*:"Sexual age and gender preferences do not appear to be learned and malleable (e.g., our attempts to increase sexual arousal of normal subjects to slides of women through Pavlovian conditioning by pairing the slides with highly arousing videotapes were vitiated by habituation; Lalumière & Quinsey, 1998). Although sexual age and gender preferences can be measured with phallometric technology (for reviews of the assessment and treatment literature on sexual offenders against children, see Camilleri & Quinsey, in press; Quinsey & Lalumière, 2001) and responses to deviant categories can be reduced with standard conditioning techniques, these alterations now appear not to involve the preferences themselves but only their measurement. Fifty years after Kinsey et al. (1953) wrote the passage quoted at the beginning of this section, it appears that the role of learning in the development of sexual age and gender preferences is limited or nonexistent (for a review, see Quinsey, 2003)."

*'''Berlin, Fred S., Saleh, Fabian M., and Malin, H. Martin (2009). "Mental Illness and Sex Offending," in ''Sex Offenders'', p. 124. Oxford University Press US.'''
*:"In the past, efforts to "recondition" homosexuality were a clear failure. The same would appear to be true of methods intended to "recondition" paraphilic conditions such as pedophilia."

*'''Camilleri, Joseph A., and Quinsey, Vernon L. (2008). "Pedophilia: Assessment and Treatment," in D. Richard Laws and William T. O'Donohue (eds.), ''Sexual Deviance, Second Edition''.'''
*:"The greatest problems with conditioning approaches (and other approaches described later) are (1) that changing actual preferences (as opposed to indices that reflect them) has been quite difficult (Furby, Weinrott, & Blackshaw, 1989; Lalumière & Quinsey, 1998); and (2) no studies have shown long-term changes in sexual preference or behavior after treatment (Laws, 2001; Quinsey & Earls, 1990). [p. 193] [...] Despite the strong relationship between neurobiological variables in sexual behavior and treatment, reducing general arousal does not alter sexual preference. Researchers found that men with phallometrically measured deviant sexual interests had the same preferences after hormonal treatment (Bancroft, Tennent, Loucas, & Cass, 1974; Cooper, Sandhu, Losztyn, & Cernovsky, 1992). [...] It appears as though treatment for paraphilias works by decreasing sexual interest in general, suggesting that medical treatments do not "cure" the sexual preference but mask it by reducing sexual desire. [p. 200]"

*'''12/11/06 deposition of Michael B. First, M.D., in In Re the Detention of William Davenport AKA William Cummings, Franklin County, Washington, No. 99-2-50349-2.'''
*:"I was the editor of the DSM-IV-TR. DSM-IV-TR was published in the year 2000. I was also the editor of the text and criteria of its immediate predecessor, which was the DSM-IV. [p. 9] [...] If you're attracted to children at age 13 you’re going to be attracted to children at age 70. [...] The fact that that's your focus of arousal remains constant. [...] The percentage of time you think about that would decline. [...] The time you spend masturbating thinking about that will go down, and the actual paraphilic behaviors go down, but the core of the paraphilia is present for life. There's no evidence, even when you have successful treatment of an individual paraphilia, which actually treating is the intensity of the paraphilia, not the arousal pattern. I don't believe there’s strong evidence that you could actually get someone who is attracted to children to lose [his or her] attraction. [p. 230]"

*'''American Psychiatric Association (2013). ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (Fifth ed.), p. 698.'''
*:"Adult males with pedophilic disorder may indicate that they become aware of strong or preferential sexual interest in children around the time of puberty — the same time frame in which males who later prefer physically mature partners became aware of their sexual interest in women or men. [...] Pedophilia per se appears to be a lifelong condition."

*'''Seto, Michael (2012). "Is Pedophilia a Sexual Orientation?", ''Archives of Sexual Behaviour'', 41, p. 233.'''
*:"Pedophilia is viewed by many researchers and clinicians as having a lifelong course. For some individuals, at least, it is discovered in early adolescence and sexual interest in children can be detected in adolescence (Seto, Lalumiere, & Blanchard, 2000; Seto, Murphy, Page, & Ennis, 2003); once identified, pedophilia can predict detected sexual behavior involving children up to 40 years later (Hanson, Steffy, & Gauthier, 1993). Changes in sexual arousal to children can be made using behavioral conditioning techniques, but follow-up studies have not shown evidence that this change generalizes outside the laboratory or persists over the longer-term."

*'''Chronos, Agatha & Jahnke, Sara & Blagden, Nicholas. (2024). [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-024-02943-0 The Treatment Needs and Experiences of Pedohebephiles: A Systematic Review.] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior''. 1-18. 10.1007/s10508-024-02943-0.'''
*: "Multiple studies (see Table 4) reported that participants had sought or wanted to seek help with the goal of changing their attraction to children. However, as time went on, many came to realize that their attractions were enduring and redirected their goals towards managing them and finding ways to live productive and meaningful lives"

*'''Gillespie, S. (2022). [https://www.proquest.com/openview/ba920465eed71c360408571550ba3f4b/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y Sexual Fantasies and Self-Regulation in a Community Sample of People with Sexual Fantasies and/or Interest Involving Minors] [Ph.D. Thesis]'''
::"One approach to addressing deviant sexual fantasies in sex offense-specific treatment involves pairing unpleasant sensations or thoughts with the undesired fantasy (Vanhoeck et al., 2011). Opponents of sexual re-orientation and “gay conversion” therapies have denounced these types of aversive approaches to changing sexual arousal patterns, and they have been labeled abusive (Serovich et al., 2008). Other approaches addressing deviant sexual interests involve masturbatory/orgasmic conditioning aimed at inducing or reducing arousal to certain stimuli. There is not strong empirical evidence that these treatments are effective (Vanhoeck et al., 2011). It is concerning that these treatments persist in spite of lack of robust empirical support for the efficacy of these treatments alongside a myriad of ethical, therapeutic alliance, and safety concerns (Vanhoeck et al., 2011). There are also concerns that treatments which use or induce shame, worry, and punishment could have an impact on factors involved in sexual selfregulation, potentially leading to an increase in risk of sexual re-offense. For example, negative affect has been associated with deviant sexual fantasies and sexual offending, so it is questionable if clinicians treating sexual offenders should engage or recommend negative affect as an intervention toward desistance of sexual offending (Blagden et al., 2017). Using punishment and worry for thought-control have been linked to an increase in unwanted thoughts (Wells & Davies, 1994). Nagtegaal and colleagues (2006) found that for their sample of individuals with aggressive fantasies, tendency to try and suppress the thoughts was positively correlated with aggressive behavior. "

===Harm===
*'''[[Frans Gieles|Gieles, Frans]] (2001). "[http://www.helping-people.info/lecture.htm Helping people with pedophilic feelings]." Lecture at the 15th World Congress of Sexology, Paris, June 2001.'''
*:"I have met clients who started this kind of treatment [to 'cure' their pedophilia] as a warm lively person and who have been changed into 'a stiff wooden doll' after it."

*'''Fog, Agner (1992). "[http://www.helping-people.info/articles/fog_eng.htm Paraphilias and Therapy]," ''Nordisk Sexologi'', 10(4), pp. 236-242.'''
*:Fog interviews a pedophile: "My sexual feelings for boys went away partially for about a year, and then at the end of the year I started waking up screaming and hollering with nightmares, and I would see a pitful of snakes and they were just everywhere and I would be screaming to get away from them. [...] 'Were your feelings towards boys reduced by the therapy?' They were reduced in the sense that my penis did not show the difference, but I still enjoyed being a teacher because I could be close to boys. I really don't think that feelings for boys or whoever we have feelings for has all that much to do with how much erection you have, but this is what they were reducing it to. [...] rather than destroy my feelings towards boys they destroyed me as an individual, it destroyed my security."

*'''Camilleri, Joseph A., and Quinsey, Vernon L. (2008). "Pedophilia: Assessment and Treatment," in D. Richard Laws and William T. O'Donohue (eds.), ''Sexual Deviance, Second Edition'', p. 200.'''
*:"Drawbacks unique to medical treatments for pedophilia include side effects and noncompliance. Commonly cited side effects include hypertension, hyperglycemia, feminization, depression, and headaches (Hill et al., 2003; Saleh & Guidry, 2003)."

*'''Johnston, Lucy, Hudson, Stephen M., and Ward, Tony (1997). "The suppression of sexual thoughts by child molesters: A preliminary investigation," ''Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment'', 9(4), 303-319. '''
*:"Ironically, attempted suppression may actually result in a worse situation compared to no attempts being made. The hyperaccessibility of formerly undesired thoughts has been documented in a number of studies. Once suppressed, unwanted thoughts have been shown to return and dominate mental life (Macrae et al., 1994; Wegner, 1989; Wegner & Gold, 1995). Once inhibitory mechanisms are relaxed this rebound effect may be pernicious, promoting the execution of maladaptive behaviors, such as binge eating. (Herman & Polivy, 1993) and, potentially, sexual offenses (Johnston, Ward, & Hudson, 1997). [...] However, prior suppression resulted in slower latencies for both the sex-related and the child-related words for the preferential child molesters than either the situational child molesters or the nonsexual offenders, who did not differ from one another. Thought suppression did, then, have greater subsequent effects on the preferential child molesters, as predicted. For some offender types at least, suppression results in greater accessibility of sex-related thoughts. Such rebound effects lead one to question the utility of thought suppression as a therapy technique."

*'''Chronos, Agatha & Jahnke, Sara & Blagden, Nicholas. (2024). [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-024-02943-0 The Treatment Needs and Experiences of Pedohebephiles: A Systematic Review.] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior''. 1-18. 10.1007/s10508-024-02943-0.'''
*: "Participants from studies classified as clinical, forensic, or mixed, reported on experiences with chemical treatments such as androgen deprivation therapy (Boons et al., 2021) or gonadotropin releasing hormone antagonists (Landgren et al., 2020). In these cases, positive experiences were largely reported to be the calming effects of the chemicals, abstinence from offending, and improved mental health and well-being. The negative experiences included physical side effects, depression, and guilt. Interestingly, within these samples, the inability to become aroused was reported as a positive treatment effect by some and a negative treatment effect by others."

* '''McPhail, I.V. (2020) [https://harvest.usask.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/e555ae2e-7058-4f33-a6ba-cae1a294ab50/content Conceptual and empirical issues in pedohebephilic interest] [dissertation]. ''Saskatoon (SK): University of Saskatchewan'''''
*: "The findings that psychotherapy can help men with higher levels of pedophilic interest change joins a growing body of research suggesting that psychotherapeutic approaches can benefit even those with the most severe symptomatology (Furukawa et al., 2017). In the case of interventions for pedohebephilic interests in men with sexual offense histories, this may be an especially positive development, as the side-effects of long-term anti-androgen use can be debilitating and life threatening (Nota et al., 2019; Turner & Briken, 2018). However, it is important to note that at present, there is little to no information regarding adverse reactions clients have to behavioural treatments for pedophilic interest."
*: "However, across the studies, a large number of men received these specialized interventions for managing arousal to children who may not have experienced a need in this domain [...] Given the potential adverse reactions to aversive interventions, clients are subjected to potentially harmful and distressing treatments that they do not require"
*: Consider this in light of the following: "Approximately half of the analyses supported the conclusion that men who underwent treatment showed levels of arousal to children that were similar to men with no history of sexual offending against children. While this is not unequivocal evidence, [...] it provides some support for the conclusion that offending men do show similar levels of arousal compared to non-offending men."

*'''Turner, D., & Briken, P. (2018). [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniel-Turner-20/publication/322138557_Treatment_of_Paraphilic_Disorders_in_Sexual_Offenders_or_Men_With_a_Risk_of_Sexual_Offending_With_Luteinizing_Hormone-Releasing_Hormone_Agonists_An_Updated_Systematic_Review/links Treatment of paraphilic disorders in sexual offenders or men with a risk of sexual offending with luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonists: An updated systematic review.] ''The Journal of Sexual Medicine'', 15, 77–93. doi:10.1016/j.jsxm.2017.11.013. '''
*:"Steroidal antiandrogens and LHRH-agonists have in common that they suppress serum testosterone concentrations via different mechanisms and are thus summarized under the term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT)."
*:"Side effects occurring most frequently are fatigue, hot flashes, depressive mood, weight gain, high blood pressure, diabetes, gynecomastia, loss of erectile function, and a loss in bone mineral density. [...] Although LHRH-agonists seem to be the most effective drugs in the treatment of paraphilic fantasies and behaviors, they should be reserved for paraphilic patients with the highest risk of sexual offending because of their extensive side effects."
*:"Current studies suggest that LHRH-agonists might be the most effective drugs to decrease paraphilic sexual fantasies, urges, and behaviors. This accounts for adult, adolescent, and sexual offenders with a mental retardation. [...] LHRH-agonists should be reserved for most severe cases of (paraphilic) sexual offenders because they frequently lead to a complete decline of all sexual behaviors, thereby inferring with fundamental human rights. This clarifies that LHRHagonists should not be used with the intention of lifelong treatment and the possibility of ending treatment when adequate should be closely monitored."

==Is pedophilia a choice?==
*'''Berlin, Fred S. (2002). "Peer Commentaries on Green (2002) and Schmidt (2002): Pedophilia: When Is a Difference a Disorder?," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 31(6), 479-480.'''
*:"It is likely that no one would choose voluntarily to develop a pedophilic sexual orientation. Those with such an orientation have no more decided to have it than have any of us decided as children to be either heterosexual or homosexual. Men with pedophilia get erections when fantasizing about children. Heterosexual men get erections when fantasizing about women. In neither case is that so because the individual in question has somehow decided ahead of time to program his mind to work in such a fashion. Persons with pedophilia have simply not chosen to experience an alternative state of mind."

*'''Fagan, Peter J.; Wise, Thomas N.; Schmidt, Chester W.; and Berlin, Fred S. (2002) "Pedophilia," ''Journal of the American Medical Association'', 288, 2458-2465.'''
*:"During psychosexual development, no one decides whether to be attracted to women, men, girls, or boys. Rather, individuals discover the types of persons they are sexually attracted to, ie, their sexual orientation."

===Early development===

*'''B4U-Act (2011). [https://www.b4uact.org/research/survey-results/youth-suicidality-and-seeking-care/ "Survey Results"].
*:"Question: Looking back now, how old were you when you first had a preferential attraction to boys or girls younger than yourself, whether or not you realized it at the time? Result: Of 192 respondents answering this question, the most common age of first attraction was 12. Eighty-five percent began to experience the attraction while still minors themselves."

*'''Freund, K. & Kuban, M. (1993). "Toward a testable developmental model of pedophilia: The development of erotic age preference," ''Child Abuse & Neglect'', 17, 315-324.'''
*:"[A] greater proportion of pedophiles than of individuals who prefer physically mature partners remembers curiosity in their own childhood to see nude children without remembering such curiosity in regard to adults. This suggests that in a substantial proportion of pedophiles the occurrence of this paraphilia is predetermined at a very early developmental phase." (From [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8472184 abstract].)

*'''Griesemer, Michael M. (2004). ''Ausmass und Auswirkungen massenmedialer Desinformation zum Stand der Wissenschaften über sexuellen Kindesmissbrauch''. [http://www.ipce.info/host/griesemer/griesemer.htm Ipce translation].'''
*:"Rather, we see another astonishing fact: on the same age in pre-puberty, on which the attraction to boys or girls was reported, already the nine years olds of both groups differ. The later pedophiles distinguish themselves from the control group because their objects of attraction are dramatically younger then themselves -- on the average two years younger, while the later non-pedophiles tend to feel attracted to older children -- on average 10.8 years of age.
*:Given the data, as now gathered, one might conclude that pedophilia develops itself already on a pre-pubertal age -- although we don't know how."

== Psychological wellbeing for MAPs ==
:''See also: [[Research:_The_Dangers_of_Stigma#Effects among people attracted to minors|Effects of stigma on MAPs]]''

Attraction does not require treatment, but MAPs often need help in improving their mental well-being. Mental health services and professionals may face the following challenges: high levels of anxiety, depression and other conditions in MAPs, severe [[Research: The Dangers of Stigma|stigma]] (for both clients and those who provide compassionate approach), [[Preventionism|preventionism]], attempts at conversion therapy, difficulties in choosing the right therapeutic targets (discrepancies between lay professional beliefs and client's needs), ethics of communication with the client, and mandatory reporting laws. The following excerpts provide information about complications of mental health services as well as evidence-based implications for well-being-focused treatment.

Treatment suggestions derived from the studies include:

<hr>
<div style="column-count:3;-moz-column-count:3;-webkit-column-count:3">
<small>
* treatment facilities’ shift from prevention to well-being focus
* adjusting prevention effort to the real risk or harm of the offence
* acceptance of the attraction, refusal of conversion attempts
* developing self-compassion, shame reduction
* finding ways of acceptable experiencing one's sexuality, usage of artificial means for sexual satisfaction such as AI products or sex dolls
* undermining overly rigid avoidant coping strategies such as thought suppression and identity concealment
* creating positive self view (self identity, including sexual identity)
* disclosure in supportive contexts
* engaging with a supportive network/ community
* focusing on what is important in life to the individual
</small>
</div>
<hr>

*'''Lievesley, R., Harper, C. A., & Elliot, H. (2020). [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-019-01569-x The internalization of social stigma among minor-attracted persons: Implications for treatment.] Archives of Sexual Behaviour, 49, 1291-1304. doi: 10.1007/s10508-019-01569-x'''
*:'''Harmful mechanism of avoidance strategies''':
*:"We found that increased levels of suppression and lower levels of psychological well-being were associated with lower levels of hope about the future, but higher levels of both shame and guilt about having a sexual interest in minors. Thought suppression [...] did significantly predict higher rates of actively avoiding children. [...] Independently, lower levels of self-reported psychological wellbeing were associated with a desire for more support and higher rates of actively avoiding children."
*:"The internalization of negative social attitudes [...] [is] being posited as a motivation to engage in stress-ameliorating strategies in the form of distancing oneself from the minority identity via concealment (hiding one’s identity from those external to oneself), and suppression (refusing to accept one’s own minority identity)."
*:"Smart and Wegner (2000) describe many cognitive burdens that are associated with the constant suppression of one’s identity. Having to maintain an outward appearance that is different to internal processes can lead to a preoccupation with suppressing (Meyer, 2003), which can lead the individual living an internal “private hell” (Smart & Wegner, 2000, p. 229). This may be especially the case among MAPs [...] [S]uppression could become a totalizing experience in all areas of life with profoundly negative efects on psychological well-being. This is particularly troubling in light of evidence of a potential rebound efect that is associated with suppressing unwanted thoughts. Erskine and Georgiou (2011) described a range of evidence, suggesting that trying not to think about particular things (e.g., memories or actions) may actually increase rumination on those topics and reduce self-regulation processes (see also Abramowitz, Tolin, & Street, 2001). For example, dieters who suppress thoughts of hunger or thirst have been found to eat less in the short term, but binge at a later time (Denzler, Förster, Liberman, & Rozenman, 2010; Erskine, 2008), while the same outcomes are observed among smokers trying to reduce their cigarette consumption (Erskine, Georgiou, & Kvavilashvili, 2010). In the sexual domain, suppressing sexual thoughts has been associated with higher levels of compulsive sexual behaviors in religious groups (Efrati, 2019). [...] That is, [...] thought suppression related to minor attraction could paradoxically increase a propensity to engage with sexual thoughts involving children."
*:'''"Prevention" projects impose negative self-view and are therefore ineffective''':
*:"As reported previously, Grady et al. (2019) found that MAPs who viewed themselves as inherently bad people (they referred to this as shame in relation to sexual attractions) were less likely to seek help from professionals for issues arising from their attractions to minors. [...] Schemes that are designed to prevent or reduce the incidence of child sexual abuse (e.g., Germany’s Dunkelfeld Project) have been evaluated in relation to risk-relevant outcomes and dynamic sexual ofense risk factors (e.g., pro-criminal attitudes, impression management, and delinquent behavior; Beier et al., 2009, 2015), with these not showing particularly the positive results (see Mokros & Banse, 2019). While this lack of “treatment success” may call into question the validity of such schemes, it may be that these schemes emerge as being much more successful if broader psychosocial constructs related to well-being were also assessed. Further, the risk-based framing of such schemes (i.e., “prevention projects”) implicitly assumes that MAPs need to be “prevented” from offending (Lievesley & Harper, 2019), rather than “supported” though their psychosocial experiences of being attracted to minors (Grady et al., 2019; Jahnke, 2018b; Jahnke et al., 2015b). [...] [T]hose wishing to distance themselves from such a label do not reach out to access services that could lead to signifcant well-being improvements (Lievesley & Harper, 2019)."
*:"That is, the emphasis of treatment should be less related to “risk reduction” and more related to promoting MAPs’ social and psychological well-being, with forensic risk reduction becoming a by-product of this broader aim. [...] Instead of taking a deficits-focused view of the problem at hand (i.e., adopting a risk-focused lens), acceptance-based approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999; Hayes & Wilson, 1994) work with the idea that peoples’ difficulties occur when they attempt to avoid and suppress painful feelings (Hayes, 1994), and represent a more positive psychological approach to dealing with distress. As such, we recommend that treatment approaches tackle the negative self-image experienced by many MAPs by encouraging them to view their sexual interests as a core part of their identities (acceptance), but also support them to live crime-free lives (commitment)."

*'''McKillop, N. and Price, S. (2023) [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nadine-Mckillop/publication/370159588_The_Potential_for_Anti-Stigma_Interventions_to_Change_Public_Attitudes_Toward_Minor-Attracted_Persons_A_Replication_and_Extension_of_Jara_and_Jeglic%27s_Study/links/64b081da95bbbe0 "The Potential for Anti-Stigma Interventions to Change Public Attitudes Toward Minor-Attracted Persons: A Replication and Extension of Jara and Jeglic’s Study"]. ''Journal of Child Sexual Abuse'', DOI: 10.1080/10538712.2023.2204864'''
*:"Although many MAPs conceal and suppress their attraction and urges to act out their sexual desires (Jara & Jeglic, 2021; Levensen et al., 2017; Lievesley et al., 2020), Lievesley et al. (2020) caution that suppression – without professional treatment and appropriate supports – may increase the likelihood of future CSA behaviors. Certainly, Elchuk and collegues (2022) found that, while disclosure itself did not reduce psychological distress for MAPs, psychological and emotional wellbeing was improved when disclosure was met with support highlighting the potential value in engaging with support networks and services to improve outcomes".

*'''Lievesley, R & Harper, C.A. (2022) [https://sci-hub.mksa.top/10.1080/13552600.2021.1883754 "Applying desistance principles to improve wellbeing and prevent child sexual abuse among minor-attracted persons"] ''Journal of Sexual Aggression'', 28:1, 1-14, DOI: 10.1080/13552600.2021.1883754'''
*:"In accordance with theoretical insights into the motivations of individuals who sexual offend (e.g. Hall & Hirschman, 1991; Ward & Beech, 2006; Ward & Siegert, 2002), a focus on mental health treatment, shame reduction, and psychosocial wellbeing has the potential to prevent offending from taking place without treatment services being explicitly labeled as prevention. They would also be more in keeping with MAPs’ own self-identified treatment targets (B4U-ACT, 2011; Levenson & Grady, 2019)."

*'''Clayton, J., Hocken, K., and Blagden, N. (2022) [https://threequayspublishing.com/product/a-compassionate-intervention-for-individuals-with-problematic-sexual-interests-group-and-individual-outcomes-in-the-uk/ A compassionate intervention for individuals with problematic sexual interests: Group and individual outcomes in the UK.] ''Abuse: An International Impact Journal'', doi: 10.37576/abuse.2022.035'''
*:"The present paper discusses one of the first free community-based therapeutic interventions (The Aurora Project) in the UK, for individuals who are distressed by their sexual thoughts and behaviour and/or concerned they are a potential risk to others. The clinical approach to working with this population takes a compassion-focused stance. Results indicated a statistically significant increase in self-esteem and social safeness, as well as a reduction in internalised shame."

*'''Bekkers, L. M. J., Leukfeldt, E. R., & Holt, T. J. (2023). [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10790632231154882 Online Communities for Child-Attracted Persons as Informal Mental Health Care: Exploring Self-Reported Wellbeing Outcomes.] ''Sexual Abuse'', 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/10790632231154882'''
*:“Online support communities are gaining attention among child-attracted persons (CAPs). Though research has largely focused on the negative consequences these environments create for potential offending, they may also provide a beneficial alternative to more formal treatment settings. [...] [B]y means of informal social control, bonds of trust and social relational education, the network aims to regulate the behavior and enhance the wellbeing of its marginalized participants. Key outcomes include a decreased sense of loneliness and better coping with stigma, to the point that participants experience less suicidal thoughts.”

*'''Lievesley, R., Harper, C. A., Swaby, H. and Woodward, E. (2022) [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0092623X.2022.2149437 Identifying and working with appropriate treatment targets with people who are sexually attracted to children]. ''Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy''. DOI: 10.1080/0092623X.2022.2149437'''
*: "The importance of addressing mental health issues is best highlighted by looking at the prevalence of suicidal ideation and intention among MAPs, with around 40% admitting to experiencing chronic suicidal ideation (Cohen, Ndukwe, Yaseen, & Galynker, 2018; Cohen et al., 2020). Research has also shown how MAPs experience high rates of anxiety, depression, and self-hatred (e.g., Jahnke et al., 2015; Lievesley et al., 2020; Stevens & Wood, 2019). Thought suppression is common among MAPs, with this taking many forms, including the active avoidance of children and potential reminders of minor attraction (Lievesley et al., 2020) or through problematic levels of substance use (Stevens & Wood, 2019; Walker, 2021). Such behavior often leads MAPs to become socially isolated and lacking in emotional and social supports (Elchuk, McPhail, & Olver, 2022; Jahnke et al., 2015)."
*:"this finding suggests that the most pressing problems that MAPs believe are present in their lives relate to the emotional responses that they experience in relation to their sexual attractions, and not in relation to their (lack of) potential propensities to act on these".
*: "we have also identified one potential treatment-related construct—self-compassion [...] with decreased self-compassion being associated with a greater need to address mental health and stigma-related concerns, increased sexual frustration, and a desire to change one’s sexual attraction patterns."
*:"The observation that lower levels of self-compassion were associated with an increased desire to control or change one’s attractions to children is perhaps indicative of the internalization of stigma (see Jahnke et al., 2015; Lievesley et al., 2020). [...] low levels of self-compassion might lead to unattainable treatment targets, and thus self-compassion and self-acceptance may be an important treatment aim when working with MAPs."

*'''Schaefer, A., Wittenberg, A., Galynker, I. and Cohen, L.J. (2022) [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0092623X.2022.2126808?journalCode=usmt20 Qualitative Analysis of Minor Attracted Persons’ Subjective Experience: Implications for Treatment.] ''Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy.'' DOI: 10.1080/0092623X.2022.2126808'''
*:"This qualitative study examined community-based MAPs’ responses to narrative questions about their experiences and what they want society to understand, using an iterative thematic analysis. Notable responses from the participants included: 1) sexual attraction does not equal action; 2) minor attraction is immutable; 3) stigma leads to psychological burden; 4) therapy should aim to reduce distress, not change sexual feelings; and 5) sexual behavior can be controlled and remain within legal parameters."

*'''Mundy, C. (2022). [https://utpjournals.press/doi/10.3138/cjhs.2022-0006 10 years later: Revisiting Seto’s (2012) conceptualization of orientation to sexual maturity among pedohebephilic persons.] ''The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality.'' DOI:10.3138/cjhs.2022-0006'''
*:"As noted by researchers and clinicians in this area, there are clear clinical implications associated with a shift in the conceptualization of sexual attraction to children. [...] Despite resistance to such conceptualizations, the findings indicate that orientation to sexual maturity closely mirrors the developmental trajectory of gender sexual orientation, as outlined in Seto’s seminal paper."
*:excerpted from [https://www.b4uact.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/B4QR-Winter-2023-3-1.pdf#page=17 B4QR]:
*:"Mundy explains that the conceptualization of attraction to minors as a sexual orientation is not of purely theoretical interest but can have important implications for treatment approaches.[...] Mundy cites studies showing that attraction to minors should be approached through acceptance and strengths-based practices that inculcate resilience and self-efficacy, as attempts to reduce or eliminate attraction to minors have not proven effective or beneficial to minor-attracted people."

*'''Roche, K., Stephens, S., Moss, S., and Seto, M. (2022). [https://utpjournals.press/doi/10.3138/cjhs.2022-0007 Online forum use in child attracted persons.] ''The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality'' 31 (3). DOI:10.3138/cjhs.2022-0007'''
*:"Social support for child-attracted persons (CAPs) may be important for increasing well-being, thereby reducing the risk of committing child sexual abuse. Unfortunately, in-person social support may be difficult to obtain because of stigma. CAPs may instead turn to online forums for people who are sexually attracted to children. [...] Most CAPs said that they initially sought out forums to avoid feeling alone in their attraction; the quality of offline support was rated as moderate. Emotional support and informational support were the most frequently endorsed forms of social support.

*'''Desbuleux, J.C. and Fuss, J. (2023) [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00224499.2023.2199727 "The Self-Reported Sexual Real-World Consequences of Sex Doll Use"] ''The Journal of Sex Research'', DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2023.2199727'''
*:Interestingly, pedo-hebephilic users reported a greater reduction of sexual compulsivity compared to teleiophilic participants following doll use. Additionally, pedo-hebephilic participants more often reported acting out of illegal sexual fantasies with their dolls and a loss of interest in (sexual) intimacy with real children through doll use in the qualitative data. These self-reported data challenge the view that doll use is dangerously affecting human sexuality and instead suggest that dolls may be used as a sexual outlet for potentially dangerous and illegal (sexual) fantasies.

* '''Blagden, N. J., Mann, R., Webster, S., Lee, R., & Williams, F. (2018). [https://sci-hub.mksa.top/10.1177/1079063217697132 “It’s not something I chose you know”: Making sense of pedophiles’ sexual interest in children and the impact on their psychosexual identity.] ''Sexual Abuse'', 30(6), 728–754. Doi: 10.1177/1079063217697132'''
*:"[I]t appears important to provide a treatment environment that allows for open and honest discussion about the nature of pedophilic sexual interest and '''does not focus on attempting to change the sexual interest''' (see Seto, 2012)."
*:"[T]reatment with such populations may benefit from [...] '''focusing on what is important to the individual''', for example, meaningful adult relationships and friendships, stable and satisfying employment, or something constructive to occupy their time."
*:"Finally, given the impact living with a deviant sexual interest had on participants’ identities, treatment may want to consider '''the latitude''' it gives to clients '''in creating/shaping constructive self and sexual identities'''. Indeed, a coherent narrative identity is crucially important for rehabilitation (Ward & Marshall, 2007). [...] [T]here is a connection between the identity conflict that participants experienced and risk factors for acting on their interest through the sexual abuse of children, such as social isolation, impaired intimacy with other adults, and the recognition of being a member of a highly stigmatized group."

* '''Williams, D. J., Thomas, J. N., & Prior, E. E. (2015). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1007/s10612-015-9270-y Moving Full-Speed Ahead in the Wrong Direction? A Critical Examination of US Sex-Offender Policy from a Positive Sexuality Model.] ''Critical Criminology'', 23(3), 277–294. doi:10.1007/s10612-015-9270-y'''
*:"Professionals should recognize that offenders and offending behaviors vary extensively, and therefore efforts to rehabilitate should be adjusted to acknowledge this diversity of expression and criminality. Understanding that sexual needs and interests are a part of an overall healthy lifestyle (WHO 2006) and finding ways to account for them in a sex-positive and socially appropriate manner could be especially beneficial in preventing and reducing sexual crimes."

* '''Lievesley, R., Harper, C.A., Woodward, E. et al. (2023) [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11920-023-01435-7 Fantasy Sexual Material Use by People with Attractions to Children]. ''Curr Psychiatry Rep'' 25, 395–404. doi:10.1007/s11920-023-01435-7'''
*: "Among other primary human goods [...] the strengths-based Good Lives Model of offender rehabilitation notes “sexual satisfaction” to be something that all people strive for in life[41, 42]. “Fantasy thinking” (an unrestricted form of mental experiences, in this case of a sexual nature) is thought to encourage arousal, excitement, and a feeling of possibility, feeding into the achievement of sexual satisfaction [43, 44]."
*: "[P]eople within this group have the same needs for sexual satisfaction as anybody else [41], and as such FSM [fictional sexual materials] may provide a viable outlet for their sexual fantasies as they pursue a sense of fulfillment in this domain."
*: "[C]hild-like sex doll owners were less likely to express a proclivity for sexual abuse than a comparison group of non-owners who were attracted to children and also demonstrated lower levels of sexual preoccupation."
*: "Rather than heightening arousal, FSM could act as a safe sexual outlet that allows for a feeling of release and sense of catharsis [84], which could reduce a motivation to seek out real children as a sexual partner."
*: "[E]ffective treatment engagement involves the alignment of treatment content to service user needs, considering sexual fulfillment and satisfaction as an important treatment need might be an increasingly pressing issue as support services for this population grow in number."

*'''Chronos, Agatha & Jahnke, Sara & Blagden, Nicholas. (2024). [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-024-02943-0 The Treatment Needs and Experiences of Pedohebephiles: A Systematic Review.] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior''. 1-18. 10.1007/s10508-024-02943-0.'''
*: "The results of the current review also stand in contrast to the perspectives of practitioners in regard to treatment. [...] Similarly, Lievesley et al. (2023) found that practitioners valued controlling behavior much more highly than pedohebephiles did."
*:"The finding that, at least in community settings, few participants appear to have an interest in prevention goals, such as learning how to control or reduce their sexual attraction to children, therefore poses practical and ethical challenges for treatment providers. One way to balance the goals of offense prevention and individual wellbeing could be the use of the Good-lives-model, which seeks to encourage individuals to pursue meaningful and prosocial life goals (Willis & Ward, 2013), rather than deficit-oriented approaches like relapse prevention. However, it stands to reason that there should be more services with a stronger or even exclusive commitment to well-being goals, given that there are pedohebephiles with low risks of sexual offending."
*:"Creating a compassionate and non-shaming therapeutic environment is especially important to pedohebephiles in order for them to share openly their experiences, and the impact their sexual attraction has had on them (Hocken &Taylor, 2021). One form of therapy which appears particularly well suited to this client group is Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) (Hocken & Taylor, 2021). [...] Within CFT, the relationships individuals have with themselves, especially in the forms of shame and self-criticism—highly relevant to pedohebephiles—underpin a wide range of mental health problems (Gilbert, 2014). There is emergent evidence that compassion-based interventions can reduce shame and help pedohebephilic individuals towards meaningful clinical change (Clayton et al., 2022)."

*'''McPhail, I.V. (2024) “The Subjective Experience of Individuals with Pedohebephilic Interest”, ''Current Sexual Health Reports'' 16, DOI: 10.1007/s11930-023-00381-y'''
*:"[M]aking a disclosure to family and friends that is not followed by support is associated with higher loneliness, poorer relationship quality, greater psychological distress, and higher suicidality and in some cases is associated with worse outcomes than concealment [85••]. [...] These findings suggest that individuals with pedohebephilic interests are acutely aware of the risks of disclosure and are, to varying degrees, judicious and skilled at finding those in their lives that will be supportive following a disclosure. For a population that experiences such elevated levels of loneliness and suicidality, this skill is likely central to well-being and, in some instances, lifesaving."
*:"Acceptance of pedohebephilia can be a double-edged process: coming to terms with the nature and stability of sexual interests can be a painful process involving grieving, fear, anger, and self-stigma, and yet is helpful for coping with and managing sexual attractions to children in daily life [25, 93, 94, 97]."

*'''Elchuk DL, McPhail IV, Olver ME. [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ian-Mcphail/publication/350158068_Stigma-Related_Stress_Complex_Correlates_of_Disclosure_Mental_Health_and_Loneliness_in_Minor_Attracted_People/links/605b801792851cd8ce65cf5a/Stigma-Related-Stress-Complex-Correlates-of Stigma-related stress, complex correlates of disclosure, mental health, and loneliness in minor-attracted people. Stigma Health.] 2022;7:100–12. doi:10.1037/sah0000317'''
*:"The stigma towards MAPs is found to be greater than stigma towards other groups (e.g., sexual minorities, those with mental illness; Boysen et al., 2020; Lehmann et al., 2020) and research examining a community-based sample of MAPs found high proportions of suicidal ideation with intense stigma being the most significant risk factor (Cohen et al., 2019). As such, we anticipate internalized pedonegativity to be a stigma-related stressor present to varying degrees in MAPs."
*:"As anticipated by our hypothesis and previous research (Jahnke, 2018), MAPs experiencing internalized pedonegativity reported greater levels of loneliness, psychological distress, and suicidality; loneliness only partially mediated the relationship between internalized pedonegativity and mental health concerns. These results indicate that internalized pedonegativity may be a driver of decreased wellbeing for MAPs and highlight the need clinical services to focus on addressing internalized pedonegativity."
*:" Assessing for the presence of internalized pedonegativity may inform the kinds of interventions provided to these clients (e.g., compassion-focused interventions; cognitive reframing)."
Internalized Pedonegativity Scale Items:
<hr>
<div style="column-count:3;-moz-column-count:3;-webkit-column-count:3">
<small>
*Attraction to children is a natural expression of sexuality in humans.
*I wish I were only attracted to adults.
*When I’m sexually attracted to a child, I do not mind if someone else knows how I feel.
*Most problems that MAPs have come from their status as an oppressed minority, not from their sexual or romantic attraction to children per se.
*Life as an MAP is not as fulfilling as life as a non-MAP.
*I am glad to be an MAP.
*Whenever I think a lot about being an MAP, I feel critical about myself.
*I am confident that my pedophilia does not make me inferior.
*Whenever I think a lot about being an MAP, I feel depressed.
*If it were possible, I would accept the opportunity to be attracted to adults.
*I wish I could become more sexually attracted and romantically attracted to adults.
*If there were a pill that could change my minor attraction, I would take it.
*I would not give up being an MAP even if I could.
*Attraction to children is deviant.
*It would not bother me if I had children who were MAPs.
*Being an MAP is a satisfactory and acceptable way of life for me.
*If I were attracted to adults, I would probably be happier.
*Most MAPs end up lonely and isolated.
*For the most part, I do not care who knows I am an MAP.
*I have no regrets about being an MAP.
*I have tried to stop being attracted to children in general.
*I would like to get professional help in order to change my attraction to children to attraction to adults
</small>
</div>
<hr>

*'''Stephens, S., Jahnke, S., & Davidson, M. (2024). [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224499.2024.2403024 Delphi Recommendations for Diagnosis and Treatment of Sexual Interest in Children in Non-Mandated Community Settings.] ''The Journal of Sex Research'', 1–14. doi:10.1080/00224499.2024.2403024'''
*:"This study sought to reach an international expert consensus regarding the diagnosis and treatment of adults with a sexual interest in children in cases where treatment is non-mandated. [...] Consensus was reached for 48 practice guidelines, particularly for recommendations that relate to general clinical practice, such as assessing for other mental health conditions. There was more contention for the inclusion of forensic practices. The present recommendations can serve as a set of tentative guidelines that may guide assessment and treatment of sexual interest in children in non-mandated settings." Although the full article is not yet available for free, you can see the level of consensus on the various recommendations in the article's [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/suppl/10.1080/00224499.2024.2403024?scroll=top supplementary material].

*'''McPhail, I. V., Stephens, S., & Heasman, A. (2018). [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ian-Mcphail/publication/328676586_Legal_and_Ethical_Issues_in_Treating_Clients_with_Pedohebephilic_Interests/links/5bdb76e592851c6b27a056a5/Legal-and-Ethical-Issues-in-Treating-Clients-With-Pedohebephilic-Interests.pdf Legal and ethical issues in treating clients with pedohebephilic interests.] ''Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne'', 59(4), 369.'''
*:"Individuals with a sexual interest in children who have not committed a sexual offence are a client population that are currently underserved by psychologists. In the context of accessing and providing mental health services, mandatory reporting laws represent a key issue for clients and psychologists. For clients, mandatory reporting requirements creates a double-bind: they wish to access psychotherapy for a myriad of psychological concerns, yet they fear the implications of psychologists’ mandated reporting requirements if they disclose their sexual interest. Psychologists treating non-offending clients with sexual interests in children face several overlapping and competing ethical and legal obligations created by mandatory reporting laws. To examine these complexities, the present paper reviews and discusses legislation in Canada, complaints to provincial professional colleges, and case law related to mandatory reporting requirements. We additionally review principles and standards in the Canadian Psychological Association’s Code of Ethics (4th edition) to inform service provision with these clients. Recommendations for practice are provided based on this discussion and practice case vignettes are given to facilitate ethical decision-making."

*'''Levitan, Julia et al. (2024). [https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2024.2385909 Minor-Attracted Men's Lived Experiences of Romantic Attraction], ''Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy'''''.
*:"The results of this study have implications for the clinical treatment of help-seeking MAPs. Broadly, findings suggest that healthcare professionals should consider screening for romantic as well as sexual attraction to minors if relevant to case conceptualization or treatment, and this assessment could inform their treatment plan accordingly. Our results point to specific areas of clinical intervention that may be of interest. Examples include: Providing evidence-based psychoeducation about the romantic component of attraction to minors; collaborative brainstorming of strategies to avoid unsafe or unethical situations with loved minors, including efforts to prevent child sexual offenses; or offering cognitive and behavioral strategies to alleviate distressing emotions and clinical symptoms related to limitations to attraction and relationship development with loved minors (e.g., increasing self-compassion, , exploring methods of navigating the stigma of “forbidden and hidden” romantic attractions, providing guidance and support through mourning the possibility of a legitimate romantic relationship with loved minors). Help-seeking MAPs have heterogeneous treatment needs, so service-users’ goals should be collaboratively determined (Lievesley et al., 2022)."

* '''Murphy, R. (2024) [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14680173241240973 A pilot study: Exploring suicidal ideation among non-offending adults with sexual attraction to minors, through their online forum posts] ''Journal of Social Work'' DOI:10.1177/14680173241240973'''
*:"Surveys indicate that one in three people living with child sexual attraction experience chronic suicidal ideation (Cohen et al., 2018; Stevens & Wood, 2019)."
*:'''list of suicidality triggers:'''
*: "The feelings of shame and guilt that members expressed at this emerging sense of identity were a significant trigger toward suicidality. [...] Members indicated that the guilt was fueled by the harboring of this secret, and feeling that they were creating a false narrative to the people around them. [...] The most frequently highlighted trigger toward suicidality was that of disclosure, or of being “outed.” [...] The degree of internalized critical thinking about self-identifying as a pedophile influenced the intensity of suicidality. [...] For those who had attempted to rid themselves of the attraction, and had subsequently found that it could not be “cured,” this realization could act as a further trigger point. [...] For those who had acted in some way on their thoughts, the regret and shame of this further triggered suicidality. [...] Media and social media could increase expressed suicidality in this regard, as members noted the stigma and hatred directed toward people with pedophilia and internalized this further. [...] Many members referenced using alcohol as a means of escaping the reality of their situation, and it was identified that suicidal thoughts were often acted upon after alcohol intake. [...] Despite relationships and disclosure being a risk factor, this was also identified as a protective factor, with the key difference between the risk and protective elements of disclosure, being the response received. [...] Unhelpful professionals were considered those who presented as judgemental, hostile, who were uneasy about pedophilia and who may make reports to authorities despite no offence being committed. Unsuccessful engagements with professionals were reported to negatively affect members’ sense of self and sense of hope and to increase feelings of suicidality."

*'''Nematy, A., Flynn, S., & McCarthy-Jones, S. (2024) [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10790632241268465 Perspectives, Treatment Goals, and Approaches of Prevention-Specialist Mental Health Professionals in Working With Clients Attracted to Children]. ''Sexual Abuse'', DOI: 10.1177/10790632241268465'''
*:'''considering pedophilia as an unchangeable condition has therapeutic value'''
*:"Considering pedophilia as a sexual orientation implies that treatment might be more effective when it prioritizes developing self-regulation skills rather than attempting to alter sexual preference (Seto, 2012). Accordingly, accepting minor-attraction is a pivotal step in effectively managing its behavioral manifestation. This acceptance serves as a crucial foundation for clients, enabling them to process suppressed feelings, integrate their atypical sexuality into their sense of self, alleviate the internalized shame, and enhance their capacity to manage their desires responsibly (Beier et al., 2009; Cantor, 2018; Lievesley et al., 2018; Walton & Hocken, 2021).[...] Cantor (2018) points out that if clients are informed that their pedophilic desire will cease, they may underestimate it and not attempt to develop skills for managing their sexual desire or avoid certain situations, hoping that it will disappear."
*:"Some authors suggest that deliberate control of thoughts may have a rebound effect (Hooper & Mchugh, 2013; Wegner, 1994). An experiment conducted by Johnston et al. (1997) revealed that in individuals who committed CSA, the accessibility of child-related thoughts increased after an instructed suppression period. Suppression and avoidance are generally considered maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and risk factors for depression, anxiety, and maladaptive behaviors such as substance misuse (Aldao et al., 2010). A study on individuals attracted to children found that thought suppression is associated with higher levels of guilt and shame about sexual attraction, lower levels of hope about the future, and lower levels of subjective psychological well-being (Lievesley et al., 2020). Individuals attracted to children reported that thought suppression had been detrimental and conflicted with their therapeutic progress (Dymond & Duff, 2020). They also reported attempts to change pedophilia as unhelpful (Schaefer et al., 2023) and described their sexual attraction as enduring (Walton & Duff, 2017)."
*:'''sex dolls are useful'''
*:"While still limited, available empirical evidence does not support the idea that sex dolls have escalating effects. Instead, doll ownership is linked to reduced levels of sexual preoccupation and self-reported arousal in hypothetical abuse scenarios (Harper & Lievesley, 2022). Moreover, doll owners show a lower tendency toward sexual aggression (Harper & Lievesley, 2023). In a mixed-method study, minor-attracted doll owners report less sexual preoccupation compared to teleiophilic doll owners. The qualitative accounts of doll owners indicate they channeled their sexual fantasies toward their dolls while reporting a decline in interest in real children through doll use (Desbuleux & Fuss, 2023)."
*:'''prevention approach doesn't work in therapy'''
*:"[S]trategies such as confiscating a client’s device or mandating disclosure to the family (which can lead to severe consequences) appear to be similar to surveillance and supervision rather than therapy, in which the client’s autonomy and self-determination must be at the heart of the practice (Cottone & Tarvydas, 2016)."
*:"While the prevention of child sexual abuse is undoubtedly a legitimate goal, the risk-management approach has been criticized for perpetuating social and self-stigma around minor attraction, which implies that individuals attracted to children are inevitably destined to offend unless preventive measures are taken (Jahnke, 2018; Lievesley & Harper, 2021). Some clients may perceive such efforts as incongruent with their needs and expectations, leading them to avoid seeking support to distance themselves from suspicions of being treated as potential offenders (Cacciatori, 2017; Grady et al., 2019; Lievesley & Harper, 2021)."
*:"[A] recent study found no significant difference among clients in a well-known prevention project (Dunkelfeld) compared to a control group on a waiting list in dynamic sexual offense risk factors such as sexual dysregulation, offense-supportive attitudes, recent behaviors related to CSA and CSAM consumption (Mokros & Banse, 2019). Considering the insufficient effectiveness of such risk paradigm approaches, it has been suggested that greater attention should be paid to other factors, including the psychological effects of living with minor attraction and stigma-related stressors (e.g., loneliness, low self-esteem, self-stigma, and shame) (Jahnke, 2018; Lievesley et al., 2020) and clients' overall well-being (Grady et al., 2019). This consideration also encompasses preventive elements since enhanced psychological well-being is associated with a reduced risk of sexual offending (Ward & Stewart, 2003; Yates, 2016)."

* '''from part of John O'Connor's masters in psychotherapy - Exploration of an Ethical Dilemma'''
*:“This essay attempted to illustrate how strict adherence to mandatory reporting laws may have a paradoxical effect of increased risk for both children and clients. [...] As such there is a rationale for choosing to remain with the client and deciding not to report.”
*:“Choosing not to burden the MAP client [who have never offended] with reporting, and continuing therapy with them is an ethically responsible and necessary practice (Heasman & Foreman, 2019), which contributes to the wider public health goal of first-time abuse prevention (Culling, 2018) and demonstrates the greater ethical utility (Baron, 2006; Jahnke, 2018; Heasman & Foreman, 2019; Beier et al., 2021).”
*::full references:
*::Baron, J. (2006). Against bioethics (pp. 1-236). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
*::Beier, K. M., Gieseler, H., Ulrich, H., Scherner, G., & Schlinzig, E. (2021). The Berlin Prevention Project Dunkelfeld (PPD). Pedophilia, Hebephilia and Sexual Offending against Children: The Berlin Dissexuality Therapy (BEDIT), 43-56. 
*::Culling, H. (2018). Informing the prevention of child sexual abuse: comparing convicted offenders and minor-attracted persons. 
*::Heasman A, Foreman T. (2019) Bioethical Issues and Secondary Prevention for Nonoffending Individuals with Pedophilia. Camb Q Healthc Ethics.
*::Jahnke, S. (2018). The stigma of pedophilia. European Psychologist.

* '''Lievesley, R., Harper, C.A. & Woodward, E. [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11930-025-00403-x Toward a Holistic Approach to Treatment and Support for People with Attractions to Children]. Curr Sex Health Rep 17, 7 (2025).'''
*:"Evidence supports the need for a broader focus on treatment goals, such as improving psychological wellbeing, developing healthy coping strategies, and reducing internalized stigma. [...] Although specific child protection frameworks are important, a purely prevention-focused approach to treatment can reinforce stigma and limits the development of services that prioritize therapeutic engagement and alignment with service user needs."

*'''Lievesley, R , Swaby, H , Stevenson, J & Harper, C. (2024) [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0092623X.2024.2402320#abstract “Not offending is easy. The double life, the secrets, the loneliness are the hardest parts I needed help with”: understanding the treatment needs of people with attractions to children] ''Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy'', DOI:10.1080/0092623X.2024.2402320'''
*: "[S]eeking support for sexual frustration outside of the child sexual abuse context, in addition to broader mental health treatment needs acknowledged in a range of studies, is a desired feature of treatment among this population. [...] This is consistent with positive psychological models of well-being and forensic risk reduction, which cite the achievement of sexual satisfaction (and thus elimination of sexual frustration) as a universal primary human good that feeds into a healthy self-identity (Ward & Marshall, 2004)."
:: "[P]articipants were clear that services with an explicit and specific aim of reducing sexual risk (e.g., Stop It Now!, or programs linked to the Troubled Desire initiative) were unlikely to appeal to them."

*'''Lievesley, R., Harper, C.A. & Woodward, E. (2025) [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11930-025-00403-x Toward a Holistic Approach to Treatment and Support for People with Attractions to Children]. Curr Sex Health Rep 17, 7. doi:10.1007/s11930-025-00403-x'''
::"Recent work has identified four specific treatment targets among people with attractions to children. These are: (1) mental health concerns, (2) dealing with stigma, (3) controlling or changing sexual attractions to children, and (4) the alleviation of sexual frustration."
::"[...]state factors facilitating sexual offending include low mood and maladaptive coping strategies, such as substance misuse. As such, the addressing of mental health related concerns can play a key role in the prevention of child sexual abuse, even in the absence of a specific prevention framing to support services."
::"Both internalized and societal stigma can severely impact an individual’s self-esteem, social relationships, and willingness to seek help. [...] The lack of accessible, non-judgmental support further compounds internal conflict and can lead to worsening mental health outcomes, including depression and suicidal ideation. Alongside this, people can begin to internalize social attitudes and begin to see offending as an inevitability as a result of their attractions. Within the criminological literature this is referred to as a Golem effect, whereby people behave in a manner consistent with social expectations."
::"Unaddressed sexual frustration can contribute to significant psychological strain, maladaptive coping strategies, or risky behaviors, making it a critical area for therapeutic intervention. From a prevention perspective, we know that blockages to sexual expression and paraphilic sexual interests are implicated in all major models of sexual offending, with this being compounded among people with sexual attractions with no legal outlet."
::"Efforts to directly alter attractions have not demonstrated consistent success, and researchers caution against such approaches due to ethical and practical concerns related to procedures that evoke images consistent with sexual orientation conversion therapy."

*'''Konrad A, Heid LM, Scheuermann H, Beier KM, Amelung T. (2025) [https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1463191/full Acceptance of sexual attraction and its link to psychological distress and sexual offending among pedohebephilic clients: results from a preliminary analysis.] Front Psychol. 2025 Jan 27;15:1463191. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1463191.'''
::"Psychological distress was significantly and negatively associated with acceptance (p < 0.001), i.e., as psychological distress increased, acceptance of one’s sexual inclination decreased. In our main and sensitivity analyses, recent general offending behavior was not significantly associated with acceptance (p = 0.625)"

*'''Lea H. Studer, A. Scott Aylwin (2006) [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Allan-Aylwin/publication/7017556_Pedophilia_The_problem_with_diagnosis_and_limitations_of_CBT_in_treatment/links/59fb86ba458515d070616604/Pedophilia-The-problem-with-diagnosis-and-limitations-of-CBT-in-treatment.pdf Pedophilia: The problem with diagnosis and limitations of CBT in treatment.]'''
::"First, there is little reason to include pedophilia among the mental disorders of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). [...] Secondly,the typical CBT-based relapse prevention treatment for pedophilia, which represents current best practice, is reviewed. It is suggested that this, as a stand alone therapy, is suboptimal. CBT components are necessary but not sufficient for comprehensive therapy. It is imperative that process issues are given primacy in treatment programs. The common factors literature makes it clear that the therapeutic relationship is at least as potent a factor promoting change as the system or techniques that clinicians employ."

*'''Lievesley, R., Harper, C. A., Awan, A., and Bishop, A. (2025) "[https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2025.2522664 Beyond Pro- and Anti-Contact: Understanding the Ideologies of People Attracted to Children]" ''Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy'', 51(6)'''
::"A sense of self-acceptance in the sample was associated with lower levels of internalized stigma and an increased belief that children both desire and initiate sexual activity with other people. In the sexual domain, higher levels of masturbation were observed alongside a greater belief in the controllability of participants’ sexual desires among those with higher levels of self-acceptance."
::"[T]hose scoring low on self-acceptance reported needing relatively high levels of support across all treatment domains, which may be indicative of this particular ideological factor being of importance in treatment planning"
::"Among the group labeled “Radicals” [high self-acceptance and high permissibility of sex with minors], there were relatively low levels of self-reported needs for treatment, which might indicate that this group does not often appear in clinical settings. In analyzing their data, though, there was a firm rejection of treatment that was designed to control or change their attractions, with sexual frustration needs being less important than receiving support with mental health and social stigma. This was also the case for those labeled “Comfortable-Virtuous” [high self-acceptance and low permissibility], and as such it makes sense to perhaps move away from seeing the clusters as entirely separate groups with specific or unique treatment needs"
::"[T]hose who scored highly on the permissibility dimension were less likely to report needing support with sexual frustration. This may be due to these participants feeling less shame about expressing their sexuality, and a greater level of willingness among them to engage with sexual fantasy and fictional sexual materials (FSM; Lievesley, Harper, Woodward et al., 2023; Woodward et al. 2024)."
::"When permissibility perceptions were high, self-reported proclivities for offending were increased for both CSEM and contact offenses." But "adopting an explicitly abuse prevention approach is known to be detrimental to the likelihood of service uptake among people who are attracted to children (Levenson & Grady, 2019; Lievesley et al., 2025; Lievesley & Harper, 2022). [...] In contexts where the client has explicitly excluded risk management as a treatment target, placing emphasis on the client’s beliefs regarding the permissibility of sexual contact with children could hinder the development of a trusting and authentic therapeutic relationship."

*'''Gillespie, S. (2022). [https://www.proquest.com/openview/ba920465eed71c360408571550ba3f4b/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y Sexual Fantasies and Self-Regulation in a Community Sample of People with Sexual Fantasies and/or Interest Involving Minors] [Ph.D. Thesis]'''
::"Results indicate that acceptance-based mindfulness approaches were positively associated with wellbeing and self-efficacy. Elaboration approaches (e.g. intentional fantasizing, pairing fantasies with masturbation), which were the most used and valued strategies for respondents, were positively associated with self-efficacy."

::"These results align with previous research that found that intentional fantasizing and pairing fantasies with masturbation was not correlated with sexual offending (Bailey et al., 2016; Houtepen et al., 2016)[...] The results of this study indicate that sexual fantasizing involving minors is associated with self-efficacy, which aligns with other research supporting the potential for positive or protective effects of sexual fantasizing by providing sexual outlet that does not involve victimizing children (Houtepen et al., 2016; Jones et al., 2021; Walker, 2017). Further, the lack of association between elaboration and potentially negative outcomes for sexual self-regulation in the present study calls into question the heavy treatment focus on changing/controlling sexual fantasies by any (including ethically questionable and potentially harmful) means necessary."

::"Bartels and Gannon (2011) found a positive association between deviant sexual fantasy and negative affect, providing support for offenders’ use of sexual fantasies as coping. [...] The authors also state that, “the motivation of the offender (avoidant vs. approach) dictates how sexual fantasy may affect behavior” (p. 559). Vanhoeck and colleagues (2011) recommend distinguishing deviant sexual fantasies (which require management strategies) from other sexual fantasies, the difference between them depending not on the content of the fantasy but its link to sexual offending behavior."

*'''Phillipps, M.E.R. and Willis, G.M. (2025) "[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13218719.2025.2546305 ‘I have no desire to hurt a child’: prosocial navigation of sexual attraction to children]" Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, DOI: 10.1080/13218719.2025.2546305.'''
::"Consistent with the SAPROF-SO definition, distraction and avoidance were considered helpful for some participants, with variations in the level of avoidance suggestive of divergent conceptions of situational risk amongst participants. In contrast to the SAPROF-SO’s definition of sexual self-regulation, masturbating to child-focused fantasies and use of legally ambiguous material were identified as effective sexual self-regulation strategies that helped some participants avoid offending. Such findings suggest that effective sexual self-regulation might look different for individuals who, despite an attraction to children, demonstrate prosocial values and do not commit sexual crimes involving children. Finally, social connections were also identified as protective across studies."
::"Collectively, accumulating research findings therefore stress the importance of therapeutic approaches that reaffirm deeply held moral beliefs, promote self-acceptance and reinforce existing protective factors. Clinicians cannot assume that clients will be at risk of abusing children or need explicit offending preventative strategies, meaning therapy with clients who have not committed sexual crimes involving children may contrast markedly from therapy with clients who have committed such crimes. [...] It is nonetheless important to recognise that some clients will need support managing their attractions and benefit from specialised perpetration prevention services (for a review see Stephens et al., 2022)."
::"Additionally, consistent with findings from previous research (e.g. Harper & Lievesley, 2022; Jones et al., 2021; Walker, 2021), the present research raises important policy questions concerning empirical justifications for laws banning materials such as animated or computer generated images of children and child-like sex dolls. Such materials appeared to support safe sexual self-regulation for some participants."

*'''Pedersen, M. R. (2017) [https://www.b4uact.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/The-Politics-of-being-a-Pedophile.pdf The politics of being a pedophile: An anthropological exploration of political engagements and narratives among minor attracted people], Master’s thesis, University of Aarhus'''
::''[Editor's note: This is a qualitative research on MAPs who managed to leave their sexuality meaningfully despite the stigma. Though it is not clinical research in a strict sense, there is a valuable discussion of MAP activism aspects and its' connection to mental health aspects like meaningful life, self-acceptance, positive identity]''
::"When I use the term to engage politically, I want to emphasize that this does not mean that I am studying the manipulative efforts to change laws and customs in a society. Instead, it means fighting against a stigma or trying to debate the truth about what it means to be attracted to minors. To engage politically might also be described as an effort to try and live a meaningful life despite having a stigmatized sexuality"
::"[...]it is exactly because my informants must live with these stereotypes that their presentations of a stereotypical pedophile become important, as I will continue to argue that such representation eventually become political ways to live against the stereotype."
::"[...]three different analysis’ focusing on: 1, how my informants describe the relationship between their sexuality and their identity as ways to resist stigma. 2, how my informants describe their sexuality through arguments in biology, nature, and evolution. 3, How they use ‘research’ as an important tool to understand their sexuality meaningfully and engage politically."
::"[...]the form of agency which is culturally and politically valued, is the agency to claim that your body and desires are ‘natural’ and non-choses instead of cultural and chosen."
::"When your attractions are considered one of the largest taboos in modern Western societies, representations of the relationship between your sexuality and identity becomes crucial to engage politically. Trying to understand how my informants did so, I found that this was done in two ways: either through an inclusion of self and sexuality, or through the opposite: a separation from self and sexuality. Sometimes my informants did both."
::"Erving Goffman defines as one out of two primary ways of managing a spoiled identity: either using your stigma as an explanation of the failures in your life, or as a ‘blessing in disguise’ (Goffman 1963:11)."
::"Locating the origins of one’s attractions within a context of evolution and biology was argued as a strategy by Nelkin and Lindee to gain a political advantage.[…] it challenges much of the negative stigma surrounding pedophilia. That pedophiles are ‘ticking time bombs’ or evil and manipulative people who want to harm children is challenged through such arguments, as if it is not only natural to be attracted to minors, but even evolutionarily beneficial, their feeling cannot be primordially evil, but come from a root of survival and altruism instead." [''see our sections [[Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality|Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality]], [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals| Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals]]'']
::"Knowing a lot about your attractions and contributing to research, I argue, is a way to live with the most stigmatized sexuality in the Western world. [...] Showing how my informants are active subjects in negotiating and challenging research might, however, be a great way to critique the reach of the discursive power"
::"[...] political engagements were indeed strategies for them to experience a stigmatized sexuality meaningfully [...] political engagements is an internal experience of acceptance."
::"To find self-acceptance is not always a battle to comply to the culturally accepted values necessarily, but might also be explained as a battle to experience yourself meaningfully despite being told that you are wrong"

*'''Garant, E., and Proulx, J. (2026) "[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10790632261415814 The Role of Coping Strategies, Impulsivity and Hypersexuality on the Fear of Offending Among Minor Attracted Persons (MAPs)]." ''Sexual Abuse'', DOI: 10.1177/10790632261415814'''
::"MAPs who are the most consumed by sexuality not only are the most worried about engaging in sexual behaviors with children, but are also the most likely to resort to ineffective coping strategies, such as using sexuality to manage this fear. [...] [S]tudies recommending active coping strategies focused on solutions (Britt et al., 2016; Marcks & Woods, 2007), as well as research identifying potential solutions for MAPs (such as finding a trustworthy specialist or joining pro-social groups with similar issues) (Levenson et al., 2017; Roche et al., 2022), suggest possible ways to break out of this cycle. Furthermore, by recognizing and accepting their sexual attraction instead of repressing it, while concurrently developing a pro-social identity (Levenson & Grady, 2019; Walker, 2021), MAPs might be able to achieve more positive outcomes.
::"[N]either impulsivity, the intensity of sexual fantasies nor the fear of offending predicted the perpetration of a sexual offense against a child by the participants of our study."

== See also ==
* [[Preventionism]]
==Excerpt Graphic Library==

The EGL on Pedophilia and Hebephilia characteristics contains some useful information re efficacy and effects of treatments.

{{Template:EGLPHC}}

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Research on Minor Attraction]]

Research: Offender characteristics

2026-08-07T15:45:36Z

Thorn: /* Antisociality, impulsivity, lack of empathy, and other personality traits of "offenders" */

__NOTOC__{{research}}
Common assumptions about the characteristics of adult-minor sex offenders (including the prevalence of [[pedophilia]]) are unsupported. The Dutch Rapporteur<ref>[https://www.dutchrapporteur.nl/binaries/dutchrapporteur/documenten/reports/2015/03/19/on-solid-ground-tackling-sexual-violence-against-children-2014/dutch-rapporteur.on-solid-ground.tackling-sexual-violence-against-children.2014_tcm24-35335.pdf On Solid Ground - Dutch Rapporteur]</ref> recently carried out a fine graded analysis of "paraphilia" (i.e. pedophilia) rates among different types of child sex offender. Rather revealingly, although overall rates of pedophilia among CSOs were low (20%), levels fall to almost zero among the forcible contact offenders (see graphic at bottom of page).

==Prevalence of pedophilia among CSOs==

:''For discussion, see [[Research:_Prevalence#Non-offending_MAPs|Non-offending MAPs]]''

If pedophilia is defined as a preferential orientation towards prepubescent children, it is incredibly rare in the population of "child sex offenders" (including all minors under the [[Age of Consent|age of consent]]) and strikingly absent in many adult-prepubescent sex offenders. Within a socially prohibitive context, it is a [[self-fulfilling prophecy]] that many child sex offenders will be influenced by opportunistic motives and anti-social traits rather than a sexual preference for children.

A [[Penile Plethysmography|phallometric]] study by Michael Seto established that even if cut-offs assumed a massive 10% of controls to be pedophilic, only 27% of CSOs could be deemed pedophilic by the same standards.<ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1177/107906320101300103 Seto, M. C., & Lalumière, M. L. (2001). A Brief Screening Scale to Identify Pedophilic Interests Among Child Molesters. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 13(1), 15–25.]</ref>

*'''[[Paul Okami|Okami, P.]], & Goldberg, A. (1992). "[http://www.newgon.net/prd/lib/Okami1992.html Personality Correlates of Pedophilia: Are They Reliable Indicators?]," ''Journal of Sex Research'', 29(3), 297-328.'''
*:". . . most data suggest that only a relatively small portion of the population of incarcerated sexual offenders against minors consists of persons for whom minors (particularly children) represent the exclusive or even primary object of sexual interest or source of arousal (Freund, Watson, & Dickey, 1991; Gebhard et al., 1965; Howells, 1981; Lang et al., 1988; Langevin, 1983; McCormack & Selvaggio, 1989; Marshall, Babaree, & Butt, 1988; Marshall & Eccles, 1991; Mohr et al., 1964; Quinsey, Chaplin, & Carrigan, 1979; Righton, 1981; Rowan, 1988; Schofield, 1965; Swanson, 1968)."

*'''Kesicky, D. et al (2014). "[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0924933814777314 Pedophiles and (or) child molesters]," ''European Psychiatry'', Volume 29, Supp 1, Page 1.'''
*:"Experimental sample consists of 146 forensic cases (all men), they committed child molestation in years 2005–2012. According to the criteria (DSM-IV-TR) for pedophilia, penile plethysmography (PPG), actual clinical and case history data were used for the diagnosis determination. Obtained clinical and sociodemographic data were statistically evaluated. Only a small part (16,2 %) of sexual offenders against children meet the criteria (DSM-IV-TR) for pedophilia."

*'''World Health Organization (1986). "[https://books.google.com/books/about/Child_Sexual_Abuse.html?id=kH-WOAAACAAJ Child sexual abuse: report on a consultation, Copenhagen, 11-12 December 1985]."'''
*:"Some sex offences against children are committed by pedophiles, that is, persons who are sexually attracted to children rather than adults. Most child molestors, however, are not particularly attracted to children, but merely seeking sexual stimulation through encounters with children to compensate for a preferred, but unobtainable or inadequate (sexual) relationship with adults."

*'''Lautmann, Rüdiger (1994). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20081002230611/http://www.shfri.net/trans/lautmann/lautmann.htm Attraction to Children]." Ingrid Klein Pubs. Inc., Hamburg. ISBN 3-89521-015-3.'''
*:"This exhaustive and authoritative work is based on a three-tiered typology of offen[ders] against children, [the first type being] the true pedophile [who] has a general interest in social contact with children, including a sexual dimension. […] In this book I am concerned exclusively with the first type, which constitutes approximately 5% of all pedosexually active men."

*'''Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexology, "[http://web.archive.org/web/20080421215739/http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/ECE6P/html/pedophilia_2.html Prohibited Sexual Behavior and Sexual Violence]."'''
*:"In any case, as already mentioned, most sexual offenses against children are committed not by pedophiles, but by non-pedophilic men."

*'''Joint submission from the Northern Territory Government and Police, 9 March 1995, p. 4. Cited by the [http://web.archive.org/web/20110604234130/http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/acc_ctte/completed_inquiries/pre1996/ncapedo/report/c02.htm Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Crime Authority].'''
*:"Of [extrafamilial child sex offenders from 1990 to 1995], only ... 14.8% of the total ... had been identified as paedophiles or suspected paedophiles."

*'''Wilson, Singer, & Dowd (2006). Handbook of Children, Culture, And Violence, p. 68.'''
*:"Indeed, Howells (1981) maintains that "There is good reason to think that such persons [pedophiles] form a minority in the total population of people who become sexually involved with children" (p.76). Other researchers have come to a similar conclusion (Bromberg & Johnson, 2001; Mohr, Turner, & Jerry, 1964; Swanson, 1968)."

*'''Seto, M. C., Cantor, J. M., & Blanchard, R. (2006). "Child pornography offenses are a valid diagnostic indicator of pedophilia," ''Journal of Abnormal Psychology'', 115, 610-615.'''
*:"The proportions of men in each of the nine study groups—two groups of child pornography offenders, three groups of offenders against children, three groups of offenders against adults, and one group of general sexology patients [who had no history of charges for child pornography or sexual offenses] —who met a diagnostic criterion for pedophilia used at the Kurt Freund Laboratory (pedophilic index greater than .25; Blanchard et al., 2001) are shown in Figure 1. There was a significant difference between groups in the proportions who met this diagnostic criterion: 61% of child pornography offenders, 35% of offenders with child victims, 13% of offenders with adult victims, and 22% of general sexology patients." According to the authors, the 35% figure may be inflated because study participants were referred due to clinical or legal concerns about their sexual interests or behavior, and the study included an inordinate number of people who had convictions for both child pornography and child molestation.

*'''Kutchinsky, Berl (1973). "The effect of easy availability of pornography on the incidence of sex crimes: The Danish experience," ''Journal of Social Issues'', 29(3), p. 178.'''
*:"According to Gebhard et al. (1965), only one-fourth to one-third of the sexual offenders of girls examined were classified as pedophiles, and in about half of those cases "some degree of socio-sexual deprivation existed at the time of the offense, which may have triggered the behavior [p. 74]." Gebhard et al. further mention that "the term 'pedophile' is somewhat unfortunate since these men did not consciously prefer children as sexual partners, but simply found them acceptable [p. 74]." In other words, to the majority of sexual offenders against children the criminal interference with children was not a coveted goal in itself; rather it served as a poor substitute for a preferred, but unobtainable normal heterosexual experience. A number of other facts about the heterosexual offender of children (discussed by Gebhard et al., 1976) are relevant: [...] his masturbation fantasies are quite average, that is, he does not especially fantasize about children."

*'''Frenzel, R. R., & Lang, R. A. (1989). "Identifying sexual preferences in intrafamilial and extrafamilial child sexual abusers," ''Annals of Sex Research'', 2, 255-275.'''
*:"Erotic preference profiles among child sexual abusers, both familial and nonfamilial, are heterogeneous. Some men prefer adult females, others exclusively a male or female child, while others exhibit a pan-gynephilic profile, in which any aged female apparently has a similar erotic valence. Precisely how many of these incestuous or nonincestuous men are 'true' pedophiles is uncertain; possibly as many as 1 in 4 (Langevin, & Lang, 1988), or as few as 1 in 10, as suggested by the present data."

*'''Howells, K. (1981). "Adult sexual interest in children: Considerations relevant to theories of aetiology," in Cook, M. & Howells, K. (eds.), ''Adult sexual interest in children'', London: Academic Press, pp. 55-94; as summarized on [http://web.archive.org/web/20120904111717/http://www.mhamic.org/sources/howells.htm MHAMic].'''
*:Some have a persistent sexual preference for children beginning in adolescence, while others have a preference for adults but act with children due to situational factors (e.g., marital problems, loss of wife, abuse of alcohol, or stress). Most theories focus on the former type since the latter type are really not pedophiles. However, most clinical and criminal studies find the latter type to be the majority of those who offend.

*'''James, A. J. (2004). "Plethysmograph: a disputed device," tsroadmap.com, version of 12 April 2006.'''
*:''[The citation's use of "[[Pedophilia|pedophile]]" is almost certainly in reference to offenders - NewgonWiki].''
*:"Bradford (1997) candidly reviews the problems in penile response in testing. He collected data from a group of 200 subjects, 100 of whom were admitted child molesters and 100 of which were volunteer "community control" subjects. Even using an admitted population of child molesters, Dr. Bradford's penile tumescence testing could only correctly classify 62% of the admitted homosexual child molesters and 52% of the admitted heterosexual child molesters. According to the report, twenty-five (25%) accuracy in classification would have been expected from mere chance. Other studies report that plethysmography has an even poorer accuracy record. Simon & Schouten cite a study (Wormith) in which 42% of the pedophiles were classified as having normal sexual preferences. Another study they cite (Barbaree and Marshall) found that only 35% of pedophiles demonstrated the "pure" child-preference profile (Simon 1993, at 508). See also McAnulty 1990. [...] For instance, according to Bradford (1997), only 40% of child molesters are classified as pedophiles (p. 213). Johnston (1997) notes one-third of the molesters in study identified as fixated and 2/3 as regressed.; Abel (1988) states that the majority of subjects in the study could become involved with adult partners; paraphilic and nonparaphilic behavior and coexisted in most subjects."

*'''Levine, J. (2002). ''[[Harmful to Minors]]'', p. 25-26'''
*:"More important, sexual contact with a child does not a pedophile make. "The majority of reported acts of sexual abuse of children are not committed by pedophiles," but by men in relationships with adult women and men, said John Money, of Johns Hopkins, a preeminent expert on sexual abnormalities."

==Lack of intelligence among offenders or "pedophiles"==

:''For more information, see [[Research: Psychopathy and abnormal psychology]].''

The intellectual capacity of adults involved in intergenerational relationships, or pedophiles per se, does not appear to differ from the general population. On some occasions, differences have been identified within criminal sampes - however these differences are more likely to be confounded by general offender characteristics (impulsivity, tendency to act conspicuously and thus be detected). When "pedophilic offenders" are separated, they tend to be more intelligent than situational offenders, and even controls in some cases. The Eastvold study below defines "pedophilic offenders" very broadly (including totally normative self-admitted hebephilic/ephebophilic interest). While Eastvold does show higher functioning among the "pedophilic" offenders, other studies occasionally show little or no relationship.<ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.chiabu.2011.09.018 Strassberg et al. Psychopathy among pedophilic and nonpedophilic child molesters]</ref><ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1177/1079063208326930 Suchy - Facial and Prosodic Affect Recognition Among Pedophilic and Nonpedophilic Criminal Child Molesters]</ref>

*'''Eastvold, A et al. (2011). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1017/s1355617710001669 Executive function profiles of pedophilic and nonpedophilic child molesters], ''Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society'', 17 (2), 295-307.'''
*:"Results revealed that (a) child molesters exhibited an overall executive profile that was different from that of NSOs, with PEDs differing from NSOs but not from NPEDs; (b) child molesters on the whole performed better than NSOs on abstract reasoning and more poorly on inhibition; and (c) PEDs performed better than NPEDs on planning and exhibited better overall performance accuracy relative to NPEDs. These results suggest that PEDs exhibit a more deliberate, planful response style characterized by greater self-monitoring; whereas NPEDs appear to respond more impulsively. The current report further elucidates neurocognition among child molesters and highlights the need for future research examining subtypes of child molesters."

*'''Schiffer B., Vonlaufen C. (2011). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2010.02140.x Executive dysfunctions in pedophilic and nonpedophilic child molesters], ''Journal of Sexual Medicine'', 8: 1975–1984.'''
*:"Results indicate that pedophilic child molesters exhibited less performance deficits in cognitive functioning than nonpedophilic child molesters. Compared to healthy controls and nonsexual offenders, the pedophilic child molesters only showed executive dysfunction concerning response inhibition, whereas the nonpedophilic child molesters revealed more severe dysfunction, especially on tasks associated with cognitive flexibility and verbal memory. Conclusions: These results enhance our knowledge about executive dysfunction associated with criminality and/or pedophilia, as they suggest different profiles of impairment between groups. In summary, data suggest that nonpedophilic child molesters showed more severe cognitive deficits than pedophilic child molesters. However, as response inhibition is associated with prefrontal (i.e., orbitofrontal) functioning, the deficits observed in both child molester groups indicate dysfunction in the orbitofrontal cortex. This has to be further examined with functional imaging approaches in larger samples and a full-factorial approach which allows for a clear distinction between criminality and pedophilia in a factorial manner."''

*'''[[Paul Okami|Okami, P.]] & Goldberg, A. (1992). "Personality Correlates of Pedophilia: Are They Reliable Indicators?," ''Journal of Sex Research'', 29(3), 297-328.'''
*:"As can be seen, few if any differences in intelligence have been found for pedophiles or sex offenders against minors. The impression of pedophiles lacking intelligence may have origated in clinical work among samples which included persons suffering from senility and mental retardation (Langevin et al., 1985a)."
*:A chart is included:
*:[[Image:Okami intelligence.PNG|450px]]

*'''Howitt, Dennis (1995). ''[http://www.ipce.info/host/howitt/2b.htm Paedophiles and Sexual Offences Against Children]'', John Wiley & Sons, p. 44.'''
*:"The possibility of finding a simple personality profile that differentiates paedophiles from other men has appeared increasingly unrealistic as the research and clinical base has widened. Simplistic notions such as social inadequacy driving men to sex with children become unviable as highly socially skilled paedophiles are found."

*'''Leverett, S. D., & Tenbergen, G. (2023) [https://sotrap.psychopen.eu/index.php/sotrap/article/view/10515/10515.pdf Recent Advances in the Neuropsychology of Pedophilia]. ''Sexual Offending: Theory, Research, and Prevention'', DOI: 10.5964/sotrap.10515'''
*: "Cohen et al. (2002) investigated a sample of male, heterosexual, nonexclusive pedophilic individuals who offended sexually against children relative to healthy controls and found no significant neuropsychological differences in set shifting, attention, impulsivity or verbal fluency."
*: "Kruger and Schiffer (2011) investigated incarcerated individuals with pedophilia exclusively attracted to prepubescent children with a history of contact sexual offenses against at least two victims. [...] While these results suggest executive functioning weaknesses in the pedophilic group, the absolute values were within the normal range for all tasks."
*: "[S]lower processing speeds may suggest a more deliberate response style, reflecting greater self-monitoring required to conceal sexual attraction to children in everyday life."
*: "In a follow up study, Eastvold et al. (2011) found no evidence of generalized executive functioning deficits [...] Instead, each group showed distinct neuropsychological profiles [...] However, when considering inhibition accuracy, the pedophilic group was more accurate than the nonpedophilic group. Pedophilic individuals who had offended sexually against children also demonstrated better abstract reasoning and planning abilities relative to the nonpedophilic and non-sexual offense groups."
*: "When taken together, these findings support a main effect of child sexual abuse, whereby child sexual abuse is associated with impulsivity. These findings provide interesting nuance, wherein although individuals with pedophilia who offend sexually against children tend to have slower responses than nonpedophilic individuals, the nonpedophilic individuals tend to exhibit more pervasive neuropsychological impairments"
*: "[T]o truly differentiate the neuropsychological effects of incarceration or general criminality from those of pedophilia as a sexual preference, the field urgently needs to recruit community-dwelling, non-incarcerated darkfield individuals with sexual offenses against children and pedophilic nonoffense groups."
*: "As we have seen, the most pronounced neuropsychological impairments appear to apply to individuals who have committed contact child sexual abuse, and primarily for individuals ''without'' pedophilia."

== Antisociality, impulsivity, lack of empathy, and other personality traits of "offenders" ==
*'''Pritchard, C., & King, E. (2005). [https://pismin.com/10.1080/13811110590512903 Differential Suicide Rates in Typologies of Child Sex Offenders in a 6-year Consecutive Cohort of Male Suicides.] Archives of Suicide Research, 9(1), 35–43. doi:10.1080/13811110590512903'''
*:"Earlier research identified 3 typologies of Child Sex Offenders [CSO] with high rates of suicide. [...] Two significant results were ‘‘Sex Only’’ CSO suicides were 183 times the general population and 15 times the Multi-criminal CSO rates, with no suicides amongst the Violent CSO’s."
*:"The average annual number of men convicted of a sex offence against a child was 187 pa, and produced 95 Sex Only CSOs (51%); the remaining 92 men belonged to the Multi-Criminal (27%) and Violent & Multi-Criminal CSO group (22%)."
*:"The most important finding is that 15 of the 16 child sex offender suicides were Sex Only offenders. This confirms the previous study that the Sex Only offender is at risk of committing suicide (Pritchard & Bagley, 2001), whereas the Multi and Violent Criminal sex offenders are either no more, or are at even less risk of committing suicide than men in the general population."
*:"The fact that only one Multi-Criminal, compared with 15 Sex-only child sex offenders killed themselves adds further weight to the suggestion that there are very different types of child sex offenders. There are those who sexually abuse their victims, but who have no other history of crime or violence, and are at high risk of killing themselves if the abuse is disclosed. There is also, at the other extreme, a group of sex offenders with a history of crime and possibly physical violence, who may go on to kill their victims, but not themselves."

*'''Chronos, A., & Jahnke, S. (2026). [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10790632251389171 Distinguishing pedohebephebophilic actors and non-actors: A meta-analysis]. Sexual Abuse, 38(2). DOI:10.1177/10790632251389171'''
::“eight found significant average effects associated with acting, which were largest for male sex, prior therapy, older age, and adverse childhood sexual experiences (all gs > .38).”
::“Small significant effects were discovered for having own children, being preferentially attracted to children, [[Research:_Cognitive_Distortion|cognitive distortions]], and non-heterosexual orientation (all gs > .20) ”
::"[B]ased on '''fewer than 5 studies and fixed-effects''' meta-analysis,[...] these '''results need to be interpreted with caution''', results were significant for intelligence, stigma, interest in therapy, nonsexual adverse childhood experiences, height, lack of control of sexual impulses, head injuries after age 13, a history of falling in love with children, distress about sexual interests, non-righthandedness, and contact with children"
::"Average effect sizes for personality factors, mental disorders (e.g., affective or anxiety disorders), impulsivity or distress were very small (below g = .20) and non-significant."
::"Preferentiality for male children was not significantly related to child sexual offending in the meta-analysis."
::"Surprisingly, neither additional paraphilias nor hypersexuality/increased sexual desire were corroborated as motivating distinguishing factors"
::"Self-regulation problems, or lack of control of sexual impulses, as described in this meta-analysis, were significantly associated with acting, supporting previous findings on sex offenders’ recidivism (Hanson & Morton-Bourgon, 2005). [...] It is also of note that, while similar, lack of control of sexual impulses and impulsivity seem to present as distinct characteristics, with the former determined to be a significant factor and the latter not."
::"The non-significance of empathy as a distinguishing factor is particularly noteworthy, as it does not align with the well-established role of reduced empathy in predicting criminal or harmful behavior (Mann & Barnett, 2013)."
::"No significant differences emerged among any of the Big Five personality factors, affective disorders, anxiety, general distress, phobia, obsessive-compulsive traits, self-esteem, social desirability, or somatization, despite previous associations between personality traits and maladaptive behaviors (Babchishin et al., 2014; Kärgel et al., 2017)."

*'''Garant, E., and Proulx, J. (2026) "[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10790632261415814 The Role of Coping Strategies, Impulsivity and Hypersexuality on the Fear of Offending Among Minor Attracted Persons (MAPs)]." ''Sexual Abuse'', DOI: 10.1177/10790632261415814'''
::"[A]lthough sexual concerns and impulsivity have traditionally been considered risk factors for sexual offending in judicial populations (see Hanson & Bussiere, 1998; Hanson & Morton-Bourgon, 2019), and hypersexuality is recognized as important in evaluating sexual recidivism (see Etzler et al., 2020; Gregório et al., 2022), these factors do not seem to interact in the same way in our sample of MAPs. Indeed, neither impulsivity, the intensity of sexual fantasies nor the fear of offending predicted the perpetration of a sexual offense against a child by the participants of our study."

==Abused-abuser relationship==

Some psychologists have suggested that pedophilia or "abusing" itself is caused by childhood sexual abuse, or sexual interactions with adults as a minor. In some instances, even generalized "sexual behavior" in childhood has been linked to later offending, even though 40-70+% of children have behaved "sexually" by the age of 13.<ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1023/a:1015252903931 Larsson I, Svedin CG. Sexual experiences in childhood: young adults' recollections.] Arch Sex Behav. 2002;31(3):263-273.</ref><ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/0145-2134(93)90026-2 Lamb S, Coakley M. “Normal” childhood sexual play and games: differentiating play from abuse. Child Abuse Negl. 1993;17(4):515-526.]</ref><ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/0145-2134(88)90029-4 Haugaard JJ, Tilly C. Characteristics predicting children's responses to sexual encounters with other children. Child Abuse Negl. 1988;12(2):209-218.]</ref>

Empirical support for the abused-abuser hypothesis is thin, and plagued by methodological issues. Even victimologists such as [[Anna Salter]] (in her book ''Predators'') claim many men guilty of child sex crimes simply say they were "abused" as a sympathy play, when fewer than 10% of them actually were. Where a relationship is identified, it is also typically weak enough to have been caused by a confounding variable such as sexual agreeableness (perhaps via non-normative orientation), propensity for social nonconformity, sensation seeking behavior, etc.

*'''Widom, C. S., & Massey, C. (2015). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2014.3357 "A Prospective Examination of Whether Childhood Sexual Abuse Predicts Subsequent Sexual Offending"], ''JAMA Pediatrics'', January 5, 2015.'''
*:"The widespread belief that sexually abused children are uniquely at risk to become sex offenders was not supported by prospective empirical evidence. These new findings suggest that early intervention programs should target children with histories of physical abuse and neglect. They also indicate that existing policies and practices specifically directed at future risk for sex offending for sexually abused children may warrant reevaluation."

*'''Leach C, Stewart A, Smallbone S. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.10.024 Testing the sexually abused-sexual abuser hypothesis: A prospective longitudinal birth cohort study.] ''Child Abuse Negl.'' 2016 Jan;51:144-53.'''
*:"The sexually abused-sexual abuser hypothesis posits that persons, especially males, who are sexually abused as children are at particular risk of sexually abusing others later in life. We tested this hypothesis by prospectively examining associations between maltreatment and offending in a birth cohort of 38,282 males with a maltreatment history and/or at least one finalized offense. We examined these associations within the context of the wider birth population. Proportionally few boys were the subject of official notifications for sexual abuse (14.8% of maltreated boys, and 1.4% of the birth population); proportionally very few of these sexually abused boys (3%) went on to become sexual offenders; and, contrary to findings typically reported in retrospective clinical studies, proportionally few sexual offenders (4%) had a confirmed history of sexual abuse. Poly-victimization (exposure to multiple types of maltreatment) was significantly associated with sexual offending, violent offending, and general (nonsexual, nonviolent) offending. We found no specific association between sexual abuse and sexual offending, and nor did we find any association between sexual abuse and sexual offending specifically within the poly-victimized group."

*'''Freund, Kurt; Watson, R.; and Dickey, R. (1990). "Does sexual abuse in childhood cause pedophilia: an exploratory study," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 19(6), 557-568.'''
*:"The first however, to investigate the reliability of these offenders retrospective reports was Hindman (1988). This therapist compared paroled male adult sexual offenders against children in two periods: In the first (1980-1982) she interviewed 40 patients and in the second (1982-1988) she saw 129. The second period differed from the first in that the patients were told that they would have to submit to a polygraph test and that if their self-reports were contradicted they would be returned to jail. In the first period, during which patients were not threatened with polygraph testing, 67% indicated that they had been molested when children. In the second period, however, only 29% of the offenders indicated that they were abused as children. Hindman’s results imply that in a therapeutic climate where professionals tend to subscribe to the theory that pedophilia is caused by earlier sexual abuse of the offender himself, some offenders could fabricate such an event as an excuse for their erotic attraction to children. [...]
*:A second question addressed by this study, and which had been investigated only by the Hindman (1988) study, was whether positive reports about sexual abuse in childhood sufficiently reflect true events. [...] The results of the present study are in agreement with those of Hindman, in that they demonstrate that the empirical basis of the molestation theory of pedophilia is unreliable."

*'''McMillan, Dean; Hastings, Richard P.; Salter, Daniel C.; and Skuse, David H. (2007). "Developmental Risk Factor Research and Sexual Offending against Children: A Review of Some Methodological Issues," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 37(6), 877-890.'''
*:"Any observed association between a risk factor and sexual perpetration may be a result of the fabrication of an experience rather than the actual experience of the risk. Hindman and Peters (2001) examined this potential source of bias in three studies. The first, originally reported in Hindman (1988), obtained self-reports of sexual offenders who were referred to a clinic between 1980 and 1988. The clinic began polygraph testing in 1982, and this provided an opportunity to assess the effects of testing on self-reported rates of victimization. Before the introduction of testing, 40 offenders were interviewed about their sexual history, and 67% reported that they had been sexually victimized; this compares to a rate of 29% (N = 129) made by those referred after its introduction. A second study, conducted in 1994, compared adult sex offenders (N = 76) who gave self-reports of their sexual history with a group who took a polygraph test (N = 152). By this time, all offenders referred to the clinic were polygraphed, but the self-report group was either sentenced or excluded from the clinic before testing could take place. The results were similar to the 1988 study, with the non-polygraph group reporting a higher rate of child sexual abuse (65%) than the polygraph group (32%). The final study used a repeated-measures design in which the researchers compared the self-reports of sexual victimization made with and without polygraph testing in 173 adult offenders. The results were broadly comparable with the earlier studies (61% without testing vs. 30% with testing). Hindman and Peters (2001) concluded that the base rate of victimization appears to change markedly when subject to the scrutiny of a polygraph test. [...]
*:Hindman, J., & Peters, J. M. (2001). Polygraph testing leads to better understanding of adult and juvenile sex offenders. ''Federal Probation'', 65, 8–15."

*'''Hanson, R. K., and Slater, S. (2004). "Sexual victimization in the history of sexual abusers: A review," ''Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment'', 1(4), 485-499.'''
*:"While findings in individual studies ranged between 0% and 67%, on average about 28% of the offenders reported being sexually victimized as children. This rate is higher than the base rate for community samples of non-offending males (about 10%), but is similar to the rates found in other sexual or non-sexual offender populations. The relationship between childhood sexual victimization and sexually abusing children as an adult does not appear to be specific; rather, it is probable that many forms of childhood maltreatment can lead to many forms of behavioral and psychological problems in adulthood."

*'''Cannon, Mary (2001). "[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/invited-commentaries-on-cycle-of-child-sexual-abuse-links-between-being-a-victim-and-becoming-a-perpetrator/05A15A76D1F5CB3D6F7B7D430591128A Invited commentaries on: Cycle of child sexual abuse: links between being a victim and becoming a perpetrator]," ''The British Journal of Psychiatry'', 179, 495-496.'''
*:"The use of self-reports of childhood sexual abuse from individuals who are, themselves, child abusers is bound to raise questions about the reliability of these data. Reporting sexual victimisation in childhood may be an attempt on the part of the perpetrators to explain their abusive behaviour and elicit sympathy from the therapist. Glasser et al used information in social service, probation and medical reports to complement self-report data for the assessment of perpetrator status but it is not clear whether this was also done for victim status. Recall bias is usually thought of as an unconscious action, a form of ‘search after meaning’ rather than deliberate lying or fabrication, but all these processes will lead to biased associations. Additionally, a form of interviewer bias may have operated if the therapists subscribed to the idea of a cycle of child sexual abuse and were more likely to enquire about such childhood experiences during assessment of perpetrators. [...]
*:Widom & Ames (1994) used a prospective cohort design to assess the criminal consequences of childhood sexual abuse. Official criminal records were traced for a large sample (n=908) of children with a validated history of sexual abuse, physical abuse or neglect, and a control group matched for age, gender, race and family socio-economic status. The authors found no evidence for a cycle of sexual abuse as proposed by Glasser et al. Rather, they found that all three of the abuse groups (sexual, physical and neglect) were significantly more likely to be arrested for a sexual offence (including prostitution) than were the controls. In fact, although children who had been sexually abused were significantly more likely than controls to have an adult arrest for prostitution, they were not significantly more likely than controls to have adult arrests for other sex crimes."

*'''Garland, R.J., Dougher M.J. (1990). "[http://www.newgon.net/prd/lib/Garland1990.html The Abused/Abuser Hypothesis of Child Sexual Abuse: A Critical Review of Theory and Research]," in Feierman, J. (ed.), ''Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions'', 489-509.'''
*:"In summary, the abused/abuser hypothesis - the belief that sexual behavior between adults and children or adolescents causes those children to become sexually involved with other children and adolescents - is inadequate and incorrect."

*'''Feierman, J. (1994). "Pedophilia: Paraphilic Attraction to Children," in Krivacska J. J., and Money, J. (eds.), ''The Handbook of Forensic Sexology: Biomedical & Criminological Perspectives (New Concepts in Human Sexuality)'', 49-79.'''
*:"The 'abused/abuser hypothesis,' which perhaps should be renamed "the master's myth" because of its uncritical acceptance by so many master's level psychotherapists, is an example of a learning theory model gone awry. The best one can say about the abused/abuser hypothesis is as follows: Having been sexually abused as a child is neither a necessary nor a sufficent determinant of a previously sexual abused child’s becoming an adult sexual abuser of children. Nevertheless, there appears to be a weak correlation between being sexually abused as a child and again as an adult. No casual relationship can be concluded from a mere correlation, however (Garland & Dougher 1990). Most of the myriad adult psychopathologies attributed to the sequelae of previous childhood sexual contact with an adult are without scientific bases."

*'''Jahnke S., Schmidt, A.F., Hoyer, J. (2022). [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10790632221098341 Pedohebephilia and Perceived Non-coercive Childhood Sexual Experiences: Two Non-matched Case-Control Studies]. ''Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment'', DOI:10.1177/10790632221098341.'''
*:"Research on the link between childhood sexual abuse experiences (CSAE) and pedohebephilia is limited by its focus on events that the respondents rate as abusive. We asked 199 German-speaking (Study 1) and 632 English-speaking (Study 2) men with and without self-reported pedohebephilia to complete the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and scales to assess perceived non-coercive childhood sexual experiences with adults (PNCSE-A), and peers (PNCSE-P, only Study 2). A substantial number of participants with PNCSE-A disagreed with all items of the CTQ Sexual Abuse subscale (e.g., 35% and 26% of pedohebephilic men in Studies 1 and 2, 38% of teleiophilic men in Study 2). While pedohebephilic men reported more CSAE than teleiophilic men, the effects for PNCSE-A did not consistently point in the expected direction. In Study 2, conviction status for sexual offenses among pedohebephilic men was linked to higher rates of CSAE, PNCSE-A, PNCSE-P, physical neglect, and physical abuse. Pedohebephilic men in Study 2 also reported more PNCSE-P than teleiophilic men."
*: “From a theoretical perspective, the idea that CSAE [Childhood Sexual Abuse Experiences] in itself causes pedohebephilia is recognized as being too simplistic (Garland & Dougher, 1990). The results of the present studies should not let us forget that a large number of pedohebephilic men in both studies did not report any CSAE, irrespective of whether these were framed as coercive and unpleasant or not. Moreover, the fact that a non-negligible rate of teleiophilic men (particularly in Study 2) also report CSAE casts further doubt on the simplistic idea that CSAE cause sexual attraction to children. There are likely multiple (i.e., genetic, parental, neurobiological, see Tenbergen et al., 2015) factors that lead to all possible configurations of developing pedohebephilic or teleiophilic sexual attraction and committing sexual offenses against children (or not; Papalia et al., 2018).“
*:"Yet, it is also possible that some men who have been sexually abused as children do not evaluate these experiences as negative and/or may even have felt sexually aroused (Felson et al., 2019; Rind et al., 1998; Rind & Welter, 2014, 2016). Furthermore, pedohebephilic men do not only report higher rates of CSAE and non-sexual adverse childhood experiences than nonpedohebephilic men, but also higher rates of early sexual experiences with peers (Breiling et al., 2020; Santtila et al., 2010)."

==Excerpt Graphic Library==

Although arguments re. offender characteristics are less commonly deployed nowadays (meaning that quoting directly from the relevant paper will usually suffice), our below summary of the prevalence of pedophilia in criminal vs general samples may be of use.

<gallery>
File:Devped.png|Development of Pedophilia with some abused/abuser rebuttals
File:Nonoffendingpedo.png|Non-offending pedophilia and impulse control
File:Retards.png|Retarded or perturbed pedophile myth
File:Untitled.png|Prevalence of pedophilia in a criminal sample
File:Paraphilia-frequency.jpg|Dutch Rapporteur: [https://www.dutchrapporteur.nl/binaries/dutchrapporteur/documenten/reports/2015/03/19/on-solid-ground-tackling-sexual-violence-against-children-2014/dutch-rapporteur.on-solid-ground.tackling-sexual-violence-against-children.2014_tcm24-35335.pdf "On Solid Ground"] Prevalence of pedophilia in a criminal sample
File:Psycho.jpeg|The myth of psychopathy (in actual pedophiles vs CSOs)
File:Emotionalempathy.jpg|High Emotional Empathy in pedophiles vs CSOs (Schuler et al, 2019)
</gallery>

==References==

[[Category: Official Encyclopedia]][[Category: Research on "Child Molesters"]][[Category: Research on Minor Attraction]]

Research: A "cure" for pedophilia?

2026-08-07T14:37:37Z

Thorn: /* Psychological wellbeing for MAPs */

__NOTOC__{{research}}
Attempts to "treat" pedophilia are ineffectual and in many cases harmful. It's important to point out that pedophilia is the ''direction'' of one's sexuality, not the intensity of one's sexual interest. While there are drugs that can reduce sexual desire, reorientation is not possible.
__NOTOC__
==Treatment==
===Efficacy===
*'''Stelzmann, D., Jahnke, S., & Kuhle, L. F. (2022). [https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9356 Media Coverage of Pedophilia and Its Impact on Help-Seeking Persons with Pedophilia in Germany - A Focus Group Study.] ''International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health'' 19 (15), DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19159356'''
*:“Both sexual preferences for prepubescent (pedophilia) and pubescent (hebephilia) children are only considered pathological if the sexual attraction to children resulted in previous sexual offending against children, or causes significant distress and/or interpersonal difficulties (pedophilic disorder or unspecified paraphilic disorder [10]). Currently, there is little evidence showing that the sexual attraction to children can be “cured” in the sense that it can be converted into a sexual attraction to adults (teleiophilia; overview see [23]). Therefore, preventive treatment often focuses on behavioral control and/or the reduction of psychological distress.”

*'''[[Fred Berlin|Berlin, Fred S.]] (2000). "[http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=174135 Treatments to Change Sexual Orientation]," ''American Journal of Psychiatry'', 157, p. 838.'''
*:"It may be no easier for a person with pedophilia to change his or her sexual orientation than it is for a homosexual or heterosexual individual to do so."

*'''[[Dennis Howitt|Howitt, D.]] (1995). "[http://www.helping-people.info/articles/howitt_trtmnt.htm The Treatment of Paedophiles]," in ''Paedophiles and Sexual Offences Against Children'', pp. 189-192.'''
*:"Many of the early behaviour therapy treatments for paedophilia emerged from attempts to make homosexuals "normal" or, at least, stop "doing their thing". [...] As we will see, there is a degree of uncertainty about the effectiveness of even the best researched therapies for paedophiles. There are a number of reasons for this. Many of the therapies have not been subject to specific empirical evaluation of any sort; some have been tried with only a few clients. Often the criteria of therapeutic success have fallen well short of evidence of a decline in recidivism in offending, obviously one of the most important criteria. Research that includes a control or an alternatively treated group is in the minority of the evaluations. With a situation like this, claims of therapeutic success may sometimes be wishful thinking on the part of the clinician, the client or both."

*'''Van-Zessen, G. (1990). "[http://www.helping-people.info/articles/van_zessen.htm A model for group counseling with male pedophiles]," ''Journal of Homosexuality'', 20(1-2), 189-198.'''
*:"The majority of the reported studies have roots in behavior therapy. The early behavioral approaches were aimed at reducing the deviant sexual arousal by aversion therapy (Quinsey et al., 1976). The attraction to children is viewed as purely sexual (Howells, 1979). In its simplest form, the child is the stimulus that elicits sexual excitement in the adult (Quinsey et al., 1975). All other motivations and meanings of pedophile attraction are ignored. [...] In an overview of the literature concerning homosexual conversion therapies, James (1978) concluded that the majority of studies were unsuccessful in changing sexual orientation. It is likely that the same holds for pedophile conversion therapy."

*'''Seto, M. (2009). "Pedophilia," ''Annual Review of Clinical Psychology'', 5, 391-407.'''
*:"There is no evidence to suggest that pedophilia can be changed. [...] Across the following interventions, the underlying assumption is that pedophilia is a stable sexual preference that is unlikely to change, just as there is little, if any, evidence that heterosexual or homosexual orientation can be changed. Recent etiological research on neurodevelopmental correlates of pedophilia—including cognitive functioning, non-right-handedness, and structural volume differences—suggests that pedophilia is influenced by prenatal factors and thus is unlikely to respond to interventions delivered when the individual is an adult (e.g., Cantor et al. 2008)."

*'''Quinsey, V. L. (2008). "Seeking Enlightenment on the Dark Side of Psychology," ''Trauma, Violence, & Abuse'', 9(2), 72-83.'''
*:"Sexual age and gender preferences do not appear to be learned and malleable (e.g., our attempts to increase sexual arousal of normal subjects to slides of women through Pavlovian conditioning by pairing the slides with highly arousing videotapes were vitiated by habituation; Lalumière & Quinsey, 1998). Although sexual age and gender preferences can be measured with phallometric technology (for reviews of the assessment and treatment literature on sexual offenders against children, see Camilleri & Quinsey, in press; Quinsey & Lalumière, 2001) and responses to deviant categories can be reduced with standard conditioning techniques, these alterations now appear not to involve the preferences themselves but only their measurement. Fifty years after Kinsey et al. (1953) wrote the passage quoted at the beginning of this section, it appears that the role of learning in the development of sexual age and gender preferences is limited or nonexistent (for a review, see Quinsey, 2003)."

*'''Berlin, Fred S., Saleh, Fabian M., and Malin, H. Martin (2009). "Mental Illness and Sex Offending," in ''Sex Offenders'', p. 124. Oxford University Press US.'''
*:"In the past, efforts to "recondition" homosexuality were a clear failure. The same would appear to be true of methods intended to "recondition" paraphilic conditions such as pedophilia."

*'''Camilleri, Joseph A., and Quinsey, Vernon L. (2008). "Pedophilia: Assessment and Treatment," in D. Richard Laws and William T. O'Donohue (eds.), ''Sexual Deviance, Second Edition''.'''
*:"The greatest problems with conditioning approaches (and other approaches described later) are (1) that changing actual preferences (as opposed to indices that reflect them) has been quite difficult (Furby, Weinrott, & Blackshaw, 1989; Lalumière & Quinsey, 1998); and (2) no studies have shown long-term changes in sexual preference or behavior after treatment (Laws, 2001; Quinsey & Earls, 1990). [p. 193] [...] Despite the strong relationship between neurobiological variables in sexual behavior and treatment, reducing general arousal does not alter sexual preference. Researchers found that men with phallometrically measured deviant sexual interests had the same preferences after hormonal treatment (Bancroft, Tennent, Loucas, & Cass, 1974; Cooper, Sandhu, Losztyn, & Cernovsky, 1992). [...] It appears as though treatment for paraphilias works by decreasing sexual interest in general, suggesting that medical treatments do not "cure" the sexual preference but mask it by reducing sexual desire. [p. 200]"

*'''12/11/06 deposition of Michael B. First, M.D., in In Re the Detention of William Davenport AKA William Cummings, Franklin County, Washington, No. 99-2-50349-2.'''
*:"I was the editor of the DSM-IV-TR. DSM-IV-TR was published in the year 2000. I was also the editor of the text and criteria of its immediate predecessor, which was the DSM-IV. [p. 9] [...] If you're attracted to children at age 13 you’re going to be attracted to children at age 70. [...] The fact that that's your focus of arousal remains constant. [...] The percentage of time you think about that would decline. [...] The time you spend masturbating thinking about that will go down, and the actual paraphilic behaviors go down, but the core of the paraphilia is present for life. There's no evidence, even when you have successful treatment of an individual paraphilia, which actually treating is the intensity of the paraphilia, not the arousal pattern. I don't believe there’s strong evidence that you could actually get someone who is attracted to children to lose [his or her] attraction. [p. 230]"

*'''American Psychiatric Association (2013). ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (Fifth ed.), p. 698.'''
*:"Adult males with pedophilic disorder may indicate that they become aware of strong or preferential sexual interest in children around the time of puberty — the same time frame in which males who later prefer physically mature partners became aware of their sexual interest in women or men. [...] Pedophilia per se appears to be a lifelong condition."

*'''Seto, Michael (2012). "Is Pedophilia a Sexual Orientation?", ''Archives of Sexual Behaviour'', 41, p. 233.'''
*:"Pedophilia is viewed by many researchers and clinicians as having a lifelong course. For some individuals, at least, it is discovered in early adolescence and sexual interest in children can be detected in adolescence (Seto, Lalumiere, & Blanchard, 2000; Seto, Murphy, Page, & Ennis, 2003); once identified, pedophilia can predict detected sexual behavior involving children up to 40 years later (Hanson, Steffy, & Gauthier, 1993). Changes in sexual arousal to children can be made using behavioral conditioning techniques, but follow-up studies have not shown evidence that this change generalizes outside the laboratory or persists over the longer-term."

*'''Chronos, Agatha & Jahnke, Sara & Blagden, Nicholas. (2024). [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-024-02943-0 The Treatment Needs and Experiences of Pedohebephiles: A Systematic Review.] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior''. 1-18. 10.1007/s10508-024-02943-0.'''
*: "Multiple studies (see Table 4) reported that participants had sought or wanted to seek help with the goal of changing their attraction to children. However, as time went on, many came to realize that their attractions were enduring and redirected their goals towards managing them and finding ways to live productive and meaningful lives"

*'''Gillespie, S. (2022). [https://www.proquest.com/openview/ba920465eed71c360408571550ba3f4b/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y Sexual Fantasies and Self-Regulation in a Community Sample of People with Sexual Fantasies and/or Interest Involving Minors] [Ph.D. Thesis]'''
::"One approach to addressing deviant sexual fantasies in sex offense-specific treatment involves pairing unpleasant sensations or thoughts with the undesired fantasy (Vanhoeck et al., 2011). Opponents of sexual re-orientation and “gay conversion” therapies have denounced these types of aversive approaches to changing sexual arousal patterns, and they have been labeled abusive (Serovich et al., 2008). Other approaches addressing deviant sexual interests involve masturbatory/orgasmic conditioning aimed at inducing or reducing arousal to certain stimuli. There is not strong empirical evidence that these treatments are effective (Vanhoeck et al., 2011). It is concerning that these treatments persist in spite of lack of robust empirical support for the efficacy of these treatments alongside a myriad of ethical, therapeutic alliance, and safety concerns (Vanhoeck et al., 2011). There are also concerns that treatments which use or induce shame, worry, and punishment could have an impact on factors involved in sexual selfregulation, potentially leading to an increase in risk of sexual re-offense. For example, negative affect has been associated with deviant sexual fantasies and sexual offending, so it is questionable if clinicians treating sexual offenders should engage or recommend negative affect as an intervention toward desistance of sexual offending (Blagden et al., 2017). Using punishment and worry for thought-control have been linked to an increase in unwanted thoughts (Wells & Davies, 1994). Nagtegaal and colleagues (2006) found that for their sample of individuals with aggressive fantasies, tendency to try and suppress the thoughts was positively correlated with aggressive behavior. "

===Harm===
*'''[[Frans Gieles|Gieles, Frans]] (2001). "[http://www.helping-people.info/lecture.htm Helping people with pedophilic feelings]." Lecture at the 15th World Congress of Sexology, Paris, June 2001.'''
*:"I have met clients who started this kind of treatment [to 'cure' their pedophilia] as a warm lively person and who have been changed into 'a stiff wooden doll' after it."

*'''Fog, Agner (1992). "[http://www.helping-people.info/articles/fog_eng.htm Paraphilias and Therapy]," ''Nordisk Sexologi'', 10(4), pp. 236-242.'''
*:Fog interviews a pedophile: "My sexual feelings for boys went away partially for about a year, and then at the end of the year I started waking up screaming and hollering with nightmares, and I would see a pitful of snakes and they were just everywhere and I would be screaming to get away from them. [...] 'Were your feelings towards boys reduced by the therapy?' They were reduced in the sense that my penis did not show the difference, but I still enjoyed being a teacher because I could be close to boys. I really don't think that feelings for boys or whoever we have feelings for has all that much to do with how much erection you have, but this is what they were reducing it to. [...] rather than destroy my feelings towards boys they destroyed me as an individual, it destroyed my security."

*'''Camilleri, Joseph A., and Quinsey, Vernon L. (2008). "Pedophilia: Assessment and Treatment," in D. Richard Laws and William T. O'Donohue (eds.), ''Sexual Deviance, Second Edition'', p. 200.'''
*:"Drawbacks unique to medical treatments for pedophilia include side effects and noncompliance. Commonly cited side effects include hypertension, hyperglycemia, feminization, depression, and headaches (Hill et al., 2003; Saleh & Guidry, 2003)."

*'''Johnston, Lucy, Hudson, Stephen M., and Ward, Tony (1997). "The suppression of sexual thoughts by child molesters: A preliminary investigation," ''Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment'', 9(4), 303-319. '''
*:"Ironically, attempted suppression may actually result in a worse situation compared to no attempts being made. The hyperaccessibility of formerly undesired thoughts has been documented in a number of studies. Once suppressed, unwanted thoughts have been shown to return and dominate mental life (Macrae et al., 1994; Wegner, 1989; Wegner & Gold, 1995). Once inhibitory mechanisms are relaxed this rebound effect may be pernicious, promoting the execution of maladaptive behaviors, such as binge eating. (Herman & Polivy, 1993) and, potentially, sexual offenses (Johnston, Ward, & Hudson, 1997). [...] However, prior suppression resulted in slower latencies for both the sex-related and the child-related words for the preferential child molesters than either the situational child molesters or the nonsexual offenders, who did not differ from one another. Thought suppression did, then, have greater subsequent effects on the preferential child molesters, as predicted. For some offender types at least, suppression results in greater accessibility of sex-related thoughts. Such rebound effects lead one to question the utility of thought suppression as a therapy technique."

*'''Chronos, Agatha & Jahnke, Sara & Blagden, Nicholas. (2024). [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-024-02943-0 The Treatment Needs and Experiences of Pedohebephiles: A Systematic Review.] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior''. 1-18. 10.1007/s10508-024-02943-0.'''
*: "Participants from studies classified as clinical, forensic, or mixed, reported on experiences with chemical treatments such as androgen deprivation therapy (Boons et al., 2021) or gonadotropin releasing hormone antagonists (Landgren et al., 2020). In these cases, positive experiences were largely reported to be the calming effects of the chemicals, abstinence from offending, and improved mental health and well-being. The negative experiences included physical side effects, depression, and guilt. Interestingly, within these samples, the inability to become aroused was reported as a positive treatment effect by some and a negative treatment effect by others."

* '''McPhail, I.V. (2020) [https://harvest.usask.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/e555ae2e-7058-4f33-a6ba-cae1a294ab50/content Conceptual and empirical issues in pedohebephilic interest] [dissertation]. ''Saskatoon (SK): University of Saskatchewan'''''
*: "The findings that psychotherapy can help men with higher levels of pedophilic interest change joins a growing body of research suggesting that psychotherapeutic approaches can benefit even those with the most severe symptomatology (Furukawa et al., 2017). In the case of interventions for pedohebephilic interests in men with sexual offense histories, this may be an especially positive development, as the side-effects of long-term anti-androgen use can be debilitating and life threatening (Nota et al., 2019; Turner & Briken, 2018). However, it is important to note that at present, there is little to no information regarding adverse reactions clients have to behavioural treatments for pedophilic interest."
*: "However, across the studies, a large number of men received these specialized interventions for managing arousal to children who may not have experienced a need in this domain [...] Given the potential adverse reactions to aversive interventions, clients are subjected to potentially harmful and distressing treatments that they do not require"
*: Consider this in light of the following: "Approximately half of the analyses supported the conclusion that men who underwent treatment showed levels of arousal to children that were similar to men with no history of sexual offending against children. While this is not unequivocal evidence, [...] it provides some support for the conclusion that offending men do show similar levels of arousal compared to non-offending men."

*'''Turner, D., & Briken, P. (2018). [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniel-Turner-20/publication/322138557_Treatment_of_Paraphilic_Disorders_in_Sexual_Offenders_or_Men_With_a_Risk_of_Sexual_Offending_With_Luteinizing_Hormone-Releasing_Hormone_Agonists_An_Updated_Systematic_Review/links Treatment of paraphilic disorders in sexual offenders or men with a risk of sexual offending with luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonists: An updated systematic review.] ''The Journal of Sexual Medicine'', 15, 77–93. doi:10.1016/j.jsxm.2017.11.013. '''
*:"Steroidal antiandrogens and LHRH-agonists have in common that they suppress serum testosterone concentrations via different mechanisms and are thus summarized under the term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT)."
*:"Side effects occurring most frequently are fatigue, hot flashes, depressive mood, weight gain, high blood pressure, diabetes, gynecomastia, loss of erectile function, and a loss in bone mineral density. [...] Although LHRH-agonists seem to be the most effective drugs in the treatment of paraphilic fantasies and behaviors, they should be reserved for paraphilic patients with the highest risk of sexual offending because of their extensive side effects."
*:"Current studies suggest that LHRH-agonists might be the most effective drugs to decrease paraphilic sexual fantasies, urges, and behaviors. This accounts for adult, adolescent, and sexual offenders with a mental retardation. [...] LHRH-agonists should be reserved for most severe cases of (paraphilic) sexual offenders because they frequently lead to a complete decline of all sexual behaviors, thereby inferring with fundamental human rights. This clarifies that LHRHagonists should not be used with the intention of lifelong treatment and the possibility of ending treatment when adequate should be closely monitored."

==Is pedophilia a choice?==
*'''Berlin, Fred S. (2002). "Peer Commentaries on Green (2002) and Schmidt (2002): Pedophilia: When Is a Difference a Disorder?," ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 31(6), 479-480.'''
*:"It is likely that no one would choose voluntarily to develop a pedophilic sexual orientation. Those with such an orientation have no more decided to have it than have any of us decided as children to be either heterosexual or homosexual. Men with pedophilia get erections when fantasizing about children. Heterosexual men get erections when fantasizing about women. In neither case is that so because the individual in question has somehow decided ahead of time to program his mind to work in such a fashion. Persons with pedophilia have simply not chosen to experience an alternative state of mind."

*'''Fagan, Peter J.; Wise, Thomas N.; Schmidt, Chester W.; and Berlin, Fred S. (2002) "Pedophilia," ''Journal of the American Medical Association'', 288, 2458-2465.'''
*:"During psychosexual development, no one decides whether to be attracted to women, men, girls, or boys. Rather, individuals discover the types of persons they are sexually attracted to, ie, their sexual orientation."

===Early development===

*'''B4U-Act (2011). [https://www.b4uact.org/research/survey-results/youth-suicidality-and-seeking-care/ "Survey Results"].
*:"Question: Looking back now, how old were you when you first had a preferential attraction to boys or girls younger than yourself, whether or not you realized it at the time? Result: Of 192 respondents answering this question, the most common age of first attraction was 12. Eighty-five percent began to experience the attraction while still minors themselves."

*'''Freund, K. & Kuban, M. (1993). "Toward a testable developmental model of pedophilia: The development of erotic age preference," ''Child Abuse & Neglect'', 17, 315-324.'''
*:"[A] greater proportion of pedophiles than of individuals who prefer physically mature partners remembers curiosity in their own childhood to see nude children without remembering such curiosity in regard to adults. This suggests that in a substantial proportion of pedophiles the occurrence of this paraphilia is predetermined at a very early developmental phase." (From [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8472184 abstract].)

*'''Griesemer, Michael M. (2004). ''Ausmass und Auswirkungen massenmedialer Desinformation zum Stand der Wissenschaften über sexuellen Kindesmissbrauch''. [http://www.ipce.info/host/griesemer/griesemer.htm Ipce translation].'''
*:"Rather, we see another astonishing fact: on the same age in pre-puberty, on which the attraction to boys or girls was reported, already the nine years olds of both groups differ. The later pedophiles distinguish themselves from the control group because their objects of attraction are dramatically younger then themselves -- on the average two years younger, while the later non-pedophiles tend to feel attracted to older children -- on average 10.8 years of age.
*:Given the data, as now gathered, one might conclude that pedophilia develops itself already on a pre-pubertal age -- although we don't know how."

== Psychological wellbeing for MAPs ==
:''See also: [[Research:_The_Dangers_of_Stigma#Effects among people attracted to minors|Effects of stigma on MAPs]]''

Attraction does not require treatment, but MAPs often need help in improving their mental well-being. Mental health services and professionals may face the following challenges: high levels of anxiety, depression and other conditions in MAPs, severe [[Research: The Dangers of Stigma|stigma]] (for both clients and those who provide compassionate approach), [[Preventionism|preventionism]], attempts at conversion therapy, difficulties in choosing the right therapeutic targets (discrepancies between lay professional beliefs and client's needs), ethics of communication with the client, and mandatory reporting laws. The following excerpts provide information about complications of mental health services as well as evidence-based implications for well-being-focused treatment.

Treatment suggestions derived from the studies include:

<hr>
<div style="column-count:3;-moz-column-count:3;-webkit-column-count:3">
<small>
* treatment facilities’ shift from prevention to well-being focus
* adjusting prevention effort to the real risk or harm of the offence
* acceptance of the attraction, refusal of conversion attempts
* developing self-compassion, shame reduction
* finding ways of acceptable experiencing one's sexuality, usage of artificial means for sexual satisfaction such as AI products or sex dolls
* undermining overly rigid avoidant coping strategies such as thought suppression and identity concealment
* creating positive self view (self identity, including sexual identity)
* disclosure in supportive contexts
* engaging with a supportive network/ community
* focusing on what is important in life to the individual
</small>
</div>
<hr>

*'''Lievesley, R., Harper, C. A., & Elliot, H. (2020). [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-019-01569-x The internalization of social stigma among minor-attracted persons: Implications for treatment.] Archives of Sexual Behaviour, 49, 1291-1304. doi: 10.1007/s10508-019-01569-x'''
*:'''Harmful mechanism of avoidance strategies''':
*:"We found that increased levels of suppression and lower levels of psychological well-being were associated with lower levels of hope about the future, but higher levels of both shame and guilt about having a sexual interest in minors. Thought suppression [...] did significantly predict higher rates of actively avoiding children. [...] Independently, lower levels of self-reported psychological wellbeing were associated with a desire for more support and higher rates of actively avoiding children."
*:"The internalization of negative social attitudes [...] [is] being posited as a motivation to engage in stress-ameliorating strategies in the form of distancing oneself from the minority identity via concealment (hiding one’s identity from those external to oneself), and suppression (refusing to accept one’s own minority identity)."
*:"Smart and Wegner (2000) describe many cognitive burdens that are associated with the constant suppression of one’s identity. Having to maintain an outward appearance that is different to internal processes can lead to a preoccupation with suppressing (Meyer, 2003), which can lead the individual living an internal “private hell” (Smart & Wegner, 2000, p. 229). This may be especially the case among MAPs [...] [S]uppression could become a totalizing experience in all areas of life with profoundly negative efects on psychological well-being. This is particularly troubling in light of evidence of a potential rebound efect that is associated with suppressing unwanted thoughts. Erskine and Georgiou (2011) described a range of evidence, suggesting that trying not to think about particular things (e.g., memories or actions) may actually increase rumination on those topics and reduce self-regulation processes (see also Abramowitz, Tolin, & Street, 2001). For example, dieters who suppress thoughts of hunger or thirst have been found to eat less in the short term, but binge at a later time (Denzler, Förster, Liberman, & Rozenman, 2010; Erskine, 2008), while the same outcomes are observed among smokers trying to reduce their cigarette consumption (Erskine, Georgiou, & Kvavilashvili, 2010). In the sexual domain, suppressing sexual thoughts has been associated with higher levels of compulsive sexual behaviors in religious groups (Efrati, 2019). [...] That is, [...] thought suppression related to minor attraction could paradoxically increase a propensity to engage with sexual thoughts involving children."
*:'''"Prevention" projects impose negative self-view and are therefore ineffective''':
*:"As reported previously, Grady et al. (2019) found that MAPs who viewed themselves as inherently bad people (they referred to this as shame in relation to sexual attractions) were less likely to seek help from professionals for issues arising from their attractions to minors. [...] Schemes that are designed to prevent or reduce the incidence of child sexual abuse (e.g., Germany’s Dunkelfeld Project) have been evaluated in relation to risk-relevant outcomes and dynamic sexual ofense risk factors (e.g., pro-criminal attitudes, impression management, and delinquent behavior; Beier et al., 2009, 2015), with these not showing particularly the positive results (see Mokros & Banse, 2019). While this lack of “treatment success” may call into question the validity of such schemes, it may be that these schemes emerge as being much more successful if broader psychosocial constructs related to well-being were also assessed. Further, the risk-based framing of such schemes (i.e., “prevention projects”) implicitly assumes that MAPs need to be “prevented” from offending (Lievesley & Harper, 2019), rather than “supported” though their psychosocial experiences of being attracted to minors (Grady et al., 2019; Jahnke, 2018b; Jahnke et al., 2015b). [...] [T]hose wishing to distance themselves from such a label do not reach out to access services that could lead to signifcant well-being improvements (Lievesley & Harper, 2019)."
*:"That is, the emphasis of treatment should be less related to “risk reduction” and more related to promoting MAPs’ social and psychological well-being, with forensic risk reduction becoming a by-product of this broader aim. [...] Instead of taking a deficits-focused view of the problem at hand (i.e., adopting a risk-focused lens), acceptance-based approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999; Hayes & Wilson, 1994) work with the idea that peoples’ difficulties occur when they attempt to avoid and suppress painful feelings (Hayes, 1994), and represent a more positive psychological approach to dealing with distress. As such, we recommend that treatment approaches tackle the negative self-image experienced by many MAPs by encouraging them to view their sexual interests as a core part of their identities (acceptance), but also support them to live crime-free lives (commitment)."

*'''McKillop, N. and Price, S. (2023) [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nadine-Mckillop/publication/370159588_The_Potential_for_Anti-Stigma_Interventions_to_Change_Public_Attitudes_Toward_Minor-Attracted_Persons_A_Replication_and_Extension_of_Jara_and_Jeglic%27s_Study/links/64b081da95bbbe0 "The Potential for Anti-Stigma Interventions to Change Public Attitudes Toward Minor-Attracted Persons: A Replication and Extension of Jara and Jeglic’s Study"]. ''Journal of Child Sexual Abuse'', DOI: 10.1080/10538712.2023.2204864'''
*:"Although many MAPs conceal and suppress their attraction and urges to act out their sexual desires (Jara & Jeglic, 2021; Levensen et al., 2017; Lievesley et al., 2020), Lievesley et al. (2020) caution that suppression – without professional treatment and appropriate supports – may increase the likelihood of future CSA behaviors. Certainly, Elchuk and collegues (2022) found that, while disclosure itself did not reduce psychological distress for MAPs, psychological and emotional wellbeing was improved when disclosure was met with support highlighting the potential value in engaging with support networks and services to improve outcomes".

*'''Lievesley, R & Harper, C.A. (2022) [https://sci-hub.mksa.top/10.1080/13552600.2021.1883754 "Applying desistance principles to improve wellbeing and prevent child sexual abuse among minor-attracted persons"] ''Journal of Sexual Aggression'', 28:1, 1-14, DOI: 10.1080/13552600.2021.1883754'''
*:"In accordance with theoretical insights into the motivations of individuals who sexual offend (e.g. Hall & Hirschman, 1991; Ward & Beech, 2006; Ward & Siegert, 2002), a focus on mental health treatment, shame reduction, and psychosocial wellbeing has the potential to prevent offending from taking place without treatment services being explicitly labeled as prevention. They would also be more in keeping with MAPs’ own self-identified treatment targets (B4U-ACT, 2011; Levenson & Grady, 2019)."

*'''Clayton, J., Hocken, K., and Blagden, N. (2022) [https://threequayspublishing.com/product/a-compassionate-intervention-for-individuals-with-problematic-sexual-interests-group-and-individual-outcomes-in-the-uk/ A compassionate intervention for individuals with problematic sexual interests: Group and individual outcomes in the UK.] ''Abuse: An International Impact Journal'', doi: 10.37576/abuse.2022.035'''
*:"The present paper discusses one of the first free community-based therapeutic interventions (The Aurora Project) in the UK, for individuals who are distressed by their sexual thoughts and behaviour and/or concerned they are a potential risk to others. The clinical approach to working with this population takes a compassion-focused stance. Results indicated a statistically significant increase in self-esteem and social safeness, as well as a reduction in internalised shame."

*'''Bekkers, L. M. J., Leukfeldt, E. R., & Holt, T. J. (2023). [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10790632231154882 Online Communities for Child-Attracted Persons as Informal Mental Health Care: Exploring Self-Reported Wellbeing Outcomes.] ''Sexual Abuse'', 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/10790632231154882'''
*:“Online support communities are gaining attention among child-attracted persons (CAPs). Though research has largely focused on the negative consequences these environments create for potential offending, they may also provide a beneficial alternative to more formal treatment settings. [...] [B]y means of informal social control, bonds of trust and social relational education, the network aims to regulate the behavior and enhance the wellbeing of its marginalized participants. Key outcomes include a decreased sense of loneliness and better coping with stigma, to the point that participants experience less suicidal thoughts.”

*'''Lievesley, R., Harper, C. A., Swaby, H. and Woodward, E. (2022) [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0092623X.2022.2149437 Identifying and working with appropriate treatment targets with people who are sexually attracted to children]. ''Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy''. DOI: 10.1080/0092623X.2022.2149437'''
*: "The importance of addressing mental health issues is best highlighted by looking at the prevalence of suicidal ideation and intention among MAPs, with around 40% admitting to experiencing chronic suicidal ideation (Cohen, Ndukwe, Yaseen, & Galynker, 2018; Cohen et al., 2020). Research has also shown how MAPs experience high rates of anxiety, depression, and self-hatred (e.g., Jahnke et al., 2015; Lievesley et al., 2020; Stevens & Wood, 2019). Thought suppression is common among MAPs, with this taking many forms, including the active avoidance of children and potential reminders of minor attraction (Lievesley et al., 2020) or through problematic levels of substance use (Stevens & Wood, 2019; Walker, 2021). Such behavior often leads MAPs to become socially isolated and lacking in emotional and social supports (Elchuk, McPhail, & Olver, 2022; Jahnke et al., 2015)."
*:"this finding suggests that the most pressing problems that MAPs believe are present in their lives relate to the emotional responses that they experience in relation to their sexual attractions, and not in relation to their (lack of) potential propensities to act on these".
*: "we have also identified one potential treatment-related construct—self-compassion [...] with decreased self-compassion being associated with a greater need to address mental health and stigma-related concerns, increased sexual frustration, and a desire to change one’s sexual attraction patterns."
*:"The observation that lower levels of self-compassion were associated with an increased desire to control or change one’s attractions to children is perhaps indicative of the internalization of stigma (see Jahnke et al., 2015; Lievesley et al., 2020). [...] low levels of self-compassion might lead to unattainable treatment targets, and thus self-compassion and self-acceptance may be an important treatment aim when working with MAPs."

*'''Schaefer, A., Wittenberg, A., Galynker, I. and Cohen, L.J. (2022) [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0092623X.2022.2126808?journalCode=usmt20 Qualitative Analysis of Minor Attracted Persons’ Subjective Experience: Implications for Treatment.] ''Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy.'' DOI: 10.1080/0092623X.2022.2126808'''
*:"This qualitative study examined community-based MAPs’ responses to narrative questions about their experiences and what they want society to understand, using an iterative thematic analysis. Notable responses from the participants included: 1) sexual attraction does not equal action; 2) minor attraction is immutable; 3) stigma leads to psychological burden; 4) therapy should aim to reduce distress, not change sexual feelings; and 5) sexual behavior can be controlled and remain within legal parameters."

*'''Mundy, C. (2022). [https://utpjournals.press/doi/10.3138/cjhs.2022-0006 10 years later: Revisiting Seto’s (2012) conceptualization of orientation to sexual maturity among pedohebephilic persons.] ''The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality.'' DOI:10.3138/cjhs.2022-0006'''
*:"As noted by researchers and clinicians in this area, there are clear clinical implications associated with a shift in the conceptualization of sexual attraction to children. [...] Despite resistance to such conceptualizations, the findings indicate that orientation to sexual maturity closely mirrors the developmental trajectory of gender sexual orientation, as outlined in Seto’s seminal paper."
*:excerpted from [https://www.b4uact.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/B4QR-Winter-2023-3-1.pdf#page=17 B4QR]:
*:"Mundy explains that the conceptualization of attraction to minors as a sexual orientation is not of purely theoretical interest but can have important implications for treatment approaches.[...] Mundy cites studies showing that attraction to minors should be approached through acceptance and strengths-based practices that inculcate resilience and self-efficacy, as attempts to reduce or eliminate attraction to minors have not proven effective or beneficial to minor-attracted people."

*'''Roche, K., Stephens, S., Moss, S., and Seto, M. (2022). [https://utpjournals.press/doi/10.3138/cjhs.2022-0007 Online forum use in child attracted persons.] ''The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality'' 31 (3). DOI:10.3138/cjhs.2022-0007'''
*:"Social support for child-attracted persons (CAPs) may be important for increasing well-being, thereby reducing the risk of committing child sexual abuse. Unfortunately, in-person social support may be difficult to obtain because of stigma. CAPs may instead turn to online forums for people who are sexually attracted to children. [...] Most CAPs said that they initially sought out forums to avoid feeling alone in their attraction; the quality of offline support was rated as moderate. Emotional support and informational support were the most frequently endorsed forms of social support.

*'''Desbuleux, J.C. and Fuss, J. (2023) [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00224499.2023.2199727 "The Self-Reported Sexual Real-World Consequences of Sex Doll Use"] ''The Journal of Sex Research'', DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2023.2199727'''
*:Interestingly, pedo-hebephilic users reported a greater reduction of sexual compulsivity compared to teleiophilic participants following doll use. Additionally, pedo-hebephilic participants more often reported acting out of illegal sexual fantasies with their dolls and a loss of interest in (sexual) intimacy with real children through doll use in the qualitative data. These self-reported data challenge the view that doll use is dangerously affecting human sexuality and instead suggest that dolls may be used as a sexual outlet for potentially dangerous and illegal (sexual) fantasies.

* '''Blagden, N. J., Mann, R., Webster, S., Lee, R., & Williams, F. (2018). [https://sci-hub.mksa.top/10.1177/1079063217697132 “It’s not something I chose you know”: Making sense of pedophiles’ sexual interest in children and the impact on their psychosexual identity.] ''Sexual Abuse'', 30(6), 728–754. Doi: 10.1177/1079063217697132'''
*:"[I]t appears important to provide a treatment environment that allows for open and honest discussion about the nature of pedophilic sexual interest and '''does not focus on attempting to change the sexual interest''' (see Seto, 2012)."
*:"[T]reatment with such populations may benefit from [...] '''focusing on what is important to the individual''', for example, meaningful adult relationships and friendships, stable and satisfying employment, or something constructive to occupy their time."
*:"Finally, given the impact living with a deviant sexual interest had on participants’ identities, treatment may want to consider '''the latitude''' it gives to clients '''in creating/shaping constructive self and sexual identities'''. Indeed, a coherent narrative identity is crucially important for rehabilitation (Ward & Marshall, 2007). [...] [T]here is a connection between the identity conflict that participants experienced and risk factors for acting on their interest through the sexual abuse of children, such as social isolation, impaired intimacy with other adults, and the recognition of being a member of a highly stigmatized group."

* '''Williams, D. J., Thomas, J. N., & Prior, E. E. (2015). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1007/s10612-015-9270-y Moving Full-Speed Ahead in the Wrong Direction? A Critical Examination of US Sex-Offender Policy from a Positive Sexuality Model.] ''Critical Criminology'', 23(3), 277–294. doi:10.1007/s10612-015-9270-y'''
*:"Professionals should recognize that offenders and offending behaviors vary extensively, and therefore efforts to rehabilitate should be adjusted to acknowledge this diversity of expression and criminality. Understanding that sexual needs and interests are a part of an overall healthy lifestyle (WHO 2006) and finding ways to account for them in a sex-positive and socially appropriate manner could be especially beneficial in preventing and reducing sexual crimes."

* '''Lievesley, R., Harper, C.A., Woodward, E. et al. (2023) [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11920-023-01435-7 Fantasy Sexual Material Use by People with Attractions to Children]. ''Curr Psychiatry Rep'' 25, 395–404. doi:10.1007/s11920-023-01435-7'''
*: "Among other primary human goods [...] the strengths-based Good Lives Model of offender rehabilitation notes “sexual satisfaction” to be something that all people strive for in life[41, 42]. “Fantasy thinking” (an unrestricted form of mental experiences, in this case of a sexual nature) is thought to encourage arousal, excitement, and a feeling of possibility, feeding into the achievement of sexual satisfaction [43, 44]."
*: "[P]eople within this group have the same needs for sexual satisfaction as anybody else [41], and as such FSM [fictional sexual materials] may provide a viable outlet for their sexual fantasies as they pursue a sense of fulfillment in this domain."
*: "[C]hild-like sex doll owners were less likely to express a proclivity for sexual abuse than a comparison group of non-owners who were attracted to children and also demonstrated lower levels of sexual preoccupation."
*: "Rather than heightening arousal, FSM could act as a safe sexual outlet that allows for a feeling of release and sense of catharsis [84], which could reduce a motivation to seek out real children as a sexual partner."
*: "[E]ffective treatment engagement involves the alignment of treatment content to service user needs, considering sexual fulfillment and satisfaction as an important treatment need might be an increasingly pressing issue as support services for this population grow in number."

*'''Chronos, Agatha & Jahnke, Sara & Blagden, Nicholas. (2024). [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-024-02943-0 The Treatment Needs and Experiences of Pedohebephiles: A Systematic Review.] ''Archives of Sexual Behavior''. 1-18. 10.1007/s10508-024-02943-0.'''
*: "The results of the current review also stand in contrast to the perspectives of practitioners in regard to treatment. [...] Similarly, Lievesley et al. (2023) found that practitioners valued controlling behavior much more highly than pedohebephiles did."
*:"The finding that, at least in community settings, few participants appear to have an interest in prevention goals, such as learning how to control or reduce their sexual attraction to children, therefore poses practical and ethical challenges for treatment providers. One way to balance the goals of offense prevention and individual wellbeing could be the use of the Good-lives-model, which seeks to encourage individuals to pursue meaningful and prosocial life goals (Willis & Ward, 2013), rather than deficit-oriented approaches like relapse prevention. However, it stands to reason that there should be more services with a stronger or even exclusive commitment to well-being goals, given that there are pedohebephiles with low risks of sexual offending."
*:"Creating a compassionate and non-shaming therapeutic environment is especially important to pedohebephiles in order for them to share openly their experiences, and the impact their sexual attraction has had on them (Hocken &Taylor, 2021). One form of therapy which appears particularly well suited to this client group is Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) (Hocken & Taylor, 2021). [...] Within CFT, the relationships individuals have with themselves, especially in the forms of shame and self-criticism—highly relevant to pedohebephiles—underpin a wide range of mental health problems (Gilbert, 2014). There is emergent evidence that compassion-based interventions can reduce shame and help pedohebephilic individuals towards meaningful clinical change (Clayton et al., 2022)."

*'''McPhail, I.V. (2024) “The Subjective Experience of Individuals with Pedohebephilic Interest”, ''Current Sexual Health Reports'' 16, DOI: 10.1007/s11930-023-00381-y'''
*:"[M]aking a disclosure to family and friends that is not followed by support is associated with higher loneliness, poorer relationship quality, greater psychological distress, and higher suicidality and in some cases is associated with worse outcomes than concealment [85••]. [...] These findings suggest that individuals with pedohebephilic interests are acutely aware of the risks of disclosure and are, to varying degrees, judicious and skilled at finding those in their lives that will be supportive following a disclosure. For a population that experiences such elevated levels of loneliness and suicidality, this skill is likely central to well-being and, in some instances, lifesaving."
*:"Acceptance of pedohebephilia can be a double-edged process: coming to terms with the nature and stability of sexual interests can be a painful process involving grieving, fear, anger, and self-stigma, and yet is helpful for coping with and managing sexual attractions to children in daily life [25, 93, 94, 97]."

*'''Elchuk DL, McPhail IV, Olver ME. [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ian-Mcphail/publication/350158068_Stigma-Related_Stress_Complex_Correlates_of_Disclosure_Mental_Health_and_Loneliness_in_Minor_Attracted_People/links/605b801792851cd8ce65cf5a/Stigma-Related-Stress-Complex-Correlates-of Stigma-related stress, complex correlates of disclosure, mental health, and loneliness in minor-attracted people. Stigma Health.] 2022;7:100–12. doi:10.1037/sah0000317'''
*:"The stigma towards MAPs is found to be greater than stigma towards other groups (e.g., sexual minorities, those with mental illness; Boysen et al., 2020; Lehmann et al., 2020) and research examining a community-based sample of MAPs found high proportions of suicidal ideation with intense stigma being the most significant risk factor (Cohen et al., 2019). As such, we anticipate internalized pedonegativity to be a stigma-related stressor present to varying degrees in MAPs."
*:"As anticipated by our hypothesis and previous research (Jahnke, 2018), MAPs experiencing internalized pedonegativity reported greater levels of loneliness, psychological distress, and suicidality; loneliness only partially mediated the relationship between internalized pedonegativity and mental health concerns. These results indicate that internalized pedonegativity may be a driver of decreased wellbeing for MAPs and highlight the need clinical services to focus on addressing internalized pedonegativity."
*:" Assessing for the presence of internalized pedonegativity may inform the kinds of interventions provided to these clients (e.g., compassion-focused interventions; cognitive reframing)."
Internalized Pedonegativity Scale Items:
<hr>
<div style="column-count:3;-moz-column-count:3;-webkit-column-count:3">
<small>
*Attraction to children is a natural expression of sexuality in humans.
*I wish I were only attracted to adults.
*When I’m sexually attracted to a child, I do not mind if someone else knows how I feel.
*Most problems that MAPs have come from their status as an oppressed minority, not from their sexual or romantic attraction to children per se.
*Life as an MAP is not as fulfilling as life as a non-MAP.
*I am glad to be an MAP.
*Whenever I think a lot about being an MAP, I feel critical about myself.
*I am confident that my pedophilia does not make me inferior.
*Whenever I think a lot about being an MAP, I feel depressed.
*If it were possible, I would accept the opportunity to be attracted to adults.
*I wish I could become more sexually attracted and romantically attracted to adults.
*If there were a pill that could change my minor attraction, I would take it.
*I would not give up being an MAP even if I could.
*Attraction to children is deviant.
*It would not bother me if I had children who were MAPs.
*Being an MAP is a satisfactory and acceptable way of life for me.
*If I were attracted to adults, I would probably be happier.
*Most MAPs end up lonely and isolated.
*For the most part, I do not care who knows I am an MAP.
*I have no regrets about being an MAP.
*I have tried to stop being attracted to children in general.
*I would like to get professional help in order to change my attraction to children to attraction to adults
</small>
</div>
<hr>

*'''Stephens, S., Jahnke, S., & Davidson, M. (2024). [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224499.2024.2403024 Delphi Recommendations for Diagnosis and Treatment of Sexual Interest in Children in Non-Mandated Community Settings.] ''The Journal of Sex Research'', 1–14. doi:10.1080/00224499.2024.2403024'''
*:"This study sought to reach an international expert consensus regarding the diagnosis and treatment of adults with a sexual interest in children in cases where treatment is non-mandated. [...] Consensus was reached for 48 practice guidelines, particularly for recommendations that relate to general clinical practice, such as assessing for other mental health conditions. There was more contention for the inclusion of forensic practices. The present recommendations can serve as a set of tentative guidelines that may guide assessment and treatment of sexual interest in children in non-mandated settings." Although the full article is not yet available for free, you can see the level of consensus on the various recommendations in the article's [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/suppl/10.1080/00224499.2024.2403024?scroll=top supplementary material].

*'''McPhail, I. V., Stephens, S., & Heasman, A. (2018). [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ian-Mcphail/publication/328676586_Legal_and_Ethical_Issues_in_Treating_Clients_with_Pedohebephilic_Interests/links/5bdb76e592851c6b27a056a5/Legal-and-Ethical-Issues-in-Treating-Clients-With-Pedohebephilic-Interests.pdf Legal and ethical issues in treating clients with pedohebephilic interests.] ''Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne'', 59(4), 369.'''
*:"Individuals with a sexual interest in children who have not committed a sexual offence are a client population that are currently underserved by psychologists. In the context of accessing and providing mental health services, mandatory reporting laws represent a key issue for clients and psychologists. For clients, mandatory reporting requirements creates a double-bind: they wish to access psychotherapy for a myriad of psychological concerns, yet they fear the implications of psychologists’ mandated reporting requirements if they disclose their sexual interest. Psychologists treating non-offending clients with sexual interests in children face several overlapping and competing ethical and legal obligations created by mandatory reporting laws. To examine these complexities, the present paper reviews and discusses legislation in Canada, complaints to provincial professional colleges, and case law related to mandatory reporting requirements. We additionally review principles and standards in the Canadian Psychological Association’s Code of Ethics (4th edition) to inform service provision with these clients. Recommendations for practice are provided based on this discussion and practice case vignettes are given to facilitate ethical decision-making."

*'''Levitan, Julia et al. (2024). [https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2024.2385909 Minor-Attracted Men's Lived Experiences of Romantic Attraction], ''Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy'''''.
*:"The results of this study have implications for the clinical treatment of help-seeking MAPs. Broadly, findings suggest that healthcare professionals should consider screening for romantic as well as sexual attraction to minors if relevant to case conceptualization or treatment, and this assessment could inform their treatment plan accordingly. Our results point to specific areas of clinical intervention that may be of interest. Examples include: Providing evidence-based psychoeducation about the romantic component of attraction to minors; collaborative brainstorming of strategies to avoid unsafe or unethical situations with loved minors, including efforts to prevent child sexual offenses; or offering cognitive and behavioral strategies to alleviate distressing emotions and clinical symptoms related to limitations to attraction and relationship development with loved minors (e.g., increasing self-compassion, , exploring methods of navigating the stigma of “forbidden and hidden” romantic attractions, providing guidance and support through mourning the possibility of a legitimate romantic relationship with loved minors). Help-seeking MAPs have heterogeneous treatment needs, so service-users’ goals should be collaboratively determined (Lievesley et al., 2022)."

* '''Murphy, R. (2024) [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14680173241240973 A pilot study: Exploring suicidal ideation among non-offending adults with sexual attraction to minors, through their online forum posts] ''Journal of Social Work'' DOI:10.1177/14680173241240973'''
*:"Surveys indicate that one in three people living with child sexual attraction experience chronic suicidal ideation (Cohen et al., 2018; Stevens & Wood, 2019)."
*:'''list of suicidality triggers:'''
*: "The feelings of shame and guilt that members expressed at this emerging sense of identity were a significant trigger toward suicidality. [...] Members indicated that the guilt was fueled by the harboring of this secret, and feeling that they were creating a false narrative to the people around them. [...] The most frequently highlighted trigger toward suicidality was that of disclosure, or of being “outed.” [...] The degree of internalized critical thinking about self-identifying as a pedophile influenced the intensity of suicidality. [...] For those who had attempted to rid themselves of the attraction, and had subsequently found that it could not be “cured,” this realization could act as a further trigger point. [...] For those who had acted in some way on their thoughts, the regret and shame of this further triggered suicidality. [...] Media and social media could increase expressed suicidality in this regard, as members noted the stigma and hatred directed toward people with pedophilia and internalized this further. [...] Many members referenced using alcohol as a means of escaping the reality of their situation, and it was identified that suicidal thoughts were often acted upon after alcohol intake. [...] Despite relationships and disclosure being a risk factor, this was also identified as a protective factor, with the key difference between the risk and protective elements of disclosure, being the response received. [...] Unhelpful professionals were considered those who presented as judgemental, hostile, who were uneasy about pedophilia and who may make reports to authorities despite no offence being committed. Unsuccessful engagements with professionals were reported to negatively affect members’ sense of self and sense of hope and to increase feelings of suicidality."

*'''Nematy, A., Flynn, S., & McCarthy-Jones, S. (2024) [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10790632241268465 Perspectives, Treatment Goals, and Approaches of Prevention-Specialist Mental Health Professionals in Working With Clients Attracted to Children]. ''Sexual Abuse'', DOI: 10.1177/10790632241268465'''
*:'''considering pedophilia as an unchangeable condition has therapeutic value'''
*:"Considering pedophilia as a sexual orientation implies that treatment might be more effective when it prioritizes developing self-regulation skills rather than attempting to alter sexual preference (Seto, 2012). Accordingly, accepting minor-attraction is a pivotal step in effectively managing its behavioral manifestation. This acceptance serves as a crucial foundation for clients, enabling them to process suppressed feelings, integrate their atypical sexuality into their sense of self, alleviate the internalized shame, and enhance their capacity to manage their desires responsibly (Beier et al., 2009; Cantor, 2018; Lievesley et al., 2018; Walton & Hocken, 2021).[...] Cantor (2018) points out that if clients are informed that their pedophilic desire will cease, they may underestimate it and not attempt to develop skills for managing their sexual desire or avoid certain situations, hoping that it will disappear."
*:"Some authors suggest that deliberate control of thoughts may have a rebound effect (Hooper & Mchugh, 2013; Wegner, 1994). An experiment conducted by Johnston et al. (1997) revealed that in individuals who committed CSA, the accessibility of child-related thoughts increased after an instructed suppression period. Suppression and avoidance are generally considered maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and risk factors for depression, anxiety, and maladaptive behaviors such as substance misuse (Aldao et al., 2010). A study on individuals attracted to children found that thought suppression is associated with higher levels of guilt and shame about sexual attraction, lower levels of hope about the future, and lower levels of subjective psychological well-being (Lievesley et al., 2020). Individuals attracted to children reported that thought suppression had been detrimental and conflicted with their therapeutic progress (Dymond & Duff, 2020). They also reported attempts to change pedophilia as unhelpful (Schaefer et al., 2023) and described their sexual attraction as enduring (Walton & Duff, 2017)."
*:'''sex dolls are useful'''
*:"While still limited, available empirical evidence does not support the idea that sex dolls have escalating effects. Instead, doll ownership is linked to reduced levels of sexual preoccupation and self-reported arousal in hypothetical abuse scenarios (Harper & Lievesley, 2022). Moreover, doll owners show a lower tendency toward sexual aggression (Harper & Lievesley, 2023). In a mixed-method study, minor-attracted doll owners report less sexual preoccupation compared to teleiophilic doll owners. The qualitative accounts of doll owners indicate they channeled their sexual fantasies toward their dolls while reporting a decline in interest in real children through doll use (Desbuleux & Fuss, 2023)."
*:'''prevention approach doesn't work in therapy'''
*:"[S]trategies such as confiscating a client’s device or mandating disclosure to the family (which can lead to severe consequences) appear to be similar to surveillance and supervision rather than therapy, in which the client’s autonomy and self-determination must be at the heart of the practice (Cottone & Tarvydas, 2016)."
*:"While the prevention of child sexual abuse is undoubtedly a legitimate goal, the risk-management approach has been criticized for perpetuating social and self-stigma around minor attraction, which implies that individuals attracted to children are inevitably destined to offend unless preventive measures are taken (Jahnke, 2018; Lievesley & Harper, 2021). Some clients may perceive such efforts as incongruent with their needs and expectations, leading them to avoid seeking support to distance themselves from suspicions of being treated as potential offenders (Cacciatori, 2017; Grady et al., 2019; Lievesley & Harper, 2021)."
*:"[A] recent study found no significant difference among clients in a well-known prevention project (Dunkelfeld) compared to a control group on a waiting list in dynamic sexual offense risk factors such as sexual dysregulation, offense-supportive attitudes, recent behaviors related to CSA and CSAM consumption (Mokros & Banse, 2019). Considering the insufficient effectiveness of such risk paradigm approaches, it has been suggested that greater attention should be paid to other factors, including the psychological effects of living with minor attraction and stigma-related stressors (e.g., loneliness, low self-esteem, self-stigma, and shame) (Jahnke, 2018; Lievesley et al., 2020) and clients' overall well-being (Grady et al., 2019). This consideration also encompasses preventive elements since enhanced psychological well-being is associated with a reduced risk of sexual offending (Ward & Stewart, 2003; Yates, 2016)."

* '''from part of John O'Connor's masters in psychotherapy - Exploration of an Ethical Dilemma'''
*:“This essay attempted to illustrate how strict adherence to mandatory reporting laws may have a paradoxical effect of increased risk for both children and clients. [...] As such there is a rationale for choosing to remain with the client and deciding not to report.”
*:“Choosing not to burden the MAP client [who have never offended] with reporting, and continuing therapy with them is an ethically responsible and necessary practice (Heasman & Foreman, 2019), which contributes to the wider public health goal of first-time abuse prevention (Culling, 2018) and demonstrates the greater ethical utility (Baron, 2006; Jahnke, 2018; Heasman & Foreman, 2019; Beier et al., 2021).”
*::full references:
*::Baron, J. (2006). Against bioethics (pp. 1-236). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
*::Beier, K. M., Gieseler, H., Ulrich, H., Scherner, G., & Schlinzig, E. (2021). The Berlin Prevention Project Dunkelfeld (PPD). Pedophilia, Hebephilia and Sexual Offending against Children: The Berlin Dissexuality Therapy (BEDIT), 43-56. 
*::Culling, H. (2018). Informing the prevention of child sexual abuse: comparing convicted offenders and minor-attracted persons. 
*::Heasman A, Foreman T. (2019) Bioethical Issues and Secondary Prevention for Nonoffending Individuals with Pedophilia. Camb Q Healthc Ethics.
*::Jahnke, S. (2018). The stigma of pedophilia. European Psychologist.

* '''Lievesley, R., Harper, C.A. & Woodward, E. [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11930-025-00403-x Toward a Holistic Approach to Treatment and Support for People with Attractions to Children]. Curr Sex Health Rep 17, 7 (2025).'''
*:"Evidence supports the need for a broader focus on treatment goals, such as improving psychological wellbeing, developing healthy coping strategies, and reducing internalized stigma. [...] Although specific child protection frameworks are important, a purely prevention-focused approach to treatment can reinforce stigma and limits the development of services that prioritize therapeutic engagement and alignment with service user needs."

*'''Lievesley, R , Swaby, H , Stevenson, J & Harper, C. (2024) [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0092623X.2024.2402320#abstract “Not offending is easy. The double life, the secrets, the loneliness are the hardest parts I needed help with”: understanding the treatment needs of people with attractions to children] ''Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy'', DOI:10.1080/0092623X.2024.2402320'''
*: "[S]eeking support for sexual frustration outside of the child sexual abuse context, in addition to broader mental health treatment needs acknowledged in a range of studies, is a desired feature of treatment among this population. [...] This is consistent with positive psychological models of well-being and forensic risk reduction, which cite the achievement of sexual satisfaction (and thus elimination of sexual frustration) as a universal primary human good that feeds into a healthy self-identity (Ward & Marshall, 2004)."
:: "[P]articipants were clear that services with an explicit and specific aim of reducing sexual risk (e.g., Stop It Now!, or programs linked to the Troubled Desire initiative) were unlikely to appeal to them."

*'''Lievesley, R., Harper, C.A. & Woodward, E. (2025) [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11930-025-00403-x Toward a Holistic Approach to Treatment and Support for People with Attractions to Children]. Curr Sex Health Rep 17, 7. doi:10.1007/s11930-025-00403-x'''
::"Recent work has identified four specific treatment targets among people with attractions to children. These are: (1) mental health concerns, (2) dealing with stigma, (3) controlling or changing sexual attractions to children, and (4) the alleviation of sexual frustration."
::"[...]state factors facilitating sexual offending include low mood and maladaptive coping strategies, such as substance misuse. As such, the addressing of mental health related concerns can play a key role in the prevention of child sexual abuse, even in the absence of a specific prevention framing to support services."
::"Both internalized and societal stigma can severely impact an individual’s self-esteem, social relationships, and willingness to seek help. [...] The lack of accessible, non-judgmental support further compounds internal conflict and can lead to worsening mental health outcomes, including depression and suicidal ideation. Alongside this, people can begin to internalize social attitudes and begin to see offending as an inevitability as a result of their attractions. Within the criminological literature this is referred to as a Golem effect, whereby people behave in a manner consistent with social expectations."
::"Unaddressed sexual frustration can contribute to significant psychological strain, maladaptive coping strategies, or risky behaviors, making it a critical area for therapeutic intervention. From a prevention perspective, we know that blockages to sexual expression and paraphilic sexual interests are implicated in all major models of sexual offending, with this being compounded among people with sexual attractions with no legal outlet."
::"Efforts to directly alter attractions have not demonstrated consistent success, and researchers caution against such approaches due to ethical and practical concerns related to procedures that evoke images consistent with sexual orientation conversion therapy."

*'''Konrad A, Heid LM, Scheuermann H, Beier KM, Amelung T. (2025) [https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1463191/full Acceptance of sexual attraction and its link to psychological distress and sexual offending among pedohebephilic clients: results from a preliminary analysis.] Front Psychol. 2025 Jan 27;15:1463191. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1463191.'''
::"Psychological distress was significantly and negatively associated with acceptance (p < 0.001), i.e., as psychological distress increased, acceptance of one’s sexual inclination decreased. In our main and sensitivity analyses, recent general offending behavior was not significantly associated with acceptance (p = 0.625)"

*'''Lea H. Studer, A. Scott Aylwin (2006) [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Allan-Aylwin/publication/7017556_Pedophilia_The_problem_with_diagnosis_and_limitations_of_CBT_in_treatment/links/59fb86ba458515d070616604/Pedophilia-The-problem-with-diagnosis-and-limitations-of-CBT-in-treatment.pdf Pedophilia: The problem with diagnosis and limitations of CBT in treatment.]'''
::"First, there is little reason to include pedophilia among the mental disorders of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). [...] Secondly,the typical CBT-based relapse prevention treatment for pedophilia, which represents current best practice, is reviewed. It is suggested that this, as a stand alone therapy, is suboptimal. CBT components are necessary but not sufficient for comprehensive therapy. It is imperative that process issues are given primacy in treatment programs. The common factors literature makes it clear that the therapeutic relationship is at least as potent a factor promoting change as the system or techniques that clinicians employ."

*'''Lievesley, R., Harper, C. A., Awan, A., and Bishop, A. (2025) "[https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2025.2522664 Beyond Pro- and Anti-Contact: Understanding the Ideologies of People Attracted to Children]" ''Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy'', 51(6)'''
::"A sense of self-acceptance in the sample was associated with lower levels of internalized stigma and an increased belief that children both desire and initiate sexual activity with other people. In the sexual domain, higher levels of masturbation were observed alongside a greater belief in the controllability of participants’ sexual desires among those with higher levels of self-acceptance."
::"[T]hose scoring low on self-acceptance reported needing relatively high levels of support across all treatment domains, which may be indicative of this particular ideological factor being of importance in treatment planning"
::"Among the group labeled “Radicals” [high self-acceptance and high permissibility of sex with minors], there were relatively low levels of self-reported needs for treatment, which might indicate that this group does not often appear in clinical settings. In analyzing their data, though, there was a firm rejection of treatment that was designed to control or change their attractions, with sexual frustration needs being less important than receiving support with mental health and social stigma. This was also the case for those labeled “Comfortable-Virtuous” [high self-acceptance and low permissibility], and as such it makes sense to perhaps move away from seeing the clusters as entirely separate groups with specific or unique treatment needs"
::"[T]hose who scored highly on the permissibility dimension were less likely to report needing support with sexual frustration. This may be due to these participants feeling less shame about expressing their sexuality, and a greater level of willingness among them to engage with sexual fantasy and fictional sexual materials (FSM; Lievesley, Harper, Woodward et al., 2023; Woodward et al. 2024)."
::"When permissibility perceptions were high, self-reported proclivities for offending were increased for both CSEM and contact offenses." But "adopting an explicitly abuse prevention approach is known to be detrimental to the likelihood of service uptake among people who are attracted to children (Levenson & Grady, 2019; Lievesley et al., 2025; Lievesley & Harper, 2022). [...] In contexts where the client has explicitly excluded risk management as a treatment target, placing emphasis on the client’s beliefs regarding the permissibility of sexual contact with children could hinder the development of a trusting and authentic therapeutic relationship."

*'''Gillespie, S. (2022). [https://www.proquest.com/openview/ba920465eed71c360408571550ba3f4b/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y Sexual Fantasies and Self-Regulation in a Community Sample of People with Sexual Fantasies and/or Interest Involving Minors] [Ph.D. Thesis]'''
::"Results indicate that acceptance-based mindfulness approaches were positively associated with wellbeing and self-efficacy. Elaboration approaches (e.g. intentional fantasizing, pairing fantasies with masturbation), which were the most used and valued strategies for respondents, were positively associated with self-efficacy."

::"These results align with previous research that found that intentional fantasizing and pairing fantasies with masturbation was not correlated with sexual offending (Bailey et al., 2016; Houtepen et al., 2016)[...] The results of this study indicate that sexual fantasizing involving minors is associated with self-efficacy, which aligns with other research supporting the potential for positive or protective effects of sexual fantasizing by providing sexual outlet that does not involve victimizing children (Houtepen et al., 2016; Jones et al., 2021; Walker, 2017). Further, the lack of association between elaboration and potentially negative outcomes for sexual self-regulation in the present study calls into question the heavy treatment focus on changing/controlling sexual fantasies by any (including ethically questionable and potentially harmful) means necessary."

::"Bartels and Gannon (2011) found a positive association between deviant sexual fantasy and negative affect, providing support for offenders’ use of sexual fantasies as coping. [...] The authors also state that, “the motivation of the offender (avoidant vs. approach) dictates how sexual fantasy may affect behavior” (p. 559). Vanhoeck and colleagues (2011) recommend distinguishing deviant sexual fantasies (which require management strategies) from other sexual fantasies, the difference between them depending not on the content of the fantasy but its link to sexual offending behavior."

*'''Phillipps, M.E.R. and Willis, G.M. (2025) "[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13218719.2025.2546305 ‘I have no desire to hurt a child’: prosocial navigation of sexual attraction to children]" Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, DOI: 10.1080/13218719.2025.2546305.'''
::"Consistent with the SAPROF-SO definition, distraction and avoidance were considered helpful for some participants, with variations in the level of avoidance suggestive of divergent conceptions of situational risk amongst participants. In contrast to the SAPROF-SO’s definition of sexual self-regulation, masturbating to child-focused fantasies and use of legally ambiguous material were identified as effective sexual self-regulation strategies that helped some participants avoid offending. Such findings suggest that effective sexual self-regulation might look different for individuals who, despite an attraction to children, demonstrate prosocial values and do not commit sexual crimes involving children. Finally, social connections were also identified as protective across studies."
::"Collectively, accumulating research findings therefore stress the importance of therapeutic approaches that reaffirm deeply held moral beliefs, promote self-acceptance and reinforce existing protective factors. Clinicians cannot assume that clients will be at risk of abusing children or need explicit offending preventative strategies, meaning therapy with clients who have not committed sexual crimes involving children may contrast markedly from therapy with clients who have committed such crimes. [...] It is nonetheless important to recognise that some clients will need support managing their attractions and benefit from specialised perpetration prevention services (for a review see Stephens et al., 2022)."
::"Additionally, consistent with findings from previous research (e.g. Harper & Lievesley, 2022; Jones et al., 2021; Walker, 2021), the present research raises important policy questions concerning empirical justifications for laws banning materials such as animated or computer generated images of children and child-like sex dolls. Such materials appeared to support safe sexual self-regulation for some participants."

*'''Pedersen, M. R. (2017) [https://www.b4uact.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/The-Politics-of-being-a-Pedophile.pdf The politics of being a pedophile: An anthropological exploration of political engagements and narratives among minor attracted people], Master’s thesis, University of Aarhus'''
::''[Editor's note: This is a qualitative research on MAPs who managed to leave their sexuality meaningfully despite the stigma. Though it is not clinical research in a strict sense, there is a valuable discussion of MAP activism aspects and its' connection to mental health aspects like meaningful life, self-acceptance, positive identity]''
::"When I use the term to engage politically, I want to emphasize that this does not mean that I am studying the manipulative efforts to change laws and customs in a society. Instead, it means fighting against a stigma or trying to debate the truth about what it means to be attracted to minors. To engage politically might also be described as an effort to try and live a meaningful life despite having a stigmatized sexuality"
::"[...]it is exactly because my informants must live with these stereotypes that their presentations of a stereotypical pedophile become important, as I will continue to argue that such representation eventually become political ways to live against the stereotype."
::"[...]three different analysis’ focusing on: 1, how my informants describe the relationship between their sexuality and their identity as ways to resist stigma. 2, how my informants describe their sexuality through arguments in biology, nature, and evolution. 3, How they use ‘research’ as an important tool to understand their sexuality meaningfully and engage politically."
::"[...]the form of agency which is culturally and politically valued, is the agency to claim that your body and desires are ‘natural’ and non-choses instead of cultural and chosen."
::"When your attractions are considered one of the largest taboos in modern Western societies, representations of the relationship between your sexuality and identity becomes crucial to engage politically. Trying to understand how my informants did so, I found that this was done in two ways: either through an inclusion of self and sexuality, or through the opposite: a separation from self and sexuality. Sometimes my informants did both."
::"Erving Goffman defines as one out of two primary ways of managing a spoiled identity: either using your stigma as an explanation of the failures in your life, or as a ‘blessing in disguise’ (Goffman 1963:11)."
::"Locating the origins of one’s attractions within a context of evolution and biology was argued as a strategy by Nelkin and Lindee to gain a political advantage.[…] it challenges much of the negative stigma surrounding pedophilia. That pedophiles are ‘ticking time bombs’ or evil and manipulative people who want to harm children is challenged through such arguments, as if it is not only natural to be attracted to minors, but even evolutionarily beneficial, their feeling cannot be primordially evil, but come from a root of survival and altruism instead." [''see our sections [[Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality|Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality]], [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals| Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals]]'']
::"Knowing a lot about your attractions and contributing to research, I argue, is a way to live with the most stigmatized sexuality in the Western world. [...] Showing how my informants are active subjects in negotiating and challenging research might, however, be a great way to critique the reach of the discursive power"
::"[...] political engagements were indeed strategies for them to experience a stigmatized sexuality meaningfully [...] political engagements is an internal experience of acceptance."
::"To find self-acceptance is not always a battle to comply to the culturally accepted values necessarily, but might also be explained as a battle to experience yourself meaningfully despite being told that you are wrong"

*'''Garant, E., and Proulx, J. (2026) "The Role of Coping Strategies, Impulsivity and Hypersexuality on the Fear of Offending Among Minor Attracted Persons (MAPs)" Sexual Abuse, DOI: 10.1177/10790632261415814'''
::"MAPs who are the most consumed by sexuality not only are the most worried about engaging in sexual behaviors with children, but are also the most likely to resort to ineffective coping strategies, such as using sexuality to manage this fear. [...] [S]tudies recommending active coping strategies focused on solutions (Britt et al., 2016; Marcks & Woods, 2007), as well as research identifying potential solutions for MAPs (such as finding a trustworthy specialist or joining pro-social groups with similar issues) (Levenson et al., 2017; Roche et al., 2022), suggest possible ways to break out of this cycle. Furthermore, by recognizing and accepting their sexual attraction instead of repressing it, while concurrently developing a pro-social identity (Levenson & Grady, 2019; Walker, 2021), MAPs might be able to achieve more positive outcomes.
::"[N]either impulsivity, the intensity of sexual fantasies nor the fear of offending predicted the perpetration of a sexual offense against a child by the participants of our study."

== See also ==
* [[Preventionism]]
==Excerpt Graphic Library==

The EGL on Pedophilia and Hebephilia characteristics contains some useful information re efficacy and effects of treatments.

{{Template:EGLPHC}}

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Research on Minor Attraction]]

Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships

2026-08-03T12:39:33Z

Thorn: /* Melanesia */

__NOTOC__{{research}}Most societies which have not been influenced by the West have less, different, or virtually no sexual taboos. It is worth mentioning that absent modern western influence, anthropologists and historians have found far more societies where [[homosexuality]] is prohibited, than societies in which [[pedosexuality]] suffers similar censure. Many encourage intergenerational sex for various reasons. Due to ongoing Westernisation and cultural imperialism, much of what is listed here may already be consigned to [[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History|history]] (see, for example, [https://web.archive.org/web/20220225124148/https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.chc.2004.02.001 Nieto (2004), for an anthropological review]).

==GUS, a world atlas: Growing Up Sexually==

The range and detail of accounts involved in this page will only serve as a brief demonstration of non-western diversity in intergenerational relationships. Many examples from anthropology involve [[Sexual rites of passage]]. If readers are seeking a broader, more detailed and integrated study, they may find [[Diederik Janssen]]'s [http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/GUS_MAIN_INDEX.HTM ''Growing Up Sexually''] ([http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/GROWINGUPSEXUALLY1.ZIP entire Vol 1] in zipped PDF) more appropriate, or ''[https://greek-love.com/ Greek Love: Pederasty throughout the ages]'', re. homosexuality.

==Americas==

===Pirahã (Brazil)===

*'''Daniel Everett (2008). [https://books.feedvu.com/fullbook/dont-sleep-there-are-snakes-life-and-language-in-the-amazonian-jungle-pdf-2.html?page=16&part=1 ''Dont Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle'']. Chapter 16 of 34.'''
*:"Relations between men and women and boys and girls, whether married or not, are always cordial and often marked by light to heavy flirting. Sexually it is the same. So long as children are not forced or hurt, there is no prohibition against their participating in sex with adults. I remember once talking to Xisaoxoi, a Pirahã man in his late thirties, when a nine- or ten-year-old girl was standing beside him. As we talked, she rubbed her hands sensually over his chest and back and rubbed his crotch area through his thin, worn nylon shorts. Both were enjoying themselves. “What’s she doing?” I asked superfluously. “Oh, she’s just playing. We play together. When she’s big she will be my wife” was his nonchalant reply—and, indeed, after the girl went through puberty, they were married."

* '''Daniel Everett (2016). ''Dark matter of the mind : the culturally articulated unconscious.'' Chapter 3'''
::"Pirahã young people begin to engage sexually, though apparently not in full intercourse, from early on. Touching and being touched seem to be common for Pirahã boys and girls from about seven years of age on. They are all sexually active by puberty, with older men and women frequently initiating younger girls and boys, respectively. There is no evidence that the children then or as adults find this pedophilia the least bit traumatic."

===Pilagá (Argentina)===

*'''Jules Henry and Zunia Henry (1944). [https://library.lol/main/2C825BAA5B73830492464813AF34FEC4 ''Doll Play of Pilagá Indian Children. An Experimental and Field Analysis of the Behavior of the Pilagá Indian Children'']. (American Orthopsychiatric Association), p. 72.'''
*:'''Note:''' The study explores the use of dolls among Pilagá children, including in a sexual context.
*:"Where children can see the adult sexual act, where sexual conversations and gestures are perfectly open, and child life is untrammeled by sexual taboos, it is reasonable to expect that the children should experiment with their sexual apparatus and attempt to imitate adult sexual behavior. This is the case among the Pilagá. Considering the extent of child knowledge about sex and the age at which this knowledge becomes articulate - 3 years - intercourse in the Pilagá household must not only be visible to the children, but carried on with little if any attempt to conceal the act from them. Absolutely no prohibition is placed on child sexual activity by the adults, so that the children are at liberty to do what they please. Under such circumstances the only limits to the child's sexual activity are his physiological capacities and the tolerance of his companions. [...] [S]ex is a strong and constant interest of Pilagá children."

=== Yucatan ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In field work, Williams (1992) found pederastic behavior still common in late twentieth century Yucatan."

=== Zapotecs (Mexico) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Boys entering puberty commonly had sexual relations with men. Source: Williams (1992)"

=== Various Indian tribes (southern Mexico) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Married men would adopt an adolescent boy, who was proud to have been chosen and saw it an honor to be the man’s lover; the boy would help the wife, her children, and the household, and would take a boy of his own when later an adult and married. Source: Ross (1991)"

==Australia==
===Tiwi===
*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
*:"The best ethnographic description of this type of [gerontocratic] marriage is by Jane Goodale (1971) in her account of the Tiwi who live on Melville Island, North Australia. Betrothals of first marriages of most females are made even before those females are concieved. In fact, such a marriage contract is made when the as-yet-to-be-concieved girl's mother commences menstruation. [...] Once the marriage contract is made, the husband-to-be, who is an adult, works with his future mother and father-in-law as a member of that family, with the expectation that when a daughter is born to them, she will be given to him as a wife. There is no fixed chronological age at which the young girl is given to her designated husband, but it occurs after she is able to take on some household and other economic responsibilities, but well before her first menstruation. For the Tiwi she is still a child, albeit and older child. When her father decides that she is mature enough, the young girl is merely taken to her husband and instructed to reside and sleep with him. This is not an abrupt change [...] for the husband has been a part of the same family camp for some time, and the young wife is still surrounded by those with whom she has always lived. Goodale describes the process:
*::''Soon after the ''alinga'' [young girl] moves to her husband's fire he begins her sexual instruction. From all accounts this appears to be a very gradual process. He begins by deflowering her with his finger, and perhaps only after a year does he have actual intercourse with her. Sexual intercourse is considered by the Tiwi to be the direct and only cause of breast formation, growth of pubic and auxillary hair, menarche, and subsequent menstrual periods. (1971, p. 45)."'' [Jane Carter Goodale (1971) Tiwi wives: a study of the women of Melville Island, North Australia]
*:"versions of this marriage were once found among many Australian Aborigine groups (Berndt & Berndt, 1951; Gale, 1970; Kaberry, 1939; Rose, 1960). From our ethnocentric [i.e. Western] perspective, one of the most notable aspects [...] is the absence of trauma". (p. 77).

*'''Jane C. Goodale (1962) "Marriage Contracts among the Tiwi." ''Ethnology'', Vol. 1, No. 4'''
::"A Tiwi male will rarely acquire a wife through any form of contract before the age of 30. A bestowed wife, one who is promised before birth and becomes a cohabiting wife before puberty, is a valuable prestige symbol, but difficult to acquire. Thus a young man will frequently start his household with the acquisition of a less valuable but more easily obtainable type of wife, i.e., a widow, often of advanced age."
::"[I]t is acknowledged by Tiwi women as an inflexible "rule" governing their first marriage before puberty to a man whom they describe as "the one who grew me up, treated me like a father, and made me a woman." "
::"[O]n the average, the promised daughter will be born ten years from the date of the contract, i.e., when both the mother and the son-in-law are about twenty years old. The young girl will not become a cohabiting wife for approximately another eight or ten years, at which time her promised husband will be at least 28 to 30 years of age. Thus an average difference of twenty years between the ages of a girl and her first husband is to be expected"

*'''Goodale, J. C. (1971). Tiwi wives: A study of the women of Melville Island, North Australia.'''
::“A man will not receive a contract for a wife of any type until he reaches the age of ten to twenty. At this age he may receive a wife who has been previously married”

=== Aranda ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Among many of the aborigines of Australia this type of coitus is a recognized custom between unmarried men and uninitiated boys. Strehlow writes of the Aranda as follows: ''"... Pederasty is a recognized custom.... Commonly a man, who is fully initiated but not yet married, takes a boy ten or twelve years old, who lives with him as a wife for several years, until the older man marries.[...]"''(Strehlow, 1915, p. 98.)"

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Typically, an unmarried [Aranda] man (late teens) would take a boy from 10 to 12 years old to be his wife and live with him for several years until he (the older partner) got married to a woman. Aside from sex, the man served as the boy’s mentor (e.g., in hunting). Sources: Strehlow (1913–15)"

=== Nambutji ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Every boy became a boy-wife to a man, who circumcised the boy and whose daughter became the boy’s wife when he reached adulthood. In the intervening time, the man and boy were homosexually involved. Source: Roheim (1945)"

==Melanesia==
Melanesian societies have normalized the consumption of semen by prepubescent/pubescent boys. This is thought to be in aid of their maturation and future status as warriors. Semen is received via oral or anal sex with an older adolescent boy or man. Relationships are said to be not only formal but often free-flowing and affectionate (for example among the Sambia of New-Guinea). There are many separate groups with distinct languages in Melanesia (about 1000). There is no evidence of institutional intergenerational sexual practice for most of them, partly due to anthropologists have often avoided studying sexuality because of their own moral constraints. Yet evidence of such practices (that vary greatly in form) has been obtained for at least 29 different Melanesian societies (with additional 19 related groups) described in the comprehensive volume ''Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia''<ref name = Herdt1984 >Herdt, G. H. (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press. (available via [[Help:Research_Resources#Information_Freedom_Companions|option 2]])</ref> (see table 1.1, chapter 1)

::I. Eastern insular Melanesia: Fiji; New Caledonia; New Hebrides: Malekula Island.

::II. Northeastern insular Melanesia: New Britain; Duke-of-Yorks; East Bay.

::III. Western Papua: Lower Fly River: Kiwai Island, including Bugilai; Trans-Fly Delta: Keraki; Suki; Boadzi. (Related social units: Karigare, Yarne, Kaunje, Wekamara.)

::IV. Southeastern Irian Jaya: Kanum; Yéi-anim; Marind-anim; Kimam, Frederik Hendrik Island; Jaquai. (Related social units: Maklew-anim, Yab-anim, Kurkari-anim.)

::V. Northeastern Irian Jaya: Asmat; Casuarina Coast; Humboldt Bay.

::VI. Great Papuan Plateau: Bedamini; Etoro; Kaluli; Onabasalu; Gebusi, Nomad River.

::VII. Anga (Kukukuku): Sambia; Baruya; Jeghuje; Other Highlands Anga groups; Lowlands Anga groups. (Related social units: Usarumpiu, Wantukiu, Aziana, Lohiki, Kapau, Ivori, Mbwei, Yagwoia, Ampale, Langamar, Menya, Katje.)

::VIII. Northern Province: Ai’i.

History/evolution:
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The accumulating evidence indicates that we are not only confronted in these Melanesian cultures with similar cultural and ecological systems; I propose that we are also faced with an ancient ritual complex that diffused through a vast area of lowland and fringe-area Melanesia, perhaps 10,000 years ago or less. [...] Left unchecked by Western pacification or colonialization, what would the long-term evolution of these marginal populations have been? Perhaps homosexual practices might have contributed to their extinction, but we cannot be certain of this possibility: if one accepts the assumption of ancient migrations and ritual practices, these groups had flourished for generations." (pp. 48, 58-59)

::"(RH [Ritualized Homosexuality]) groups tend to use initiation as the social mechanism for recruitment to their ritual cults and to the village-based warriorhood corps as well. Survival and social reproduction of communities depend upon the warriorhood, and initiation means introduction to homosexual activity. It also brings with it adult, masculine socialization, through successive ceremonies and related achievements. Thus homosexuality is linked to what are essentially military and age-graded organizations." (p.60) (this is in line with [[Research: Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis|Evolutionary Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis]]

Often, when speaking about institutionalized intergenerational sexuality, anthropologists and publicists emphasize that there only adolescents involved in this, but they miss the fact that pedophilia is also institutionalized in many cultures (not only Melanesian):
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"An important and ignored aspect of initiation in (RH) [ritualized homosexuality] groups is that it frequently occurs before puberty, often as early as middle to late childhood (e.g., Marind-anim, Sambia, Keraki, etc.). Elsewhere I have argued that this young age is psychologically necessary for the radical resocialization [from the female wing of the society] into, and eventual sex-role dramatization expected of, adult men (Herdt 1981, 1982cf . Mead 1949; Young 1965)." (p.60)

* '''Money, J. (1990). Pedophilia: A Specific Instance of New Phylism Theory as Applied to Paraphilic Lovemaps. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions]. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_18'''
*:"The cultural tradition of pedophilia may belong not just to a small enclave of a population but also to an entire community, as in the case of various tribal peoples scattered across the Pacific in Melanesia and New Guinea (Herdt, 1984). The Sambia of the New Guinea Highlands (Herdt, 1981) are such a tribe. Their ancient customs as fierce head-hunting warriors survived European contact until after World War II. According to their folklore concerning their children, a boy could not become a warrior if he stayed living with women and children after age 8. So, he was taken into the men's longhouse to remain in the company of males only, there to be subjected to the rituals of indoctrination and initiation. As a baby, he had been nourished by woman's milk. As a juvenile, he would have to be nourished with men's milk so that his body would mature in the way that maturation occurs during puberty. It was an obligation of youths still too young to be married not to waste their semen but to have it sucked out of their penises by the prepubertal boys who, once able to ejaculate themselves, would nourish those still younger. At age 19, the age of marriage, their two-way experience of androphilic pedophilia would cease, and their lives would become heterosexual with an adult partner."
*:"The universal male/male pedophilia of the Sambia demonstrates the sexological plasticity of the human organism and the making of pedophilia into the social norm."

There are societies with girls and women participating in intergenerational sexual practices (but ritualized homosexuality is absent):
*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/NEW_GUINEAWEB.HTM Papua New Guinea]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"Berndt (1962:p91): “As babies and small children their genitalia are fondled”. Mothers caress “the fleshy parts of [the infant's] body [...] and implanting breathy kisses over and over again in the region of its genital organs” (Hogbin, 1943:p298). Genital touching by older people was also noted by among the Marind-anim (Van Baal, 1966; cf. Money and Ehrhardt, 1973 [1996:p132]). Gillison (1993:p176) describes the process of masturbating infants among the Gimi:
*::The mother insists upon continued contact, interrupting her toddler's play repeatedly to offer the breast. Masturbation [...] with a baby girl [occurs when] the mother or amau holds her hand over the vulva and shakes it vigorously. She may kiss the vagina [sic], working her way up the middle of the body to the lips and then inserting her nipple (often when the child has given no sign of discontent). With a boy, she kisses the penis, pulls at it with her fingers and takes it into her mouth to induce an erection. Several women may pass a baby boy back and forth, each one holding him over her head as she takes a turn sucking or holding the penis in her mouth. When the child then pulls at his own organ, the women, greatly amused, offer squeezes and pulls of their own."

The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea<ref>[http://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=2E76D290FDCC06180F125CAF7336B2C0 Weiner, Annette B. (1988). ''The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea.'' United States of America: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. ISBN 9780030119194]</ref> have received attention in the Western Media for sexual customs in infancy and adolescence that confuse morally conflicted Westerners:<ref>[https://medium.com/the-story-in-history/the-culture-where-children-as-young-as-six-years-are-sexualized-d7afef2d2985 The Culture Where Children as Young as Six Years are Sexualized]</ref>
:<blockquote>Popularly referred to as “The Islands of Love”, the Trobriand Islands are a 174-square-miles group of islands on the east coast of New Guinea. The people are indigenous matrilineal people with a population of 12,000. ''[...]'' In the Trobriand culture, children aren’t allowed the chance to be just children. They are groomed to lose their innocence and start acting like adults at a very young age. By the age of six, they start participating in erotic games with each other. They start engaging in seductive activities. Their little girls are expected to start looking and acting sexy to attract little boys as well as older men. Then, by the time they turn 10, they are expected to start having sexual intercourse with as many sexual partners as they will. Since they are a matrilineal culture, the Trobriand woman has the right to have as many sexual partners as she pleases. And their primitive way of dressing doesn’t make it any harder to engage in sexual intercourse at will.</blockquote>

But mostly intergenerational male homosexuality:
*'''Jan N. Bremmer (2021) [https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Man-Ancient-Greece-Rome/dp/3161590082 Becoming a Man in Ancient Greece and Rome. Essays on Myths and Rituals of Initiation.]'''(available via [[Help:Research_Resources#Information_Freedom_Companions|Option 2]])
::"This description [''see Williams' above''] is confirmed by more recent anthropological studies [See especially the many studies of [[Gilbert Herdt|G. Herdt]]] [...] the following points should be noted as important features: (1) we have here a case of pederasty, which should not be confused with modern homosexuality, as both initiators and novices normally marry afterwards; (2) the active pederasts are the novices of the previous initiation, and it may be of importance to note that it is these novices who usually play a prominent role in upholding discipline during the initiation; finally, (3) copulation, in which the novice is always the passive partner, takes place anally."

It's noteworthy, that in many cases this institute wasn't based on free will of a minor (and elder partner either), sometimes the social obligation was coercive and even intimidating.<ref name = Herdt1984 /> But this was not always the case:
*'''Knauft, Bruce M. (1987). "Homosexuality in Melanesia," ''Journal of Psychoanalytic Anthropology'', 10, 155-91.'''
*:Melanesian boys "coquettishly initiated" homosexuality with grown men. Relationships were "grounded in personal affection rather than obligation".
See more examples of voluntariness and desirability gathered by ''Rind (2013)'' in [[Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality#Complementary behavior among minors|Complementary behavior among minors]] section.

Evidence for specific Melanesian cultures:
=== Big Nambas (Malekula Island) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Society had rampant warfare, chiefs had near monopoly on women; father chose man to circumcise his son; this man then became boy’s “husband,” and the boy his “wife;” intercourse believed to strengthen boy’s penis; relationship was very close; boy followed the man everywhere, participating with him in daily chores; man was intensely jealous if other men took interest in the boy; if man or boy died, the other would mourn deeply; some men were so deeply homosexual in affections that they would seldom have intercourse with their wives, preferring the boy; every chief had several boy lovers. Sources: Herdt (1993); Layard (1942)"

*'''Herdt, G. H. (1997). Same sex, different cultures: Exploring gay and lesbian lives. Westview Press.'''
::"The tentative and sketchy reports of institutionalized same-gender relations between females that we do have make it difficult to give depth and meaning to the practice, such as among the famous Big Nambas society of the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu; see Deacon 1934). In that case higher-ranking women could take younger girls as sexual partners in a kind of ritualized practice that bears comparison to the male practice, but obviously without the emphasis on semen transmission."

=== East Bay Islanders ===
*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
::"[I]n a society called East Bay, where I did some ethnography of sexual behavior (Davenport 1965), formerly, there had been a pattern of male homosexuality in which some older men often took, always with consent from their fathers, nonrelated boys as relatively permanent, passive sexual partners for anal intercourse. From a cultural perspective, the boys were understood to be substitutes for females, not homosexual partners as our culture would define them. In fact, the culture of East Bay did not recognize — that is, had no cultural category for — intimate male homosexual relationships as something separate from those involving women. A boy, rather than a man, was selected, because a boy was a minor, without an independent legal status separate from his father’s, hence he could be told what to do. Women in East Bay society also were minors in this legal sense. But the crux of the matter was that the passive homosexual role was not considered to be in any way damaging to a boy’s psychosexual development. Moreover, such a close association with an elder man, who was expected to be gentle, generous, and indulgent, could have a positive effect on the boy’s development. If, however, the elder man did not fulfill these role expectations, he would find himself accused of mistreatment, that is, abusing the boy, and, therefore, in serious trouble with the boy’s father and other senior male relatives who were responsible for his well-being."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Nearly every male engaged in extensive homosex; men had sexual relations with boys (7 to 11); it was obligatory to give boy presents in return; the boys discussed these contacts freely and without shame in presence of parents, friends. Upon marriage, only a few men became exclusive heterosexuals; most continued to have sex with boys as well; only one man in the study preferred exclusively boys. Source: Davenport (1965)"

=== Keraki, Trans-Fly Delta ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Keraki bachelors of New Guinea universally practice sodomy, and in the course of his puberty rites each boy is initiated into anal intercourse by the older males. After his first year of playing the passive role he spends the rest of his bachelorhood sodomizing the newly initiated."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Keraki] All boys were sodomized for about a year, seen as essential for their development; adult informants repeatedly answered, when asked whether they submitted as boys, “Why yes! Otherwise how should I have grown?” Bachelors saw some boys as more attractive, gave them more attention; they sodomized boys until marriage, then engaged mostly in heterosex, but continued to have relations with boys on occasion. Source: Williams (1936)"

*'''Williams, F.E. (1969) Papuans of the Trans-Fly. ''Oxford'''''
::"It is actually regarded as essential to the growing boy to be sodomized.[...] In the meantime it is enough to note that every male adult in the Morehead district has in his time constantly played both parts in this perversion. The boy is initiated to it at the bull-roarer ceremony [...] When he becomes adolescent his part is reversed and he may then sodomize his juniors, the new initiates to the bull-roarer."
::"Gambadi informants describe the initial occasion more vividly. The father bids his son stoop to drink at a pool and as he does so catches him at a disadvantage. [...] It is to be noted that nowadays boys are not sodomized by their own fathers. The restriction of moiety exogamy is observed in sodomy as it is in marriage [...]"

=== Marind-anim ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"[R]itualized anal homosexual practices are institutionalized on a widespread scale throughout the entire Marind area. [...]. Homosexual anal intercourse is begun in male initiation for boys between the ages of seven and fourteen years (Van Baal 1966:143-144). Afterward, boys live in the men's clubhouse for some six years, avoiding females and regularly engaging in anal intercourse." (pp. 25-25)
::"This transition happens when the first signs of approaching puberty become apparent. He is then made an aroi-patur, literally a black boy. His body is blackened all over, and a mother's brother is appointed to act as his mentor, his binahor-iather. The meaning of the word binahor is uncertain, but it probably refers to the mentor's main function, that of being the boy's pederast who, by "feeding" the boy anally, contributes to his physical growth." (p. 132)

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Upon reaching puberty, a boy moved in with a mentor and his wife; he assisted the mentor in gardening, hunting, and other chores; their relation was sexual and lasted about seven years until boy’s later marriage; bond between them was extremely strong; the sexual contacts seemed to contribute to the strength of this bond; insemination was regarded as helpful to boy’s growth. Source: Van Baal (1966)"

=== Kimam / Kolepom papuans: ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The age at which [Kimam] boys enter the bachelor's house varies considerably in all villages, since it is dependent upon the simultaneous celebration of the final feast for a dead person. On this occasion a number of boys of varying ages, from about ten to fourteen years, are admitted. (Sometimes the boys are even younger.) [...] At his entry into the cult house, the boy is placed under the charge and guidance of a mentor who is designated as his "adoptive father." This man is supposed to have regular homosexual intercourse with the boy to make him strong with the semen that is inserted into his body through anal intercourse. In the western villages, there is no doubt that the adoptive father is mother's younger brother [...] They help each other in planting and harvesting, and they share food. A sister's son displays a conspicuous lack of respect toward his MB, even when there is a substantial difference in age. They play all sorts of pranks on each other, at which neither of them does or should get angry." (p. 300, 304)

::girls:
::"The first reports of missionaries and government officials mention the custom of "testing" sexually the marriageable [Kimam] girls. According to informants, the intention was to see whether the girls could stand the test. If they felt ill after intercourse, it was proof that they were not yet suited for marriage. It is possible that this trial took place during the promiscuous sexual intercourse of the ndambu festival.[...] When, for instance, an epidemic strikes the village and causes many deaths, as often happens, promiscuous heterosexual intercourse involving as many people as possible is organized in the village to collect large amounts of semen (probably by coitus interruptus). According to the information collected in the village of Bamol, very young girls are preferably selected for this sexual intercourse. [...] The first missionaries were in a better position to estimate the approximate age of the girls. They regularly made mention of schoolgirls who, for days on end, did not attend the mission school because they were sick after intercourse with a number of mature men. In his diary, Father Thieman (n.d.) mentions a number of girls (with names and exact age) who took part in sexual intercourse when they were no older than eight." (pp. 301, 304, 308)

=== Bedamini===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::“Bedamini, like the Marind-anim (Van Baal 1966:817), consider semen the essence of life. [...] Immature boys do not possess semen, and they can mature only through the intervention of their seniors. Behind this conception is also the assumption that weakness in males will ensue from too much association with women, in particular through sexual intercourse. Boys have been breast-fed and have spent their first years in a predominantly female sphere of influence. The solution to this dilemma is to supply the boys with semen from the age of eight to ten years. The insemination is managed orally, by having the boys manipulate and suck the penes of young unmarried men, an activity referred to as sibi. The young man who will be a boy's inseminator is selected by the boy's father, and he must belong to the opposite moiety, that is, to a group with whom the boy's clan intermarries.” (pp. 322-323)

=== Etoro ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The Etoro achieve this [semen transmission] through oral intercourse, the Kaluli through anal intercourse, and the Onabasulu through masturbation and smearing of the semen over the bodies of the initates [...] The Kaluli are traditional enemies of the Etoro, and the Etoro particularly revile them for their initiatory practices which are regarded as totally disgusting. (The feeling is probably mutual.) [...] Among the Etoro, "a youth is continually inseminated from about age ten until he reaches his early mid-twenties" (Kelly 1976:45). [...] Kaluli initiation and homosexual activities, in contrast, seem more truncated: [...] When a boy is eleven or twelve years old, he is engaged for several months in homosexual intercourse with a healthy older man chosen by his father. [...] (Schieffelin 1976:124)" (pp. 34- 35)

*'''Anitei, Stefan (2007). "[http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-to-Drink-Sperm-to-Become-a-Strong-Man-67804.shtml How to Drink Sperm to Become a Strong Man]," Softpedia, October 6.'''
*:"This power is transmitted between the members of the [Etoro] tribe by means of sex. That's why young boys, even at the age of 12, get it from the sperm of the older males. The boy gets "power" orally by a young man assigned to be his partner. Few years later, the teenager is formally involved in relationships with many male sex partners, after which he turns into an "inseminator" from an "inseminee.""

=== Kaluli ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Kaluli] From 8 to 28, males resided in sex-segregated hunting lodge; daily, boys accompanied older males on grueling hunting trips, learning essentials of the practice; at 10 or 11, a boy’s father chose for him an older male to inseminate him for months or years; some boys chose their own inseminator; insemination thought essential for growth. Men looked back on youth in hunting lodge with nostalgic excitement, zest; remembered continual hunting, growth-stimulating insemination, ritual discipline, unity of purpose, vigorous manly ethos as highlight of their lives; whole practice was one of prestige for them. Tradition ended in 1960s by colonial administration and missionaries, who policed against it. Source: Schieffelin (1982)"

===Gebusi===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Gebusi] Boys in early adolescence “coquettishly” initiated sexual relations with older, unrelated males. As with the Sambia, the belief was that insemination grew the boys into men. The sexual relations were based on personal affection rather than obligation. Sources: Herdt (1991, 1997)"

=== Sambia ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"Male development and masculinization after childhood are the responsibility of the men's secret cult and its initiation system. This cult is organized and perpetuated by the confederacy of hamlets. Boys are initiated at seven to ten years of age, when they are separated from their mothers, natal households, and younger siblings. [...] Sambia practice secret homosexual fellatio, which is taught and instituted in first-stage initiation. Boys learn to ingest semen from older youths through oral sexual contacts. First- and second-stage initiates may only serve as fellators; they are forbidden to reverse erotic roles with older partners. Third-stage pubescent bachelors and older youths thus act as fellateds, inseminating prepubescent boys. All males pass through both erotic stages, being first fellators, then fellateds: there are no exceptions since all Sambia males are initiated and pressured to engage in homosexual fellatio." (pp. 172-173)

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Sambia] Boys between 7 and 10 taken into men’s society; until age 14 fellated older bachelors up to age 25; semen viewed necessary for growth to be strong warrior; after age 25, most men stopped being semen “donors” to get married (some men continued who preferred boys); relations were not just duty for the boys, who were often complicit in arousing bachelors through bawdy enthusiasm; as boys matured, they tended to express more desire for insemination, became more aggressive in soliciting it. Sources: Herdt (1991, 1997)"

*'''Review of [[Gilbert Herdt]]'s famous fieldwork on the Sambia (by [[Walter L. Williams]] as quoted in our page on Herdt):'''
*:"Between the ages of about seven and thirteen, boys are taken from the maternal household and placed in a separate boys' house away from the village. For a period of several months to several years, depending on the culture, boys avoid all contact with females as they are prepared for manhood in elaborate initiations. It is the social duty of men to plant sperm in boys in order for them to grow. In some societies this is done by the boy performing oral sex upon the man, in others by him receiving anal intercourse, or in others by having the sperm rubbed on his body. The sexual act must always be with the boy receiving the older male's semen. To reverse roles is considered damaging to the boy's growth."

*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
*:"The best description of these patterns, by Herdt (1982, 1987) is with a people the author calls the Sambia. In brief, the pattern is as follows:
*::''Seven-to-ten-year-old Sambia boys are taken from their mothers when first initiated into the male cult, and thereafter experience the most powerful and seductive homosexual fellatio activities. For some ten to fifteen years, they engage in these practices on a daily basis, first as fellator, and then as fellated. Elders teach that semen is absolutely vital: it should be consumed daily since the creation of biological maleness and the maintenance of masculinity depend upon it. Hence, from middle childhood untul puberty, boys should perform fellatio on older youths.''

:::''Near puberty the same initiates become dominant youths. Ritual helps remake their social and erotic identity, the bachelors becoming the fellated partners for a new crop of ritual novices. ... [editor's quote extension from Herdt, G. H. (1987). "Guardians of the flutes: Idioms of masculinity" : "abundant evidence indicates that most youths also experience them as pleasurable and erotically exciting"] Yet, in spite of this formidable background, the final outcome is exclusive heterosexuality—of a particular form. Youths eventually become sexually attracted to women. At marriage (c. sixteen to twenty-five years of age), they may even act as true bisexuals, for a time. With fatherhood, however, homosexuality should cease; thereafter men should engage only in heterosexual activities. (Herdt 1987, pp. 2-3)''"

*'''Hyena, Hank (1999). "[http://web.archive.org/web/20131002090633/http://gettingit.com/article/56 Semen Warriors Of New Guinea]," Gettingit.com, September 16.'''
*:"Although many boys tremble initially ("I felt afraid... the penises were enormous," recalls Kalutuo, a Sambian from the Eastern Highlands) they all adjust quickly, because they believe semen is an elixir for manhood."

*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/NEW_GUINEAWEB.HTM Papua New Guinea]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"...the “Sambia” value male-virgin contacts (1984:p177), while “sexual partners are perceived as having more “heat” and being more exciting the younger they are. A second factor is reciprocity: the more asymmetrical the sexual partners (youth/boy), the more erotic play seems to culturally define their contact” [sic]. Against the background of an utterly phallocentric ideology on the androtrophic properties of semen, “Sambia” prepubertal boys (7-12, on average 8.5) fellate post-pubertal adolescents to ejaculation in order to grow and turn seminarchic themselves, so that they may reverse roles. The boys do not have orgasms, and might have “vicarious erotic pleasure as indicated by erections” only “near puberty” ([[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt]] and Stoller, 1990:p70-1)."

=== Yagwoia ===
*'''Herdt, G. (2003). Secrecy and cultural reality: Utopian ideologies of the New Guinea men’s house. ''Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press''.'''
::"Yagwoia men communicate two attitudes. First, the Sambia are the only group of warriors they feared sufficiently in precolonial times to undertake special alliances for raiding their territory. Second, Sambia are renowned throughout the area for continuing the “true” practice of initiations. Later I was to realize that the “truth” to which they alluded was boy-insemination, the secret masculinity the Yagwoia had long ago been required to forfeit to the native New Guinea evangelists who came to save their souls and establish a Christian order in their villages"

==Polynesia==

===Marquesas Islands===
For a range of sources on the Marquesas Islands, [[#Excerpt_Graphic_Library | see gallery below]], primarily ''Marquesan sexual behavior'' by Robert C. Suggs.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/marquesansexualb0000sugg/mode/2up Marquesan sexual behavior by Suggs, Robert C.]</ref>

*'''Martinson, Floyd M. (1973). ''[http://www.ipce.info/booksreborn/martinson/infant/InfantAndChildSexuality.html Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective]''. The Book Mark.'''
*:"Sex play was common practice from the earliest ages among the Marquesa and not only tolerated but encouraged. (Kardiner, 1939, p. 205-206). They recognized the erotic impulse in childhood and accorded it the right of free exercise. They eroticized the child by masturbating it to keep it quiet. In the case of the girls, labia were manipulated as a placebo, but also to encourage the growth of large labia, which to the Marquesans was a mark of beauty. Such activity was, no doubt, also erotically stimulating. There was social recognition of all sexual activity in childhood, and there were no restrictions against encouragement to exercise it freely; it was allocated the same place in the child's world that it occupied in the adult's."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Adolescent boys frequently had sex with each other. Married men rarely had homosex, but would when conditions prevented heterosexual intercourse; they preferred boys for this purpose, whose bodies they said were soft, like females; contacts with boys were casual, fleeting, and without stigma. Source: Suggs (1966)"

===Hawaii===
*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/HAWAII.HTM Hawaii]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"Karsch-Haack, (1901) stated that according to Richard Neuhauss, Hawai’ian “girls of 12 to 14 years are generally virgins no more and acts of impurity of father with daughter are no rarity[6] [...] For infant females in Hawai’i, “milk was squirted into her vagina, and the labia were pressed together (Diamond, 1990). The mons [veneris] was rubbed with kukui (candlenut) oil and pressed with the palm of the hand to flatten it and make it less prominent. The molding continued until the labia did not separate. This chore usually was done by the mother or by an “aunt” [...]”. The buttocks of infants, males more than females, were molded so that they became “rounded and not flat”, also clearly evolving from an aesthetic motive. A “blower” is designated for each male infant, ostensibly to prepare him for subincision of the foreskin: “the penis was blown into daily starting from birth. The blowing was said to loosen and balloon the foreskin [and] continued daily [...] until the young male was 6 or 7”, when penile subincision takes place. Diamond reports: “Individuals of both sexes were expected to initiate and participate in coitus at puberty, although sexual activity, play, instruction, and so forth occurred much earlier. For instance, as part of exploratory play, the young investigated each other’s genitals, and young males and females might masturbate each other heterosexually or homosexually. This activity occurred without adult disapproval, and it was considered to be an introduction to adulthood. Casual intercourse before adolescence was not an uncommon experience for males (Handy and Pukui, 1958) and females (Pukui, Haertig and Lee, 1972)"

*'''Milton Diamond. (2004 [1990]). [https://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/biblio/articles/2000to2004/2004-sexual-behavior-in-pre-contact-hawaii.html Sexual Behavior in Pre Contact Hawai'i: A Sexological Ethnography]. Published in: ''Revista Española del Pacifico''. 16: 37-58.'''
*:"Sex training was direct and firsthand. Young individuals learned of coitus and sex play from instruction, direct observation, and practice. As they slept in the family house (hale noa), they observed their parents having coitus. "Public privacy" among the Mangaian Islanders, as it was described by Marshall (1971, p. 108), probably is similar to the "privacy" that was found in Hawai'i and elsewhere in Polynesia: "[A Mangaian may copulate], at any age, in the single room of a hut that contains from five to fifteen family members of all ages — as have his ancestors before him. His daughter may receive and make love with each of her varied nightly suitors in the same room."
*:The young observed dogs, pigs, and other animals mating, and these activities were discussed openly with parents or other adults. Parturition was not a secret event and was well attended by the young and by adults, all of whom observed traditions that included the washing and burying of the placenta and, usually, the disposing of the umbilical cord (Pukui, Haertig and Lee, 1972, p. 16; Handy and Pukui, 1958, p. 78). The young Hawai‘ian also acquired sex education in day-by-day exposure to precepts, practices, and attitudes concerning sex. Traditionally, ... childish curiosity about sex was satisfied, with neither guilt nor shame instilled” (Pukui, Haertig, and Lee, 1972, p. 249). [...] Ellis (1782, Vol. 2, p. 153) wrote of sexual expression in Oceania: "The ladies are very lavish of their favors ... and some of their attachments seemed purely the effects of affection. They are initiated into this way of life at a very early period; we saw some, who could not be more than ten years old."
*:The time considered “right” to start coitus was not so much based on chronological age as on ability or maturity (Pukui, Haertig, and Lee, 1972, p. 78). [...] Suggs (1966) elaborated on the early sexual experiences of pubertal males with married females in their 30s and 40s in the Marquesas Islands, who “take special pains to be pleasing and patient with them ... a source of enjoyment for many Marquesan women” (p. 61). For young females of the Marquesas Islands, the first coital experience reportedly is earlier than it is for young males before menarche —and occurs unplanned with an adult male (Suggs, 1966, p. 63). [...] These adult/nonadult sexual interactions were socially approved behaviors. [...] For adults not to have given such practical education would have been unthinkable - a dereliction of duty.
*:Most important for Hawai‘ian society, the young learned of sexual humor. Among the Hawai‘ians, sex was and remains a rich source of humor and enjoyment. In everyday conversation and in song and story, it was considered to be an “art form” to speak using sexual double entendres (kaona). [...] Suggs (1966, p. 39) considered the early manifestations of infantile and childhood sexual behavior, including sexual behavior with adults, to be among the most distinguishing features of Marquesan sexual behavior. Many of the activities he described, however, are similar to activities that were present in Hawai'i and elsewhere in Oceania. Oliver (1974, pp. 458-459), for example, reported on adult/nonadult sexual behavior in Tahiti and quoted the missionary Orsmond from 1832: “In all Tahitians as well as officers who come in ships there is a cry for little girls,” and older females, when in a position to choose, preferred younger males. Marshall (1971, p. 126) described the routine early sexual encounters of young males and females in Mangaia as being with older, experienced males and females."

==Indonesia==

===Bali===
*'''Martinson, Floyd M. (1973). ''[http://www.ipce.info/booksreborn/martinson/infant/InfantAndChildSexuality.html Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective]''. The Book Mark.'''
*:"Among the Balinese, play and teasing with the genitals is common. A mother will pat her baby girl on the vulva and exclaim, "Pretty! Pretty!" (Bateson and Mead, 1942, p. 26, 32, 131). A boy's penis will be stroked and rubbed. After he has urinated, he will be dried by a flick of his penis. As he grows older, his penis will be pulled and stretched and ruffled, and he will often attempt to keep his balance when learning to walk by holding on to it. Babies are comforted and quieted by manipulating their genital organs. In fact, in Bali, a baby, especially a baby's genital, is a toy with which to play. There is much delight taken in stimulating and playing with the baby to watch him respond."

==South and Southeast Asia ==

=== Philippines ===
*'''[https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy-Claude_Burger Burger, G.C.] (Date unknown). ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20230830163437/https://youjo.love/media/8db97b489e84f14e500046445c113066d720c1e691df6cc7934220a7b565483f.pdf The Sexual Mistake of the West].'''''
*:"Enamored of travel, he went to a different country every year, and, that year, he visited the Philippines. Not wanting to stay in the capital, he had taken the bus in order to get closer to the population. He thus found himself next to a mother who had reserved only one seat for herself and her eight-year-old daughter. The child at first amused herself by running in the central aisle and approaching the other passengers, but after three hours on the way, she began to have enough. As she was becoming more and more cranky, the mother put her on her lap and asked our gentlemen from Bordeaux if it would bother him if she put her daughter’s legs on his knees, so that the little one could sleep better. He accepted, of course, when he noticed that the mother began masturbating the child, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. You can imagine him blushing, asking himself what he should do, looking all around him to see how the other passengers would react, feeling that he would be accused of complicity in incest. But all the neighbors watched with big calm smiles, as if it were obvious, and worthy of the greatest discretion. As soon as the little girl reached orgasm, she fell asleep like an angel..."

===Khumbo (Nepal)===
*'''Diemberger, H. (1993). Blood, sperm, soul and the mountain. In T. del Valle (Ed.), [https://library.lol/main/E2340CAF82B58307F2AA3CBD3D1F97C9 ''Gendered Anthropology''] (pp. 88). Routledge.'''
*:"Caili, an energetic and sensual woman, is playing with her youngest son, Migmar. I enter the house. Caili offers me a cup of barley beer and then continues to play with Migmar who does not really want to be disturbed. He drinks some milk from the breast and plays with his erect little penis. He offers it to his mother who sucks it tenderly and then continues to chat with me. Migmar is five years old."

=== Tibet ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Monasteries had a strong reputation for master-novice sexual relations, which participants viewed without shame as they made no attempt to conceal them to Westerners upon early contacts. Prince Peter (1963)"

=== Batak (Northern Sumatra) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In late childhood, boys moved into all-male houses with about a dozen other boys and young men. From puberty until marriage, homosexual behavior was prescribed and constant. Pederasty and age-equal sex were both common. Sequestering the sexes ensured girls remained virgins until marriage (premarital sex for girls was highly taboo). With outside cultural contact, the tradition began to change. Money & Ehrhardt (1972)"

=== Java ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In Ponorogo area, all-male folk dance was a major cultural institution (before 1990s); spectating men admired beauty of dancing youths; boy dancers aged 8–14, called gemblaks, often had culturally approved sex with men; interviewees who had been gemblaks all viewed the sex positively; all got married; some had long-term sexual relationships with the dance troupe directors (the Waroks). Waroks were spiritual guides, valorized by the community. Each Ponorogo village had a formalized male group for unmarried males; the group did socially constructive work for the community; heterosexual sex before marriage was disapproved, so members had sex with gemblaks; this practice was seen as benefiting the gemblaks, who got gifts, the group members, who got a sexual outlet, the community, which got good works. Under Western influence, educated Ponorogo people began seeing all this as an embarrassment (relic from an “uncivilized” past); have since worked to end the practice. Weis (1974); Williams (2011)"

==Africa==

=== Maassai (Kenya, Tanzania) ===
*'''Carles Feixa (2011). Past and present of adolescence in society: The ‘teen brain’ debate in perspective. ''Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews'', Volume 35, Issue 8'''
::"Sexual intercourse with [postpubertal] girls is admitted as long as they do not become pregnant."

=== Azande (South Sudan, Northern Congo)===
*'''Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1970). [https://sci-hub.st/10.2307/672861 Sexual Inversion among the Azande. American Anthropologist], 72(6), 1428–1434.'''
*: "It was the custom for members of bachelor companies, some of whom would always be living in barracks at court, to take boy-wives. [...] Most young men consequently married late -- well into their twenties and thirties -- and, because girls were engaged (in a legal sense married) very young, often at birth, the only way youths could obtain satisfaction from a woman was in adultery. [...] The boys performed many of the smaller services a woman performs daily for her husband [...] Also, the boywife carried his husband's shield when on a journey. It should be understood that he performed these services lest it might be thought that the relationship was entirely of a sexual nature; it will be appreciated that it had an educational side to it. With regard to the sexual side, at night the boy slept with his lover, who had intercourse with him between his thighs (Azande expressed disgust at the suggestion of anal penetration). The boys got what pleasure they could by friction of their organs on the husband's belly or groin. However, even though there was this side to the relationship, it was clear from Zande accounts that there was also the comfort of a nightly sharing of the bed with a companion."
*: "The word "boy" (kumba gude) must, it would appear, be interpreted liberally, for as far as I could judge from what I was told the lads might have been anywhere between about twelve and twenty years of age"
*: "I have pointedly used the terms "wife,""husband," and "marriage," for, as the texts will make clear, the relationship was, for so long as it lasted, a legal union on the model of a normal marriage. The warrior paid bridewealth (some five spears or more) to the parents of his boy and performed services for them as he would have done had he married their daughter; if he proved to be a good son-in-law they might later replace the son by a daughter. Also, if another man had relations with his boy he could, I was told, sue him at court for adultery."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Under polygynous system, women were scarce; warriors married boys aged 12 or older; commanders might have more than one boy-wife; man and boy addressed each other with terms such as my love and my lover; boy performed wifely duties and apprenticed for man; on reaching adulthood, the boy typically joined a military company, taking a boy-wife of his own; tradition faded when practice of military service discontinued under British colonialism. Evans-Pritchard (1971); Murray & Roscoe (1998); Seligman & Seligman (1932)"

===Kadar (Nigeria)===
*'''Harris, M. [http://library.lol/main/98025ADB86EEFAF62B59DF2C3CA21CC7 ''Cultural Anthropology''] (New York: Harper and Row, 1983), p. 94.'''
*:"Among the Kadar of northern Nigeria, as reported by M. G. Smith (1968),<ref>M. G. Smith (1968). 'Secondary Marriage among Kadera and Kagoro.' In ''Marriage, Family, and Residence'', Bohannan, Paul and Middleton, J., eds. pp. 109-130. Garden City, N.Y.: Published for the American Museum of Natural History by the Natural History Press.</ref> most marriages result from infant betrothals. These matches are arranged by the fathers of the bride and groom when the girl is 3 to 6 years old. Ten years or more may elapse before the bride goes to live with her betrothed. During this time, a Kadar girl is not unlikely to become pregnant. This will disturb no one, even if the biological father is a man other than her husband:
*::''Kadar set no value on premarital chastity'' (1968, p. 113)."

=== Mossi (Burkina Faso) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"All chiefs (ca. late nineteenth century) had large groups of pages, boys aged 8 to 15 chosen for attractiveness (some were thought to be quite beautiful); on Friday nights, because heterosexual intercourse was forbidden, a (W. chief would engage in sex with a boy instead (he could also on other nights). Upon reaching maturity, a boy Africa) was given a wife by the chief. Murray & Roscoe (1998); Tauxier (1912)"

=== Tsonga (Southern Mozambique) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Common practice in twentieth century among native men, used as miners by colonialists, was taking boys as wives (with wedding feast, brideprice payment); boy performed domestic, sexual duties; was given presents, money in exchange; fidelity was expected; relationships were marked by intense feelings and jealousy; marriage could be terminated in divorce; some men took boy-wives home after mining, where they were accepted by men’s other wives and tribal leaders. Asked if boys desired being wives, an elderly Tsonga man answered, “Yes: for the sake of security, for the acquisition of property and for the fun itself.” A beard indicated the boy was no longer a sex object but a competitor for boys. Murray & Roscoe (1998); Wallace (2006)"

=== Bantu-Speaking Tribes (Central Africa) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Male peer homosexual behavior was universal from puberty until age 18 or 20, and adult-youth sexual interactions were common as well. The older men disposed to form such relationships were described as bian nku’ma (having a heart for boys). In various Central Bantu groups, boy initiates resided at a sex-segregated lodge during their initiation phase and were required to manipulate the phalluses of the lodge-keeper and other adult male visitors, a practice that was seen as instrumental in helping the boys’ phalluses grow large and strong. Wallace (2006)"

=== Siwans (Libya) ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Among the Siwans of Africa, for example, all men and boys engage in anal intercourse. They adopt the feminine role only in strictly sexual situations and males are singled out as peculiar if they do not indulge in these homosexual activities. Prominent Siwan men lend their sons to each other, and they talk about their masculine love affairs as openly as they discuss their love of women."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"(Ages of boys involved 12–18) Pederasty was a well-entrenched custom from antiquity to at least 1950s; matchmakers made marriage-like ; arrangements between men and boys; the boy got a gift larger than brideprice for females; man and boy then entered into alliance with family approval; prominent men lent each other their sons for sex; love affairs and jealousies over boys were common; Robin Maugham said: “They will kill for a boy. Never for a woman.” Adam (1985); Herdt (1997)"

=== Lesotho ===
*'''Herdt, G. H. (1997). Same sex, different cultures: Exploring gay and lesbian lives. ''Westview Press.'''''
::"In another contemporary southern African culture, Lesotho, age difference was important in relationships between young women who were attached and became homoerotically bonded. These are the “mummy-baby” relationships studied by anthropologist Judith Gay (1986). [...] Young women engaged in mummy/baby relations when they first entered adolescence. These distinctive bonds involved increasing degrees of intimacy, including open expressions of kissing, and might go on to the deepest sexual and lifelong bonds, though not so far that later marriage with a man was prevented. The roles of the older women were very different from those of the younger one, especially in terms of social obligations. The older woman took on the responsible role in the relationship, and she provided her younger partner with gifts and advice. The latter was important because it prepared the young girl for future relationships with men, most significantly her future husband. A woman might continue this relationship for some time after she was married. But then she would cease seeing her younger partner, who then in turn would find a younger woman of her own."

==India==

===Muria===

*'''Elwin, V. (1947). ''[http://library.lol/main/F416733E30BB1A46214CC9AC38656FDE The Muria and their Ghotul]''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.''' [Childhood of the Muria people of Bastar, in central India, as summarized here in scholarship by [[Tom O'Carroll]] (2018)].<ref>Thomas O'Carroll (2018). [https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-018-9519-1 Childhood ‘Innocence’ is Not Ideal: Virtue Ethics and Child–Adult Sex.] ''Sexuality and Culture'', 22:1230–1262 (pp. 1254-1255).</ref>
*:"Anthropologist Verrier Elwin described the elaborate sexual apprenticeship children have, which takes place principally in a special house for the young, known as the ''ghotul''. Infants and toddlers sleep in their parents' house. There are no locked doors and these little children inevitably see something of their parents' intimacies. By the time the children are six or seven a new domestic arrangement is brought into play. The child goes of to the ghotul, a self-regulated domain with its own boy leader and girl leader. The little children are free to come and go as they please between the ghotul and the parental home. Within the ghotul the children are free to engage in sex rehearsal play. Adolescents are able to have intercourse as they choose, able to experiment with different partners and under no pressure to make a premature commitment (Elwin 1947). Elwin, who spent much of his life in India, thought the arrangement worked very well. [...] In 1982, to the surprise of the academic community, it was reported that the ghotul system was still in existence and even expanding (von Fürer-Haimendorf 1982). [...] Elwin says that in practice [girls becoming pregnant] was a rare occurrence in the ghotul, even in the absence of modern contraceptives."

=== Crow ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"A few Crow men adopt women's dress and mannerisms, and live alone. Adolescent boys and occasionally older men visit these ''bate'', as they are called. The bate stimulates the boy's genitals orally. One informant stated that there were four such men in his community and that seventeen of his adolescent friends visited them occasionally."

==The Balkans==

===Albania===

*'''Zimmerman, Ann (1994). "[https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/tell-mama-why-you-cry-part-i-6404797 'Tell Mama Why You Cry' (Part I)]," [https://web.archive.org/web/20100926211411/http://www.dallasobserver.com/1994-11-17/news/tell-mama-why-you-cry-part-i/1 (archive)], ''Dallas Observer'', November 17.'''
*:An Albanian immigrant to the US is arrested for retaining his culture: "This harsh--and irreversible--punishment came at the end of a strange case that began in 1989 when several witnesses reported seeing Krasniqi fondle his daughter during a karate tournament in a Plano high school gymnasium in which his son was competing. Several years after the family court ruling, Krasniqi finally had his day in criminal court. Collin County Judge Nathan White acquitted him of the charge of indecency with a child primarily on the strength of testimony from Massachusetts anthropologist Barbara Halpern--one of the country's foremost authorities on the peasant culture of the Balkans. Halpern explained that Sam Krasniqi's actions were done not with sexual intent, but rather with playful affection--in keeping with his culture, which cherishes children and showers them with physical affection. [...]
*: Shortly after the tournament began, Taylor's attention was drawn to the spectator in front of her. She watched as a 50-year-old man with thinning gray hair repeatedly rubbed the underpants-clad buttocks and bare legs of a little girl who was laid out across his lap. He also slipped his hand under the girl's panties and caressed and squeezed her buttocks. "He lifted her to face him and rubbed her front chest under her little dress. He then put his hand inside her panties from the leg opening and squeezed her vagina," Taylor wrote in a statement she gave police. [...]
*:Wunderlich, who did not retrun calls to the Observer, had to explain to Kathy what molestation meant. "If you mean something sexual like with me and my husband, you are wrong," Kathy responded. "It is not a sexual thing and there is no harm to my children," Kathy told Wunderlich. [...]
*:"According to Wunderlich's case notes, he admitted touching Lima and Tim, that it was acceptable in his country and it was just a big misunderstanding. "He denied it was sexual at all and said that I could kill him if he was lying and if it was sexually gratifying to him." Krasniqi has since insisted that Wunderlich misconstrued what he was telling her. At the karate tournament, Krasniqi insists he was just playing a game with his daughter--touching the parts of her body and asking her to say their names. "I tell Wunderlich, How can you love your children and not touch them?" Krasniqi explains, sitting in his home, surrounded by pictures of his children when they were younger.
*:Nowhere in Wunderlich's case notes does it indicate that anyone in her department tried to research the Krasniqis' culture. If they had they might have learned what Barbara Halpern, the anthropologist from Massachusetts, testified to in Krasniqi's criminal trial. The Krasniqis come from "very physically demonstrative culture. Children are universally adored. Until they attain school age and venture beyond the household gates, they are the constant subjects of hugs, caresses and overt displays of affection.""

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Highly romanticized pederasty still found in latter half of twentieth century [...] [Y]ounger men frequently cultivated passionate, enthusiastic erotic relations with boys (12 to 17); Muslim Albanian custom of “boy-brides” also spread to Albanian Christians. Greenberg (1988); Murray (1997, 2000); Williams (1992)"

== See also ==
*[[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History]]
*[[Pederasty in Islam]]
*[[Pederasty in Japanese culture]]
* [https://wiki.yesmap.net/wiki/Walter_L._Williams#The_Spirit_and_the_Flesh_%281986%29 The Spirit and the Flesh (1986)] - the book by Walter L. Williams with a broad section on pederasty among non-western societies
* [[Gilbert_Herdt|Gilbert Herdt]] - anthropologist who studied ritualized intergenerational homosexuality in Melanesia

==Excerpt Graphic Library==

The EGL on '''Broader Perspectives''' has some relevant information. Just right click/save and reproduce by uploading in short-form media to bypass character limits.

{{Template:EGLBP}}

==References==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Research into effects on Children]][[Category:Research: Broader Perspectives]]

Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships

2026-08-03T12:34:48Z

Thorn: /* Melanesia */

__NOTOC__{{research}}Most societies which have not been influenced by the West have less, different, or virtually no sexual taboos. It is worth mentioning that absent modern western influence, anthropologists and historians have found far more societies where [[homosexuality]] is prohibited, than societies in which [[pedosexuality]] suffers similar censure. Many encourage intergenerational sex for various reasons. Due to ongoing Westernisation and cultural imperialism, much of what is listed here may already be consigned to [[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History|history]] (see, for example, [https://web.archive.org/web/20220225124148/https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.chc.2004.02.001 Nieto (2004), for an anthropological review]).

==GUS, a world atlas: Growing Up Sexually==

The range and detail of accounts involved in this page will only serve as a brief demonstration of non-western diversity in intergenerational relationships. Many examples from anthropology involve [[Sexual rites of passage]]. If readers are seeking a broader, more detailed and integrated study, they may find [[Diederik Janssen]]'s [http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/GUS_MAIN_INDEX.HTM ''Growing Up Sexually''] ([http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/GROWINGUPSEXUALLY1.ZIP entire Vol 1] in zipped PDF) more appropriate, or ''[https://greek-love.com/ Greek Love: Pederasty throughout the ages]'', re. homosexuality.

==Americas==

===Pirahã (Brazil)===

*'''Daniel Everett (2008). [https://books.feedvu.com/fullbook/dont-sleep-there-are-snakes-life-and-language-in-the-amazonian-jungle-pdf-2.html?page=16&part=1 ''Dont Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle'']. Chapter 16 of 34.'''
*:"Relations between men and women and boys and girls, whether married or not, are always cordial and often marked by light to heavy flirting. Sexually it is the same. So long as children are not forced or hurt, there is no prohibition against their participating in sex with adults. I remember once talking to Xisaoxoi, a Pirahã man in his late thirties, when a nine- or ten-year-old girl was standing beside him. As we talked, she rubbed her hands sensually over his chest and back and rubbed his crotch area through his thin, worn nylon shorts. Both were enjoying themselves. “What’s she doing?” I asked superfluously. “Oh, she’s just playing. We play together. When she’s big she will be my wife” was his nonchalant reply—and, indeed, after the girl went through puberty, they were married."

* '''Daniel Everett (2016). ''Dark matter of the mind : the culturally articulated unconscious.'' Chapter 3'''
::"Pirahã young people begin to engage sexually, though apparently not in full intercourse, from early on. Touching and being touched seem to be common for Pirahã boys and girls from about seven years of age on. They are all sexually active by puberty, with older men and women frequently initiating younger girls and boys, respectively. There is no evidence that the children then or as adults find this pedophilia the least bit traumatic."

===Pilagá (Argentina)===

*'''Jules Henry and Zunia Henry (1944). [https://library.lol/main/2C825BAA5B73830492464813AF34FEC4 ''Doll Play of Pilagá Indian Children. An Experimental and Field Analysis of the Behavior of the Pilagá Indian Children'']. (American Orthopsychiatric Association), p. 72.'''
*:'''Note:''' The study explores the use of dolls among Pilagá children, including in a sexual context.
*:"Where children can see the adult sexual act, where sexual conversations and gestures are perfectly open, and child life is untrammeled by sexual taboos, it is reasonable to expect that the children should experiment with their sexual apparatus and attempt to imitate adult sexual behavior. This is the case among the Pilagá. Considering the extent of child knowledge about sex and the age at which this knowledge becomes articulate - 3 years - intercourse in the Pilagá household must not only be visible to the children, but carried on with little if any attempt to conceal the act from them. Absolutely no prohibition is placed on child sexual activity by the adults, so that the children are at liberty to do what they please. Under such circumstances the only limits to the child's sexual activity are his physiological capacities and the tolerance of his companions. [...] [S]ex is a strong and constant interest of Pilagá children."

=== Yucatan ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In field work, Williams (1992) found pederastic behavior still common in late twentieth century Yucatan."

=== Zapotecs (Mexico) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Boys entering puberty commonly had sexual relations with men. Source: Williams (1992)"

=== Various Indian tribes (southern Mexico) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Married men would adopt an adolescent boy, who was proud to have been chosen and saw it an honor to be the man’s lover; the boy would help the wife, her children, and the household, and would take a boy of his own when later an adult and married. Source: Ross (1991)"

==Australia==
===Tiwi===
*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
*:"The best ethnographic description of this type of [gerontocratic] marriage is by Jane Goodale (1971) in her account of the Tiwi who live on Melville Island, North Australia. Betrothals of first marriages of most females are made even before those females are concieved. In fact, such a marriage contract is made when the as-yet-to-be-concieved girl's mother commences menstruation. [...] Once the marriage contract is made, the husband-to-be, who is an adult, works with his future mother and father-in-law as a member of that family, with the expectation that when a daughter is born to them, she will be given to him as a wife. There is no fixed chronological age at which the young girl is given to her designated husband, but it occurs after she is able to take on some household and other economic responsibilities, but well before her first menstruation. For the Tiwi she is still a child, albeit and older child. When her father decides that she is mature enough, the young girl is merely taken to her husband and instructed to reside and sleep with him. This is not an abrupt change [...] for the husband has been a part of the same family camp for some time, and the young wife is still surrounded by those with whom she has always lived. Goodale describes the process:
*::''Soon after the ''alinga'' [young girl] moves to her husband's fire he begins her sexual instruction. From all accounts this appears to be a very gradual process. He begins by deflowering her with his finger, and perhaps only after a year does he have actual intercourse with her. Sexual intercourse is considered by the Tiwi to be the direct and only cause of breast formation, growth of pubic and auxillary hair, menarche, and subsequent menstrual periods. (1971, p. 45)."'' [Jane Carter Goodale (1971) Tiwi wives: a study of the women of Melville Island, North Australia]
*:"versions of this marriage were once found among many Australian Aborigine groups (Berndt & Berndt, 1951; Gale, 1970; Kaberry, 1939; Rose, 1960). From our ethnocentric [i.e. Western] perspective, one of the most notable aspects [...] is the absence of trauma". (p. 77).

*'''Jane C. Goodale (1962) "Marriage Contracts among the Tiwi." ''Ethnology'', Vol. 1, No. 4'''
::"A Tiwi male will rarely acquire a wife through any form of contract before the age of 30. A bestowed wife, one who is promised before birth and becomes a cohabiting wife before puberty, is a valuable prestige symbol, but difficult to acquire. Thus a young man will frequently start his household with the acquisition of a less valuable but more easily obtainable type of wife, i.e., a widow, often of advanced age."
::"[I]t is acknowledged by Tiwi women as an inflexible "rule" governing their first marriage before puberty to a man whom they describe as "the one who grew me up, treated me like a father, and made me a woman." "
::"[O]n the average, the promised daughter will be born ten years from the date of the contract, i.e., when both the mother and the son-in-law are about twenty years old. The young girl will not become a cohabiting wife for approximately another eight or ten years, at which time her promised husband will be at least 28 to 30 years of age. Thus an average difference of twenty years between the ages of a girl and her first husband is to be expected"

*'''Goodale, J. C. (1971). Tiwi wives: A study of the women of Melville Island, North Australia.'''
::“A man will not receive a contract for a wife of any type until he reaches the age of ten to twenty. At this age he may receive a wife who has been previously married”

=== Aranda ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Among many of the aborigines of Australia this type of coitus is a recognized custom between unmarried men and uninitiated boys. Strehlow writes of the Aranda as follows: ''"... Pederasty is a recognized custom.... Commonly a man, who is fully initiated but not yet married, takes a boy ten or twelve years old, who lives with him as a wife for several years, until the older man marries.[...]"''(Strehlow, 1915, p. 98.)"

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Typically, an unmarried [Aranda] man (late teens) would take a boy from 10 to 12 years old to be his wife and live with him for several years until he (the older partner) got married to a woman. Aside from sex, the man served as the boy’s mentor (e.g., in hunting). Sources: Strehlow (1913–15)"

=== Nambutji ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Every boy became a boy-wife to a man, who circumcised the boy and whose daughter became the boy’s wife when he reached adulthood. In the intervening time, the man and boy were homosexually involved. Source: Roheim (1945)"

==Melanesia==
Melanesian societies have normalized the consumption of semen by prepubescent/pubescent boys. This is thought to be in aid of their maturation and future status as warriors. Semen is received via oral or anal sex with an older adolescent boy or man. Relationships are said to be not only formal but often free-flowing and affectionate (for example among the Sambia of New-Guinea). There are many separate groups with distinct languages in Melanesia (about 1000). There is no evidence of institutional intergenerational sexual practice for most of them, partly due to anthropologists have often avoided studying sexuality because of their own moral constraints. Yet evidence of such practices (that vary greatly in form) has been obtained for at least 29 different Melanesian societies (with additional 19 related groups) described in the comprehensive volume ''Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia''<ref name = Herdt 1984 >Herdt, G. H. (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press. (available via [[Help:Research_Resources#Information_Freedom_Companions|option 2]])</ref> (see table 1.1, chapter 1)

::I. Eastern insular Melanesia: Fiji; New Caledonia; New Hebrides: Malekula Island.

::II. Northeastern insular Melanesia: New Britain; Duke-of-Yorks; East Bay.

::III. Western Papua: Lower Fly River: Kiwai Island, including Bugilai; Trans-Fly Delta: Keraki; Suki; Boadzi. (Related social units: Karigare, Yarne, Kaunje, Wekamara.)

::IV. Southeastern Irian Jaya: Kanum; Yéi-anim; Marind-anim; Kimam, Frederik Hendrik Island; Jaquai. (Related social units: Maklew-anim, Yab-anim, Kurkari-anim.)

::V. Northeastern Irian Jaya: Asmat; Casuarina Coast; Humboldt Bay.

::VI. Great Papuan Plateau: Bedamini; Etoro; Kaluli; Onabasalu; Gebusi, Nomad River.

::VII. Anga (Kukukuku): Sambia; Baruya; Jeghuje; Other Highlands Anga groups; Lowlands Anga groups. (Related social units: Usarumpiu, Wantukiu, Aziana, Lohiki, Kapau, Ivori, Mbwei, Yagwoia, Ampale, Langamar, Menya, Katje.)

::VIII. Northern Province: Ai’i.

History/evolution:
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The accumulating evidence indicates that we are not only confronted in these Melanesian cultures with similar cultural and ecological systems; I propose that we are also faced with an ancient ritual complex that diffused through a vast area of lowland and fringe-area Melanesia, perhaps 10,000 years ago or less. [...] Left unchecked by Western pacification or colonialization, what would the long-term evolution of these marginal populations have been? Perhaps homosexual practices might have contributed to their extinction, but we cannot be certain of this possibility: if one accepts the assumption of ancient migrations and ritual practices, these groups had flourished for generations." (pp. 48, 58-59)

::"(RH [Ritualized Homosexuality]) groups tend to use initiation as the social mechanism for recruitment to their ritual cults and to the village-based warriorhood corps as well. Survival and social reproduction of communities depend upon the warriorhood, and initiation means introduction to homosexual activity. It also brings with it adult, masculine socialization, through successive ceremonies and related achievements. Thus homosexuality is linked to what are essentially military and age-graded organizations." (p.60) (this is in line with [[Research: Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis|Evolutionary Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis]]

Often, when speaking about institutionalized intergenerational sexuality, anthropologists and publicists emphasize that there only adolescents involved in this, but they miss the fact that pedophilia is also institutionalized in many cultures (not only Melanesian):
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"An important and ignored aspect of initiation in (RH) [ritualized homosexuality] groups is that it frequently occurs before puberty, often as early as middle to late childhood (e.g., Marind-anim, Sambia, Keraki, etc.). Elsewhere I have argued that this young age is psychologically necessary for the radical resocialization [from the female wing of the society] into, and eventual sex-role dramatization expected of, adult men (Herdt 1981, 1982cf . Mead 1949; Young 1965)." (p.60)

* '''Money, J. (1990). Pedophilia: A Specific Instance of New Phylism Theory as Applied to Paraphilic Lovemaps. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions]. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_18'''
*:"The cultural tradition of pedophilia may belong not just to a small enclave of a population but also to an entire community, as in the case of various tribal peoples scattered across the Pacific in Melanesia and New Guinea (Herdt, 1984). The Sambia of the New Guinea Highlands (Herdt, 1981) are such a tribe. Their ancient customs as fierce head-hunting warriors survived European contact until after World War II. According to their folklore concerning their children, a boy could not become a warrior if he stayed living with women and children after age 8. So, he was taken into the men's longhouse to remain in the company of males only, there to be subjected to the rituals of indoctrination and initiation. As a baby, he had been nourished by woman's milk. As a juvenile, he would have to be nourished with men's milk so that his body would mature in the way that maturation occurs during puberty. It was an obligation of youths still too young to be married not to waste their semen but to have it sucked out of their penises by the prepubertal boys who, once able to ejaculate themselves, would nourish those still younger. At age 19, the age of marriage, their two-way experience of androphilic pedophilia would cease, and their lives would become heterosexual with an adult partner."
*:"The universal male/male pedophilia of the Sambia demonstrates the sexological plasticity of the human organism and the making of pedophilia into the social norm."

There are societies with girls and women participating in intergenerational sexual practices (but ritualized homosexuality is absent):
*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/NEW_GUINEAWEB.HTM Papua New Guinea]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"Berndt (1962:p91): “As babies and small children their genitalia are fondled”. Mothers caress “the fleshy parts of [the infant's] body [...] and implanting breathy kisses over and over again in the region of its genital organs” (Hogbin, 1943:p298). Genital touching by older people was also noted by among the Marind-anim (Van Baal, 1966; cf. Money and Ehrhardt, 1973 [1996:p132]). Gillison (1993:p176) describes the process of masturbating infants among the Gimi:
*::The mother insists upon continued contact, interrupting her toddler's play repeatedly to offer the breast. Masturbation [...] with a baby girl [occurs when] the mother or amau holds her hand over the vulva and shakes it vigorously. She may kiss the vagina [sic], working her way up the middle of the body to the lips and then inserting her nipple (often when the child has given no sign of discontent). With a boy, she kisses the penis, pulls at it with her fingers and takes it into her mouth to induce an erection. Several women may pass a baby boy back and forth, each one holding him over her head as she takes a turn sucking or holding the penis in her mouth. When the child then pulls at his own organ, the women, greatly amused, offer squeezes and pulls of their own."

The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea<ref>[http://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=2E76D290FDCC06180F125CAF7336B2C0 Weiner, Annette B. (1988). ''The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea.'' United States of America: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. ISBN 9780030119194]</ref> have received attention in the Western Media for sexual customs in infancy and adolescence that confuse morally conflicted Westerners:<ref>[https://medium.com/the-story-in-history/the-culture-where-children-as-young-as-six-years-are-sexualized-d7afef2d2985 The Culture Where Children as Young as Six Years are Sexualized]</ref>
:<blockquote>Popularly referred to as “The Islands of Love”, the Trobriand Islands are a 174-square-miles group of islands on the east coast of New Guinea. The people are indigenous matrilineal people with a population of 12,000. ''[...]'' In the Trobriand culture, children aren’t allowed the chance to be just children. They are groomed to lose their innocence and start acting like adults at a very young age. By the age of six, they start participating in erotic games with each other. They start engaging in seductive activities. Their little girls are expected to start looking and acting sexy to attract little boys as well as older men. Then, by the time they turn 10, they are expected to start having sexual intercourse with as many sexual partners as they will. Since they are a matrilineal culture, the Trobriand woman has the right to have as many sexual partners as she pleases. And their primitive way of dressing doesn’t make it any harder to engage in sexual intercourse at will.</blockquote>

But mostly intergenerational male homosexuality:
*'''Jan N. Bremmer (2021) [https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Man-Ancient-Greece-Rome/dp/3161590082 Becoming a Man in Ancient Greece and Rome. Essays on Myths and Rituals of Initiation.]'''(available via [[Help:Research_Resources#Information_Freedom_Companions|Option 2]])
::"This description [''see Williams' above''] is confirmed by more recent anthropological studies [See especially the many studies of [[Gilbert Herdt|G. Herdt]]] [...] the following points should be noted as important features: (1) we have here a case of pederasty, which should not be confused with modern homosexuality, as both initiators and novices normally marry afterwards; (2) the active pederasts are the novices of the previous initiation, and it may be of importance to note that it is these novices who usually play a prominent role in upholding discipline during the initiation; finally, (3) copulation, in which the novice is always the passive partner, takes place anally."

It's noteworthy, that in many cases this institute wasn't based on free will of a minor (and elder partner either), sometimes the social obligation was coercive and even intimidating.<ref name = Herdt 1984 /> But this was not always the case:
*'''Knauft, Bruce M. (1987). "Homosexuality in Melanesia," ''Journal of Psychoanalytic Anthropology'', 10, 155-91.'''
*:Melanesian boys "coquettishly initiated" homosexuality with grown men. Relationships were "grounded in personal affection rather than obligation".
See more examples of voluntariness and desirability gathered by ''Rind (2013)'' in [[Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality#Complementary behavior among minors|Complementary behavior among minors]] section.

Evidence for specific Melanesian cultures:
=== Big Nambas (Malekula Island) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Society had rampant warfare, chiefs had near monopoly on women; father chose man to circumcise his son; this man then became boy’s “husband,” and the boy his “wife;” intercourse believed to strengthen boy’s penis; relationship was very close; boy followed the man everywhere, participating with him in daily chores; man was intensely jealous if other men took interest in the boy; if man or boy died, the other would mourn deeply; some men were so deeply homosexual in affections that they would seldom have intercourse with their wives, preferring the boy; every chief had several boy lovers. Sources: Herdt (1993); Layard (1942)"

*'''Herdt, G. H. (1997). Same sex, different cultures: Exploring gay and lesbian lives. Westview Press.'''
::"The tentative and sketchy reports of institutionalized same-gender relations between females that we do have make it difficult to give depth and meaning to the practice, such as among the famous Big Nambas society of the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu; see Deacon 1934). In that case higher-ranking women could take younger girls as sexual partners in a kind of ritualized practice that bears comparison to the male practice, but obviously without the emphasis on semen transmission."

=== East Bay Islanders ===
*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
::"[I]n a society called East Bay, where I did some ethnography of sexual behavior (Davenport 1965), formerly, there had been a pattern of male homosexuality in which some older men often took, always with consent from their fathers, nonrelated boys as relatively permanent, passive sexual partners for anal intercourse. From a cultural perspective, the boys were understood to be substitutes for females, not homosexual partners as our culture would define them. In fact, the culture of East Bay did not recognize — that is, had no cultural category for — intimate male homosexual relationships as something separate from those involving women. A boy, rather than a man, was selected, because a boy was a minor, without an independent legal status separate from his father’s, hence he could be told what to do. Women in East Bay society also were minors in this legal sense. But the crux of the matter was that the passive homosexual role was not considered to be in any way damaging to a boy’s psychosexual development. Moreover, such a close association with an elder man, who was expected to be gentle, generous, and indulgent, could have a positive effect on the boy’s development. If, however, the elder man did not fulfill these role expectations, he would find himself accused of mistreatment, that is, abusing the boy, and, therefore, in serious trouble with the boy’s father and other senior male relatives who were responsible for his well-being."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Nearly every male engaged in extensive homosex; men had sexual relations with boys (7 to 11); it was obligatory to give boy presents in return; the boys discussed these contacts freely and without shame in presence of parents, friends. Upon marriage, only a few men became exclusive heterosexuals; most continued to have sex with boys as well; only one man in the study preferred exclusively boys. Source: Davenport (1965)"

=== Keraki, Trans-Fly Delta ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Keraki bachelors of New Guinea universally practice sodomy, and in the course of his puberty rites each boy is initiated into anal intercourse by the older males. After his first year of playing the passive role he spends the rest of his bachelorhood sodomizing the newly initiated."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Keraki] All boys were sodomized for about a year, seen as essential for their development; adult informants repeatedly answered, when asked whether they submitted as boys, “Why yes! Otherwise how should I have grown?” Bachelors saw some boys as more attractive, gave them more attention; they sodomized boys until marriage, then engaged mostly in heterosex, but continued to have relations with boys on occasion. Source: Williams (1936)"

*'''Williams, F.E. (1969) Papuans of the Trans-Fly. ''Oxford'''''
::"It is actually regarded as essential to the growing boy to be sodomized.[...] In the meantime it is enough to note that every male adult in the Morehead district has in his time constantly played both parts in this perversion. The boy is initiated to it at the bull-roarer ceremony [...] When he becomes adolescent his part is reversed and he may then sodomize his juniors, the new initiates to the bull-roarer."
::"Gambadi informants describe the initial occasion more vividly. The father bids his son stoop to drink at a pool and as he does so catches him at a disadvantage. [...] It is to be noted that nowadays boys are not sodomized by their own fathers. The restriction of moiety exogamy is observed in sodomy as it is in marriage [...]"

=== Marind-anim ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"[R]itualized anal homosexual practices are institutionalized on a widespread scale throughout the entire Marind area. [...]. Homosexual anal intercourse is begun in male initiation for boys between the ages of seven and fourteen years (Van Baal 1966:143-144). Afterward, boys live in the men's clubhouse for some six years, avoiding females and regularly engaging in anal intercourse." (pp. 25-25)
::"This transition happens when the first signs of approaching puberty become apparent. He is then made an aroi-patur, literally a black boy. His body is blackened all over, and a mother's brother is appointed to act as his mentor, his binahor-iather. The meaning of the word binahor is uncertain, but it probably refers to the mentor's main function, that of being the boy's pederast who, by "feeding" the boy anally, contributes to his physical growth." (p. 132)

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Upon reaching puberty, a boy moved in with a mentor and his wife; he assisted the mentor in gardening, hunting, and other chores; their relation was sexual and lasted about seven years until boy’s later marriage; bond between them was extremely strong; the sexual contacts seemed to contribute to the strength of this bond; insemination was regarded as helpful to boy’s growth. Source: Van Baal (1966)"

=== Kimam / Kolepom papuans: ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The age at which [Kimam] boys enter the bachelor's house varies considerably in all villages, since it is dependent upon the simultaneous celebration of the final feast for a dead person. On this occasion a number of boys of varying ages, from about ten to fourteen years, are admitted. (Sometimes the boys are even younger.) [...] At his entry into the cult house, the boy is placed under the charge and guidance of a mentor who is designated as his "adoptive father." This man is supposed to have regular homosexual intercourse with the boy to make him strong with the semen that is inserted into his body through anal intercourse. In the western villages, there is no doubt that the adoptive father is mother's younger brother [...] They help each other in planting and harvesting, and they share food. A sister's son displays a conspicuous lack of respect toward his MB, even when there is a substantial difference in age. They play all sorts of pranks on each other, at which neither of them does or should get angry." (p. 300, 304)

::girls:
::"The first reports of missionaries and government officials mention the custom of "testing" sexually the marriageable [Kimam] girls. According to informants, the intention was to see whether the girls could stand the test. If they felt ill after intercourse, it was proof that they were not yet suited for marriage. It is possible that this trial took place during the promiscuous sexual intercourse of the ndambu festival.[...] When, for instance, an epidemic strikes the village and causes many deaths, as often happens, promiscuous heterosexual intercourse involving as many people as possible is organized in the village to collect large amounts of semen (probably by coitus interruptus). According to the information collected in the village of Bamol, very young girls are preferably selected for this sexual intercourse. [...] The first missionaries were in a better position to estimate the approximate age of the girls. They regularly made mention of schoolgirls who, for days on end, did not attend the mission school because they were sick after intercourse with a number of mature men. In his diary, Father Thieman (n.d.) mentions a number of girls (with names and exact age) who took part in sexual intercourse when they were no older than eight." (pp. 301, 304, 308)

=== Bedamini===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::“Bedamini, like the Marind-anim (Van Baal 1966:817), consider semen the essence of life. [...] Immature boys do not possess semen, and they can mature only through the intervention of their seniors. Behind this conception is also the assumption that weakness in males will ensue from too much association with women, in particular through sexual intercourse. Boys have been breast-fed and have spent their first years in a predominantly female sphere of influence. The solution to this dilemma is to supply the boys with semen from the age of eight to ten years. The insemination is managed orally, by having the boys manipulate and suck the penes of young unmarried men, an activity referred to as sibi. The young man who will be a boy's inseminator is selected by the boy's father, and he must belong to the opposite moiety, that is, to a group with whom the boy's clan intermarries.” (pp. 322-323)

=== Etoro ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The Etoro achieve this [semen transmission] through oral intercourse, the Kaluli through anal intercourse, and the Onabasulu through masturbation and smearing of the semen over the bodies of the initates [...] The Kaluli are traditional enemies of the Etoro, and the Etoro particularly revile them for their initiatory practices which are regarded as totally disgusting. (The feeling is probably mutual.) [...] Among the Etoro, "a youth is continually inseminated from about age ten until he reaches his early mid-twenties" (Kelly 1976:45). [...] Kaluli initiation and homosexual activities, in contrast, seem more truncated: [...] When a boy is eleven or twelve years old, he is engaged for several months in homosexual intercourse with a healthy older man chosen by his father. [...] (Schieffelin 1976:124)" (pp. 34- 35)

*'''Anitei, Stefan (2007). "[http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-to-Drink-Sperm-to-Become-a-Strong-Man-67804.shtml How to Drink Sperm to Become a Strong Man]," Softpedia, October 6.'''
*:"This power is transmitted between the members of the [Etoro] tribe by means of sex. That's why young boys, even at the age of 12, get it from the sperm of the older males. The boy gets "power" orally by a young man assigned to be his partner. Few years later, the teenager is formally involved in relationships with many male sex partners, after which he turns into an "inseminator" from an "inseminee.""

=== Kaluli ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Kaluli] From 8 to 28, males resided in sex-segregated hunting lodge; daily, boys accompanied older males on grueling hunting trips, learning essentials of the practice; at 10 or 11, a boy’s father chose for him an older male to inseminate him for months or years; some boys chose their own inseminator; insemination thought essential for growth. Men looked back on youth in hunting lodge with nostalgic excitement, zest; remembered continual hunting, growth-stimulating insemination, ritual discipline, unity of purpose, vigorous manly ethos as highlight of their lives; whole practice was one of prestige for them. Tradition ended in 1960s by colonial administration and missionaries, who policed against it. Source: Schieffelin (1982)"

===Gebusi===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Gebusi] Boys in early adolescence “coquettishly” initiated sexual relations with older, unrelated males. As with the Sambia, the belief was that insemination grew the boys into men. The sexual relations were based on personal affection rather than obligation. Sources: Herdt (1991, 1997)"

=== Sambia ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"Male development and masculinization after childhood are the responsibility of the men's secret cult and its initiation system. This cult is organized and perpetuated by the confederacy of hamlets. Boys are initiated at seven to ten years of age, when they are separated from their mothers, natal households, and younger siblings. [...] Sambia practice secret homosexual fellatio, which is taught and instituted in first-stage initiation. Boys learn to ingest semen from older youths through oral sexual contacts. First- and second-stage initiates may only serve as fellators; they are forbidden to reverse erotic roles with older partners. Third-stage pubescent bachelors and older youths thus act as fellateds, inseminating prepubescent boys. All males pass through both erotic stages, being first fellators, then fellateds: there are no exceptions since all Sambia males are initiated and pressured to engage in homosexual fellatio." (pp. 172-173)

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Sambia] Boys between 7 and 10 taken into men’s society; until age 14 fellated older bachelors up to age 25; semen viewed necessary for growth to be strong warrior; after age 25, most men stopped being semen “donors” to get married (some men continued who preferred boys); relations were not just duty for the boys, who were often complicit in arousing bachelors through bawdy enthusiasm; as boys matured, they tended to express more desire for insemination, became more aggressive in soliciting it. Sources: Herdt (1991, 1997)"

*'''Review of [[Gilbert Herdt]]'s famous fieldwork on the Sambia (by [[Walter L. Williams]] as quoted in our page on Herdt):'''
*:"Between the ages of about seven and thirteen, boys are taken from the maternal household and placed in a separate boys' house away from the village. For a period of several months to several years, depending on the culture, boys avoid all contact with females as they are prepared for manhood in elaborate initiations. It is the social duty of men to plant sperm in boys in order for them to grow. In some societies this is done by the boy performing oral sex upon the man, in others by him receiving anal intercourse, or in others by having the sperm rubbed on his body. The sexual act must always be with the boy receiving the older male's semen. To reverse roles is considered damaging to the boy's growth."

*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
*:"The best description of these patterns, by Herdt (1982, 1987) is with a people the author calls the Sambia. In brief, the pattern is as follows:
*::''Seven-to-ten-year-old Sambia boys are taken from their mothers when first initiated into the male cult, and thereafter experience the most powerful and seductive homosexual fellatio activities. For some ten to fifteen years, they engage in these practices on a daily basis, first as fellator, and then as fellated. Elders teach that semen is absolutely vital: it should be consumed daily since the creation of biological maleness and the maintenance of masculinity depend upon it. Hence, from middle childhood untul puberty, boys should perform fellatio on older youths.''

:::''Near puberty the same initiates become dominant youths. Ritual helps remake their social and erotic identity, the bachelors becoming the fellated partners for a new crop of ritual novices. ... [editor's quote extension from Herdt, G. H. (1987). "Guardians of the flutes: Idioms of masculinity" : "abundant evidence indicates that most youths also experience them as pleasurable and erotically exciting"] Yet, in spite of this formidable background, the final outcome is exclusive heterosexuality—of a particular form. Youths eventually become sexually attracted to women. At marriage (c. sixteen to twenty-five years of age), they may even act as true bisexuals, for a time. With fatherhood, however, homosexuality should cease; thereafter men should engage only in heterosexual activities. (Herdt 1987, pp. 2-3)''"

*'''Hyena, Hank (1999). "[http://web.archive.org/web/20131002090633/http://gettingit.com/article/56 Semen Warriors Of New Guinea]," Gettingit.com, September 16.'''
*:"Although many boys tremble initially ("I felt afraid... the penises were enormous," recalls Kalutuo, a Sambian from the Eastern Highlands) they all adjust quickly, because they believe semen is an elixir for manhood."

*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/NEW_GUINEAWEB.HTM Papua New Guinea]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"...the “Sambia” value male-virgin contacts (1984:p177), while “sexual partners are perceived as having more “heat” and being more exciting the younger they are. A second factor is reciprocity: the more asymmetrical the sexual partners (youth/boy), the more erotic play seems to culturally define their contact” [sic]. Against the background of an utterly phallocentric ideology on the androtrophic properties of semen, “Sambia” prepubertal boys (7-12, on average 8.5) fellate post-pubertal adolescents to ejaculation in order to grow and turn seminarchic themselves, so that they may reverse roles. The boys do not have orgasms, and might have “vicarious erotic pleasure as indicated by erections” only “near puberty” ([[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt]] and Stoller, 1990:p70-1)."

=== Yagwoia ===
*'''Herdt, G. (2003). Secrecy and cultural reality: Utopian ideologies of the New Guinea men’s house. ''Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press''.'''
::"Yagwoia men communicate two attitudes. First, the Sambia are the only group of warriors they feared sufficiently in precolonial times to undertake special alliances for raiding their territory. Second, Sambia are renowned throughout the area for continuing the “true” practice of initiations. Later I was to realize that the “truth” to which they alluded was boy-insemination, the secret masculinity the Yagwoia had long ago been required to forfeit to the native New Guinea evangelists who came to save their souls and establish a Christian order in their villages"

==Polynesia==

===Marquesas Islands===
For a range of sources on the Marquesas Islands, [[#Excerpt_Graphic_Library | see gallery below]], primarily ''Marquesan sexual behavior'' by Robert C. Suggs.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/marquesansexualb0000sugg/mode/2up Marquesan sexual behavior by Suggs, Robert C.]</ref>

*'''Martinson, Floyd M. (1973). ''[http://www.ipce.info/booksreborn/martinson/infant/InfantAndChildSexuality.html Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective]''. The Book Mark.'''
*:"Sex play was common practice from the earliest ages among the Marquesa and not only tolerated but encouraged. (Kardiner, 1939, p. 205-206). They recognized the erotic impulse in childhood and accorded it the right of free exercise. They eroticized the child by masturbating it to keep it quiet. In the case of the girls, labia were manipulated as a placebo, but also to encourage the growth of large labia, which to the Marquesans was a mark of beauty. Such activity was, no doubt, also erotically stimulating. There was social recognition of all sexual activity in childhood, and there were no restrictions against encouragement to exercise it freely; it was allocated the same place in the child's world that it occupied in the adult's."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Adolescent boys frequently had sex with each other. Married men rarely had homosex, but would when conditions prevented heterosexual intercourse; they preferred boys for this purpose, whose bodies they said were soft, like females; contacts with boys were casual, fleeting, and without stigma. Source: Suggs (1966)"

===Hawaii===
*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/HAWAII.HTM Hawaii]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"Karsch-Haack, (1901) stated that according to Richard Neuhauss, Hawai’ian “girls of 12 to 14 years are generally virgins no more and acts of impurity of father with daughter are no rarity[6] [...] For infant females in Hawai’i, “milk was squirted into her vagina, and the labia were pressed together (Diamond, 1990). The mons [veneris] was rubbed with kukui (candlenut) oil and pressed with the palm of the hand to flatten it and make it less prominent. The molding continued until the labia did not separate. This chore usually was done by the mother or by an “aunt” [...]”. The buttocks of infants, males more than females, were molded so that they became “rounded and not flat”, also clearly evolving from an aesthetic motive. A “blower” is designated for each male infant, ostensibly to prepare him for subincision of the foreskin: “the penis was blown into daily starting from birth. The blowing was said to loosen and balloon the foreskin [and] continued daily [...] until the young male was 6 or 7”, when penile subincision takes place. Diamond reports: “Individuals of both sexes were expected to initiate and participate in coitus at puberty, although sexual activity, play, instruction, and so forth occurred much earlier. For instance, as part of exploratory play, the young investigated each other’s genitals, and young males and females might masturbate each other heterosexually or homosexually. This activity occurred without adult disapproval, and it was considered to be an introduction to adulthood. Casual intercourse before adolescence was not an uncommon experience for males (Handy and Pukui, 1958) and females (Pukui, Haertig and Lee, 1972)"

*'''Milton Diamond. (2004 [1990]). [https://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/biblio/articles/2000to2004/2004-sexual-behavior-in-pre-contact-hawaii.html Sexual Behavior in Pre Contact Hawai'i: A Sexological Ethnography]. Published in: ''Revista Española del Pacifico''. 16: 37-58.'''
*:"Sex training was direct and firsthand. Young individuals learned of coitus and sex play from instruction, direct observation, and practice. As they slept in the family house (hale noa), they observed their parents having coitus. "Public privacy" among the Mangaian Islanders, as it was described by Marshall (1971, p. 108), probably is similar to the "privacy" that was found in Hawai'i and elsewhere in Polynesia: "[A Mangaian may copulate], at any age, in the single room of a hut that contains from five to fifteen family members of all ages — as have his ancestors before him. His daughter may receive and make love with each of her varied nightly suitors in the same room."
*:The young observed dogs, pigs, and other animals mating, and these activities were discussed openly with parents or other adults. Parturition was not a secret event and was well attended by the young and by adults, all of whom observed traditions that included the washing and burying of the placenta and, usually, the disposing of the umbilical cord (Pukui, Haertig and Lee, 1972, p. 16; Handy and Pukui, 1958, p. 78). The young Hawai‘ian also acquired sex education in day-by-day exposure to precepts, practices, and attitudes concerning sex. Traditionally, ... childish curiosity about sex was satisfied, with neither guilt nor shame instilled” (Pukui, Haertig, and Lee, 1972, p. 249). [...] Ellis (1782, Vol. 2, p. 153) wrote of sexual expression in Oceania: "The ladies are very lavish of their favors ... and some of their attachments seemed purely the effects of affection. They are initiated into this way of life at a very early period; we saw some, who could not be more than ten years old."
*:The time considered “right” to start coitus was not so much based on chronological age as on ability or maturity (Pukui, Haertig, and Lee, 1972, p. 78). [...] Suggs (1966) elaborated on the early sexual experiences of pubertal males with married females in their 30s and 40s in the Marquesas Islands, who “take special pains to be pleasing and patient with them ... a source of enjoyment for many Marquesan women” (p. 61). For young females of the Marquesas Islands, the first coital experience reportedly is earlier than it is for young males before menarche —and occurs unplanned with an adult male (Suggs, 1966, p. 63). [...] These adult/nonadult sexual interactions were socially approved behaviors. [...] For adults not to have given such practical education would have been unthinkable - a dereliction of duty.
*:Most important for Hawai‘ian society, the young learned of sexual humor. Among the Hawai‘ians, sex was and remains a rich source of humor and enjoyment. In everyday conversation and in song and story, it was considered to be an “art form” to speak using sexual double entendres (kaona). [...] Suggs (1966, p. 39) considered the early manifestations of infantile and childhood sexual behavior, including sexual behavior with adults, to be among the most distinguishing features of Marquesan sexual behavior. Many of the activities he described, however, are similar to activities that were present in Hawai'i and elsewhere in Oceania. Oliver (1974, pp. 458-459), for example, reported on adult/nonadult sexual behavior in Tahiti and quoted the missionary Orsmond from 1832: “In all Tahitians as well as officers who come in ships there is a cry for little girls,” and older females, when in a position to choose, preferred younger males. Marshall (1971, p. 126) described the routine early sexual encounters of young males and females in Mangaia as being with older, experienced males and females."

==Indonesia==

===Bali===
*'''Martinson, Floyd M. (1973). ''[http://www.ipce.info/booksreborn/martinson/infant/InfantAndChildSexuality.html Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective]''. The Book Mark.'''
*:"Among the Balinese, play and teasing with the genitals is common. A mother will pat her baby girl on the vulva and exclaim, "Pretty! Pretty!" (Bateson and Mead, 1942, p. 26, 32, 131). A boy's penis will be stroked and rubbed. After he has urinated, he will be dried by a flick of his penis. As he grows older, his penis will be pulled and stretched and ruffled, and he will often attempt to keep his balance when learning to walk by holding on to it. Babies are comforted and quieted by manipulating their genital organs. In fact, in Bali, a baby, especially a baby's genital, is a toy with which to play. There is much delight taken in stimulating and playing with the baby to watch him respond."

==South and Southeast Asia ==

=== Philippines ===
*'''[https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy-Claude_Burger Burger, G.C.] (Date unknown). ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20230830163437/https://youjo.love/media/8db97b489e84f14e500046445c113066d720c1e691df6cc7934220a7b565483f.pdf The Sexual Mistake of the West].'''''
*:"Enamored of travel, he went to a different country every year, and, that year, he visited the Philippines. Not wanting to stay in the capital, he had taken the bus in order to get closer to the population. He thus found himself next to a mother who had reserved only one seat for herself and her eight-year-old daughter. The child at first amused herself by running in the central aisle and approaching the other passengers, but after three hours on the way, she began to have enough. As she was becoming more and more cranky, the mother put her on her lap and asked our gentlemen from Bordeaux if it would bother him if she put her daughter’s legs on his knees, so that the little one could sleep better. He accepted, of course, when he noticed that the mother began masturbating the child, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. You can imagine him blushing, asking himself what he should do, looking all around him to see how the other passengers would react, feeling that he would be accused of complicity in incest. But all the neighbors watched with big calm smiles, as if it were obvious, and worthy of the greatest discretion. As soon as the little girl reached orgasm, she fell asleep like an angel..."

===Khumbo (Nepal)===
*'''Diemberger, H. (1993). Blood, sperm, soul and the mountain. In T. del Valle (Ed.), [https://library.lol/main/E2340CAF82B58307F2AA3CBD3D1F97C9 ''Gendered Anthropology''] (pp. 88). Routledge.'''
*:"Caili, an energetic and sensual woman, is playing with her youngest son, Migmar. I enter the house. Caili offers me a cup of barley beer and then continues to play with Migmar who does not really want to be disturbed. He drinks some milk from the breast and plays with his erect little penis. He offers it to his mother who sucks it tenderly and then continues to chat with me. Migmar is five years old."

=== Tibet ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Monasteries had a strong reputation for master-novice sexual relations, which participants viewed without shame as they made no attempt to conceal them to Westerners upon early contacts. Prince Peter (1963)"

=== Batak (Northern Sumatra) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In late childhood, boys moved into all-male houses with about a dozen other boys and young men. From puberty until marriage, homosexual behavior was prescribed and constant. Pederasty and age-equal sex were both common. Sequestering the sexes ensured girls remained virgins until marriage (premarital sex for girls was highly taboo). With outside cultural contact, the tradition began to change. Money & Ehrhardt (1972)"

=== Java ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In Ponorogo area, all-male folk dance was a major cultural institution (before 1990s); spectating men admired beauty of dancing youths; boy dancers aged 8–14, called gemblaks, often had culturally approved sex with men; interviewees who had been gemblaks all viewed the sex positively; all got married; some had long-term sexual relationships with the dance troupe directors (the Waroks). Waroks were spiritual guides, valorized by the community. Each Ponorogo village had a formalized male group for unmarried males; the group did socially constructive work for the community; heterosexual sex before marriage was disapproved, so members had sex with gemblaks; this practice was seen as benefiting the gemblaks, who got gifts, the group members, who got a sexual outlet, the community, which got good works. Under Western influence, educated Ponorogo people began seeing all this as an embarrassment (relic from an “uncivilized” past); have since worked to end the practice. Weis (1974); Williams (2011)"

==Africa==

=== Maassai (Kenya, Tanzania) ===
*'''Carles Feixa (2011). Past and present of adolescence in society: The ‘teen brain’ debate in perspective. ''Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews'', Volume 35, Issue 8'''
::"Sexual intercourse with [postpubertal] girls is admitted as long as they do not become pregnant."

=== Azande (South Sudan, Northern Congo)===
*'''Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1970). [https://sci-hub.st/10.2307/672861 Sexual Inversion among the Azande. American Anthropologist], 72(6), 1428–1434.'''
*: "It was the custom for members of bachelor companies, some of whom would always be living in barracks at court, to take boy-wives. [...] Most young men consequently married late -- well into their twenties and thirties -- and, because girls were engaged (in a legal sense married) very young, often at birth, the only way youths could obtain satisfaction from a woman was in adultery. [...] The boys performed many of the smaller services a woman performs daily for her husband [...] Also, the boywife carried his husband's shield when on a journey. It should be understood that he performed these services lest it might be thought that the relationship was entirely of a sexual nature; it will be appreciated that it had an educational side to it. With regard to the sexual side, at night the boy slept with his lover, who had intercourse with him between his thighs (Azande expressed disgust at the suggestion of anal penetration). The boys got what pleasure they could by friction of their organs on the husband's belly or groin. However, even though there was this side to the relationship, it was clear from Zande accounts that there was also the comfort of a nightly sharing of the bed with a companion."
*: "The word "boy" (kumba gude) must, it would appear, be interpreted liberally, for as far as I could judge from what I was told the lads might have been anywhere between about twelve and twenty years of age"
*: "I have pointedly used the terms "wife,""husband," and "marriage," for, as the texts will make clear, the relationship was, for so long as it lasted, a legal union on the model of a normal marriage. The warrior paid bridewealth (some five spears or more) to the parents of his boy and performed services for them as he would have done had he married their daughter; if he proved to be a good son-in-law they might later replace the son by a daughter. Also, if another man had relations with his boy he could, I was told, sue him at court for adultery."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Under polygynous system, women were scarce; warriors married boys aged 12 or older; commanders might have more than one boy-wife; man and boy addressed each other with terms such as my love and my lover; boy performed wifely duties and apprenticed for man; on reaching adulthood, the boy typically joined a military company, taking a boy-wife of his own; tradition faded when practice of military service discontinued under British colonialism. Evans-Pritchard (1971); Murray & Roscoe (1998); Seligman & Seligman (1932)"

===Kadar (Nigeria)===
*'''Harris, M. [http://library.lol/main/98025ADB86EEFAF62B59DF2C3CA21CC7 ''Cultural Anthropology''] (New York: Harper and Row, 1983), p. 94.'''
*:"Among the Kadar of northern Nigeria, as reported by M. G. Smith (1968),<ref>M. G. Smith (1968). 'Secondary Marriage among Kadera and Kagoro.' In ''Marriage, Family, and Residence'', Bohannan, Paul and Middleton, J., eds. pp. 109-130. Garden City, N.Y.: Published for the American Museum of Natural History by the Natural History Press.</ref> most marriages result from infant betrothals. These matches are arranged by the fathers of the bride and groom when the girl is 3 to 6 years old. Ten years or more may elapse before the bride goes to live with her betrothed. During this time, a Kadar girl is not unlikely to become pregnant. This will disturb no one, even if the biological father is a man other than her husband:
*::''Kadar set no value on premarital chastity'' (1968, p. 113)."

=== Mossi (Burkina Faso) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"All chiefs (ca. late nineteenth century) had large groups of pages, boys aged 8 to 15 chosen for attractiveness (some were thought to be quite beautiful); on Friday nights, because heterosexual intercourse was forbidden, a (W. chief would engage in sex with a boy instead (he could also on other nights). Upon reaching maturity, a boy Africa) was given a wife by the chief. Murray & Roscoe (1998); Tauxier (1912)"

=== Tsonga (Southern Mozambique) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Common practice in twentieth century among native men, used as miners by colonialists, was taking boys as wives (with wedding feast, brideprice payment); boy performed domestic, sexual duties; was given presents, money in exchange; fidelity was expected; relationships were marked by intense feelings and jealousy; marriage could be terminated in divorce; some men took boy-wives home after mining, where they were accepted by men’s other wives and tribal leaders. Asked if boys desired being wives, an elderly Tsonga man answered, “Yes: for the sake of security, for the acquisition of property and for the fun itself.” A beard indicated the boy was no longer a sex object but a competitor for boys. Murray & Roscoe (1998); Wallace (2006)"

=== Bantu-Speaking Tribes (Central Africa) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Male peer homosexual behavior was universal from puberty until age 18 or 20, and adult-youth sexual interactions were common as well. The older men disposed to form such relationships were described as bian nku’ma (having a heart for boys). In various Central Bantu groups, boy initiates resided at a sex-segregated lodge during their initiation phase and were required to manipulate the phalluses of the lodge-keeper and other adult male visitors, a practice that was seen as instrumental in helping the boys’ phalluses grow large and strong. Wallace (2006)"

=== Siwans (Libya) ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Among the Siwans of Africa, for example, all men and boys engage in anal intercourse. They adopt the feminine role only in strictly sexual situations and males are singled out as peculiar if they do not indulge in these homosexual activities. Prominent Siwan men lend their sons to each other, and they talk about their masculine love affairs as openly as they discuss their love of women."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"(Ages of boys involved 12–18) Pederasty was a well-entrenched custom from antiquity to at least 1950s; matchmakers made marriage-like ; arrangements between men and boys; the boy got a gift larger than brideprice for females; man and boy then entered into alliance with family approval; prominent men lent each other their sons for sex; love affairs and jealousies over boys were common; Robin Maugham said: “They will kill for a boy. Never for a woman.” Adam (1985); Herdt (1997)"

=== Lesotho ===
*'''Herdt, G. H. (1997). Same sex, different cultures: Exploring gay and lesbian lives. ''Westview Press.'''''
::"In another contemporary southern African culture, Lesotho, age difference was important in relationships between young women who were attached and became homoerotically bonded. These are the “mummy-baby” relationships studied by anthropologist Judith Gay (1986). [...] Young women engaged in mummy/baby relations when they first entered adolescence. These distinctive bonds involved increasing degrees of intimacy, including open expressions of kissing, and might go on to the deepest sexual and lifelong bonds, though not so far that later marriage with a man was prevented. The roles of the older women were very different from those of the younger one, especially in terms of social obligations. The older woman took on the responsible role in the relationship, and she provided her younger partner with gifts and advice. The latter was important because it prepared the young girl for future relationships with men, most significantly her future husband. A woman might continue this relationship for some time after she was married. But then she would cease seeing her younger partner, who then in turn would find a younger woman of her own."

==India==

===Muria===

*'''Elwin, V. (1947). ''[http://library.lol/main/F416733E30BB1A46214CC9AC38656FDE The Muria and their Ghotul]''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.''' [Childhood of the Muria people of Bastar, in central India, as summarized here in scholarship by [[Tom O'Carroll]] (2018)].<ref>Thomas O'Carroll (2018). [https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-018-9519-1 Childhood ‘Innocence’ is Not Ideal: Virtue Ethics and Child–Adult Sex.] ''Sexuality and Culture'', 22:1230–1262 (pp. 1254-1255).</ref>
*:"Anthropologist Verrier Elwin described the elaborate sexual apprenticeship children have, which takes place principally in a special house for the young, known as the ''ghotul''. Infants and toddlers sleep in their parents' house. There are no locked doors and these little children inevitably see something of their parents' intimacies. By the time the children are six or seven a new domestic arrangement is brought into play. The child goes of to the ghotul, a self-regulated domain with its own boy leader and girl leader. The little children are free to come and go as they please between the ghotul and the parental home. Within the ghotul the children are free to engage in sex rehearsal play. Adolescents are able to have intercourse as they choose, able to experiment with different partners and under no pressure to make a premature commitment (Elwin 1947). Elwin, who spent much of his life in India, thought the arrangement worked very well. [...] In 1982, to the surprise of the academic community, it was reported that the ghotul system was still in existence and even expanding (von Fürer-Haimendorf 1982). [...] Elwin says that in practice [girls becoming pregnant] was a rare occurrence in the ghotul, even in the absence of modern contraceptives."

=== Crow ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"A few Crow men adopt women's dress and mannerisms, and live alone. Adolescent boys and occasionally older men visit these ''bate'', as they are called. The bate stimulates the boy's genitals orally. One informant stated that there were four such men in his community and that seventeen of his adolescent friends visited them occasionally."

==The Balkans==

===Albania===

*'''Zimmerman, Ann (1994). "[https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/tell-mama-why-you-cry-part-i-6404797 'Tell Mama Why You Cry' (Part I)]," [https://web.archive.org/web/20100926211411/http://www.dallasobserver.com/1994-11-17/news/tell-mama-why-you-cry-part-i/1 (archive)], ''Dallas Observer'', November 17.'''
*:An Albanian immigrant to the US is arrested for retaining his culture: "This harsh--and irreversible--punishment came at the end of a strange case that began in 1989 when several witnesses reported seeing Krasniqi fondle his daughter during a karate tournament in a Plano high school gymnasium in which his son was competing. Several years after the family court ruling, Krasniqi finally had his day in criminal court. Collin County Judge Nathan White acquitted him of the charge of indecency with a child primarily on the strength of testimony from Massachusetts anthropologist Barbara Halpern--one of the country's foremost authorities on the peasant culture of the Balkans. Halpern explained that Sam Krasniqi's actions were done not with sexual intent, but rather with playful affection--in keeping with his culture, which cherishes children and showers them with physical affection. [...]
*: Shortly after the tournament began, Taylor's attention was drawn to the spectator in front of her. She watched as a 50-year-old man with thinning gray hair repeatedly rubbed the underpants-clad buttocks and bare legs of a little girl who was laid out across his lap. He also slipped his hand under the girl's panties and caressed and squeezed her buttocks. "He lifted her to face him and rubbed her front chest under her little dress. He then put his hand inside her panties from the leg opening and squeezed her vagina," Taylor wrote in a statement she gave police. [...]
*:Wunderlich, who did not retrun calls to the Observer, had to explain to Kathy what molestation meant. "If you mean something sexual like with me and my husband, you are wrong," Kathy responded. "It is not a sexual thing and there is no harm to my children," Kathy told Wunderlich. [...]
*:"According to Wunderlich's case notes, he admitted touching Lima and Tim, that it was acceptable in his country and it was just a big misunderstanding. "He denied it was sexual at all and said that I could kill him if he was lying and if it was sexually gratifying to him." Krasniqi has since insisted that Wunderlich misconstrued what he was telling her. At the karate tournament, Krasniqi insists he was just playing a game with his daughter--touching the parts of her body and asking her to say their names. "I tell Wunderlich, How can you love your children and not touch them?" Krasniqi explains, sitting in his home, surrounded by pictures of his children when they were younger.
*:Nowhere in Wunderlich's case notes does it indicate that anyone in her department tried to research the Krasniqis' culture. If they had they might have learned what Barbara Halpern, the anthropologist from Massachusetts, testified to in Krasniqi's criminal trial. The Krasniqis come from "very physically demonstrative culture. Children are universally adored. Until they attain school age and venture beyond the household gates, they are the constant subjects of hugs, caresses and overt displays of affection.""

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Highly romanticized pederasty still found in latter half of twentieth century [...] [Y]ounger men frequently cultivated passionate, enthusiastic erotic relations with boys (12 to 17); Muslim Albanian custom of “boy-brides” also spread to Albanian Christians. Greenberg (1988); Murray (1997, 2000); Williams (1992)"

== See also ==
*[[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History]]
*[[Pederasty in Islam]]
*[[Pederasty in Japanese culture]]
* [https://wiki.yesmap.net/wiki/Walter_L._Williams#The_Spirit_and_the_Flesh_%281986%29 The Spirit and the Flesh (1986)] - the book by Walter L. Williams with a broad section on pederasty among non-western societies
* [[Gilbert_Herdt|Gilbert Herdt]] - anthropologist who studied ritualized intergenerational homosexuality in Melanesia

==Excerpt Graphic Library==

The EGL on '''Broader Perspectives''' has some relevant information. Just right click/save and reproduce by uploading in short-form media to bypass character limits.

{{Template:EGLBP}}

==References==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Research into effects on Children]][[Category:Research: Broader Perspectives]]

Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships

2026-08-03T12:04:17Z

Thorn: /* Melanesia */

__NOTOC__{{research}}Most societies which have not been influenced by the West have less, different, or virtually no sexual taboos. It is worth mentioning that absent modern western influence, anthropologists and historians have found far more societies where [[homosexuality]] is prohibited, than societies in which [[pedosexuality]] suffers similar censure. Many encourage intergenerational sex for various reasons. Due to ongoing Westernisation and cultural imperialism, much of what is listed here may already be consigned to [[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History|history]] (see, for example, [https://web.archive.org/web/20220225124148/https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.chc.2004.02.001 Nieto (2004), for an anthropological review]).

==GUS, a world atlas: Growing Up Sexually==

The range and detail of accounts involved in this page will only serve as a brief demonstration of non-western diversity in intergenerational relationships. Many examples from anthropology involve [[Sexual rites of passage]]. If readers are seeking a broader, more detailed and integrated study, they may find [[Diederik Janssen]]'s [http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/GUS_MAIN_INDEX.HTM ''Growing Up Sexually''] ([http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/GROWINGUPSEXUALLY1.ZIP entire Vol 1] in zipped PDF) more appropriate, or ''[https://greek-love.com/ Greek Love: Pederasty throughout the ages]'', re. homosexuality.

==Americas==

===Pirahã (Brazil)===

*'''Daniel Everett (2008). [https://books.feedvu.com/fullbook/dont-sleep-there-are-snakes-life-and-language-in-the-amazonian-jungle-pdf-2.html?page=16&part=1 ''Dont Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle'']. Chapter 16 of 34.'''
*:"Relations between men and women and boys and girls, whether married or not, are always cordial and often marked by light to heavy flirting. Sexually it is the same. So long as children are not forced or hurt, there is no prohibition against their participating in sex with adults. I remember once talking to Xisaoxoi, a Pirahã man in his late thirties, when a nine- or ten-year-old girl was standing beside him. As we talked, she rubbed her hands sensually over his chest and back and rubbed his crotch area through his thin, worn nylon shorts. Both were enjoying themselves. “What’s she doing?” I asked superfluously. “Oh, she’s just playing. We play together. When she’s big she will be my wife” was his nonchalant reply—and, indeed, after the girl went through puberty, they were married."

* '''Daniel Everett (2016). ''Dark matter of the mind : the culturally articulated unconscious.'' Chapter 3'''
::"Pirahã young people begin to engage sexually, though apparently not in full intercourse, from early on. Touching and being touched seem to be common for Pirahã boys and girls from about seven years of age on. They are all sexually active by puberty, with older men and women frequently initiating younger girls and boys, respectively. There is no evidence that the children then or as adults find this pedophilia the least bit traumatic."

===Pilagá (Argentina)===

*'''Jules Henry and Zunia Henry (1944). [https://library.lol/main/2C825BAA5B73830492464813AF34FEC4 ''Doll Play of Pilagá Indian Children. An Experimental and Field Analysis of the Behavior of the Pilagá Indian Children'']. (American Orthopsychiatric Association), p. 72.'''
*:'''Note:''' The study explores the use of dolls among Pilagá children, including in a sexual context.
*:"Where children can see the adult sexual act, where sexual conversations and gestures are perfectly open, and child life is untrammeled by sexual taboos, it is reasonable to expect that the children should experiment with their sexual apparatus and attempt to imitate adult sexual behavior. This is the case among the Pilagá. Considering the extent of child knowledge about sex and the age at which this knowledge becomes articulate - 3 years - intercourse in the Pilagá household must not only be visible to the children, but carried on with little if any attempt to conceal the act from them. Absolutely no prohibition is placed on child sexual activity by the adults, so that the children are at liberty to do what they please. Under such circumstances the only limits to the child's sexual activity are his physiological capacities and the tolerance of his companions. [...] [S]ex is a strong and constant interest of Pilagá children."

=== Yucatan ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In field work, Williams (1992) found pederastic behavior still common in late twentieth century Yucatan."

=== Zapotecs (Mexico) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Boys entering puberty commonly had sexual relations with men. Source: Williams (1992)"

=== Various Indian tribes (southern Mexico) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Married men would adopt an adolescent boy, who was proud to have been chosen and saw it an honor to be the man’s lover; the boy would help the wife, her children, and the household, and would take a boy of his own when later an adult and married. Source: Ross (1991)"

==Australia==
===Tiwi===
*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
*:"The best ethnographic description of this type of [gerontocratic] marriage is by Jane Goodale (1971) in her account of the Tiwi who live on Melville Island, North Australia. Betrothals of first marriages of most females are made even before those females are concieved. In fact, such a marriage contract is made when the as-yet-to-be-concieved girl's mother commences menstruation. [...] Once the marriage contract is made, the husband-to-be, who is an adult, works with his future mother and father-in-law as a member of that family, with the expectation that when a daughter is born to them, she will be given to him as a wife. There is no fixed chronological age at which the young girl is given to her designated husband, but it occurs after she is able to take on some household and other economic responsibilities, but well before her first menstruation. For the Tiwi she is still a child, albeit and older child. When her father decides that she is mature enough, the young girl is merely taken to her husband and instructed to reside and sleep with him. This is not an abrupt change [...] for the husband has been a part of the same family camp for some time, and the young wife is still surrounded by those with whom she has always lived. Goodale describes the process:
*::''Soon after the ''alinga'' [young girl] moves to her husband's fire he begins her sexual instruction. From all accounts this appears to be a very gradual process. He begins by deflowering her with his finger, and perhaps only after a year does he have actual intercourse with her. Sexual intercourse is considered by the Tiwi to be the direct and only cause of breast formation, growth of pubic and auxillary hair, menarche, and subsequent menstrual periods. (1971, p. 45)."'' [Jane Carter Goodale (1971) Tiwi wives: a study of the women of Melville Island, North Australia]
*:"versions of this marriage were once found among many Australian Aborigine groups (Berndt & Berndt, 1951; Gale, 1970; Kaberry, 1939; Rose, 1960). From our ethnocentric [i.e. Western] perspective, one of the most notable aspects [...] is the absence of trauma". (p. 77).

*'''Jane C. Goodale (1962) "Marriage Contracts among the Tiwi." ''Ethnology'', Vol. 1, No. 4'''
::"A Tiwi male will rarely acquire a wife through any form of contract before the age of 30. A bestowed wife, one who is promised before birth and becomes a cohabiting wife before puberty, is a valuable prestige symbol, but difficult to acquire. Thus a young man will frequently start his household with the acquisition of a less valuable but more easily obtainable type of wife, i.e., a widow, often of advanced age."
::"[I]t is acknowledged by Tiwi women as an inflexible "rule" governing their first marriage before puberty to a man whom they describe as "the one who grew me up, treated me like a father, and made me a woman." "
::"[O]n the average, the promised daughter will be born ten years from the date of the contract, i.e., when both the mother and the son-in-law are about twenty years old. The young girl will not become a cohabiting wife for approximately another eight or ten years, at which time her promised husband will be at least 28 to 30 years of age. Thus an average difference of twenty years between the ages of a girl and her first husband is to be expected"

*'''Goodale, J. C. (1971). Tiwi wives: A study of the women of Melville Island, North Australia.'''
::“A man will not receive a contract for a wife of any type until he reaches the age of ten to twenty. At this age he may receive a wife who has been previously married”

=== Aranda ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Among many of the aborigines of Australia this type of coitus is a recognized custom between unmarried men and uninitiated boys. Strehlow writes of the Aranda as follows: ''"... Pederasty is a recognized custom.... Commonly a man, who is fully initiated but not yet married, takes a boy ten or twelve years old, who lives with him as a wife for several years, until the older man marries.[...]"''(Strehlow, 1915, p. 98.)"

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Typically, an unmarried [Aranda] man (late teens) would take a boy from 10 to 12 years old to be his wife and live with him for several years until he (the older partner) got married to a woman. Aside from sex, the man served as the boy’s mentor (e.g., in hunting). Sources: Strehlow (1913–15)"

=== Nambutji ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Every boy became a boy-wife to a man, who circumcised the boy and whose daughter became the boy’s wife when he reached adulthood. In the intervening time, the man and boy were homosexually involved. Source: Roheim (1945)"

==Melanesia==
Melanesian societies have normalized the consumption of semen by prepubescent/pubescent boys. This is thought to be in aid of their maturation and future status as warriors. Semen is received via oral or anal sex with an older adolescent boy or man. Relationships are said to be not only formal but often free-flowing and affectionate (for example among the Sambia of New-Guinea). There are many separate groups with distinct languages in Melanesia (about 1000). There is no evidence of institutional intergenerational sexual practice for most of them, partly due to anthropologists have often avoided studying sexuality because of their own moral constraints. Yet evidence of such practices (that vary greatly in form) has been obtained for at least 29 different Melanesian societies (with additional 19 related groups) described in the comprehensive volume ''Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia''<ref>Herdt, G. H. (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.available via [[Help:Research_Resources#Information_Freedom_Companions|option 2]]</ref> (see table 1.1, chapter 1)

::I. Eastern insular Melanesia: Fiji; New Caledonia; New Hebrides: Malekula Island.

::II. Northeastern insular Melanesia: New Britain; Duke-of-Yorks; East Bay.

::III. Western Papua: Lower Fly River: Kiwai Island, including Bugilai; Trans-Fly Delta: Keraki; Suki; Boadzi. (Related social units: Karigare, Yarne, Kaunje, Wekamara.)

::IV. Southeastern Irian Jaya: Kanum; Yéi-anim; Marind-anim; Kimam, Frederik Hendrik Island; Jaquai. (Related social units: Maklew-anim, Yab-anim, Kurkari-anim.)

::V. Northeastern Irian Jaya: Asmat; Casuarina Coast; Humboldt Bay.

::VI. Great Papuan Plateau: Bedamini; Etoro; Kaluli; Onabasalu; Gebusi, Nomad River.

::VII. Anga (Kukukuku): Sambia; Baruya; Jeghuje; Other Highlands Anga groups; Lowlands Anga groups. (Related social units: Usarumpiu, Wantukiu, Aziana, Lohiki, Kapau, Ivori, Mbwei, Yagwoia, Ampale, Langamar, Menya, Katje.)

::VIII. Northern Province: Ai’i.

History/evolution:
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The accumulating evidence indicates that we are not only confronted in these Melanesian cultures with similar cultural and ecological systems; I propose that we are also faced with an ancient ritual complex that diffused through a vast area of lowland and fringe-area Melanesia, perhaps 10,000 years ago or less. [...] Left unchecked by Western pacification or colonialization, what would the long-term evolution of these marginal populations have been? Perhaps homosexual practices might have contributed to their extinction, but we cannot be certain of this possibility: if one accepts the assumption of ancient migrations and ritual practices, these groups had flourished for generations." (pp. 48, 58-59)

::"(RH [Ritualized Homosexuality]) groups tend to use initiation as the social mechanism for recruitment to their ritual cults and to the village-based warriorhood corps as well. Survival and social reproduction of communities depend upon the warriorhood, and initiation means introduction to homosexual activity. It also brings with it adult, masculine socialization, through successive ceremonies and related achievements. Thus homosexuality is linked to what are essentially military and age-graded organizations." (p.60) (this is in line with [[Research: Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis|Evolutionary Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis]]

Often, when speaking about institutionalized intergenerational sexuality, anthropologists and publicists emphasize that there only adolescents involved in this, but they miss the fact that pedophilia is also institutionalized in many cultures (not only Melanesian):
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"An important and ignored aspect of initiation in (RH) [ritualized homosexuality] groups is that it frequently occurs before puberty, often as early as middle to late childhood (e.g., Marind-anim, Sambia, Keraki, etc.). Elsewhere I have argued that this young age is psychologically necessary for the radical resocialization [from the female wing of the society] into, and eventual sex-role dramatization expected of, adult men (Herdt 1981, 1982cf . Mead 1949; Young 1965)." (p.60)

* '''Money, J. (1990). Pedophilia: A Specific Instance of New Phylism Theory as Applied to Paraphilic Lovemaps. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions]. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_18'''
*:"The cultural tradition of pedophilia may belong not just to a small enclave of a population but also to an entire community, as in the case of various tribal peoples scattered across the Pacific in Melanesia and New Guinea (Herdt, 1984). The Sambia of the New Guinea Highlands (Herdt, 1981) are such a tribe. Their ancient customs as fierce head-hunting warriors survived European contact until after World War II. According to their folklore concerning their children, a boy could not become a warrior if he stayed living with women and children after age 8. So, he was taken into the men's longhouse to remain in the company of males only, there to be subjected to the rituals of indoctrination and initiation. As a baby, he had been nourished by woman's milk. As a juvenile, he would have to be nourished with men's milk so that his body would mature in the way that maturation occurs during puberty. It was an obligation of youths still too young to be married not to waste their semen but to have it sucked out of their penises by the prepubertal boys who, once able to ejaculate themselves, would nourish those still younger. At age 19, the age of marriage, their two-way experience of androphilic pedophilia would cease, and their lives would become heterosexual with an adult partner."
*:"The universal male/male pedophilia of the Sambia demonstrates the sexological plasticity of the human organism and the making of pedophilia into the social norm."

There are societies with girls and women participating in intergenerational sexual practices (but ritualized homosexuality is absent):
*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/NEW_GUINEAWEB.HTM Papua New Guinea]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"Berndt (1962:p91): “As babies and small children their genitalia are fondled”. Mothers caress “the fleshy parts of [the infant's] body [...] and implanting breathy kisses over and over again in the region of its genital organs” (Hogbin, 1943:p298). Genital touching by older people was also noted by among the Marind-anim (Van Baal, 1966; cf. Money and Ehrhardt, 1973 [1996:p132]). Gillison (1993:p176) describes the process of masturbating infants among the Gimi:
*::The mother insists upon continued contact, interrupting her toddler's play repeatedly to offer the breast. Masturbation [...] with a baby girl [occurs when] the mother or amau holds her hand over the vulva and shakes it vigorously. She may kiss the vagina [sic], working her way up the middle of the body to the lips and then inserting her nipple (often when the child has given no sign of discontent). With a boy, she kisses the penis, pulls at it with her fingers and takes it into her mouth to induce an erection. Several women may pass a baby boy back and forth, each one holding him over her head as she takes a turn sucking or holding the penis in her mouth. When the child then pulls at his own organ, the women, greatly amused, offer squeezes and pulls of their own."

The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea<ref>[http://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=2E76D290FDCC06180F125CAF7336B2C0 Weiner, Annette B. (1988). ''The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea.'' United States of America: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. ISBN 9780030119194]</ref> have received attention in the Western Media for sexual customs in infancy and adolescence that confuse morally conflicted Westerners:<ref>[https://medium.com/the-story-in-history/the-culture-where-children-as-young-as-six-years-are-sexualized-d7afef2d2985 The Culture Where Children as Young as Six Years are Sexualized]</ref>
:<blockquote>Popularly referred to as “The Islands of Love”, the Trobriand Islands are a 174-square-miles group of islands on the east coast of New Guinea. The people are indigenous matrilineal people with a population of 12,000. ''[...]'' In the Trobriand culture, children aren’t allowed the chance to be just children. They are groomed to lose their innocence and start acting like adults at a very young age. By the age of six, they start participating in erotic games with each other. They start engaging in seductive activities. Their little girls are expected to start looking and acting sexy to attract little boys as well as older men. Then, by the time they turn 10, they are expected to start having sexual intercourse with as many sexual partners as they will. Since they are a matrilineal culture, the Trobriand woman has the right to have as many sexual partners as she pleases. And their primitive way of dressing doesn’t make it any harder to engage in sexual intercourse at will.</blockquote>

But mostly intergenerational male homosexuality:
*'''Jan N. Bremmer (2021) [https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Man-Ancient-Greece-Rome/dp/3161590082 Becoming a Man in Ancient Greece and Rome. Essays on Myths and Rituals of Initiation.]'''(available via [[Help:Research_Resources#Information_Freedom_Companions|Option 2]])
::"This description [''see Williams' above''] is confirmed by more recent anthropological studies [See especially the many studies of [[Gilbert Herdt|G. Herdt]]] [...] the following points should be noted as important features: (1) we have here a case of pederasty, which should not be confused with modern homosexuality, as both initiators and novices normally marry afterwards; (2) the active pederasts are the novices of the previous initiation, and it may be of importance to note that it is these novices who usually play a prominent role in upholding discipline during the initiation; finally, (3) copulation, in which the novice is always the passive partner, takes place anally."

*'''Knauft, Bruce M. (1987). "Homosexuality in Melanesia," ''Journal of Psychoanalytic Anthropology'', 10, 155-91.'''
*:Melanesian boys "coquettishly initiated" homosexuality with grown men. Relationships were "grounded in personal affection rather than obligation".

=== Big Nambas (Malekula Island) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Society had rampant warfare, chiefs had near monopoly on women; father chose man to circumcise his son; this man then became boy’s “husband,” and the boy his “wife;” intercourse believed to strengthen boy’s penis; relationship was very close; boy followed the man everywhere, participating with him in daily chores; man was intensely jealous if other men took interest in the boy; if man or boy died, the other would mourn deeply; some men were so deeply homosexual in affections that they would seldom have intercourse with their wives, preferring the boy; every chief had several boy lovers. Sources: Herdt (1993); Layard (1942)"

*'''Herdt, G. H. (1997). Same sex, different cultures: Exploring gay and lesbian lives. Westview Press.'''
::"The tentative and sketchy reports of institutionalized same-gender relations between females that we do have make it difficult to give depth and meaning to the practice, such as among the famous Big Nambas society of the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu; see Deacon 1934). In that case higher-ranking women could take younger girls as sexual partners in a kind of ritualized practice that bears comparison to the male practice, but obviously without the emphasis on semen transmission."

=== East Bay Islanders ===
*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
::"[I]n a society called East Bay, where I did some ethnography of sexual behavior (Davenport 1965), formerly, there had been a pattern of male homosexuality in which some older men often took, always with consent from their fathers, nonrelated boys as relatively permanent, passive sexual partners for anal intercourse. From a cultural perspective, the boys were understood to be substitutes for females, not homosexual partners as our culture would define them. In fact, the culture of East Bay did not recognize — that is, had no cultural category for — intimate male homosexual relationships as something separate from those involving women. A boy, rather than a man, was selected, because a boy was a minor, without an independent legal status separate from his father’s, hence he could be told what to do. Women in East Bay society also were minors in this legal sense. But the crux of the matter was that the passive homosexual role was not considered to be in any way damaging to a boy’s psychosexual development. Moreover, such a close association with an elder man, who was expected to be gentle, generous, and indulgent, could have a positive effect on the boy’s development. If, however, the elder man did not fulfill these role expectations, he would find himself accused of mistreatment, that is, abusing the boy, and, therefore, in serious trouble with the boy’s father and other senior male relatives who were responsible for his well-being."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Nearly every male engaged in extensive homosex; men had sexual relations with boys (7 to 11); it was obligatory to give boy presents in return; the boys discussed these contacts freely and without shame in presence of parents, friends. Upon marriage, only a few men became exclusive heterosexuals; most continued to have sex with boys as well; only one man in the study preferred exclusively boys. Source: Davenport (1965)"

=== Keraki, Trans-Fly Delta ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Keraki bachelors of New Guinea universally practice sodomy, and in the course of his puberty rites each boy is initiated into anal intercourse by the older males. After his first year of playing the passive role he spends the rest of his bachelorhood sodomizing the newly initiated."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Keraki] All boys were sodomized for about a year, seen as essential for their development; adult informants repeatedly answered, when asked whether they submitted as boys, “Why yes! Otherwise how should I have grown?” Bachelors saw some boys as more attractive, gave them more attention; they sodomized boys until marriage, then engaged mostly in heterosex, but continued to have relations with boys on occasion. Source: Williams (1936)"

*'''Williams, F.E. (1969) Papuans of the Trans-Fly. ''Oxford'''''
::"It is actually regarded as essential to the growing boy to be sodomized.[...] In the meantime it is enough to note that every male adult in the Morehead district has in his time constantly played both parts in this perversion. The boy is initiated to it at the bull-roarer ceremony [...] When he becomes adolescent his part is reversed and he may then sodomize his juniors, the new initiates to the bull-roarer."
::"Gambadi informants describe the initial occasion more vividly. The father bids his son stoop to drink at a pool and as he does so catches him at a disadvantage. [...] It is to be noted that nowadays boys are not sodomized by their own fathers. The restriction of moiety exogamy is observed in sodomy as it is in marriage [...]"

=== Marind-anim ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"[R]itualized anal homosexual practices are institutionalized on a widespread scale throughout the entire Marind area. [...]. Homosexual anal intercourse is begun in male initiation for boys between the ages of seven and fourteen years (Van Baal 1966:143-144). Afterward, boys live in the men's clubhouse for some six years, avoiding females and regularly engaging in anal intercourse." (pp. 25-25)
::"This transition happens when the first signs of approaching puberty become apparent. He is then made an aroi-patur, literally a black boy. His body is blackened all over, and a mother's brother is appointed to act as his mentor, his binahor-iather. The meaning of the word binahor is uncertain, but it probably refers to the mentor's main function, that of being the boy's pederast who, by "feeding" the boy anally, contributes to his physical growth." (p. 132)

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Upon reaching puberty, a boy moved in with a mentor and his wife; he assisted the mentor in gardening, hunting, and other chores; their relation was sexual and lasted about seven years until boy’s later marriage; bond between them was extremely strong; the sexual contacts seemed to contribute to the strength of this bond; insemination was regarded as helpful to boy’s growth. Source: Van Baal (1966)"

=== Kimam / Kolepom papuans: ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The age at which [Kimam] boys enter the bachelor's house varies considerably in all villages, since it is dependent upon the simultaneous celebration of the final feast for a dead person. On this occasion a number of boys of varying ages, from about ten to fourteen years, are admitted. (Sometimes the boys are even younger.) [...] At his entry into the cult house, the boy is placed under the charge and guidance of a mentor who is designated as his "adoptive father." This man is supposed to have regular homosexual intercourse with the boy to make him strong with the semen that is inserted into his body through anal intercourse. In the western villages, there is no doubt that the adoptive father is mother's younger brother [...] They help each other in planting and harvesting, and they share food. A sister's son displays a conspicuous lack of respect toward his MB, even when there is a substantial difference in age. They play all sorts of pranks on each other, at which neither of them does or should get angry." (p. 300, 304)

::girls:
::"The first reports of missionaries and government officials mention the custom of "testing" sexually the marriageable [Kimam] girls. According to informants, the intention was to see whether the girls could stand the test. If they felt ill after intercourse, it was proof that they were not yet suited for marriage. It is possible that this trial took place during the promiscuous sexual intercourse of the ndambu festival.[...] When, for instance, an epidemic strikes the village and causes many deaths, as often happens, promiscuous heterosexual intercourse involving as many people as possible is organized in the village to collect large amounts of semen (probably by coitus interruptus). According to the information collected in the village of Bamol, very young girls are preferably selected for this sexual intercourse. [...] The first missionaries were in a better position to estimate the approximate age of the girls. They regularly made mention of schoolgirls who, for days on end, did not attend the mission school because they were sick after intercourse with a number of mature men. In his diary, Father Thieman (n.d.) mentions a number of girls (with names and exact age) who took part in sexual intercourse when they were no older than eight." (pp. 301, 304, 308)

=== Bedamini===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::“Bedamini, like the Marind-anim (Van Baal 1966:817), consider semen the essence of life. [...] Immature boys do not possess semen, and they can mature only through the intervention of their seniors. Behind this conception is also the assumption that weakness in males will ensue from too much association with women, in particular through sexual intercourse. Boys have been breast-fed and have spent their first years in a predominantly female sphere of influence. The solution to this dilemma is to supply the boys with semen from the age of eight to ten years. The insemination is managed orally, by having the boys manipulate and suck the penes of young unmarried men, an activity referred to as sibi. The young man who will be a boy's inseminator is selected by the boy's father, and he must belong to the opposite moiety, that is, to a group with whom the boy's clan intermarries.” (pp. 322-323)

=== Etoro ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The Etoro achieve this [semen transmission] through oral intercourse, the Kaluli through anal intercourse, and the Onabasulu through masturbation and smearing of the semen over the bodies of the initates [...] The Kaluli are traditional enemies of the Etoro, and the Etoro particularly revile them for their initiatory practices which are regarded as totally disgusting. (The feeling is probably mutual.) [...] Among the Etoro, "a youth is continually inseminated from about age ten until he reaches his early mid-twenties" (Kelly 1976:45). [...] Kaluli initiation and homosexual activities, in contrast, seem more truncated: [...] When a boy is eleven or twelve years old, he is engaged for several months in homosexual intercourse with a healthy older man chosen by his father. [...] (Schieffelin 1976:124)" (pp. 34- 35)

*'''Anitei, Stefan (2007). "[http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-to-Drink-Sperm-to-Become-a-Strong-Man-67804.shtml How to Drink Sperm to Become a Strong Man]," Softpedia, October 6.'''
*:"This power is transmitted between the members of the [Etoro] tribe by means of sex. That's why young boys, even at the age of 12, get it from the sperm of the older males. The boy gets "power" orally by a young man assigned to be his partner. Few years later, the teenager is formally involved in relationships with many male sex partners, after which he turns into an "inseminator" from an "inseminee.""

=== Kaluli ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Kaluli] From 8 to 28, males resided in sex-segregated hunting lodge; daily, boys accompanied older males on grueling hunting trips, learning essentials of the practice; at 10 or 11, a boy’s father chose for him an older male to inseminate him for months or years; some boys chose their own inseminator; insemination thought essential for growth. Men looked back on youth in hunting lodge with nostalgic excitement, zest; remembered continual hunting, growth-stimulating insemination, ritual discipline, unity of purpose, vigorous manly ethos as highlight of their lives; whole practice was one of prestige for them. Tradition ended in 1960s by colonial administration and missionaries, who policed against it. Source: Schieffelin (1982)"

===Gebusi===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Gebusi] Boys in early adolescence “coquettishly” initiated sexual relations with older, unrelated males. As with the Sambia, the belief was that insemination grew the boys into men. The sexual relations were based on personal affection rather than obligation. Sources: Herdt (1991, 1997)"

=== Sambia ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"Male development and masculinization after childhood are the responsibility of the men's secret cult and its initiation system. This cult is organized and perpetuated by the confederacy of hamlets. Boys are initiated at seven to ten years of age, when they are separated from their mothers, natal households, and younger siblings. [...] Sambia practice secret homosexual fellatio, which is taught and instituted in first-stage initiation. Boys learn to ingest semen from older youths through oral sexual contacts. First- and second-stage initiates may only serve as fellators; they are forbidden to reverse erotic roles with older partners. Third-stage pubescent bachelors and older youths thus act as fellateds, inseminating prepubescent boys. All males pass through both erotic stages, being first fellators, then fellateds: there are no exceptions since all Sambia males are initiated and pressured to engage in homosexual fellatio." (pp. 172-173)

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Sambia] Boys between 7 and 10 taken into men’s society; until age 14 fellated older bachelors up to age 25; semen viewed necessary for growth to be strong warrior; after age 25, most men stopped being semen “donors” to get married (some men continued who preferred boys); relations were not just duty for the boys, who were often complicit in arousing bachelors through bawdy enthusiasm; as boys matured, they tended to express more desire for insemination, became more aggressive in soliciting it. Sources: Herdt (1991, 1997)"

*'''Review of [[Gilbert Herdt]]'s famous fieldwork on the Sambia (by [[Walter L. Williams]] as quoted in our page on Herdt):'''
*:"Between the ages of about seven and thirteen, boys are taken from the maternal household and placed in a separate boys' house away from the village. For a period of several months to several years, depending on the culture, boys avoid all contact with females as they are prepared for manhood in elaborate initiations. It is the social duty of men to plant sperm in boys in order for them to grow. In some societies this is done by the boy performing oral sex upon the man, in others by him receiving anal intercourse, or in others by having the sperm rubbed on his body. The sexual act must always be with the boy receiving the older male's semen. To reverse roles is considered damaging to the boy's growth."

*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
*:"The best description of these patterns, by Herdt (1982, 1987) is with a people the author calls the Sambia. In brief, the pattern is as follows:
*::''Seven-to-ten-year-old Sambia boys are taken from their mothers when first initiated into the male cult, and thereafter experience the most powerful and seductive homosexual fellatio activities. For some ten to fifteen years, they engage in these practices on a daily basis, first as fellator, and then as fellated. Elders teach that semen is absolutely vital: it should be consumed daily since the creation of biological maleness and the maintenance of masculinity depend upon it. Hence, from middle childhood untul puberty, boys should perform fellatio on older youths.''

:::''Near puberty the same initiates become dominant youths. Ritual helps remake their social and erotic identity, the bachelors becoming the fellated partners for a new crop of ritual novices. ... [editor's quote extension from Herdt, G. H. (1987). "Guardians of the flutes: Idioms of masculinity" : "abundant evidence indicates that most youths also experience them as pleasurable and erotically exciting"] Yet, in spite of this formidable background, the final outcome is exclusive heterosexuality—of a particular form. Youths eventually become sexually attracted to women. At marriage (c. sixteen to twenty-five years of age), they may even act as true bisexuals, for a time. With fatherhood, however, homosexuality should cease; thereafter men should engage only in heterosexual activities. (Herdt 1987, pp. 2-3)''"

*'''Hyena, Hank (1999). "[http://web.archive.org/web/20131002090633/http://gettingit.com/article/56 Semen Warriors Of New Guinea]," Gettingit.com, September 16.'''
*:"Although many boys tremble initially ("I felt afraid... the penises were enormous," recalls Kalutuo, a Sambian from the Eastern Highlands) they all adjust quickly, because they believe semen is an elixir for manhood."

*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/NEW_GUINEAWEB.HTM Papua New Guinea]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"...the “Sambia” value male-virgin contacts (1984:p177), while “sexual partners are perceived as having more “heat” and being more exciting the younger they are. A second factor is reciprocity: the more asymmetrical the sexual partners (youth/boy), the more erotic play seems to culturally define their contact” [sic]. Against the background of an utterly phallocentric ideology on the androtrophic properties of semen, “Sambia” prepubertal boys (7-12, on average 8.5) fellate post-pubertal adolescents to ejaculation in order to grow and turn seminarchic themselves, so that they may reverse roles. The boys do not have orgasms, and might have “vicarious erotic pleasure as indicated by erections” only “near puberty” ([[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt]] and Stoller, 1990:p70-1)."

=== Yagwoia ===
*'''Herdt, G. (2003). Secrecy and cultural reality: Utopian ideologies of the New Guinea men’s house. ''Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press''.'''
::"Yagwoia men communicate two attitudes. First, the Sambia are the only group of warriors they feared sufficiently in precolonial times to undertake special alliances for raiding their territory. Second, Sambia are renowned throughout the area for continuing the “true” practice of initiations. Later I was to realize that the “truth” to which they alluded was boy-insemination, the secret masculinity the Yagwoia had long ago been required to forfeit to the native New Guinea evangelists who came to save their souls and establish a Christian order in their villages"

==Polynesia==

===Marquesas Islands===
For a range of sources on the Marquesas Islands, [[#Excerpt_Graphic_Library | see gallery below]], primarily ''Marquesan sexual behavior'' by Robert C. Suggs.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/marquesansexualb0000sugg/mode/2up Marquesan sexual behavior by Suggs, Robert C.]</ref>

*'''Martinson, Floyd M. (1973). ''[http://www.ipce.info/booksreborn/martinson/infant/InfantAndChildSexuality.html Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective]''. The Book Mark.'''
*:"Sex play was common practice from the earliest ages among the Marquesa and not only tolerated but encouraged. (Kardiner, 1939, p. 205-206). They recognized the erotic impulse in childhood and accorded it the right of free exercise. They eroticized the child by masturbating it to keep it quiet. In the case of the girls, labia were manipulated as a placebo, but also to encourage the growth of large labia, which to the Marquesans was a mark of beauty. Such activity was, no doubt, also erotically stimulating. There was social recognition of all sexual activity in childhood, and there were no restrictions against encouragement to exercise it freely; it was allocated the same place in the child's world that it occupied in the adult's."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Adolescent boys frequently had sex with each other. Married men rarely had homosex, but would when conditions prevented heterosexual intercourse; they preferred boys for this purpose, whose bodies they said were soft, like females; contacts with boys were casual, fleeting, and without stigma. Source: Suggs (1966)"

===Hawaii===
*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/HAWAII.HTM Hawaii]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"Karsch-Haack, (1901) stated that according to Richard Neuhauss, Hawai’ian “girls of 12 to 14 years are generally virgins no more and acts of impurity of father with daughter are no rarity[6] [...] For infant females in Hawai’i, “milk was squirted into her vagina, and the labia were pressed together (Diamond, 1990). The mons [veneris] was rubbed with kukui (candlenut) oil and pressed with the palm of the hand to flatten it and make it less prominent. The molding continued until the labia did not separate. This chore usually was done by the mother or by an “aunt” [...]”. The buttocks of infants, males more than females, were molded so that they became “rounded and not flat”, also clearly evolving from an aesthetic motive. A “blower” is designated for each male infant, ostensibly to prepare him for subincision of the foreskin: “the penis was blown into daily starting from birth. The blowing was said to loosen and balloon the foreskin [and] continued daily [...] until the young male was 6 or 7”, when penile subincision takes place. Diamond reports: “Individuals of both sexes were expected to initiate and participate in coitus at puberty, although sexual activity, play, instruction, and so forth occurred much earlier. For instance, as part of exploratory play, the young investigated each other’s genitals, and young males and females might masturbate each other heterosexually or homosexually. This activity occurred without adult disapproval, and it was considered to be an introduction to adulthood. Casual intercourse before adolescence was not an uncommon experience for males (Handy and Pukui, 1958) and females (Pukui, Haertig and Lee, 1972)"

*'''Milton Diamond. (2004 [1990]). [https://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/biblio/articles/2000to2004/2004-sexual-behavior-in-pre-contact-hawaii.html Sexual Behavior in Pre Contact Hawai'i: A Sexological Ethnography]. Published in: ''Revista Española del Pacifico''. 16: 37-58.'''
*:"Sex training was direct and firsthand. Young individuals learned of coitus and sex play from instruction, direct observation, and practice. As they slept in the family house (hale noa), they observed their parents having coitus. "Public privacy" among the Mangaian Islanders, as it was described by Marshall (1971, p. 108), probably is similar to the "privacy" that was found in Hawai'i and elsewhere in Polynesia: "[A Mangaian may copulate], at any age, in the single room of a hut that contains from five to fifteen family members of all ages — as have his ancestors before him. His daughter may receive and make love with each of her varied nightly suitors in the same room."
*:The young observed dogs, pigs, and other animals mating, and these activities were discussed openly with parents or other adults. Parturition was not a secret event and was well attended by the young and by adults, all of whom observed traditions that included the washing and burying of the placenta and, usually, the disposing of the umbilical cord (Pukui, Haertig and Lee, 1972, p. 16; Handy and Pukui, 1958, p. 78). The young Hawai‘ian also acquired sex education in day-by-day exposure to precepts, practices, and attitudes concerning sex. Traditionally, ... childish curiosity about sex was satisfied, with neither guilt nor shame instilled” (Pukui, Haertig, and Lee, 1972, p. 249). [...] Ellis (1782, Vol. 2, p. 153) wrote of sexual expression in Oceania: "The ladies are very lavish of their favors ... and some of their attachments seemed purely the effects of affection. They are initiated into this way of life at a very early period; we saw some, who could not be more than ten years old."
*:The time considered “right” to start coitus was not so much based on chronological age as on ability or maturity (Pukui, Haertig, and Lee, 1972, p. 78). [...] Suggs (1966) elaborated on the early sexual experiences of pubertal males with married females in their 30s and 40s in the Marquesas Islands, who “take special pains to be pleasing and patient with them ... a source of enjoyment for many Marquesan women” (p. 61). For young females of the Marquesas Islands, the first coital experience reportedly is earlier than it is for young males before menarche —and occurs unplanned with an adult male (Suggs, 1966, p. 63). [...] These adult/nonadult sexual interactions were socially approved behaviors. [...] For adults not to have given such practical education would have been unthinkable - a dereliction of duty.
*:Most important for Hawai‘ian society, the young learned of sexual humor. Among the Hawai‘ians, sex was and remains a rich source of humor and enjoyment. In everyday conversation and in song and story, it was considered to be an “art form” to speak using sexual double entendres (kaona). [...] Suggs (1966, p. 39) considered the early manifestations of infantile and childhood sexual behavior, including sexual behavior with adults, to be among the most distinguishing features of Marquesan sexual behavior. Many of the activities he described, however, are similar to activities that were present in Hawai'i and elsewhere in Oceania. Oliver (1974, pp. 458-459), for example, reported on adult/nonadult sexual behavior in Tahiti and quoted the missionary Orsmond from 1832: “In all Tahitians as well as officers who come in ships there is a cry for little girls,” and older females, when in a position to choose, preferred younger males. Marshall (1971, p. 126) described the routine early sexual encounters of young males and females in Mangaia as being with older, experienced males and females."

==Indonesia==

===Bali===
*'''Martinson, Floyd M. (1973). ''[http://www.ipce.info/booksreborn/martinson/infant/InfantAndChildSexuality.html Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective]''. The Book Mark.'''
*:"Among the Balinese, play and teasing with the genitals is common. A mother will pat her baby girl on the vulva and exclaim, "Pretty! Pretty!" (Bateson and Mead, 1942, p. 26, 32, 131). A boy's penis will be stroked and rubbed. After he has urinated, he will be dried by a flick of his penis. As he grows older, his penis will be pulled and stretched and ruffled, and he will often attempt to keep his balance when learning to walk by holding on to it. Babies are comforted and quieted by manipulating their genital organs. In fact, in Bali, a baby, especially a baby's genital, is a toy with which to play. There is much delight taken in stimulating and playing with the baby to watch him respond."

==South and Southeast Asia ==

=== Philippines ===
*'''[https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy-Claude_Burger Burger, G.C.] (Date unknown). ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20230830163437/https://youjo.love/media/8db97b489e84f14e500046445c113066d720c1e691df6cc7934220a7b565483f.pdf The Sexual Mistake of the West].'''''
*:"Enamored of travel, he went to a different country every year, and, that year, he visited the Philippines. Not wanting to stay in the capital, he had taken the bus in order to get closer to the population. He thus found himself next to a mother who had reserved only one seat for herself and her eight-year-old daughter. The child at first amused herself by running in the central aisle and approaching the other passengers, but after three hours on the way, she began to have enough. As she was becoming more and more cranky, the mother put her on her lap and asked our gentlemen from Bordeaux if it would bother him if she put her daughter’s legs on his knees, so that the little one could sleep better. He accepted, of course, when he noticed that the mother began masturbating the child, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. You can imagine him blushing, asking himself what he should do, looking all around him to see how the other passengers would react, feeling that he would be accused of complicity in incest. But all the neighbors watched with big calm smiles, as if it were obvious, and worthy of the greatest discretion. As soon as the little girl reached orgasm, she fell asleep like an angel..."

===Khumbo (Nepal)===
*'''Diemberger, H. (1993). Blood, sperm, soul and the mountain. In T. del Valle (Ed.), [https://library.lol/main/E2340CAF82B58307F2AA3CBD3D1F97C9 ''Gendered Anthropology''] (pp. 88). Routledge.'''
*:"Caili, an energetic and sensual woman, is playing with her youngest son, Migmar. I enter the house. Caili offers me a cup of barley beer and then continues to play with Migmar who does not really want to be disturbed. He drinks some milk from the breast and plays with his erect little penis. He offers it to his mother who sucks it tenderly and then continues to chat with me. Migmar is five years old."

=== Tibet ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Monasteries had a strong reputation for master-novice sexual relations, which participants viewed without shame as they made no attempt to conceal them to Westerners upon early contacts. Prince Peter (1963)"

=== Batak (Northern Sumatra) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In late childhood, boys moved into all-male houses with about a dozen other boys and young men. From puberty until marriage, homosexual behavior was prescribed and constant. Pederasty and age-equal sex were both common. Sequestering the sexes ensured girls remained virgins until marriage (premarital sex for girls was highly taboo). With outside cultural contact, the tradition began to change. Money & Ehrhardt (1972)"

=== Java ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In Ponorogo area, all-male folk dance was a major cultural institution (before 1990s); spectating men admired beauty of dancing youths; boy dancers aged 8–14, called gemblaks, often had culturally approved sex with men; interviewees who had been gemblaks all viewed the sex positively; all got married; some had long-term sexual relationships with the dance troupe directors (the Waroks). Waroks were spiritual guides, valorized by the community. Each Ponorogo village had a formalized male group for unmarried males; the group did socially constructive work for the community; heterosexual sex before marriage was disapproved, so members had sex with gemblaks; this practice was seen as benefiting the gemblaks, who got gifts, the group members, who got a sexual outlet, the community, which got good works. Under Western influence, educated Ponorogo people began seeing all this as an embarrassment (relic from an “uncivilized” past); have since worked to end the practice. Weis (1974); Williams (2011)"

==Africa==

=== Maassai (Kenya, Tanzania) ===
*'''Carles Feixa (2011). Past and present of adolescence in society: The ‘teen brain’ debate in perspective. ''Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews'', Volume 35, Issue 8'''
::"Sexual intercourse with [postpubertal] girls is admitted as long as they do not become pregnant."

=== Azande (South Sudan, Northern Congo)===
*'''Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1970). [https://sci-hub.st/10.2307/672861 Sexual Inversion among the Azande. American Anthropologist], 72(6), 1428–1434.'''
*: "It was the custom for members of bachelor companies, some of whom would always be living in barracks at court, to take boy-wives. [...] Most young men consequently married late -- well into their twenties and thirties -- and, because girls were engaged (in a legal sense married) very young, often at birth, the only way youths could obtain satisfaction from a woman was in adultery. [...] The boys performed many of the smaller services a woman performs daily for her husband [...] Also, the boywife carried his husband's shield when on a journey. It should be understood that he performed these services lest it might be thought that the relationship was entirely of a sexual nature; it will be appreciated that it had an educational side to it. With regard to the sexual side, at night the boy slept with his lover, who had intercourse with him between his thighs (Azande expressed disgust at the suggestion of anal penetration). The boys got what pleasure they could by friction of their organs on the husband's belly or groin. However, even though there was this side to the relationship, it was clear from Zande accounts that there was also the comfort of a nightly sharing of the bed with a companion."
*: "The word "boy" (kumba gude) must, it would appear, be interpreted liberally, for as far as I could judge from what I was told the lads might have been anywhere between about twelve and twenty years of age"
*: "I have pointedly used the terms "wife,""husband," and "marriage," for, as the texts will make clear, the relationship was, for so long as it lasted, a legal union on the model of a normal marriage. The warrior paid bridewealth (some five spears or more) to the parents of his boy and performed services for them as he would have done had he married their daughter; if he proved to be a good son-in-law they might later replace the son by a daughter. Also, if another man had relations with his boy he could, I was told, sue him at court for adultery."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Under polygynous system, women were scarce; warriors married boys aged 12 or older; commanders might have more than one boy-wife; man and boy addressed each other with terms such as my love and my lover; boy performed wifely duties and apprenticed for man; on reaching adulthood, the boy typically joined a military company, taking a boy-wife of his own; tradition faded when practice of military service discontinued under British colonialism. Evans-Pritchard (1971); Murray & Roscoe (1998); Seligman & Seligman (1932)"

===Kadar (Nigeria)===
*'''Harris, M. [http://library.lol/main/98025ADB86EEFAF62B59DF2C3CA21CC7 ''Cultural Anthropology''] (New York: Harper and Row, 1983), p. 94.'''
*:"Among the Kadar of northern Nigeria, as reported by M. G. Smith (1968),<ref>M. G. Smith (1968). 'Secondary Marriage among Kadera and Kagoro.' In ''Marriage, Family, and Residence'', Bohannan, Paul and Middleton, J., eds. pp. 109-130. Garden City, N.Y.: Published for the American Museum of Natural History by the Natural History Press.</ref> most marriages result from infant betrothals. These matches are arranged by the fathers of the bride and groom when the girl is 3 to 6 years old. Ten years or more may elapse before the bride goes to live with her betrothed. During this time, a Kadar girl is not unlikely to become pregnant. This will disturb no one, even if the biological father is a man other than her husband:
*::''Kadar set no value on premarital chastity'' (1968, p. 113)."

=== Mossi (Burkina Faso) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"All chiefs (ca. late nineteenth century) had large groups of pages, boys aged 8 to 15 chosen for attractiveness (some were thought to be quite beautiful); on Friday nights, because heterosexual intercourse was forbidden, a (W. chief would engage in sex with a boy instead (he could also on other nights). Upon reaching maturity, a boy Africa) was given a wife by the chief. Murray & Roscoe (1998); Tauxier (1912)"

=== Tsonga (Southern Mozambique) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Common practice in twentieth century among native men, used as miners by colonialists, was taking boys as wives (with wedding feast, brideprice payment); boy performed domestic, sexual duties; was given presents, money in exchange; fidelity was expected; relationships were marked by intense feelings and jealousy; marriage could be terminated in divorce; some men took boy-wives home after mining, where they were accepted by men’s other wives and tribal leaders. Asked if boys desired being wives, an elderly Tsonga man answered, “Yes: for the sake of security, for the acquisition of property and for the fun itself.” A beard indicated the boy was no longer a sex object but a competitor for boys. Murray & Roscoe (1998); Wallace (2006)"

=== Bantu-Speaking Tribes (Central Africa) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Male peer homosexual behavior was universal from puberty until age 18 or 20, and adult-youth sexual interactions were common as well. The older men disposed to form such relationships were described as bian nku’ma (having a heart for boys). In various Central Bantu groups, boy initiates resided at a sex-segregated lodge during their initiation phase and were required to manipulate the phalluses of the lodge-keeper and other adult male visitors, a practice that was seen as instrumental in helping the boys’ phalluses grow large and strong. Wallace (2006)"

=== Siwans (Libya) ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Among the Siwans of Africa, for example, all men and boys engage in anal intercourse. They adopt the feminine role only in strictly sexual situations and males are singled out as peculiar if they do not indulge in these homosexual activities. Prominent Siwan men lend their sons to each other, and they talk about their masculine love affairs as openly as they discuss their love of women."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"(Ages of boys involved 12–18) Pederasty was a well-entrenched custom from antiquity to at least 1950s; matchmakers made marriage-like ; arrangements between men and boys; the boy got a gift larger than brideprice for females; man and boy then entered into alliance with family approval; prominent men lent each other their sons for sex; love affairs and jealousies over boys were common; Robin Maugham said: “They will kill for a boy. Never for a woman.” Adam (1985); Herdt (1997)"

=== Lesotho ===
*'''Herdt, G. H. (1997). Same sex, different cultures: Exploring gay and lesbian lives. ''Westview Press.'''''
::"In another contemporary southern African culture, Lesotho, age difference was important in relationships between young women who were attached and became homoerotically bonded. These are the “mummy-baby” relationships studied by anthropologist Judith Gay (1986). [...] Young women engaged in mummy/baby relations when they first entered adolescence. These distinctive bonds involved increasing degrees of intimacy, including open expressions of kissing, and might go on to the deepest sexual and lifelong bonds, though not so far that later marriage with a man was prevented. The roles of the older women were very different from those of the younger one, especially in terms of social obligations. The older woman took on the responsible role in the relationship, and she provided her younger partner with gifts and advice. The latter was important because it prepared the young girl for future relationships with men, most significantly her future husband. A woman might continue this relationship for some time after she was married. But then she would cease seeing her younger partner, who then in turn would find a younger woman of her own."

==India==

===Muria===

*'''Elwin, V. (1947). ''[http://library.lol/main/F416733E30BB1A46214CC9AC38656FDE The Muria and their Ghotul]''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.''' [Childhood of the Muria people of Bastar, in central India, as summarized here in scholarship by [[Tom O'Carroll]] (2018)].<ref>Thomas O'Carroll (2018). [https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-018-9519-1 Childhood ‘Innocence’ is Not Ideal: Virtue Ethics and Child–Adult Sex.] ''Sexuality and Culture'', 22:1230–1262 (pp. 1254-1255).</ref>
*:"Anthropologist Verrier Elwin described the elaborate sexual apprenticeship children have, which takes place principally in a special house for the young, known as the ''ghotul''. Infants and toddlers sleep in their parents' house. There are no locked doors and these little children inevitably see something of their parents' intimacies. By the time the children are six or seven a new domestic arrangement is brought into play. The child goes of to the ghotul, a self-regulated domain with its own boy leader and girl leader. The little children are free to come and go as they please between the ghotul and the parental home. Within the ghotul the children are free to engage in sex rehearsal play. Adolescents are able to have intercourse as they choose, able to experiment with different partners and under no pressure to make a premature commitment (Elwin 1947). Elwin, who spent much of his life in India, thought the arrangement worked very well. [...] In 1982, to the surprise of the academic community, it was reported that the ghotul system was still in existence and even expanding (von Fürer-Haimendorf 1982). [...] Elwin says that in practice [girls becoming pregnant] was a rare occurrence in the ghotul, even in the absence of modern contraceptives."

=== Crow ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"A few Crow men adopt women's dress and mannerisms, and live alone. Adolescent boys and occasionally older men visit these ''bate'', as they are called. The bate stimulates the boy's genitals orally. One informant stated that there were four such men in his community and that seventeen of his adolescent friends visited them occasionally."

==The Balkans==

===Albania===

*'''Zimmerman, Ann (1994). "[https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/tell-mama-why-you-cry-part-i-6404797 'Tell Mama Why You Cry' (Part I)]," [https://web.archive.org/web/20100926211411/http://www.dallasobserver.com/1994-11-17/news/tell-mama-why-you-cry-part-i/1 (archive)], ''Dallas Observer'', November 17.'''
*:An Albanian immigrant to the US is arrested for retaining his culture: "This harsh--and irreversible--punishment came at the end of a strange case that began in 1989 when several witnesses reported seeing Krasniqi fondle his daughter during a karate tournament in a Plano high school gymnasium in which his son was competing. Several years after the family court ruling, Krasniqi finally had his day in criminal court. Collin County Judge Nathan White acquitted him of the charge of indecency with a child primarily on the strength of testimony from Massachusetts anthropologist Barbara Halpern--one of the country's foremost authorities on the peasant culture of the Balkans. Halpern explained that Sam Krasniqi's actions were done not with sexual intent, but rather with playful affection--in keeping with his culture, which cherishes children and showers them with physical affection. [...]
*: Shortly after the tournament began, Taylor's attention was drawn to the spectator in front of her. She watched as a 50-year-old man with thinning gray hair repeatedly rubbed the underpants-clad buttocks and bare legs of a little girl who was laid out across his lap. He also slipped his hand under the girl's panties and caressed and squeezed her buttocks. "He lifted her to face him and rubbed her front chest under her little dress. He then put his hand inside her panties from the leg opening and squeezed her vagina," Taylor wrote in a statement she gave police. [...]
*:Wunderlich, who did not retrun calls to the Observer, had to explain to Kathy what molestation meant. "If you mean something sexual like with me and my husband, you are wrong," Kathy responded. "It is not a sexual thing and there is no harm to my children," Kathy told Wunderlich. [...]
*:"According to Wunderlich's case notes, he admitted touching Lima and Tim, that it was acceptable in his country and it was just a big misunderstanding. "He denied it was sexual at all and said that I could kill him if he was lying and if it was sexually gratifying to him." Krasniqi has since insisted that Wunderlich misconstrued what he was telling her. At the karate tournament, Krasniqi insists he was just playing a game with his daughter--touching the parts of her body and asking her to say their names. "I tell Wunderlich, How can you love your children and not touch them?" Krasniqi explains, sitting in his home, surrounded by pictures of his children when they were younger.
*:Nowhere in Wunderlich's case notes does it indicate that anyone in her department tried to research the Krasniqis' culture. If they had they might have learned what Barbara Halpern, the anthropologist from Massachusetts, testified to in Krasniqi's criminal trial. The Krasniqis come from "very physically demonstrative culture. Children are universally adored. Until they attain school age and venture beyond the household gates, they are the constant subjects of hugs, caresses and overt displays of affection.""

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Highly romanticized pederasty still found in latter half of twentieth century [...] [Y]ounger men frequently cultivated passionate, enthusiastic erotic relations with boys (12 to 17); Muslim Albanian custom of “boy-brides” also spread to Albanian Christians. Greenberg (1988); Murray (1997, 2000); Williams (1992)"

== See also ==
*[[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History]]
*[[Pederasty in Islam]]
*[[Pederasty in Japanese culture]]
* [https://wiki.yesmap.net/wiki/Walter_L._Williams#The_Spirit_and_the_Flesh_%281986%29 The Spirit and the Flesh (1986)] - the book by Walter L. Williams with a broad section on pederasty among non-western societies
* [[Gilbert_Herdt|Gilbert Herdt]] - anthropologist who studied ritualized intergenerational homosexuality in Melanesia

==Excerpt Graphic Library==

The EGL on '''Broader Perspectives''' has some relevant information. Just right click/save and reproduce by uploading in short-form media to bypass character limits.

{{Template:EGLBP}}

==References==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Research into effects on Children]][[Category:Research: Broader Perspectives]]

Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships

2026-07-31T20:43:18Z

Thorn: /* Big Nambas (Malekula Island) */

__NOTOC__{{research}}Most societies which have not been influenced by the West have less, different, or virtually no sexual taboos. It is worth mentioning that absent modern western influence, anthropologists and historians have found far more societies where [[homosexuality]] is prohibited, than societies in which [[pedosexuality]] suffers similar censure. Many encourage intergenerational sex for various reasons. Due to ongoing Westernisation and cultural imperialism, much of what is listed here may already be consigned to [[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History|history]] (see, for example, [https://web.archive.org/web/20220225124148/https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.chc.2004.02.001 Nieto (2004), for an anthropological review]).

==GUS, a world atlas: Growing Up Sexually==

The range and detail of accounts involved in this page will only serve as a brief demonstration of non-western diversity in intergenerational relationships. Many examples from anthropology involve [[Sexual rites of passage]]. If readers are seeking a broader, more detailed and integrated study, they may find [[Diederik Janssen]]'s [http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/GUS_MAIN_INDEX.HTM ''Growing Up Sexually''] ([http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/GROWINGUPSEXUALLY1.ZIP entire Vol 1] in zipped PDF) more appropriate, or ''[https://greek-love.com/ Greek Love: Pederasty throughout the ages]'', re. homosexuality.

==Americas==

===Pirahã (Brazil)===

*'''Daniel Everett (2008). [https://books.feedvu.com/fullbook/dont-sleep-there-are-snakes-life-and-language-in-the-amazonian-jungle-pdf-2.html?page=16&part=1 ''Dont Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle'']. Chapter 16 of 34.'''
*:"Relations between men and women and boys and girls, whether married or not, are always cordial and often marked by light to heavy flirting. Sexually it is the same. So long as children are not forced or hurt, there is no prohibition against their participating in sex with adults. I remember once talking to Xisaoxoi, a Pirahã man in his late thirties, when a nine- or ten-year-old girl was standing beside him. As we talked, she rubbed her hands sensually over his chest and back and rubbed his crotch area through his thin, worn nylon shorts. Both were enjoying themselves. “What’s she doing?” I asked superfluously. “Oh, she’s just playing. We play together. When she’s big she will be my wife” was his nonchalant reply—and, indeed, after the girl went through puberty, they were married."

* '''Daniel Everett (2016). ''Dark matter of the mind : the culturally articulated unconscious.'' Chapter 3'''
::"Pirahã young people begin to engage sexually, though apparently not in full intercourse, from early on. Touching and being touched seem to be common for Pirahã boys and girls from about seven years of age on. They are all sexually active by puberty, with older men and women frequently initiating younger girls and boys, respectively. There is no evidence that the children then or as adults find this pedophilia the least bit traumatic."

===Pilagá (Argentina)===

*'''Jules Henry and Zunia Henry (1944). [https://library.lol/main/2C825BAA5B73830492464813AF34FEC4 ''Doll Play of Pilagá Indian Children. An Experimental and Field Analysis of the Behavior of the Pilagá Indian Children'']. (American Orthopsychiatric Association), p. 72.'''
*:'''Note:''' The study explores the use of dolls among Pilagá children, including in a sexual context.
*:"Where children can see the adult sexual act, where sexual conversations and gestures are perfectly open, and child life is untrammeled by sexual taboos, it is reasonable to expect that the children should experiment with their sexual apparatus and attempt to imitate adult sexual behavior. This is the case among the Pilagá. Considering the extent of child knowledge about sex and the age at which this knowledge becomes articulate - 3 years - intercourse in the Pilagá household must not only be visible to the children, but carried on with little if any attempt to conceal the act from them. Absolutely no prohibition is placed on child sexual activity by the adults, so that the children are at liberty to do what they please. Under such circumstances the only limits to the child's sexual activity are his physiological capacities and the tolerance of his companions. [...] [S]ex is a strong and constant interest of Pilagá children."

=== Yucatan ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In field work, Williams (1992) found pederastic behavior still common in late twentieth century Yucatan."

=== Zapotecs (Mexico) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Boys entering puberty commonly had sexual relations with men. Source: Williams (1992)"

=== Various Indian tribes (southern Mexico) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Married men would adopt an adolescent boy, who was proud to have been chosen and saw it an honor to be the man’s lover; the boy would help the wife, her children, and the household, and would take a boy of his own when later an adult and married. Source: Ross (1991)"

==Australia==
===Tiwi===
*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
*:"The best ethnographic description of this type of [gerontocratic] marriage is by Jane Goodale (1971) in her account of the Tiwi who live on Melville Island, North Australia. Betrothals of first marriages of most females are made even before those females are concieved. In fact, such a marriage contract is made when the as-yet-to-be-concieved girl's mother commences menstruation. [...] Once the marriage contract is made, the husband-to-be, who is an adult, works with his future mother and father-in-law as a member of that family, with the expectation that when a daughter is born to them, she will be given to him as a wife. There is no fixed chronological age at which the young girl is given to her designated husband, but it occurs after she is able to take on some household and other economic responsibilities, but well before her first menstruation. For the Tiwi she is still a child, albeit and older child. When her father decides that she is mature enough, the young girl is merely taken to her husband and instructed to reside and sleep with him. This is not an abrupt change [...] for the husband has been a part of the same family camp for some time, and the young wife is still surrounded by those with whom she has always lived. Goodale describes the process:
*::''Soon after the ''alinga'' [young girl] moves to her husband's fire he begins her sexual instruction. From all accounts this appears to be a very gradual process. He begins by deflowering her with his finger, and perhaps only after a year does he have actual intercourse with her. Sexual intercourse is considered by the Tiwi to be the direct and only cause of breast formation, growth of pubic and auxillary hair, menarche, and subsequent menstrual periods. (1971, p. 45)."'' [Jane Carter Goodale (1971) Tiwi wives: a study of the women of Melville Island, North Australia]
*:"versions of this marriage were once found among many Australian Aborigine groups (Berndt & Berndt, 1951; Gale, 1970; Kaberry, 1939; Rose, 1960). From our ethnocentric [i.e. Western] perspective, one of the most notable aspects [...] is the absence of trauma". (p. 77).

*'''Jane C. Goodale (1962) "Marriage Contracts among the Tiwi." ''Ethnology'', Vol. 1, No. 4'''
::"A Tiwi male will rarely acquire a wife through any form of contract before the age of 30. A bestowed wife, one who is promised before birth and becomes a cohabiting wife before puberty, is a valuable prestige symbol, but difficult to acquire. Thus a young man will frequently start his household with the acquisition of a less valuable but more easily obtainable type of wife, i.e., a widow, often of advanced age."
::"[I]t is acknowledged by Tiwi women as an inflexible "rule" governing their first marriage before puberty to a man whom they describe as "the one who grew me up, treated me like a father, and made me a woman." "
::"[O]n the average, the promised daughter will be born ten years from the date of the contract, i.e., when both the mother and the son-in-law are about twenty years old. The young girl will not become a cohabiting wife for approximately another eight or ten years, at which time her promised husband will be at least 28 to 30 years of age. Thus an average difference of twenty years between the ages of a girl and her first husband is to be expected"

*'''Goodale, J. C. (1971). Tiwi wives: A study of the women of Melville Island, North Australia.'''
::“A man will not receive a contract for a wife of any type until he reaches the age of ten to twenty. At this age he may receive a wife who has been previously married”

=== Aranda ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Among many of the aborigines of Australia this type of coitus is a recognized custom between unmarried men and uninitiated boys. Strehlow writes of the Aranda as follows: ''"... Pederasty is a recognized custom.... Commonly a man, who is fully initiated but not yet married, takes a boy ten or twelve years old, who lives with him as a wife for several years, until the older man marries.[...]"''(Strehlow, 1915, p. 98.)"

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Typically, an unmarried [Aranda] man (late teens) would take a boy from 10 to 12 years old to be his wife and live with him for several years until he (the older partner) got married to a woman. Aside from sex, the man served as the boy’s mentor (e.g., in hunting). Sources: Strehlow (1913–15)"

=== Nambutji ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Every boy became a boy-wife to a man, who circumcised the boy and whose daughter became the boy’s wife when he reached adulthood. In the intervening time, the man and boy were homosexually involved. Source: Roheim (1945)"

==Melanesia==
Melanesian societies have normalized the consumption of semen by prepubescent/pubescent boys. This is thought to be in aid of their maturation and future status as warriors. Semen is received via oral or anal sex with an older adolescent boy or man. Relationships are said to be not only formal but often free-flowing and affectionate (for example among the Sambia of New-Guinea). There are many separate groups with distinct languages in Melanesia (about 1000). There is no evidence of institutional intergenerational sexual practice for most of them, partly due to anthropologists have often avoided studying sexuality because of their own moral constraints. Yet evidence of such practices (that vary greatly in form) has been obtained for at least 29 different Melanesian societies (with additional 19 related groups) described in the comprehensive volume ''Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia''<ref>Herdt, G. H. (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.available via [[Help:Research_Resources#Information_Freedom_Companions|option 2]]</ref> (see table 1.1, chapter 1)

::I. Eastern insular Melanesia: Fiji; New Caledonia; New Hebrides: Malekula Island.

::II. Northeastern insular Melanesia: New Britain; Duke-of-Yorks; East Bay.

::III. Western Papua: Lower Fly River: Kiwai Island, including Bugilai; Trans-Fly Delta: Keraki; Suki; Boadzi. (Related social units: Karigare, Yarne, Kaunje, Wekamara.)

::IV. Southeastern Irian Jaya: Kanum; Yéi-anim; Marind-anim; Kimam, Frederik Hendrik Island; Jaquai. (Related social units: Maklew-anim, Yab-anim, Kurkari-anim.)

::V. Northeastern Irian Jaya: Asmat; Casuarina Coast; Humboldt Bay.

::VI. Great Papuan Plateau: Bedamini; Etoro; Kaluli; Onabasalu; Gebusi, Nomad River.

::VII. Anga (Kukukuku): Sambia; Baruya; Jeghuje; Other Highlands Anga groups; Lowlands Anga groups. (Related social units: Usarumpiu, Wantukiu, Aziana, Lohiki, Kapau, Ivori, Mbwei, Yagwoia, Ampale, Langamar, Menya, Katje.)

::VIII. Northern Province: Ai’i.

History/evolution:
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The accumulating evidence indicates that we are not only confronted in these Melanesian cultures with similar cultural and ecological systems; I propose that we are also faced with an ancient ritual complex that diffused through a vast area of lowland and fringe-area Melanesia, perhaps 10,000 years ago or less. [...] Left unchecked by Western pacification or colonialization, what would the long-term evolution of these marginal populations have been? Perhaps homosexual practices might have contributed to their extinction, but we cannot be certain of this possibility: if one accepts the assumption of ancient migrations and ritual practices, these groups had flourished for generations." (pp. 48, 58-59)

::"(RH [Ritualized Homosexuality]) groups tend to use initiation as the social mechanism for recruitment to their ritual cults and to the village-based warriorhood corps as well. Survival and social reproduction of communities depend upon the warriorhood, and initiation means introduction to homosexual activity. It also brings with it adult, masculine socialization, through successive ceremonies and related achievements. Thus homosexuality is linked to what are essentially military and age-graded organizations." (p.60) (this is in line with [[Research: Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis|Evolutionary Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis]]

Often, when speaking about institutionalized intergenerational sexuality, anthropologists and publicists emphasize that there only adolescents involved in this, but they miss the fact that pedophilia is also institutionalized in many cultures (not only Melanesian):
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"An important and ignored aspect of initiation in (RH) [ritualized homosexuality] groups is that it frequently occurs before puberty, often as early as middle to late childhood (e.g., Marind-anim, Sambia, Keraki, etc.). Elsewhere I have argued that this young age is psychologically necessary for the radical resocialization [from the female wing of the society] into, and eventual sex-role dramatization expected of, adult men (Herdt 1981, 1982cf . Mead 1949; Young 1965)." (p.60)

* '''Money, J. (1990). Pedophilia: A Specific Instance of New Phylism Theory as Applied to Paraphilic Lovemaps. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions]. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_18'''
*:"The cultural tradition of pedophilia may belong not just to a small enclave of a population but also to an entire community, as in the case of various tribal peoples scattered across the Pacific in Melanesia and New Guinea (Herdt, 1984). The Sambia of the New Guinea Highlands (Herdt, 1981) are such a tribe. Their ancient customs as fierce head-hunting warriors survived European contact until after World War II. According to their folklore concerning their children, a boy could not become a warrior if he stayed living with women and children after age 8. So, he was taken into the men's longhouse to remain in the company of males only, there to be subjected to the rituals of indoctrination and initiation. As a baby, he had been nourished by woman's milk. As a juvenile, he would have to be nourished with men's milk so that his body would mature in the way that maturation occurs during puberty. It was an obligation of youths still too young to be married not to waste their semen but to have it sucked out of their penises by the prepubertal boys who, once able to ejaculate themselves, would nourish those still younger. At age 19, the age of marriage, their two-way experience of androphilic pedophilia would cease, and their lives would become heterosexual with an adult partner."
*:"The universal male/male pedophilia of the Sambia demonstrates the sexological plasticity of the human organism and the making of pedophilia into the social norm."

There are societies with girls and women participating in intergenerational sexual practices (but ritualized homosexuality is absent):
*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/NEW_GUINEAWEB.HTM Papua New Guinea]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"Berndt (1962:p91): “As babies and small children their genitalia are fondled”. Mothers caress “the fleshy parts of [the infant's] body [...] and implanting breathy kisses over and over again in the region of its genital organs” (Hogbin, 1943:p298). Genital touching by older people was also noted by among the Marind-anim (Van Baal, 1966; cf. Money and Ehrhardt, 1973 [1996:p132]). Gillison (1993:p176) describes the process of masturbating infants among the Gimi:
*::The mother insists upon continued contact, interrupting her toddler's play repeatedly to offer the breast. Masturbation [...] with a baby girl [occurs when] the mother or amau holds her hand over the vulva and shakes it vigorously. She may kiss the vagina [sic], working her way up the middle of the body to the lips and then inserting her nipple (often when the child has given no sign of discontent). With a boy, she kisses the penis, pulls at it with her fingers and takes it into her mouth to induce an erection. Several women may pass a baby boy back and forth, each one holding him over her head as she takes a turn sucking or holding the penis in her mouth. When the child then pulls at his own organ, the women, greatly amused, offer squeezes and pulls of their own."

The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea<ref>[http://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=2E76D290FDCC06180F125CAF7336B2C0 Weiner, Annette B. (1988). ''The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea.'' United States of America: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. ISBN 9780030119194]</ref> have received attention in the Western Media for sexual customs in infancy and adolescence that confuse morally conflicted Westerners:<ref>[https://medium.com/the-story-in-history/the-culture-where-children-as-young-as-six-years-are-sexualized-d7afef2d2985 The Culture Where Children as Young as Six Years are Sexualized]</ref>
:<blockquote>Popularly referred to as “The Islands of Love”, the Trobriand Islands are a 174-square-miles group of islands on the east coast of New Guinea. The people are indigenous matrilineal people with a population of 12,000. ''[...]'' In the Trobriand culture, children aren’t allowed the chance to be just children. They are groomed to lose their innocence and start acting like adults at a very young age. By the age of six, they start participating in erotic games with each other. They start engaging in seductive activities. Their little girls are expected to start looking and acting sexy to attract little boys as well as older men. Then, by the time they turn 10, they are expected to start having sexual intercourse with as many sexual partners as they will. Since they are a matrilineal culture, the Trobriand woman has the right to have as many sexual partners as she pleases. And their primitive way of dressing doesn’t make it any harder to engage in sexual intercourse at will.</blockquote>

But mostly intergenerational male homosexuality:
*'''Jan N. Bremmer (2021) [https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Man-Ancient-Greece-Rome/dp/3161590082 Becoming a Man in Ancient Greece and Rome. Essays on Myths and Rituals of Initiation.]'''(available via [[Help:Research_Resources#Information_Freedom_Companions|Option 2]])
::"This description [''see Williams' above''] is confirmed by more recent anthropological studies [See especially the many studies of [[Gilbert Herdt|G. Herdt]]] [...] the following points should be noted as important features: (1) we have here a case of pederasty, which should not be confused with modern homosexuality, as both initiators and novices normally marry afterwards; (2) the active pederasts are the novices of the previous initiation, and it may be of importance to note that it is these novices who usually play a prominent role in upholding discipline during the initiation; finally, (3) copulation, in which the novice is always the passive partner, takes place anally."

*'''Knauft, Bruce M. (1987). "Homosexuality in Melanesia," ''Journal of Psychoanalytic Anthropology'', 10, 155-91.'''
*:Melanesian boys "coquettishly initiated" homosexuality with grown men. Relationships were "grounded in personal affection rather than obligation".

=== Big Nambas (Malekula Island) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Society had rampant warfare, chiefs had near monopoly on women; father chose man to circumcise his son; this man then became boy’s “husband,” and the boy his “wife;” intercourse believed to strengthen boy’s penis; relationship was very close; boy followed the man everywhere, participating with him in daily chores; man was intensely jealous if other men took interest in the boy; if man or boy died, the other would mourn deeply; some men were so deeply homosexual in affections that they would seldom have intercourse with their wives, preferring the boy; every chief had several boy lovers. Sources: Herdt (1993); Layard (1942)"

*'''Herdt, G. H. (1997). Same sex, different cultures: Exploring gay and lesbian lives. Westview Press.'''
::"The tentative and sketchy reports of institutionalized same-gender relations between females that we do have make it difficult to give depth and meaning to the practice, such as among the famous Big Nambas society of the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu; see Deacon 1934). In that case higher-ranking women could take younger girls as sexual partners in a kind of ritualized practice that bears comparison to the male practice, but obviously without the emphasis on semen transmission."

=== East Bay Islanders ===
*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
::"[I]n a society called East Bay, where I did some ethnography of sexual behavior (Davenport 1965), formerly, there had been a pattern of male homosexuality in which some older men often took, always with consent from their fathers, nonrelated boys as relatively permanent, passive sexual partners for anal intercourse. From a cultural perspective, the boys were understood to be substitutes for females, not homosexual partners as our culture would define them. In fact, the culture of East Bay did not recognize — that is, had no cultural category for — intimate male homosexual relationships as something separate from those involving women. A boy, rather than a man, was selected, because a boy was a minor, without an independent legal status separate from his father’s, hence he could be told what to do. Women in East Bay society also were minors in this legal sense. But the crux of the matter was that the passive homosexual role was not considered to be in any way damaging to a boy’s psychosexual development. Moreover, such a close association with an elder man, who was expected to be gentle, generous, and indulgent, could have a positive effect on the boy’s development. If, however, the elder man did not fulfill these role expectations, he would find himself accused of mistreatment, that is, abusing the boy, and, therefore, in serious trouble with the boy’s father and other senior male relatives who were responsible for his well-being."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Nearly every male engaged in extensive homosex; men had sexual relations with boys (7 to 11); it was obligatory to give boy presents in return; the boys discussed these contacts freely and without shame in presence of parents, friends. Upon marriage, only a few men became exclusive heterosexuals; most continued to have sex with boys as well; only one man in the study preferred exclusively boys. Source: Davenport (1965)"

=== Keraki, Trans-Fly Delta ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Keraki bachelors of New Guinea universally practice sodomy, and in the course of his puberty rites each boy is initiated into anal intercourse by the older males. After his first year of playing the passive role he spends the rest of his bachelorhood sodomizing the newly initiated."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Keraki] All boys were sodomized for about a year, seen as essential for their development; adult informants repeatedly answered, when asked whether they submitted as boys, “Why yes! Otherwise how should I have grown?” Bachelors saw some boys as more attractive, gave them more attention; they sodomized boys until marriage, then engaged mostly in heterosex, but continued to have relations with boys on occasion. Source: Williams (1936)"

*'''Williams, F.E. (1969) Papuans of the Trans-Fly. ''Oxford'''''
::"It is actually regarded as essential to the growing boy to be sodomized.[...] In the meantime it is enough to note that every male adult in the Morehead district has in his time constantly played both parts in this perversion. The boy is initiated to it at the bull-roarer ceremony [...] When he becomes adolescent his part is reversed and he may then sodomize his juniors, the new initiates to the bull-roarer."
::"Gambadi informants describe the initial occasion more vividly. The father bids his son stoop to drink at a pool and as he does so catches him at a disadvantage. [...] It is to be noted that nowadays boys are not sodomized by their own fathers. The restriction of moiety exogamy is observed in sodomy as it is in marriage [...]"

=== Marind-anim ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"[R]itualized anal homosexual practices are institutionalized on a widespread scale throughout the entire Marind area. [...]. Homosexual anal intercourse is begun in male initiation for boys between the ages of seven and fourteen years (Van Baal 1966:143-144). Afterward, boys live in the men's clubhouse for some six years, avoiding females and regularly engaging in anal intercourse." (pp. 25-25)
::"This transition happens when the first signs of approaching puberty become apparent. He is then made an aroi-patur, literally a black boy. His body is blackened all over, and a mother's brother is appointed to act as his mentor, his binahor-iather. The meaning of the word binahor is uncertain, but it probably refers to the mentor's main function, that of being the boy's pederast who, by "feeding" the boy anally, contributes to his physical growth." (p. 132)

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Upon reaching puberty, a boy moved in with a mentor and his wife; he assisted the mentor in gardening, hunting, and other chores; their relation was sexual and lasted about seven years until boy’s later marriage; bond between them was extremely strong; the sexual contacts seemed to contribute to the strength of this bond; insemination was regarded as helpful to boy’s growth. Source: Van Baal (1966)"

=== Kimam / Kolepom papuans: ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The age at which [Kimam] boys enter the bachelor's house varies considerably in all villages, since it is dependent upon the simultaneous celebration of the final feast for a dead person. On this occasion a number of boys of varying ages, from about ten to fourteen years, are admitted. (Sometimes the boys are even younger.) [...] At his entry into the cult house, the boy is placed under the charge and guidance of a mentor who is designated as his "adoptive father." This man is supposed to have regular homosexual intercourse with the boy to make him strong with the semen that is inserted into his body through anal intercourse. In the western villages, there is no doubt that the adoptive father is mother's younger brother [...] They help each other in planting and harvesting, and they share food. A sister's son displays a conspicuous lack of respect toward his MB, even when there is a substantial difference in age. They play all sorts of pranks on each other, at which neither of them does or should get angry." (p. 300, 304)

::girls:
::"The first reports of missionaries and government officials mention the custom of "testing" sexually the marriageable [Kimam] girls. According to informants, the intention was to see whether the girls could stand the test. If they felt ill after intercourse, it was proof that they were not yet suited for marriage. It is possible that this trial took place during the promiscuous sexual intercourse of the ndambu festival.[...] When, for instance, an epidemic strikes the village and causes many deaths, as often happens, promiscuous heterosexual intercourse involving as many people as possible is organized in the village to collect large amounts of semen (probably by coitus interruptus). According to the information collected in the village of Bamol, very young girls are preferably selected for this sexual intercourse. [...] The first missionaries were in a better position to estimate the approximate age of the girls. They regularly made mention of schoolgirls who, for days on end, did not attend the mission school because they were sick after intercourse with a number of mature men. In his diary, Father Thieman (n.d.) mentions a number of girls (with names and exact age) who took part in sexual intercourse when they were no older than eight." (pp. 301, 304, 308)

=== Bedamini===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::“Bedamini, like the Marind-anim (Van Baal 1966:817), consider semen the essence of life. [...] Immature boys do not possess semen, and they can mature only through the intervention of their seniors. Behind this conception is also the assumption that weakness in males will ensue from too much association with women, in particular through sexual intercourse. Boys have been breast-fed and have spent their first years in a predominantly female sphere of influence. The solution to this dilemma is to supply the boys with semen from the age of eight to ten years. The insemination is managed orally, by having the boys manipulate and suck the penes of young unmarried men, an activity referred to as sibi. The young man who will be a boy's inseminator is selected by the boy's father, and he must belong to the opposite moiety, that is, to a group with whom the boy's clan intermarries.” (pp. 322-323)

=== Etoro ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The Etoro achieve this [semen transmission] through oral intercourse, the Kaluli through anal intercourse, and the Onabasulu through masturbation and smearing of the semen over the bodies of the initates [...] The Kaluli are traditional enemies of the Etoro, and the Etoro particularly revile them for their initiatory practices which are regarded as totally disgusting. (The feeling is probably mutual.) [...] Among the Etoro, "a youth is continually inseminated from about age ten until he reaches his early mid-twenties" (Kelly 1976:45). [...] Kaluli initiation and homosexual activities, in contrast, seem more truncated: [...] When a boy is eleven or twelve years old, he is engaged for several months in homosexual intercourse with a healthy older man chosen by his father. [...] (Schieffelin 1976:124)" (pp. 34- 35)

*'''Anitei, Stefan (2007). "[http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-to-Drink-Sperm-to-Become-a-Strong-Man-67804.shtml How to Drink Sperm to Become a Strong Man]," Softpedia, October 6.'''
*:"This power is transmitted between the members of the [Etoro] tribe by means of sex. That's why young boys, even at the age of 12, get it from the sperm of the older males. The boy gets "power" orally by a young man assigned to be his partner. Few years later, the teenager is formally involved in relationships with many male sex partners, after which he turns into an "inseminator" from an "inseminee.""

=== Kaluli ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Kaluli] From 8 to 28, males resided in sex-segregated hunting lodge; daily, boys accompanied older males on grueling hunting trips, learning essentials of the practice; at 10 or 11, a boy’s father chose for him an older male to inseminate him for months or years; some boys chose their own inseminator; insemination thought essential for growth. Men looked back on youth in hunting lodge with nostalgic excitement, zest; remembered continual hunting, growth-stimulating insemination, ritual discipline, unity of purpose, vigorous manly ethos as highlight of their lives; whole practice was one of prestige for them. Tradition ended in 1960s by colonial administration and missionaries, who policed against it. Source: Schieffelin (1982)"

===Gebusi===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Gebusi] Boys in early adolescence “coquettishly” initiated sexual relations with older, unrelated males. As with the Sambia, the belief was that insemination grew the boys into men. The sexual relations were based on personal affection rather than obligation. Sources: Herdt (1991, 1997)"

=== Sambia ===

*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"Male development and masculinization after childhood are the responsibility of the men's secret cult and its initiation system. This cult is organized and perpetuated by the confederacy of hamlets. Boys are initiated at seven to ten years of age, when they are separated from their mothers, natal households, and younger siblings. [...] Sambia practice secret homosexual fellatio, which is taught and instituted in first-stage initiation. Boys learn to ingest semen from older youths through oral sexual contacts. First- and second-stage initiates may only serve as fellators; they are forbidden to reverse erotic roles with older partners. Third-stage pubescent bachelors and older youths thus act as fellateds, inseminating prepubescent boys. All males pass through both erotic stages, being first fellators, then fellateds: there are no exceptions since all Sambia males are initiated and pressured to engage in homosexual fellatio." (pp. 172-173)

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Sambia] Boys between 7 and 10 taken into men’s society; until age 14 fellated older bachelors up to age 25; semen viewed necessary for growth to be strong warrior; after age 25, most men stopped being semen “donors” to get married (some men continued who preferred boys); relations were not just duty for the boys, who were often complicit in arousing bachelors through bawdy enthusiasm; as boys matured, they tended to express more desire for insemination, became more aggressive in soliciting it. Sources: Herdt (1991, 1997)"

*'''Review of [[Gilbert Herdt]]'s famous fieldwork on the Sambia (by [[Walter L. Williams]] as quoted in our page on Herdt):'''
*:"Between the ages of about seven and thirteen, boys are taken from the maternal household and placed in a separate boys' house away from the village. For a period of several months to several years, depending on the culture, boys avoid all contact with females as they are prepared for manhood in elaborate initiations. It is the social duty of men to plant sperm in boys in order for them to grow. In some societies this is done by the boy performing oral sex upon the man, in others by him receiving anal intercourse, or in others by having the sperm rubbed on his body. The sexual act must always be with the boy receiving the older male's semen. To reverse roles is considered damaging to the boy's growth."

*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
*:"The best description of these patterns, by Herdt (1982, 1987) is with a people the author calls the Sambia. In brief, the pattern is as follows:
*::''Seven-to-ten-year-old Sambia boys are taken from their mothers when first initiated into the male cult, and thereafter experience the most powerful and seductive homosexual fellatio activities. For some ten to fifteen years, they engage in these practices on a daily basis, first as fellator, and then as fellated. Elders teach that semen is absolutely vital: it should be consumed daily since the creation of biological maleness and the maintenance of masculinity depend upon it. Hence, from middle childhood untul puberty, boys should perform fellatio on older youths.''

:::''Near puberty the same initiates become dominant youths. Ritual helps remake their social and erotic identity, the bachelors becoming the fellated partners for a new crop of ritual novices. ... [editor's quote extension from Herdt, G. H. (1987). "Guardians of the flutes: Idioms of masculinity" : "abundant evidence indicates that most youths also experience them as pleasurable and erotically exciting"] Yet, in spite of this formidable background, the final outcome is exclusive heterosexuality—of a particular form. Youths eventually become sexually attracted to women. At marriage (c. sixteen to twenty-five years of age), they may even act as true bisexuals, for a time. With fatherhood, however, homosexuality should cease; thereafter men should engage only in heterosexual activities. (Herdt 1987, pp. 2-3)''"

*'''Hyena, Hank (1999). "[http://web.archive.org/web/20131002090633/http://gettingit.com/article/56 Semen Warriors Of New Guinea]," Gettingit.com, September 16.'''
*:"Although many boys tremble initially ("I felt afraid... the penises were enormous," recalls Kalutuo, a Sambian from the Eastern Highlands) they all adjust quickly, because they believe semen is an elixir for manhood."

*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/NEW_GUINEAWEB.HTM Papua New Guinea]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"...the “Sambia” value male-virgin contacts (1984:p177), while “sexual partners are perceived as having more “heat” and being more exciting the younger they are. A second factor is reciprocity: the more asymmetrical the sexual partners (youth/boy), the more erotic play seems to culturally define their contact” [sic]. Against the background of an utterly phallocentric ideology on the androtrophic properties of semen, “Sambia” prepubertal boys (7-12, on average 8.5) fellate post-pubertal adolescents to ejaculation in order to grow and turn seminarchic themselves, so that they may reverse roles. The boys do not have orgasms, and might have “vicarious erotic pleasure as indicated by erections” only “near puberty” ([[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt]] and Stoller, 1990:p70-1)."

==Polynesia==

===Marquesas Islands===
For a range of sources on the Marquesas Islands, [[#Excerpt_Graphic_Library | see gallery below]], primarily ''Marquesan sexual behavior'' by Robert C. Suggs.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/marquesansexualb0000sugg/mode/2up Marquesan sexual behavior by Suggs, Robert C.]</ref>

*'''Martinson, Floyd M. (1973). ''[http://www.ipce.info/booksreborn/martinson/infant/InfantAndChildSexuality.html Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective]''. The Book Mark.'''
*:"Sex play was common practice from the earliest ages among the Marquesa and not only tolerated but encouraged. (Kardiner, 1939, p. 205-206). They recognized the erotic impulse in childhood and accorded it the right of free exercise. They eroticized the child by masturbating it to keep it quiet. In the case of the girls, labia were manipulated as a placebo, but also to encourage the growth of large labia, which to the Marquesans was a mark of beauty. Such activity was, no doubt, also erotically stimulating. There was social recognition of all sexual activity in childhood, and there were no restrictions against encouragement to exercise it freely; it was allocated the same place in the child's world that it occupied in the adult's."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Adolescent boys frequently had sex with each other. Married men rarely had homosex, but would when conditions prevented heterosexual intercourse; they preferred boys for this purpose, whose bodies they said were soft, like females; contacts with boys were casual, fleeting, and without stigma. Source: Suggs (1966)"

===Hawaii===
*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/HAWAII.HTM Hawaii]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"Karsch-Haack, (1901) stated that according to Richard Neuhauss, Hawai’ian “girls of 12 to 14 years are generally virgins no more and acts of impurity of father with daughter are no rarity[6] [...] For infant females in Hawai’i, “milk was squirted into her vagina, and the labia were pressed together (Diamond, 1990). The mons [veneris] was rubbed with kukui (candlenut) oil and pressed with the palm of the hand to flatten it and make it less prominent. The molding continued until the labia did not separate. This chore usually was done by the mother or by an “aunt” [...]”. The buttocks of infants, males more than females, were molded so that they became “rounded and not flat”, also clearly evolving from an aesthetic motive. A “blower” is designated for each male infant, ostensibly to prepare him for subincision of the foreskin: “the penis was blown into daily starting from birth. The blowing was said to loosen and balloon the foreskin [and] continued daily [...] until the young male was 6 or 7”, when penile subincision takes place. Diamond reports: “Individuals of both sexes were expected to initiate and participate in coitus at puberty, although sexual activity, play, instruction, and so forth occurred much earlier. For instance, as part of exploratory play, the young investigated each other’s genitals, and young males and females might masturbate each other heterosexually or homosexually. This activity occurred without adult disapproval, and it was considered to be an introduction to adulthood. Casual intercourse before adolescence was not an uncommon experience for males (Handy and Pukui, 1958) and females (Pukui, Haertig and Lee, 1972)"

*'''Milton Diamond. (2004 [1990]). [https://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/biblio/articles/2000to2004/2004-sexual-behavior-in-pre-contact-hawaii.html Sexual Behavior in Pre Contact Hawai'i: A Sexological Ethnography]. Published in: ''Revista Española del Pacifico''. 16: 37-58.'''
*:"Sex training was direct and firsthand. Young individuals learned of coitus and sex play from instruction, direct observation, and practice. As they slept in the family house (hale noa), they observed their parents having coitus. "Public privacy" among the Mangaian Islanders, as it was described by Marshall (1971, p. 108), probably is similar to the "privacy" that was found in Hawai'i and elsewhere in Polynesia: "[A Mangaian may copulate], at any age, in the single room of a hut that contains from five to fifteen family members of all ages — as have his ancestors before him. His daughter may receive and make love with each of her varied nightly suitors in the same room."
*:The young observed dogs, pigs, and other animals mating, and these activities were discussed openly with parents or other adults. Parturition was not a secret event and was well attended by the young and by adults, all of whom observed traditions that included the washing and burying of the placenta and, usually, the disposing of the umbilical cord (Pukui, Haertig and Lee, 1972, p. 16; Handy and Pukui, 1958, p. 78). The young Hawai‘ian also acquired sex education in day-by-day exposure to precepts, practices, and attitudes concerning sex. Traditionally, ... childish curiosity about sex was satisfied, with neither guilt nor shame instilled” (Pukui, Haertig, and Lee, 1972, p. 249). [...] Ellis (1782, Vol. 2, p. 153) wrote of sexual expression in Oceania: "The ladies are very lavish of their favors ... and some of their attachments seemed purely the effects of affection. They are initiated into this way of life at a very early period; we saw some, who could not be more than ten years old."
*:The time considered “right” to start coitus was not so much based on chronological age as on ability or maturity (Pukui, Haertig, and Lee, 1972, p. 78). [...] Suggs (1966) elaborated on the early sexual experiences of pubertal males with married females in their 30s and 40s in the Marquesas Islands, who “take special pains to be pleasing and patient with them ... a source of enjoyment for many Marquesan women” (p. 61). For young females of the Marquesas Islands, the first coital experience reportedly is earlier than it is for young males before menarche —and occurs unplanned with an adult male (Suggs, 1966, p. 63). [...] These adult/nonadult sexual interactions were socially approved behaviors. [...] For adults not to have given such practical education would have been unthinkable - a dereliction of duty.
*:Most important for Hawai‘ian society, the young learned of sexual humor. Among the Hawai‘ians, sex was and remains a rich source of humor and enjoyment. In everyday conversation and in song and story, it was considered to be an “art form” to speak using sexual double entendres (kaona). [...] Suggs (1966, p. 39) considered the early manifestations of infantile and childhood sexual behavior, including sexual behavior with adults, to be among the most distinguishing features of Marquesan sexual behavior. Many of the activities he described, however, are similar to activities that were present in Hawai'i and elsewhere in Oceania. Oliver (1974, pp. 458-459), for example, reported on adult/nonadult sexual behavior in Tahiti and quoted the missionary Orsmond from 1832: “In all Tahitians as well as officers who come in ships there is a cry for little girls,” and older females, when in a position to choose, preferred younger males. Marshall (1971, p. 126) described the routine early sexual encounters of young males and females in Mangaia as being with older, experienced males and females."

==Indonesia==

===Bali===
*'''Martinson, Floyd M. (1973). ''[http://www.ipce.info/booksreborn/martinson/infant/InfantAndChildSexuality.html Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective]''. The Book Mark.'''
*:"Among the Balinese, play and teasing with the genitals is common. A mother will pat her baby girl on the vulva and exclaim, "Pretty! Pretty!" (Bateson and Mead, 1942, p. 26, 32, 131). A boy's penis will be stroked and rubbed. After he has urinated, he will be dried by a flick of his penis. As he grows older, his penis will be pulled and stretched and ruffled, and he will often attempt to keep his balance when learning to walk by holding on to it. Babies are comforted and quieted by manipulating their genital organs. In fact, in Bali, a baby, especially a baby's genital, is a toy with which to play. There is much delight taken in stimulating and playing with the baby to watch him respond."

==South and Southeast Asia ==

=== Philippines ===
*'''[https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy-Claude_Burger Burger, G.C.] (Date unknown). ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20230830163437/https://youjo.love/media/8db97b489e84f14e500046445c113066d720c1e691df6cc7934220a7b565483f.pdf The Sexual Mistake of the West].'''''
*:"Enamored of travel, he went to a different country every year, and, that year, he visited the Philippines. Not wanting to stay in the capital, he had taken the bus in order to get closer to the population. He thus found himself next to a mother who had reserved only one seat for herself and her eight-year-old daughter. The child at first amused herself by running in the central aisle and approaching the other passengers, but after three hours on the way, she began to have enough. As she was becoming more and more cranky, the mother put her on her lap and asked our gentlemen from Bordeaux if it would bother him if she put her daughter’s legs on his knees, so that the little one could sleep better. He accepted, of course, when he noticed that the mother began masturbating the child, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. You can imagine him blushing, asking himself what he should do, looking all around him to see how the other passengers would react, feeling that he would be accused of complicity in incest. But all the neighbors watched with big calm smiles, as if it were obvious, and worthy of the greatest discretion. As soon as the little girl reached orgasm, she fell asleep like an angel..."

===Khumbo (Nepal)===
*'''Diemberger, H. (1993). Blood, sperm, soul and the mountain. In T. del Valle (Ed.), [https://library.lol/main/E2340CAF82B58307F2AA3CBD3D1F97C9 ''Gendered Anthropology''] (pp. 88). Routledge.'''
*:"Caili, an energetic and sensual woman, is playing with her youngest son, Migmar. I enter the house. Caili offers me a cup of barley beer and then continues to play with Migmar who does not really want to be disturbed. He drinks some milk from the breast and plays with his erect little penis. He offers it to his mother who sucks it tenderly and then continues to chat with me. Migmar is five years old."

=== Tibet ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Monasteries had a strong reputation for master-novice sexual relations, which participants viewed without shame as they made no attempt to conceal them to Westerners upon early contacts. Prince Peter (1963)"

=== Batak (Northern Sumatra) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In late childhood, boys moved into all-male houses with about a dozen other boys and young men. From puberty until marriage, homosexual behavior was prescribed and constant. Pederasty and age-equal sex were both common. Sequestering the sexes ensured girls remained virgins until marriage (premarital sex for girls was highly taboo). With outside cultural contact, the tradition began to change. Money & Ehrhardt (1972)"

=== Java ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In Ponorogo area, all-male folk dance was a major cultural institution (before 1990s); spectating men admired beauty of dancing youths; boy dancers aged 8–14, called gemblaks, often had culturally approved sex with men; interviewees who had been gemblaks all viewed the sex positively; all got married; some had long-term sexual relationships with the dance troupe directors (the Waroks). Waroks were spiritual guides, valorized by the community. Each Ponorogo village had a formalized male group for unmarried males; the group did socially constructive work for the community; heterosexual sex before marriage was disapproved, so members had sex with gemblaks; this practice was seen as benefiting the gemblaks, who got gifts, the group members, who got a sexual outlet, the community, which got good works. Under Western influence, educated Ponorogo people began seeing all this as an embarrassment (relic from an “uncivilized” past); have since worked to end the practice. Weis (1974); Williams (2011)"

==Africa==

=== Maassai (Kenya, Tanzania) ===
*'''Carles Feixa (2011). Past and present of adolescence in society: The ‘teen brain’ debate in perspective. ''Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews'', Volume 35, Issue 8'''
::"Sexual intercourse with [postpubertal] girls is admitted as long as they do not become pregnant."

=== Azande (South Sudan, Northern Congo)===
*'''Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1970). [https://sci-hub.st/10.2307/672861 Sexual Inversion among the Azande. American Anthropologist], 72(6), 1428–1434.'''
*: "It was the custom for members of bachelor companies, some of whom would always be living in barracks at court, to take boy-wives. [...] Most young men consequently married late -- well into their twenties and thirties -- and, because girls were engaged (in a legal sense married) very young, often at birth, the only way youths could obtain satisfaction from a woman was in adultery. [...] The boys performed many of the smaller services a woman performs daily for her husband [...] Also, the boywife carried his husband's shield when on a journey. It should be understood that he performed these services lest it might be thought that the relationship was entirely of a sexual nature; it will be appreciated that it had an educational side to it. With regard to the sexual side, at night the boy slept with his lover, who had intercourse with him between his thighs (Azande expressed disgust at the suggestion of anal penetration). The boys got what pleasure they could by friction of their organs on the husband's belly or groin. However, even though there was this side to the relationship, it was clear from Zande accounts that there was also the comfort of a nightly sharing of the bed with a companion."
*: "The word "boy" (kumba gude) must, it would appear, be interpreted liberally, for as far as I could judge from what I was told the lads might have been anywhere between about twelve and twenty years of age"
*: "I have pointedly used the terms "wife,""husband," and "marriage," for, as the texts will make clear, the relationship was, for so long as it lasted, a legal union on the model of a normal marriage. The warrior paid bridewealth (some five spears or more) to the parents of his boy and performed services for them as he would have done had he married their daughter; if he proved to be a good son-in-law they might later replace the son by a daughter. Also, if another man had relations with his boy he could, I was told, sue him at court for adultery."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Under polygynous system, women were scarce; warriors married boys aged 12 or older; commanders might have more than one boy-wife; man and boy addressed each other with terms such as my love and my lover; boy performed wifely duties and apprenticed for man; on reaching adulthood, the boy typically joined a military company, taking a boy-wife of his own; tradition faded when practice of military service discontinued under British colonialism. Evans-Pritchard (1971); Murray & Roscoe (1998); Seligman & Seligman (1932)"

===Kadar (Nigeria)===
*'''Harris, M. [http://library.lol/main/98025ADB86EEFAF62B59DF2C3CA21CC7 ''Cultural Anthropology''] (New York: Harper and Row, 1983), p. 94.'''
*:"Among the Kadar of northern Nigeria, as reported by M. G. Smith (1968),<ref>M. G. Smith (1968). 'Secondary Marriage among Kadera and Kagoro.' In ''Marriage, Family, and Residence'', Bohannan, Paul and Middleton, J., eds. pp. 109-130. Garden City, N.Y.: Published for the American Museum of Natural History by the Natural History Press.</ref> most marriages result from infant betrothals. These matches are arranged by the fathers of the bride and groom when the girl is 3 to 6 years old. Ten years or more may elapse before the bride goes to live with her betrothed. During this time, a Kadar girl is not unlikely to become pregnant. This will disturb no one, even if the biological father is a man other than her husband:
*::''Kadar set no value on premarital chastity'' (1968, p. 113)."

=== Mossi (Burkina Faso) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"All chiefs (ca. late nineteenth century) had large groups of pages, boys aged 8 to 15 chosen for attractiveness (some were thought to be quite beautiful); on Friday nights, because heterosexual intercourse was forbidden, a (W. chief would engage in sex with a boy instead (he could also on other nights). Upon reaching maturity, a boy Africa) was given a wife by the chief. Murray & Roscoe (1998); Tauxier (1912)"

=== Tsonga (Southern Mozambique) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Common practice in twentieth century among native men, used as miners by colonialists, was taking boys as wives (with wedding feast, brideprice payment); boy performed domestic, sexual duties; was given presents, money in exchange; fidelity was expected; relationships were marked by intense feelings and jealousy; marriage could be terminated in divorce; some men took boy-wives home after mining, where they were accepted by men’s other wives and tribal leaders. Asked if boys desired being wives, an elderly Tsonga man answered, “Yes: for the sake of security, for the acquisition of property and for the fun itself.” A beard indicated the boy was no longer a sex object but a competitor for boys. Murray & Roscoe (1998); Wallace (2006)"

=== Bantu-Speaking Tribes (Central Africa) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Male peer homosexual behavior was universal from puberty until age 18 or 20, and adult-youth sexual interactions were common as well. The older men disposed to form such relationships were described as bian nku’ma (having a heart for boys). In various Central Bantu groups, boy initiates resided at a sex-segregated lodge during their initiation phase and were required to manipulate the phalluses of the lodge-keeper and other adult male visitors, a practice that was seen as instrumental in helping the boys’ phalluses grow large and strong. Wallace (2006)"

=== Siwans (Libya) ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Among the Siwans of Africa, for example, all men and boys engage in anal intercourse. They adopt the feminine role only in strictly sexual situations and males are singled out as peculiar if they do not indulge in these homosexual activities. Prominent Siwan men lend their sons to each other, and they talk about their masculine love affairs as openly as they discuss their love of women."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"(Ages of boys involved 12–18) Pederasty was a well-entrenched custom from antiquity to at least 1950s; matchmakers made marriage-like ; arrangements between men and boys; the boy got a gift larger than brideprice for females; man and boy then entered into alliance with family approval; prominent men lent each other their sons for sex; love affairs and jealousies over boys were common; Robin Maugham said: “They will kill for a boy. Never for a woman.” Adam (1985); Herdt (1997)"

=== Lesotho ===
*'''Herdt, G. H. (1997). Same sex, different cultures: Exploring gay and lesbian lives. ''Westview Press.'''''
::"In another contemporary southern African culture, Lesotho, age difference was important in relationships between young women who were attached and became homoerotically bonded. These are the “mummy-baby” relationships studied by anthropologist Judith Gay (1986). [...] Young women engaged in mummy/baby relations when they first entered adolescence. These distinctive bonds involved increasing degrees of intimacy, including open expressions of kissing, and might go on to the deepest sexual and lifelong bonds, though not so far that later marriage with a man was prevented. The roles of the older women were very different from those of the younger one, especially in terms of social obligations. The older woman took on the responsible role in the relationship, and she provided her younger partner with gifts and advice. The latter was important because it prepared the young girl for future relationships with men, most significantly her future husband. A woman might continue this relationship for some time after she was married. But then she would cease seeing her younger partner, who then in turn would find a younger woman of her own."

==India==

===Muria===

*'''Elwin, V. (1947). ''[http://library.lol/main/F416733E30BB1A46214CC9AC38656FDE The Muria and their Ghotul]''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.''' [Childhood of the Muria people of Bastar, in central India, as summarized here in scholarship by [[Tom O'Carroll]] (2018)].<ref>Thomas O'Carroll (2018). [https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-018-9519-1 Childhood ‘Innocence’ is Not Ideal: Virtue Ethics and Child–Adult Sex.] ''Sexuality and Culture'', 22:1230–1262 (pp. 1254-1255).</ref>
*:"Anthropologist Verrier Elwin described the elaborate sexual apprenticeship children have, which takes place principally in a special house for the young, known as the ''ghotul''. Infants and toddlers sleep in their parents' house. There are no locked doors and these little children inevitably see something of their parents' intimacies. By the time the children are six or seven a new domestic arrangement is brought into play. The child goes of to the ghotul, a self-regulated domain with its own boy leader and girl leader. The little children are free to come and go as they please between the ghotul and the parental home. Within the ghotul the children are free to engage in sex rehearsal play. Adolescents are able to have intercourse as they choose, able to experiment with different partners and under no pressure to make a premature commitment (Elwin 1947). Elwin, who spent much of his life in India, thought the arrangement worked very well. [...] In 1982, to the surprise of the academic community, it was reported that the ghotul system was still in existence and even expanding (von Fürer-Haimendorf 1982). [...] Elwin says that in practice [girls becoming pregnant] was a rare occurrence in the ghotul, even in the absence of modern contraceptives."

=== Crow ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"A few Crow men adopt women's dress and mannerisms, and live alone. Adolescent boys and occasionally older men visit these ''bate'', as they are called. The bate stimulates the boy's genitals orally. One informant stated that there were four such men in his community and that seventeen of his adolescent friends visited them occasionally."

==The Balkans==

===Albania===

*'''Zimmerman, Ann (1994). "[https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/tell-mama-why-you-cry-part-i-6404797 'Tell Mama Why You Cry' (Part I)]," [https://web.archive.org/web/20100926211411/http://www.dallasobserver.com/1994-11-17/news/tell-mama-why-you-cry-part-i/1 (archive)], ''Dallas Observer'', November 17.'''
*:An Albanian immigrant to the US is arrested for retaining his culture: "This harsh--and irreversible--punishment came at the end of a strange case that began in 1989 when several witnesses reported seeing Krasniqi fondle his daughter during a karate tournament in a Plano high school gymnasium in which his son was competing. Several years after the family court ruling, Krasniqi finally had his day in criminal court. Collin County Judge Nathan White acquitted him of the charge of indecency with a child primarily on the strength of testimony from Massachusetts anthropologist Barbara Halpern--one of the country's foremost authorities on the peasant culture of the Balkans. Halpern explained that Sam Krasniqi's actions were done not with sexual intent, but rather with playful affection--in keeping with his culture, which cherishes children and showers them with physical affection. [...]
*: Shortly after the tournament began, Taylor's attention was drawn to the spectator in front of her. She watched as a 50-year-old man with thinning gray hair repeatedly rubbed the underpants-clad buttocks and bare legs of a little girl who was laid out across his lap. He also slipped his hand under the girl's panties and caressed and squeezed her buttocks. "He lifted her to face him and rubbed her front chest under her little dress. He then put his hand inside her panties from the leg opening and squeezed her vagina," Taylor wrote in a statement she gave police. [...]
*:Wunderlich, who did not retrun calls to the Observer, had to explain to Kathy what molestation meant. "If you mean something sexual like with me and my husband, you are wrong," Kathy responded. "It is not a sexual thing and there is no harm to my children," Kathy told Wunderlich. [...]
*:"According to Wunderlich's case notes, he admitted touching Lima and Tim, that it was acceptable in his country and it was just a big misunderstanding. "He denied it was sexual at all and said that I could kill him if he was lying and if it was sexually gratifying to him." Krasniqi has since insisted that Wunderlich misconstrued what he was telling her. At the karate tournament, Krasniqi insists he was just playing a game with his daughter--touching the parts of her body and asking her to say their names. "I tell Wunderlich, How can you love your children and not touch them?" Krasniqi explains, sitting in his home, surrounded by pictures of his children when they were younger.
*:Nowhere in Wunderlich's case notes does it indicate that anyone in her department tried to research the Krasniqis' culture. If they had they might have learned what Barbara Halpern, the anthropologist from Massachusetts, testified to in Krasniqi's criminal trial. The Krasniqis come from "very physically demonstrative culture. Children are universally adored. Until they attain school age and venture beyond the household gates, they are the constant subjects of hugs, caresses and overt displays of affection.""

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Highly romanticized pederasty still found in latter half of twentieth century [...] [Y]ounger men frequently cultivated passionate, enthusiastic erotic relations with boys (12 to 17); Muslim Albanian custom of “boy-brides” also spread to Albanian Christians. Greenberg (1988); Murray (1997, 2000); Williams (1992)"

== See also ==
*[[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History]]
*[[Pederasty in Islam]]
*[[Pederasty in Japanese culture]]
* [https://wiki.yesmap.net/wiki/Walter_L._Williams#The_Spirit_and_the_Flesh_%281986%29 The Spirit and the Flesh (1986)] - the book by Walter L. Williams with a broad section on pederasty among non-western societies
* [[Gilbert_Herdt|Gilbert Herdt]] - anthropologist who studied ritualized intergenerational homosexuality in Melanesia

==Excerpt Graphic Library==

The EGL on '''Broader Perspectives''' has some relevant information. Just right click/save and reproduce by uploading in short-form media to bypass character limits.

{{Template:EGLBP}}

==References==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Research into effects on Children]][[Category:Research: Broader Perspectives]]

Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships

2026-07-31T20:32:36Z

Thorn: /* Lesotho */

__NOTOC__{{research}}Most societies which have not been influenced by the West have less, different, or virtually no sexual taboos. It is worth mentioning that absent modern western influence, anthropologists and historians have found far more societies where [[homosexuality]] is prohibited, than societies in which [[pedosexuality]] suffers similar censure. Many encourage intergenerational sex for various reasons. Due to ongoing Westernisation and cultural imperialism, much of what is listed here may already be consigned to [[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History|history]] (see, for example, [https://web.archive.org/web/20220225124148/https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.chc.2004.02.001 Nieto (2004), for an anthropological review]).

==GUS, a world atlas: Growing Up Sexually==

The range and detail of accounts involved in this page will only serve as a brief demonstration of non-western diversity in intergenerational relationships. Many examples from anthropology involve [[Sexual rites of passage]]. If readers are seeking a broader, more detailed and integrated study, they may find [[Diederik Janssen]]'s [http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/GUS_MAIN_INDEX.HTM ''Growing Up Sexually''] ([http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/GROWINGUPSEXUALLY1.ZIP entire Vol 1] in zipped PDF) more appropriate, or ''[https://greek-love.com/ Greek Love: Pederasty throughout the ages]'', re. homosexuality.

==Americas==

===Pirahã (Brazil)===

*'''Daniel Everett (2008). [https://books.feedvu.com/fullbook/dont-sleep-there-are-snakes-life-and-language-in-the-amazonian-jungle-pdf-2.html?page=16&part=1 ''Dont Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle'']. Chapter 16 of 34.'''
*:"Relations between men and women and boys and girls, whether married or not, are always cordial and often marked by light to heavy flirting. Sexually it is the same. So long as children are not forced or hurt, there is no prohibition against their participating in sex with adults. I remember once talking to Xisaoxoi, a Pirahã man in his late thirties, when a nine- or ten-year-old girl was standing beside him. As we talked, she rubbed her hands sensually over his chest and back and rubbed his crotch area through his thin, worn nylon shorts. Both were enjoying themselves. “What’s she doing?” I asked superfluously. “Oh, she’s just playing. We play together. When she’s big she will be my wife” was his nonchalant reply—and, indeed, after the girl went through puberty, they were married."

* '''Daniel Everett (2016). ''Dark matter of the mind : the culturally articulated unconscious.'' Chapter 3'''
::"Pirahã young people begin to engage sexually, though apparently not in full intercourse, from early on. Touching and being touched seem to be common for Pirahã boys and girls from about seven years of age on. They are all sexually active by puberty, with older men and women frequently initiating younger girls and boys, respectively. There is no evidence that the children then or as adults find this pedophilia the least bit traumatic."

===Pilagá (Argentina)===

*'''Jules Henry and Zunia Henry (1944). [https://library.lol/main/2C825BAA5B73830492464813AF34FEC4 ''Doll Play of Pilagá Indian Children. An Experimental and Field Analysis of the Behavior of the Pilagá Indian Children'']. (American Orthopsychiatric Association), p. 72.'''
*:'''Note:''' The study explores the use of dolls among Pilagá children, including in a sexual context.
*:"Where children can see the adult sexual act, where sexual conversations and gestures are perfectly open, and child life is untrammeled by sexual taboos, it is reasonable to expect that the children should experiment with their sexual apparatus and attempt to imitate adult sexual behavior. This is the case among the Pilagá. Considering the extent of child knowledge about sex and the age at which this knowledge becomes articulate - 3 years - intercourse in the Pilagá household must not only be visible to the children, but carried on with little if any attempt to conceal the act from them. Absolutely no prohibition is placed on child sexual activity by the adults, so that the children are at liberty to do what they please. Under such circumstances the only limits to the child's sexual activity are his physiological capacities and the tolerance of his companions. [...] [S]ex is a strong and constant interest of Pilagá children."

=== Yucatan ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In field work, Williams (1992) found pederastic behavior still common in late twentieth century Yucatan."

=== Zapotecs (Mexico) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Boys entering puberty commonly had sexual relations with men. Source: Williams (1992)"

=== Various Indian tribes (southern Mexico) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Married men would adopt an adolescent boy, who was proud to have been chosen and saw it an honor to be the man’s lover; the boy would help the wife, her children, and the household, and would take a boy of his own when later an adult and married. Source: Ross (1991)"

==Australia==
===Tiwi===
*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
*:"The best ethnographic description of this type of [gerontocratic] marriage is by Jane Goodale (1971) in her account of the Tiwi who live on Melville Island, North Australia. Betrothals of first marriages of most females are made even before those females are concieved. In fact, such a marriage contract is made when the as-yet-to-be-concieved girl's mother commences menstruation. [...] Once the marriage contract is made, the husband-to-be, who is an adult, works with his future mother and father-in-law as a member of that family, with the expectation that when a daughter is born to them, she will be given to him as a wife. There is no fixed chronological age at which the young girl is given to her designated husband, but it occurs after she is able to take on some household and other economic responsibilities, but well before her first menstruation. For the Tiwi she is still a child, albeit and older child. When her father decides that she is mature enough, the young girl is merely taken to her husband and instructed to reside and sleep with him. This is not an abrupt change [...] for the husband has been a part of the same family camp for some time, and the young wife is still surrounded by those with whom she has always lived. Goodale describes the process:
*::''Soon after the ''alinga'' [young girl] moves to her husband's fire he begins her sexual instruction. From all accounts this appears to be a very gradual process. He begins by deflowering her with his finger, and perhaps only after a year does he have actual intercourse with her. Sexual intercourse is considered by the Tiwi to be the direct and only cause of breast formation, growth of pubic and auxillary hair, menarche, and subsequent menstrual periods. (1971, p. 45)."'' [Jane Carter Goodale (1971) Tiwi wives: a study of the women of Melville Island, North Australia]
*:"versions of this marriage were once found among many Australian Aborigine groups (Berndt & Berndt, 1951; Gale, 1970; Kaberry, 1939; Rose, 1960). From our ethnocentric [i.e. Western] perspective, one of the most notable aspects [...] is the absence of trauma". (p. 77).

*'''Jane C. Goodale (1962) "Marriage Contracts among the Tiwi." ''Ethnology'', Vol. 1, No. 4'''
::"A Tiwi male will rarely acquire a wife through any form of contract before the age of 30. A bestowed wife, one who is promised before birth and becomes a cohabiting wife before puberty, is a valuable prestige symbol, but difficult to acquire. Thus a young man will frequently start his household with the acquisition of a less valuable but more easily obtainable type of wife, i.e., a widow, often of advanced age."
::"[I]t is acknowledged by Tiwi women as an inflexible "rule" governing their first marriage before puberty to a man whom they describe as "the one who grew me up, treated me like a father, and made me a woman." "
::"[O]n the average, the promised daughter will be born ten years from the date of the contract, i.e., when both the mother and the son-in-law are about twenty years old. The young girl will not become a cohabiting wife for approximately another eight or ten years, at which time her promised husband will be at least 28 to 30 years of age. Thus an average difference of twenty years between the ages of a girl and her first husband is to be expected"

*'''Goodale, J. C. (1971). Tiwi wives: A study of the women of Melville Island, North Australia.'''
::“A man will not receive a contract for a wife of any type until he reaches the age of ten to twenty. At this age he may receive a wife who has been previously married”

=== Aranda ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Among many of the aborigines of Australia this type of coitus is a recognized custom between unmarried men and uninitiated boys. Strehlow writes of the Aranda as follows: ''"... Pederasty is a recognized custom.... Commonly a man, who is fully initiated but not yet married, takes a boy ten or twelve years old, who lives with him as a wife for several years, until the older man marries.[...]"''(Strehlow, 1915, p. 98.)"

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Typically, an unmarried [Aranda] man (late teens) would take a boy from 10 to 12 years old to be his wife and live with him for several years until he (the older partner) got married to a woman. Aside from sex, the man served as the boy’s mentor (e.g., in hunting). Sources: Strehlow (1913–15)"

=== Nambutji ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Every boy became a boy-wife to a man, who circumcised the boy and whose daughter became the boy’s wife when he reached adulthood. In the intervening time, the man and boy were homosexually involved. Source: Roheim (1945)"

==Melanesia==
Melanesian societies have normalized the consumption of semen by prepubescent/pubescent boys. This is thought to be in aid of their maturation and future status as warriors. Semen is received via oral or anal sex with an older adolescent boy or man. Relationships are said to be not only formal but often free-flowing and affectionate (for example among the Sambia of New-Guinea). There are many separate groups with distinct languages in Melanesia (about 1000). There is no evidence of institutional intergenerational sexual practice for most of them, partly due to anthropologists have often avoided studying sexuality because of their own moral constraints. Yet evidence of such practices (that vary greatly in form) has been obtained for at least 29 different Melanesian societies (with additional 19 related groups) described in the comprehensive volume ''Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia''<ref>Herdt, G. H. (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.available via [[Help:Research_Resources#Information_Freedom_Companions|option 2]]</ref> (see table 1.1, chapter 1)

::I. Eastern insular Melanesia: Fiji; New Caledonia; New Hebrides: Malekula Island.

::II. Northeastern insular Melanesia: New Britain; Duke-of-Yorks; East Bay.

::III. Western Papua: Lower Fly River: Kiwai Island, including Bugilai; Trans-Fly Delta: Keraki; Suki; Boadzi. (Related social units: Karigare, Yarne, Kaunje, Wekamara.)

::IV. Southeastern Irian Jaya: Kanum; Yéi-anim; Marind-anim; Kimam, Frederik Hendrik Island; Jaquai. (Related social units: Maklew-anim, Yab-anim, Kurkari-anim.)

::V. Northeastern Irian Jaya: Asmat; Casuarina Coast; Humboldt Bay.

::VI. Great Papuan Plateau: Bedamini; Etoro; Kaluli; Onabasalu; Gebusi, Nomad River.

::VII. Anga (Kukukuku): Sambia; Baruya; Jeghuje; Other Highlands Anga groups; Lowlands Anga groups. (Related social units: Usarumpiu, Wantukiu, Aziana, Lohiki, Kapau, Ivori, Mbwei, Yagwoia, Ampale, Langamar, Menya, Katje.)

::VIII. Northern Province: Ai’i.

History/evolution:
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The accumulating evidence indicates that we are not only confronted in these Melanesian cultures with similar cultural and ecological systems; I propose that we are also faced with an ancient ritual complex that diffused through a vast area of lowland and fringe-area Melanesia, perhaps 10,000 years ago or less. [...] Left unchecked by Western pacification or colonialization, what would the long-term evolution of these marginal populations have been? Perhaps homosexual practices might have contributed to their extinction, but we cannot be certain of this possibility: if one accepts the assumption of ancient migrations and ritual practices, these groups had flourished for generations." (pp. 48, 58-59)

::"(RH [Ritualized Homosexuality]) groups tend to use initiation as the social mechanism for recruitment to their ritual cults and to the village-based warriorhood corps as well. Survival and social reproduction of communities depend upon the warriorhood, and initiation means introduction to homosexual activity. It also brings with it adult, masculine socialization, through successive ceremonies and related achievements. Thus homosexuality is linked to what are essentially military and age-graded organizations." (p.60) (this is in line with [[Research: Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis|Evolutionary Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis]]

Often, when speaking about institutionalized intergenerational sexuality, anthropologists and publicists emphasize that there only adolescents involved in this, but they miss the fact that pedophilia is also institutionalized in many cultures (not only Melanesian):
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"An important and ignored aspect of initiation in (RH) [ritualized homosexuality] groups is that it frequently occurs before puberty, often as early as middle to late childhood (e.g., Marind-anim, Sambia, Keraki, etc.). Elsewhere I have argued that this young age is psychologically necessary for the radical resocialization [from the female wing of the society] into, and eventual sex-role dramatization expected of, adult men (Herdt 1981, 1982cf . Mead 1949; Young 1965)." (p.60)

* '''Money, J. (1990). Pedophilia: A Specific Instance of New Phylism Theory as Applied to Paraphilic Lovemaps. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions]. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_18'''
*:"The cultural tradition of pedophilia may belong not just to a small enclave of a population but also to an entire community, as in the case of various tribal peoples scattered across the Pacific in Melanesia and New Guinea (Herdt, 1984). The Sambia of the New Guinea Highlands (Herdt, 1981) are such a tribe. Their ancient customs as fierce head-hunting warriors survived European contact until after World War II. According to their folklore concerning their children, a boy could not become a warrior if he stayed living with women and children after age 8. So, he was taken into the men's longhouse to remain in the company of males only, there to be subjected to the rituals of indoctrination and initiation. As a baby, he had been nourished by woman's milk. As a juvenile, he would have to be nourished with men's milk so that his body would mature in the way that maturation occurs during puberty. It was an obligation of youths still too young to be married not to waste their semen but to have it sucked out of their penises by the prepubertal boys who, once able to ejaculate themselves, would nourish those still younger. At age 19, the age of marriage, their two-way experience of androphilic pedophilia would cease, and their lives would become heterosexual with an adult partner."
*:"The universal male/male pedophilia of the Sambia demonstrates the sexological plasticity of the human organism and the making of pedophilia into the social norm."

There are societies with girls and women participating in intergenerational sexual practices (but ritualized homosexuality is absent):
*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/NEW_GUINEAWEB.HTM Papua New Guinea]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"Berndt (1962:p91): “As babies and small children their genitalia are fondled”. Mothers caress “the fleshy parts of [the infant's] body [...] and implanting breathy kisses over and over again in the region of its genital organs” (Hogbin, 1943:p298). Genital touching by older people was also noted by among the Marind-anim (Van Baal, 1966; cf. Money and Ehrhardt, 1973 [1996:p132]). Gillison (1993:p176) describes the process of masturbating infants among the Gimi:
*::The mother insists upon continued contact, interrupting her toddler's play repeatedly to offer the breast. Masturbation [...] with a baby girl [occurs when] the mother or amau holds her hand over the vulva and shakes it vigorously. She may kiss the vagina [sic], working her way up the middle of the body to the lips and then inserting her nipple (often when the child has given no sign of discontent). With a boy, she kisses the penis, pulls at it with her fingers and takes it into her mouth to induce an erection. Several women may pass a baby boy back and forth, each one holding him over her head as she takes a turn sucking or holding the penis in her mouth. When the child then pulls at his own organ, the women, greatly amused, offer squeezes and pulls of their own."

The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea<ref>[http://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=2E76D290FDCC06180F125CAF7336B2C0 Weiner, Annette B. (1988). ''The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea.'' United States of America: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. ISBN 9780030119194]</ref> have received attention in the Western Media for sexual customs in infancy and adolescence that confuse morally conflicted Westerners:<ref>[https://medium.com/the-story-in-history/the-culture-where-children-as-young-as-six-years-are-sexualized-d7afef2d2985 The Culture Where Children as Young as Six Years are Sexualized]</ref>
:<blockquote>Popularly referred to as “The Islands of Love”, the Trobriand Islands are a 174-square-miles group of islands on the east coast of New Guinea. The people are indigenous matrilineal people with a population of 12,000. ''[...]'' In the Trobriand culture, children aren’t allowed the chance to be just children. They are groomed to lose their innocence and start acting like adults at a very young age. By the age of six, they start participating in erotic games with each other. They start engaging in seductive activities. Their little girls are expected to start looking and acting sexy to attract little boys as well as older men. Then, by the time they turn 10, they are expected to start having sexual intercourse with as many sexual partners as they will. Since they are a matrilineal culture, the Trobriand woman has the right to have as many sexual partners as she pleases. And their primitive way of dressing doesn’t make it any harder to engage in sexual intercourse at will.</blockquote>

But mostly intergenerational male homosexuality:
*'''Jan N. Bremmer (2021) [https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Man-Ancient-Greece-Rome/dp/3161590082 Becoming a Man in Ancient Greece and Rome. Essays on Myths and Rituals of Initiation.]'''(available via [[Help:Research_Resources#Information_Freedom_Companions|Option 2]])
::"This description [''see Williams' above''] is confirmed by more recent anthropological studies [See especially the many studies of [[Gilbert Herdt|G. Herdt]]] [...] the following points should be noted as important features: (1) we have here a case of pederasty, which should not be confused with modern homosexuality, as both initiators and novices normally marry afterwards; (2) the active pederasts are the novices of the previous initiation, and it may be of importance to note that it is these novices who usually play a prominent role in upholding discipline during the initiation; finally, (3) copulation, in which the novice is always the passive partner, takes place anally."

*'''Knauft, Bruce M. (1987). "Homosexuality in Melanesia," ''Journal of Psychoanalytic Anthropology'', 10, 155-91.'''
*:Melanesian boys "coquettishly initiated" homosexuality with grown men. Relationships were "grounded in personal affection rather than obligation".

=== Big Nambas (Malekula Island) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Society had rampant warfare, chiefs had near monopoly on women; father chose man to circumcise his son; this man then became boy’s “husband,” and the boy his “wife;” intercourse believed to strengthen boy’s penis; relationship was very close; boy followed the man everywhere, participating with him in daily chores; man was intensely jealous if other men took interest in the boy; if man or boy died, the other would mourn deeply; some men were so deeply homosexual in affections that they would seldom have intercourse with their wives, preferring the boy; every chief had several boy lovers. Sources: Herdt (1993); Layard (1942)"

=== East Bay Islanders ===
*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
::"[I]n a society called East Bay, where I did some ethnography of sexual behavior (Davenport 1965), formerly, there had been a pattern of male homosexuality in which some older men often took, always with consent from their fathers, nonrelated boys as relatively permanent, passive sexual partners for anal intercourse. From a cultural perspective, the boys were understood to be substitutes for females, not homosexual partners as our culture would define them. In fact, the culture of East Bay did not recognize — that is, had no cultural category for — intimate male homosexual relationships as something separate from those involving women. A boy, rather than a man, was selected, because a boy was a minor, without an independent legal status separate from his father’s, hence he could be told what to do. Women in East Bay society also were minors in this legal sense. But the crux of the matter was that the passive homosexual role was not considered to be in any way damaging to a boy’s psychosexual development. Moreover, such a close association with an elder man, who was expected to be gentle, generous, and indulgent, could have a positive effect on the boy’s development. If, however, the elder man did not fulfill these role expectations, he would find himself accused of mistreatment, that is, abusing the boy, and, therefore, in serious trouble with the boy’s father and other senior male relatives who were responsible for his well-being."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Nearly every male engaged in extensive homosex; men had sexual relations with boys (7 to 11); it was obligatory to give boy presents in return; the boys discussed these contacts freely and without shame in presence of parents, friends. Upon marriage, only a few men became exclusive heterosexuals; most continued to have sex with boys as well; only one man in the study preferred exclusively boys. Source: Davenport (1965)"

=== Keraki, Trans-Fly Delta ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Keraki bachelors of New Guinea universally practice sodomy, and in the course of his puberty rites each boy is initiated into anal intercourse by the older males. After his first year of playing the passive role he spends the rest of his bachelorhood sodomizing the newly initiated."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Keraki] All boys were sodomized for about a year, seen as essential for their development; adult informants repeatedly answered, when asked whether they submitted as boys, “Why yes! Otherwise how should I have grown?” Bachelors saw some boys as more attractive, gave them more attention; they sodomized boys until marriage, then engaged mostly in heterosex, but continued to have relations with boys on occasion. Source: Williams (1936)"

*'''Williams, F.E. (1969) Papuans of the Trans-Fly. ''Oxford'''''
::"It is actually regarded as essential to the growing boy to be sodomized.[...] In the meantime it is enough to note that every male adult in the Morehead district has in his time constantly played both parts in this perversion. The boy is initiated to it at the bull-roarer ceremony [...] When he becomes adolescent his part is reversed and he may then sodomize his juniors, the new initiates to the bull-roarer."
::"Gambadi informants describe the initial occasion more vividly. The father bids his son stoop to drink at a pool and as he does so catches him at a disadvantage. [...] It is to be noted that nowadays boys are not sodomized by their own fathers. The restriction of moiety exogamy is observed in sodomy as it is in marriage [...]"

=== Marind-anim ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"[R]itualized anal homosexual practices are institutionalized on a widespread scale throughout the entire Marind area. [...]. Homosexual anal intercourse is begun in male initiation for boys between the ages of seven and fourteen years (Van Baal 1966:143-144). Afterward, boys live in the men's clubhouse for some six years, avoiding females and regularly engaging in anal intercourse." (pp. 25-25)
::"This transition happens when the first signs of approaching puberty become apparent. He is then made an aroi-patur, literally a black boy. His body is blackened all over, and a mother's brother is appointed to act as his mentor, his binahor-iather. The meaning of the word binahor is uncertain, but it probably refers to the mentor's main function, that of being the boy's pederast who, by "feeding" the boy anally, contributes to his physical growth." (p. 132)

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Upon reaching puberty, a boy moved in with a mentor and his wife; he assisted the mentor in gardening, hunting, and other chores; their relation was sexual and lasted about seven years until boy’s later marriage; bond between them was extremely strong; the sexual contacts seemed to contribute to the strength of this bond; insemination was regarded as helpful to boy’s growth. Source: Van Baal (1966)"

=== Kimam / Kolepom papuans: ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The age at which [Kimam] boys enter the bachelor's house varies considerably in all villages, since it is dependent upon the simultaneous celebration of the final feast for a dead person. On this occasion a number of boys of varying ages, from about ten to fourteen years, are admitted. (Sometimes the boys are even younger.) [...] At his entry into the cult house, the boy is placed under the charge and guidance of a mentor who is designated as his "adoptive father." This man is supposed to have regular homosexual intercourse with the boy to make him strong with the semen that is inserted into his body through anal intercourse. In the western villages, there is no doubt that the adoptive father is mother's younger brother [...] They help each other in planting and harvesting, and they share food. A sister's son displays a conspicuous lack of respect toward his MB, even when there is a substantial difference in age. They play all sorts of pranks on each other, at which neither of them does or should get angry." (p. 300, 304)

::girls:
::"The first reports of missionaries and government officials mention the custom of "testing" sexually the marriageable [Kimam] girls. According to informants, the intention was to see whether the girls could stand the test. If they felt ill after intercourse, it was proof that they were not yet suited for marriage. It is possible that this trial took place during the promiscuous sexual intercourse of the ndambu festival.[...] When, for instance, an epidemic strikes the village and causes many deaths, as often happens, promiscuous heterosexual intercourse involving as many people as possible is organized in the village to collect large amounts of semen (probably by coitus interruptus). According to the information collected in the village of Bamol, very young girls are preferably selected for this sexual intercourse. [...] The first missionaries were in a better position to estimate the approximate age of the girls. They regularly made mention of schoolgirls who, for days on end, did not attend the mission school because they were sick after intercourse with a number of mature men. In his diary, Father Thieman (n.d.) mentions a number of girls (with names and exact age) who took part in sexual intercourse when they were no older than eight." (pp. 301, 304, 308)

=== Bedamini===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::“Bedamini, like the Marind-anim (Van Baal 1966:817), consider semen the essence of life. [...] Immature boys do not possess semen, and they can mature only through the intervention of their seniors. Behind this conception is also the assumption that weakness in males will ensue from too much association with women, in particular through sexual intercourse. Boys have been breast-fed and have spent their first years in a predominantly female sphere of influence. The solution to this dilemma is to supply the boys with semen from the age of eight to ten years. The insemination is managed orally, by having the boys manipulate and suck the penes of young unmarried men, an activity referred to as sibi. The young man who will be a boy's inseminator is selected by the boy's father, and he must belong to the opposite moiety, that is, to a group with whom the boy's clan intermarries.” (pp. 322-323)

=== Etoro ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The Etoro achieve this [semen transmission] through oral intercourse, the Kaluli through anal intercourse, and the Onabasulu through masturbation and smearing of the semen over the bodies of the initates [...] The Kaluli are traditional enemies of the Etoro, and the Etoro particularly revile them for their initiatory practices which are regarded as totally disgusting. (The feeling is probably mutual.) [...] Among the Etoro, "a youth is continually inseminated from about age ten until he reaches his early mid-twenties" (Kelly 1976:45). [...] Kaluli initiation and homosexual activities, in contrast, seem more truncated: [...] When a boy is eleven or twelve years old, he is engaged for several months in homosexual intercourse with a healthy older man chosen by his father. [...] (Schieffelin 1976:124)" (pp. 34- 35)

*'''Anitei, Stefan (2007). "[http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-to-Drink-Sperm-to-Become-a-Strong-Man-67804.shtml How to Drink Sperm to Become a Strong Man]," Softpedia, October 6.'''
*:"This power is transmitted between the members of the [Etoro] tribe by means of sex. That's why young boys, even at the age of 12, get it from the sperm of the older males. The boy gets "power" orally by a young man assigned to be his partner. Few years later, the teenager is formally involved in relationships with many male sex partners, after which he turns into an "inseminator" from an "inseminee.""

=== Kaluli ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Kaluli] From 8 to 28, males resided in sex-segregated hunting lodge; daily, boys accompanied older males on grueling hunting trips, learning essentials of the practice; at 10 or 11, a boy’s father chose for him an older male to inseminate him for months or years; some boys chose their own inseminator; insemination thought essential for growth. Men looked back on youth in hunting lodge with nostalgic excitement, zest; remembered continual hunting, growth-stimulating insemination, ritual discipline, unity of purpose, vigorous manly ethos as highlight of their lives; whole practice was one of prestige for them. Tradition ended in 1960s by colonial administration and missionaries, who policed against it. Source: Schieffelin (1982)"

===Gebusi===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Gebusi] Boys in early adolescence “coquettishly” initiated sexual relations with older, unrelated males. As with the Sambia, the belief was that insemination grew the boys into men. The sexual relations were based on personal affection rather than obligation. Sources: Herdt (1991, 1997)"

=== Sambia ===

*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"Male development and masculinization after childhood are the responsibility of the men's secret cult and its initiation system. This cult is organized and perpetuated by the confederacy of hamlets. Boys are initiated at seven to ten years of age, when they are separated from their mothers, natal households, and younger siblings. [...] Sambia practice secret homosexual fellatio, which is taught and instituted in first-stage initiation. Boys learn to ingest semen from older youths through oral sexual contacts. First- and second-stage initiates may only serve as fellators; they are forbidden to reverse erotic roles with older partners. Third-stage pubescent bachelors and older youths thus act as fellateds, inseminating prepubescent boys. All males pass through both erotic stages, being first fellators, then fellateds: there are no exceptions since all Sambia males are initiated and pressured to engage in homosexual fellatio." (pp. 172-173)

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Sambia] Boys between 7 and 10 taken into men’s society; until age 14 fellated older bachelors up to age 25; semen viewed necessary for growth to be strong warrior; after age 25, most men stopped being semen “donors” to get married (some men continued who preferred boys); relations were not just duty for the boys, who were often complicit in arousing bachelors through bawdy enthusiasm; as boys matured, they tended to express more desire for insemination, became more aggressive in soliciting it. Sources: Herdt (1991, 1997)"

*'''Review of [[Gilbert Herdt]]'s famous fieldwork on the Sambia (by [[Walter L. Williams]] as quoted in our page on Herdt):'''
*:"Between the ages of about seven and thirteen, boys are taken from the maternal household and placed in a separate boys' house away from the village. For a period of several months to several years, depending on the culture, boys avoid all contact with females as they are prepared for manhood in elaborate initiations. It is the social duty of men to plant sperm in boys in order for them to grow. In some societies this is done by the boy performing oral sex upon the man, in others by him receiving anal intercourse, or in others by having the sperm rubbed on his body. The sexual act must always be with the boy receiving the older male's semen. To reverse roles is considered damaging to the boy's growth."

*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
*:"The best description of these patterns, by Herdt (1982, 1987) is with a people the author calls the Sambia. In brief, the pattern is as follows:
*::''Seven-to-ten-year-old Sambia boys are taken from their mothers when first initiated into the male cult, and thereafter experience the most powerful and seductive homosexual fellatio activities. For some ten to fifteen years, they engage in these practices on a daily basis, first as fellator, and then as fellated. Elders teach that semen is absolutely vital: it should be consumed daily since the creation of biological maleness and the maintenance of masculinity depend upon it. Hence, from middle childhood untul puberty, boys should perform fellatio on older youths.''

:::''Near puberty the same initiates become dominant youths. Ritual helps remake their social and erotic identity, the bachelors becoming the fellated partners for a new crop of ritual novices. ... [editor's quote extension from Herdt, G. H. (1987). "Guardians of the flutes: Idioms of masculinity" : "abundant evidence indicates that most youths also experience them as pleasurable and erotically exciting"] Yet, in spite of this formidable background, the final outcome is exclusive heterosexuality—of a particular form. Youths eventually become sexually attracted to women. At marriage (c. sixteen to twenty-five years of age), they may even act as true bisexuals, for a time. With fatherhood, however, homosexuality should cease; thereafter men should engage only in heterosexual activities. (Herdt 1987, pp. 2-3)''"

*'''Hyena, Hank (1999). "[http://web.archive.org/web/20131002090633/http://gettingit.com/article/56 Semen Warriors Of New Guinea]," Gettingit.com, September 16.'''
*:"Although many boys tremble initially ("I felt afraid... the penises were enormous," recalls Kalutuo, a Sambian from the Eastern Highlands) they all adjust quickly, because they believe semen is an elixir for manhood."

*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/NEW_GUINEAWEB.HTM Papua New Guinea]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"...the “Sambia” value male-virgin contacts (1984:p177), while “sexual partners are perceived as having more “heat” and being more exciting the younger they are. A second factor is reciprocity: the more asymmetrical the sexual partners (youth/boy), the more erotic play seems to culturally define their contact” [sic]. Against the background of an utterly phallocentric ideology on the androtrophic properties of semen, “Sambia” prepubertal boys (7-12, on average 8.5) fellate post-pubertal adolescents to ejaculation in order to grow and turn seminarchic themselves, so that they may reverse roles. The boys do not have orgasms, and might have “vicarious erotic pleasure as indicated by erections” only “near puberty” ([[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt]] and Stoller, 1990:p70-1)."

==Polynesia==

===Marquesas Islands===
For a range of sources on the Marquesas Islands, [[#Excerpt_Graphic_Library | see gallery below]], primarily ''Marquesan sexual behavior'' by Robert C. Suggs.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/marquesansexualb0000sugg/mode/2up Marquesan sexual behavior by Suggs, Robert C.]</ref>

*'''Martinson, Floyd M. (1973). ''[http://www.ipce.info/booksreborn/martinson/infant/InfantAndChildSexuality.html Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective]''. The Book Mark.'''
*:"Sex play was common practice from the earliest ages among the Marquesa and not only tolerated but encouraged. (Kardiner, 1939, p. 205-206). They recognized the erotic impulse in childhood and accorded it the right of free exercise. They eroticized the child by masturbating it to keep it quiet. In the case of the girls, labia were manipulated as a placebo, but also to encourage the growth of large labia, which to the Marquesans was a mark of beauty. Such activity was, no doubt, also erotically stimulating. There was social recognition of all sexual activity in childhood, and there were no restrictions against encouragement to exercise it freely; it was allocated the same place in the child's world that it occupied in the adult's."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Adolescent boys frequently had sex with each other. Married men rarely had homosex, but would when conditions prevented heterosexual intercourse; they preferred boys for this purpose, whose bodies they said were soft, like females; contacts with boys were casual, fleeting, and without stigma. Source: Suggs (1966)"

===Hawaii===
*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/HAWAII.HTM Hawaii]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"Karsch-Haack, (1901) stated that according to Richard Neuhauss, Hawai’ian “girls of 12 to 14 years are generally virgins no more and acts of impurity of father with daughter are no rarity[6] [...] For infant females in Hawai’i, “milk was squirted into her vagina, and the labia were pressed together (Diamond, 1990). The mons [veneris] was rubbed with kukui (candlenut) oil and pressed with the palm of the hand to flatten it and make it less prominent. The molding continued until the labia did not separate. This chore usually was done by the mother or by an “aunt” [...]”. The buttocks of infants, males more than females, were molded so that they became “rounded and not flat”, also clearly evolving from an aesthetic motive. A “blower” is designated for each male infant, ostensibly to prepare him for subincision of the foreskin: “the penis was blown into daily starting from birth. The blowing was said to loosen and balloon the foreskin [and] continued daily [...] until the young male was 6 or 7”, when penile subincision takes place. Diamond reports: “Individuals of both sexes were expected to initiate and participate in coitus at puberty, although sexual activity, play, instruction, and so forth occurred much earlier. For instance, as part of exploratory play, the young investigated each other’s genitals, and young males and females might masturbate each other heterosexually or homosexually. This activity occurred without adult disapproval, and it was considered to be an introduction to adulthood. Casual intercourse before adolescence was not an uncommon experience for males (Handy and Pukui, 1958) and females (Pukui, Haertig and Lee, 1972)"

*'''Milton Diamond. (2004 [1990]). [https://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/biblio/articles/2000to2004/2004-sexual-behavior-in-pre-contact-hawaii.html Sexual Behavior in Pre Contact Hawai'i: A Sexological Ethnography]. Published in: ''Revista Española del Pacifico''. 16: 37-58.'''
*:"Sex training was direct and firsthand. Young individuals learned of coitus and sex play from instruction, direct observation, and practice. As they slept in the family house (hale noa), they observed their parents having coitus. "Public privacy" among the Mangaian Islanders, as it was described by Marshall (1971, p. 108), probably is similar to the "privacy" that was found in Hawai'i and elsewhere in Polynesia: "[A Mangaian may copulate], at any age, in the single room of a hut that contains from five to fifteen family members of all ages — as have his ancestors before him. His daughter may receive and make love with each of her varied nightly suitors in the same room."
*:The young observed dogs, pigs, and other animals mating, and these activities were discussed openly with parents or other adults. Parturition was not a secret event and was well attended by the young and by adults, all of whom observed traditions that included the washing and burying of the placenta and, usually, the disposing of the umbilical cord (Pukui, Haertig and Lee, 1972, p. 16; Handy and Pukui, 1958, p. 78). The young Hawai‘ian also acquired sex education in day-by-day exposure to precepts, practices, and attitudes concerning sex. Traditionally, ... childish curiosity about sex was satisfied, with neither guilt nor shame instilled” (Pukui, Haertig, and Lee, 1972, p. 249). [...] Ellis (1782, Vol. 2, p. 153) wrote of sexual expression in Oceania: "The ladies are very lavish of their favors ... and some of their attachments seemed purely the effects of affection. They are initiated into this way of life at a very early period; we saw some, who could not be more than ten years old."
*:The time considered “right” to start coitus was not so much based on chronological age as on ability or maturity (Pukui, Haertig, and Lee, 1972, p. 78). [...] Suggs (1966) elaborated on the early sexual experiences of pubertal males with married females in their 30s and 40s in the Marquesas Islands, who “take special pains to be pleasing and patient with them ... a source of enjoyment for many Marquesan women” (p. 61). For young females of the Marquesas Islands, the first coital experience reportedly is earlier than it is for young males before menarche —and occurs unplanned with an adult male (Suggs, 1966, p. 63). [...] These adult/nonadult sexual interactions were socially approved behaviors. [...] For adults not to have given such practical education would have been unthinkable - a dereliction of duty.
*:Most important for Hawai‘ian society, the young learned of sexual humor. Among the Hawai‘ians, sex was and remains a rich source of humor and enjoyment. In everyday conversation and in song and story, it was considered to be an “art form” to speak using sexual double entendres (kaona). [...] Suggs (1966, p. 39) considered the early manifestations of infantile and childhood sexual behavior, including sexual behavior with adults, to be among the most distinguishing features of Marquesan sexual behavior. Many of the activities he described, however, are similar to activities that were present in Hawai'i and elsewhere in Oceania. Oliver (1974, pp. 458-459), for example, reported on adult/nonadult sexual behavior in Tahiti and quoted the missionary Orsmond from 1832: “In all Tahitians as well as officers who come in ships there is a cry for little girls,” and older females, when in a position to choose, preferred younger males. Marshall (1971, p. 126) described the routine early sexual encounters of young males and females in Mangaia as being with older, experienced males and females."

==Indonesia==

===Bali===
*'''Martinson, Floyd M. (1973). ''[http://www.ipce.info/booksreborn/martinson/infant/InfantAndChildSexuality.html Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective]''. The Book Mark.'''
*:"Among the Balinese, play and teasing with the genitals is common. A mother will pat her baby girl on the vulva and exclaim, "Pretty! Pretty!" (Bateson and Mead, 1942, p. 26, 32, 131). A boy's penis will be stroked and rubbed. After he has urinated, he will be dried by a flick of his penis. As he grows older, his penis will be pulled and stretched and ruffled, and he will often attempt to keep his balance when learning to walk by holding on to it. Babies are comforted and quieted by manipulating their genital organs. In fact, in Bali, a baby, especially a baby's genital, is a toy with which to play. There is much delight taken in stimulating and playing with the baby to watch him respond."

==South and Southeast Asia ==

=== Philippines ===
*'''[https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy-Claude_Burger Burger, G.C.] (Date unknown). ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20230830163437/https://youjo.love/media/8db97b489e84f14e500046445c113066d720c1e691df6cc7934220a7b565483f.pdf The Sexual Mistake of the West].'''''
*:"Enamored of travel, he went to a different country every year, and, that year, he visited the Philippines. Not wanting to stay in the capital, he had taken the bus in order to get closer to the population. He thus found himself next to a mother who had reserved only one seat for herself and her eight-year-old daughter. The child at first amused herself by running in the central aisle and approaching the other passengers, but after three hours on the way, she began to have enough. As she was becoming more and more cranky, the mother put her on her lap and asked our gentlemen from Bordeaux if it would bother him if she put her daughter’s legs on his knees, so that the little one could sleep better. He accepted, of course, when he noticed that the mother began masturbating the child, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. You can imagine him blushing, asking himself what he should do, looking all around him to see how the other passengers would react, feeling that he would be accused of complicity in incest. But all the neighbors watched with big calm smiles, as if it were obvious, and worthy of the greatest discretion. As soon as the little girl reached orgasm, she fell asleep like an angel..."

===Khumbo (Nepal)===
*'''Diemberger, H. (1993). Blood, sperm, soul and the mountain. In T. del Valle (Ed.), [https://library.lol/main/E2340CAF82B58307F2AA3CBD3D1F97C9 ''Gendered Anthropology''] (pp. 88). Routledge.'''
*:"Caili, an energetic and sensual woman, is playing with her youngest son, Migmar. I enter the house. Caili offers me a cup of barley beer and then continues to play with Migmar who does not really want to be disturbed. He drinks some milk from the breast and plays with his erect little penis. He offers it to his mother who sucks it tenderly and then continues to chat with me. Migmar is five years old."

=== Tibet ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Monasteries had a strong reputation for master-novice sexual relations, which participants viewed without shame as they made no attempt to conceal them to Westerners upon early contacts. Prince Peter (1963)"

=== Batak (Northern Sumatra) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In late childhood, boys moved into all-male houses with about a dozen other boys and young men. From puberty until marriage, homosexual behavior was prescribed and constant. Pederasty and age-equal sex were both common. Sequestering the sexes ensured girls remained virgins until marriage (premarital sex for girls was highly taboo). With outside cultural contact, the tradition began to change. Money & Ehrhardt (1972)"

=== Java ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In Ponorogo area, all-male folk dance was a major cultural institution (before 1990s); spectating men admired beauty of dancing youths; boy dancers aged 8–14, called gemblaks, often had culturally approved sex with men; interviewees who had been gemblaks all viewed the sex positively; all got married; some had long-term sexual relationships with the dance troupe directors (the Waroks). Waroks were spiritual guides, valorized by the community. Each Ponorogo village had a formalized male group for unmarried males; the group did socially constructive work for the community; heterosexual sex before marriage was disapproved, so members had sex with gemblaks; this practice was seen as benefiting the gemblaks, who got gifts, the group members, who got a sexual outlet, the community, which got good works. Under Western influence, educated Ponorogo people began seeing all this as an embarrassment (relic from an “uncivilized” past); have since worked to end the practice. Weis (1974); Williams (2011)"

==Africa==

=== Maassai (Kenya, Tanzania) ===
*'''Carles Feixa (2011). Past and present of adolescence in society: The ‘teen brain’ debate in perspective. ''Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews'', Volume 35, Issue 8'''
::"Sexual intercourse with [postpubertal] girls is admitted as long as they do not become pregnant."

=== Azande (South Sudan, Northern Congo)===
*'''Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1970). [https://sci-hub.st/10.2307/672861 Sexual Inversion among the Azande. American Anthropologist], 72(6), 1428–1434.'''
*: "It was the custom for members of bachelor companies, some of whom would always be living in barracks at court, to take boy-wives. [...] Most young men consequently married late -- well into their twenties and thirties -- and, because girls were engaged (in a legal sense married) very young, often at birth, the only way youths could obtain satisfaction from a woman was in adultery. [...] The boys performed many of the smaller services a woman performs daily for her husband [...] Also, the boywife carried his husband's shield when on a journey. It should be understood that he performed these services lest it might be thought that the relationship was entirely of a sexual nature; it will be appreciated that it had an educational side to it. With regard to the sexual side, at night the boy slept with his lover, who had intercourse with him between his thighs (Azande expressed disgust at the suggestion of anal penetration). The boys got what pleasure they could by friction of their organs on the husband's belly or groin. However, even though there was this side to the relationship, it was clear from Zande accounts that there was also the comfort of a nightly sharing of the bed with a companion."
*: "The word "boy" (kumba gude) must, it would appear, be interpreted liberally, for as far as I could judge from what I was told the lads might have been anywhere between about twelve and twenty years of age"
*: "I have pointedly used the terms "wife,""husband," and "marriage," for, as the texts will make clear, the relationship was, for so long as it lasted, a legal union on the model of a normal marriage. The warrior paid bridewealth (some five spears or more) to the parents of his boy and performed services for them as he would have done had he married their daughter; if he proved to be a good son-in-law they might later replace the son by a daughter. Also, if another man had relations with his boy he could, I was told, sue him at court for adultery."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Under polygynous system, women were scarce; warriors married boys aged 12 or older; commanders might have more than one boy-wife; man and boy addressed each other with terms such as my love and my lover; boy performed wifely duties and apprenticed for man; on reaching adulthood, the boy typically joined a military company, taking a boy-wife of his own; tradition faded when practice of military service discontinued under British colonialism. Evans-Pritchard (1971); Murray & Roscoe (1998); Seligman & Seligman (1932)"

===Kadar (Nigeria)===
*'''Harris, M. [http://library.lol/main/98025ADB86EEFAF62B59DF2C3CA21CC7 ''Cultural Anthropology''] (New York: Harper and Row, 1983), p. 94.'''
*:"Among the Kadar of northern Nigeria, as reported by M. G. Smith (1968),<ref>M. G. Smith (1968). 'Secondary Marriage among Kadera and Kagoro.' In ''Marriage, Family, and Residence'', Bohannan, Paul and Middleton, J., eds. pp. 109-130. Garden City, N.Y.: Published for the American Museum of Natural History by the Natural History Press.</ref> most marriages result from infant betrothals. These matches are arranged by the fathers of the bride and groom when the girl is 3 to 6 years old. Ten years or more may elapse before the bride goes to live with her betrothed. During this time, a Kadar girl is not unlikely to become pregnant. This will disturb no one, even if the biological father is a man other than her husband:
*::''Kadar set no value on premarital chastity'' (1968, p. 113)."

=== Mossi (Burkina Faso) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"All chiefs (ca. late nineteenth century) had large groups of pages, boys aged 8 to 15 chosen for attractiveness (some were thought to be quite beautiful); on Friday nights, because heterosexual intercourse was forbidden, a (W. chief would engage in sex with a boy instead (he could also on other nights). Upon reaching maturity, a boy Africa) was given a wife by the chief. Murray & Roscoe (1998); Tauxier (1912)"

=== Tsonga (Southern Mozambique) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Common practice in twentieth century among native men, used as miners by colonialists, was taking boys as wives (with wedding feast, brideprice payment); boy performed domestic, sexual duties; was given presents, money in exchange; fidelity was expected; relationships were marked by intense feelings and jealousy; marriage could be terminated in divorce; some men took boy-wives home after mining, where they were accepted by men’s other wives and tribal leaders. Asked if boys desired being wives, an elderly Tsonga man answered, “Yes: for the sake of security, for the acquisition of property and for the fun itself.” A beard indicated the boy was no longer a sex object but a competitor for boys. Murray & Roscoe (1998); Wallace (2006)"

=== Bantu-Speaking Tribes (Central Africa) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Male peer homosexual behavior was universal from puberty until age 18 or 20, and adult-youth sexual interactions were common as well. The older men disposed to form such relationships were described as bian nku’ma (having a heart for boys). In various Central Bantu groups, boy initiates resided at a sex-segregated lodge during their initiation phase and were required to manipulate the phalluses of the lodge-keeper and other adult male visitors, a practice that was seen as instrumental in helping the boys’ phalluses grow large and strong. Wallace (2006)"

=== Siwans (Libya) ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Among the Siwans of Africa, for example, all men and boys engage in anal intercourse. They adopt the feminine role only in strictly sexual situations and males are singled out as peculiar if they do not indulge in these homosexual activities. Prominent Siwan men lend their sons to each other, and they talk about their masculine love affairs as openly as they discuss their love of women."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"(Ages of boys involved 12–18) Pederasty was a well-entrenched custom from antiquity to at least 1950s; matchmakers made marriage-like ; arrangements between men and boys; the boy got a gift larger than brideprice for females; man and boy then entered into alliance with family approval; prominent men lent each other their sons for sex; love affairs and jealousies over boys were common; Robin Maugham said: “They will kill for a boy. Never for a woman.” Adam (1985); Herdt (1997)"

=== Lesotho ===
*'''Herdt, G. H. (1997). Same sex, different cultures: Exploring gay and lesbian lives. ''Westview Press.'''''
::"In another contemporary southern African culture, Lesotho, age difference was important in relationships between young women who were attached and became homoerotically bonded. These are the “mummy-baby” relationships studied by anthropologist Judith Gay (1986). [...] Young women engaged in mummy/baby relations when they first entered adolescence. These distinctive bonds involved increasing degrees of intimacy, including open expressions of kissing, and might go on to the deepest sexual and lifelong bonds, though not so far that later marriage with a man was prevented. The roles of the older women were very different from those of the younger one, especially in terms of social obligations. The older woman took on the responsible role in the relationship, and she provided her younger partner with gifts and advice. The latter was important because it prepared the young girl for future relationships with men, most significantly her future husband. A woman might continue this relationship for some time after she was married. But then she would cease seeing her younger partner, who then in turn would find a younger woman of her own."

==India==

===Muria===

*'''Elwin, V. (1947). ''[http://library.lol/main/F416733E30BB1A46214CC9AC38656FDE The Muria and their Ghotul]''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.''' [Childhood of the Muria people of Bastar, in central India, as summarized here in scholarship by [[Tom O'Carroll]] (2018)].<ref>Thomas O'Carroll (2018). [https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-018-9519-1 Childhood ‘Innocence’ is Not Ideal: Virtue Ethics and Child–Adult Sex.] ''Sexuality and Culture'', 22:1230–1262 (pp. 1254-1255).</ref>
*:"Anthropologist Verrier Elwin described the elaborate sexual apprenticeship children have, which takes place principally in a special house for the young, known as the ''ghotul''. Infants and toddlers sleep in their parents' house. There are no locked doors and these little children inevitably see something of their parents' intimacies. By the time the children are six or seven a new domestic arrangement is brought into play. The child goes of to the ghotul, a self-regulated domain with its own boy leader and girl leader. The little children are free to come and go as they please between the ghotul and the parental home. Within the ghotul the children are free to engage in sex rehearsal play. Adolescents are able to have intercourse as they choose, able to experiment with different partners and under no pressure to make a premature commitment (Elwin 1947). Elwin, who spent much of his life in India, thought the arrangement worked very well. [...] In 1982, to the surprise of the academic community, it was reported that the ghotul system was still in existence and even expanding (von Fürer-Haimendorf 1982). [...] Elwin says that in practice [girls becoming pregnant] was a rare occurrence in the ghotul, even in the absence of modern contraceptives."

=== Crow ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"A few Crow men adopt women's dress and mannerisms, and live alone. Adolescent boys and occasionally older men visit these ''bate'', as they are called. The bate stimulates the boy's genitals orally. One informant stated that there were four such men in his community and that seventeen of his adolescent friends visited them occasionally."

==The Balkans==

===Albania===

*'''Zimmerman, Ann (1994). "[https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/tell-mama-why-you-cry-part-i-6404797 'Tell Mama Why You Cry' (Part I)]," [https://web.archive.org/web/20100926211411/http://www.dallasobserver.com/1994-11-17/news/tell-mama-why-you-cry-part-i/1 (archive)], ''Dallas Observer'', November 17.'''
*:An Albanian immigrant to the US is arrested for retaining his culture: "This harsh--and irreversible--punishment came at the end of a strange case that began in 1989 when several witnesses reported seeing Krasniqi fondle his daughter during a karate tournament in a Plano high school gymnasium in which his son was competing. Several years after the family court ruling, Krasniqi finally had his day in criminal court. Collin County Judge Nathan White acquitted him of the charge of indecency with a child primarily on the strength of testimony from Massachusetts anthropologist Barbara Halpern--one of the country's foremost authorities on the peasant culture of the Balkans. Halpern explained that Sam Krasniqi's actions were done not with sexual intent, but rather with playful affection--in keeping with his culture, which cherishes children and showers them with physical affection. [...]
*: Shortly after the tournament began, Taylor's attention was drawn to the spectator in front of her. She watched as a 50-year-old man with thinning gray hair repeatedly rubbed the underpants-clad buttocks and bare legs of a little girl who was laid out across his lap. He also slipped his hand under the girl's panties and caressed and squeezed her buttocks. "He lifted her to face him and rubbed her front chest under her little dress. He then put his hand inside her panties from the leg opening and squeezed her vagina," Taylor wrote in a statement she gave police. [...]
*:Wunderlich, who did not retrun calls to the Observer, had to explain to Kathy what molestation meant. "If you mean something sexual like with me and my husband, you are wrong," Kathy responded. "It is not a sexual thing and there is no harm to my children," Kathy told Wunderlich. [...]
*:"According to Wunderlich's case notes, he admitted touching Lima and Tim, that it was acceptable in his country and it was just a big misunderstanding. "He denied it was sexual at all and said that I could kill him if he was lying and if it was sexually gratifying to him." Krasniqi has since insisted that Wunderlich misconstrued what he was telling her. At the karate tournament, Krasniqi insists he was just playing a game with his daughter--touching the parts of her body and asking her to say their names. "I tell Wunderlich, How can you love your children and not touch them?" Krasniqi explains, sitting in his home, surrounded by pictures of his children when they were younger.
*:Nowhere in Wunderlich's case notes does it indicate that anyone in her department tried to research the Krasniqis' culture. If they had they might have learned what Barbara Halpern, the anthropologist from Massachusetts, testified to in Krasniqi's criminal trial. The Krasniqis come from "very physically demonstrative culture. Children are universally adored. Until they attain school age and venture beyond the household gates, they are the constant subjects of hugs, caresses and overt displays of affection.""

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Highly romanticized pederasty still found in latter half of twentieth century [...] [Y]ounger men frequently cultivated passionate, enthusiastic erotic relations with boys (12 to 17); Muslim Albanian custom of “boy-brides” also spread to Albanian Christians. Greenberg (1988); Murray (1997, 2000); Williams (1992)"

== See also ==
*[[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History]]
*[[Pederasty in Islam]]
*[[Pederasty in Japanese culture]]
* [https://wiki.yesmap.net/wiki/Walter_L._Williams#The_Spirit_and_the_Flesh_%281986%29 The Spirit and the Flesh (1986)] - the book by Walter L. Williams with a broad section on pederasty among non-western societies
* [[Gilbert_Herdt|Gilbert Herdt]] - anthropologist who studied ritualized intergenerational homosexuality in Melanesia

==Excerpt Graphic Library==

The EGL on '''Broader Perspectives''' has some relevant information. Just right click/save and reproduce by uploading in short-form media to bypass character limits.

{{Template:EGLBP}}

==References==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Research into effects on Children]][[Category:Research: Broader Perspectives]]

Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships

2026-07-31T20:32:16Z

Thorn: /* Africa */

__NOTOC__{{research}}Most societies which have not been influenced by the West have less, different, or virtually no sexual taboos. It is worth mentioning that absent modern western influence, anthropologists and historians have found far more societies where [[homosexuality]] is prohibited, than societies in which [[pedosexuality]] suffers similar censure. Many encourage intergenerational sex for various reasons. Due to ongoing Westernisation and cultural imperialism, much of what is listed here may already be consigned to [[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History|history]] (see, for example, [https://web.archive.org/web/20220225124148/https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.chc.2004.02.001 Nieto (2004), for an anthropological review]).

==GUS, a world atlas: Growing Up Sexually==

The range and detail of accounts involved in this page will only serve as a brief demonstration of non-western diversity in intergenerational relationships. Many examples from anthropology involve [[Sexual rites of passage]]. If readers are seeking a broader, more detailed and integrated study, they may find [[Diederik Janssen]]'s [http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/GUS_MAIN_INDEX.HTM ''Growing Up Sexually''] ([http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/GROWINGUPSEXUALLY1.ZIP entire Vol 1] in zipped PDF) more appropriate, or ''[https://greek-love.com/ Greek Love: Pederasty throughout the ages]'', re. homosexuality.

==Americas==

===Pirahã (Brazil)===

*'''Daniel Everett (2008). [https://books.feedvu.com/fullbook/dont-sleep-there-are-snakes-life-and-language-in-the-amazonian-jungle-pdf-2.html?page=16&part=1 ''Dont Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle'']. Chapter 16 of 34.'''
*:"Relations between men and women and boys and girls, whether married or not, are always cordial and often marked by light to heavy flirting. Sexually it is the same. So long as children are not forced or hurt, there is no prohibition against their participating in sex with adults. I remember once talking to Xisaoxoi, a Pirahã man in his late thirties, when a nine- or ten-year-old girl was standing beside him. As we talked, she rubbed her hands sensually over his chest and back and rubbed his crotch area through his thin, worn nylon shorts. Both were enjoying themselves. “What’s she doing?” I asked superfluously. “Oh, she’s just playing. We play together. When she’s big she will be my wife” was his nonchalant reply—and, indeed, after the girl went through puberty, they were married."

* '''Daniel Everett (2016). ''Dark matter of the mind : the culturally articulated unconscious.'' Chapter 3'''
::"Pirahã young people begin to engage sexually, though apparently not in full intercourse, from early on. Touching and being touched seem to be common for Pirahã boys and girls from about seven years of age on. They are all sexually active by puberty, with older men and women frequently initiating younger girls and boys, respectively. There is no evidence that the children then or as adults find this pedophilia the least bit traumatic."

===Pilagá (Argentina)===

*'''Jules Henry and Zunia Henry (1944). [https://library.lol/main/2C825BAA5B73830492464813AF34FEC4 ''Doll Play of Pilagá Indian Children. An Experimental and Field Analysis of the Behavior of the Pilagá Indian Children'']. (American Orthopsychiatric Association), p. 72.'''
*:'''Note:''' The study explores the use of dolls among Pilagá children, including in a sexual context.
*:"Where children can see the adult sexual act, where sexual conversations and gestures are perfectly open, and child life is untrammeled by sexual taboos, it is reasonable to expect that the children should experiment with their sexual apparatus and attempt to imitate adult sexual behavior. This is the case among the Pilagá. Considering the extent of child knowledge about sex and the age at which this knowledge becomes articulate - 3 years - intercourse in the Pilagá household must not only be visible to the children, but carried on with little if any attempt to conceal the act from them. Absolutely no prohibition is placed on child sexual activity by the adults, so that the children are at liberty to do what they please. Under such circumstances the only limits to the child's sexual activity are his physiological capacities and the tolerance of his companions. [...] [S]ex is a strong and constant interest of Pilagá children."

=== Yucatan ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In field work, Williams (1992) found pederastic behavior still common in late twentieth century Yucatan."

=== Zapotecs (Mexico) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Boys entering puberty commonly had sexual relations with men. Source: Williams (1992)"

=== Various Indian tribes (southern Mexico) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Married men would adopt an adolescent boy, who was proud to have been chosen and saw it an honor to be the man’s lover; the boy would help the wife, her children, and the household, and would take a boy of his own when later an adult and married. Source: Ross (1991)"

==Australia==
===Tiwi===
*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
*:"The best ethnographic description of this type of [gerontocratic] marriage is by Jane Goodale (1971) in her account of the Tiwi who live on Melville Island, North Australia. Betrothals of first marriages of most females are made even before those females are concieved. In fact, such a marriage contract is made when the as-yet-to-be-concieved girl's mother commences menstruation. [...] Once the marriage contract is made, the husband-to-be, who is an adult, works with his future mother and father-in-law as a member of that family, with the expectation that when a daughter is born to them, she will be given to him as a wife. There is no fixed chronological age at which the young girl is given to her designated husband, but it occurs after she is able to take on some household and other economic responsibilities, but well before her first menstruation. For the Tiwi she is still a child, albeit and older child. When her father decides that she is mature enough, the young girl is merely taken to her husband and instructed to reside and sleep with him. This is not an abrupt change [...] for the husband has been a part of the same family camp for some time, and the young wife is still surrounded by those with whom she has always lived. Goodale describes the process:
*::''Soon after the ''alinga'' [young girl] moves to her husband's fire he begins her sexual instruction. From all accounts this appears to be a very gradual process. He begins by deflowering her with his finger, and perhaps only after a year does he have actual intercourse with her. Sexual intercourse is considered by the Tiwi to be the direct and only cause of breast formation, growth of pubic and auxillary hair, menarche, and subsequent menstrual periods. (1971, p. 45)."'' [Jane Carter Goodale (1971) Tiwi wives: a study of the women of Melville Island, North Australia]
*:"versions of this marriage were once found among many Australian Aborigine groups (Berndt & Berndt, 1951; Gale, 1970; Kaberry, 1939; Rose, 1960). From our ethnocentric [i.e. Western] perspective, one of the most notable aspects [...] is the absence of trauma". (p. 77).

*'''Jane C. Goodale (1962) "Marriage Contracts among the Tiwi." ''Ethnology'', Vol. 1, No. 4'''
::"A Tiwi male will rarely acquire a wife through any form of contract before the age of 30. A bestowed wife, one who is promised before birth and becomes a cohabiting wife before puberty, is a valuable prestige symbol, but difficult to acquire. Thus a young man will frequently start his household with the acquisition of a less valuable but more easily obtainable type of wife, i.e., a widow, often of advanced age."
::"[I]t is acknowledged by Tiwi women as an inflexible "rule" governing their first marriage before puberty to a man whom they describe as "the one who grew me up, treated me like a father, and made me a woman." "
::"[O]n the average, the promised daughter will be born ten years from the date of the contract, i.e., when both the mother and the son-in-law are about twenty years old. The young girl will not become a cohabiting wife for approximately another eight or ten years, at which time her promised husband will be at least 28 to 30 years of age. Thus an average difference of twenty years between the ages of a girl and her first husband is to be expected"

*'''Goodale, J. C. (1971). Tiwi wives: A study of the women of Melville Island, North Australia.'''
::“A man will not receive a contract for a wife of any type until he reaches the age of ten to twenty. At this age he may receive a wife who has been previously married”

=== Aranda ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Among many of the aborigines of Australia this type of coitus is a recognized custom between unmarried men and uninitiated boys. Strehlow writes of the Aranda as follows: ''"... Pederasty is a recognized custom.... Commonly a man, who is fully initiated but not yet married, takes a boy ten or twelve years old, who lives with him as a wife for several years, until the older man marries.[...]"''(Strehlow, 1915, p. 98.)"

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Typically, an unmarried [Aranda] man (late teens) would take a boy from 10 to 12 years old to be his wife and live with him for several years until he (the older partner) got married to a woman. Aside from sex, the man served as the boy’s mentor (e.g., in hunting). Sources: Strehlow (1913–15)"

=== Nambutji ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Every boy became a boy-wife to a man, who circumcised the boy and whose daughter became the boy’s wife when he reached adulthood. In the intervening time, the man and boy were homosexually involved. Source: Roheim (1945)"

==Melanesia==
Melanesian societies have normalized the consumption of semen by prepubescent/pubescent boys. This is thought to be in aid of their maturation and future status as warriors. Semen is received via oral or anal sex with an older adolescent boy or man. Relationships are said to be not only formal but often free-flowing and affectionate (for example among the Sambia of New-Guinea). There are many separate groups with distinct languages in Melanesia (about 1000). There is no evidence of institutional intergenerational sexual practice for most of them, partly due to anthropologists have often avoided studying sexuality because of their own moral constraints. Yet evidence of such practices (that vary greatly in form) has been obtained for at least 29 different Melanesian societies (with additional 19 related groups) described in the comprehensive volume ''Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia''<ref>Herdt, G. H. (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.available via [[Help:Research_Resources#Information_Freedom_Companions|option 2]]</ref> (see table 1.1, chapter 1)

::I. Eastern insular Melanesia: Fiji; New Caledonia; New Hebrides: Malekula Island.

::II. Northeastern insular Melanesia: New Britain; Duke-of-Yorks; East Bay.

::III. Western Papua: Lower Fly River: Kiwai Island, including Bugilai; Trans-Fly Delta: Keraki; Suki; Boadzi. (Related social units: Karigare, Yarne, Kaunje, Wekamara.)

::IV. Southeastern Irian Jaya: Kanum; Yéi-anim; Marind-anim; Kimam, Frederik Hendrik Island; Jaquai. (Related social units: Maklew-anim, Yab-anim, Kurkari-anim.)

::V. Northeastern Irian Jaya: Asmat; Casuarina Coast; Humboldt Bay.

::VI. Great Papuan Plateau: Bedamini; Etoro; Kaluli; Onabasalu; Gebusi, Nomad River.

::VII. Anga (Kukukuku): Sambia; Baruya; Jeghuje; Other Highlands Anga groups; Lowlands Anga groups. (Related social units: Usarumpiu, Wantukiu, Aziana, Lohiki, Kapau, Ivori, Mbwei, Yagwoia, Ampale, Langamar, Menya, Katje.)

::VIII. Northern Province: Ai’i.

History/evolution:
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The accumulating evidence indicates that we are not only confronted in these Melanesian cultures with similar cultural and ecological systems; I propose that we are also faced with an ancient ritual complex that diffused through a vast area of lowland and fringe-area Melanesia, perhaps 10,000 years ago or less. [...] Left unchecked by Western pacification or colonialization, what would the long-term evolution of these marginal populations have been? Perhaps homosexual practices might have contributed to their extinction, but we cannot be certain of this possibility: if one accepts the assumption of ancient migrations and ritual practices, these groups had flourished for generations." (pp. 48, 58-59)

::"(RH [Ritualized Homosexuality]) groups tend to use initiation as the social mechanism for recruitment to their ritual cults and to the village-based warriorhood corps as well. Survival and social reproduction of communities depend upon the warriorhood, and initiation means introduction to homosexual activity. It also brings with it adult, masculine socialization, through successive ceremonies and related achievements. Thus homosexuality is linked to what are essentially military and age-graded organizations." (p.60) (this is in line with [[Research: Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis|Evolutionary Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis]]

Often, when speaking about institutionalized intergenerational sexuality, anthropologists and publicists emphasize that there only adolescents involved in this, but they miss the fact that pedophilia is also institutionalized in many cultures (not only Melanesian):
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"An important and ignored aspect of initiation in (RH) [ritualized homosexuality] groups is that it frequently occurs before puberty, often as early as middle to late childhood (e.g., Marind-anim, Sambia, Keraki, etc.). Elsewhere I have argued that this young age is psychologically necessary for the radical resocialization [from the female wing of the society] into, and eventual sex-role dramatization expected of, adult men (Herdt 1981, 1982cf . Mead 1949; Young 1965)." (p.60)

* '''Money, J. (1990). Pedophilia: A Specific Instance of New Phylism Theory as Applied to Paraphilic Lovemaps. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions]. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_18'''
*:"The cultural tradition of pedophilia may belong not just to a small enclave of a population but also to an entire community, as in the case of various tribal peoples scattered across the Pacific in Melanesia and New Guinea (Herdt, 1984). The Sambia of the New Guinea Highlands (Herdt, 1981) are such a tribe. Their ancient customs as fierce head-hunting warriors survived European contact until after World War II. According to their folklore concerning their children, a boy could not become a warrior if he stayed living with women and children after age 8. So, he was taken into the men's longhouse to remain in the company of males only, there to be subjected to the rituals of indoctrination and initiation. As a baby, he had been nourished by woman's milk. As a juvenile, he would have to be nourished with men's milk so that his body would mature in the way that maturation occurs during puberty. It was an obligation of youths still too young to be married not to waste their semen but to have it sucked out of their penises by the prepubertal boys who, once able to ejaculate themselves, would nourish those still younger. At age 19, the age of marriage, their two-way experience of androphilic pedophilia would cease, and their lives would become heterosexual with an adult partner."
*:"The universal male/male pedophilia of the Sambia demonstrates the sexological plasticity of the human organism and the making of pedophilia into the social norm."

There are societies with girls and women participating in intergenerational sexual practices (but ritualized homosexuality is absent):
*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/NEW_GUINEAWEB.HTM Papua New Guinea]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"Berndt (1962:p91): “As babies and small children their genitalia are fondled”. Mothers caress “the fleshy parts of [the infant's] body [...] and implanting breathy kisses over and over again in the region of its genital organs” (Hogbin, 1943:p298). Genital touching by older people was also noted by among the Marind-anim (Van Baal, 1966; cf. Money and Ehrhardt, 1973 [1996:p132]). Gillison (1993:p176) describes the process of masturbating infants among the Gimi:
*::The mother insists upon continued contact, interrupting her toddler's play repeatedly to offer the breast. Masturbation [...] with a baby girl [occurs when] the mother or amau holds her hand over the vulva and shakes it vigorously. She may kiss the vagina [sic], working her way up the middle of the body to the lips and then inserting her nipple (often when the child has given no sign of discontent). With a boy, she kisses the penis, pulls at it with her fingers and takes it into her mouth to induce an erection. Several women may pass a baby boy back and forth, each one holding him over her head as she takes a turn sucking or holding the penis in her mouth. When the child then pulls at his own organ, the women, greatly amused, offer squeezes and pulls of their own."

The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea<ref>[http://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=2E76D290FDCC06180F125CAF7336B2C0 Weiner, Annette B. (1988). ''The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea.'' United States of America: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. ISBN 9780030119194]</ref> have received attention in the Western Media for sexual customs in infancy and adolescence that confuse morally conflicted Westerners:<ref>[https://medium.com/the-story-in-history/the-culture-where-children-as-young-as-six-years-are-sexualized-d7afef2d2985 The Culture Where Children as Young as Six Years are Sexualized]</ref>
:<blockquote>Popularly referred to as “The Islands of Love”, the Trobriand Islands are a 174-square-miles group of islands on the east coast of New Guinea. The people are indigenous matrilineal people with a population of 12,000. ''[...]'' In the Trobriand culture, children aren’t allowed the chance to be just children. They are groomed to lose their innocence and start acting like adults at a very young age. By the age of six, they start participating in erotic games with each other. They start engaging in seductive activities. Their little girls are expected to start looking and acting sexy to attract little boys as well as older men. Then, by the time they turn 10, they are expected to start having sexual intercourse with as many sexual partners as they will. Since they are a matrilineal culture, the Trobriand woman has the right to have as many sexual partners as she pleases. And their primitive way of dressing doesn’t make it any harder to engage in sexual intercourse at will.</blockquote>

But mostly intergenerational male homosexuality:
*'''Jan N. Bremmer (2021) [https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Man-Ancient-Greece-Rome/dp/3161590082 Becoming a Man in Ancient Greece and Rome. Essays on Myths and Rituals of Initiation.]'''(available via [[Help:Research_Resources#Information_Freedom_Companions|Option 2]])
::"This description [''see Williams' above''] is confirmed by more recent anthropological studies [See especially the many studies of [[Gilbert Herdt|G. Herdt]]] [...] the following points should be noted as important features: (1) we have here a case of pederasty, which should not be confused with modern homosexuality, as both initiators and novices normally marry afterwards; (2) the active pederasts are the novices of the previous initiation, and it may be of importance to note that it is these novices who usually play a prominent role in upholding discipline during the initiation; finally, (3) copulation, in which the novice is always the passive partner, takes place anally."

*'''Knauft, Bruce M. (1987). "Homosexuality in Melanesia," ''Journal of Psychoanalytic Anthropology'', 10, 155-91.'''
*:Melanesian boys "coquettishly initiated" homosexuality with grown men. Relationships were "grounded in personal affection rather than obligation".

=== Big Nambas (Malekula Island) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Society had rampant warfare, chiefs had near monopoly on women; father chose man to circumcise his son; this man then became boy’s “husband,” and the boy his “wife;” intercourse believed to strengthen boy’s penis; relationship was very close; boy followed the man everywhere, participating with him in daily chores; man was intensely jealous if other men took interest in the boy; if man or boy died, the other would mourn deeply; some men were so deeply homosexual in affections that they would seldom have intercourse with their wives, preferring the boy; every chief had several boy lovers. Sources: Herdt (1993); Layard (1942)"

=== East Bay Islanders ===
*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
::"[I]n a society called East Bay, where I did some ethnography of sexual behavior (Davenport 1965), formerly, there had been a pattern of male homosexuality in which some older men often took, always with consent from their fathers, nonrelated boys as relatively permanent, passive sexual partners for anal intercourse. From a cultural perspective, the boys were understood to be substitutes for females, not homosexual partners as our culture would define them. In fact, the culture of East Bay did not recognize — that is, had no cultural category for — intimate male homosexual relationships as something separate from those involving women. A boy, rather than a man, was selected, because a boy was a minor, without an independent legal status separate from his father’s, hence he could be told what to do. Women in East Bay society also were minors in this legal sense. But the crux of the matter was that the passive homosexual role was not considered to be in any way damaging to a boy’s psychosexual development. Moreover, such a close association with an elder man, who was expected to be gentle, generous, and indulgent, could have a positive effect on the boy’s development. If, however, the elder man did not fulfill these role expectations, he would find himself accused of mistreatment, that is, abusing the boy, and, therefore, in serious trouble with the boy’s father and other senior male relatives who were responsible for his well-being."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Nearly every male engaged in extensive homosex; men had sexual relations with boys (7 to 11); it was obligatory to give boy presents in return; the boys discussed these contacts freely and without shame in presence of parents, friends. Upon marriage, only a few men became exclusive heterosexuals; most continued to have sex with boys as well; only one man in the study preferred exclusively boys. Source: Davenport (1965)"

=== Keraki, Trans-Fly Delta ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Keraki bachelors of New Guinea universally practice sodomy, and in the course of his puberty rites each boy is initiated into anal intercourse by the older males. After his first year of playing the passive role he spends the rest of his bachelorhood sodomizing the newly initiated."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Keraki] All boys were sodomized for about a year, seen as essential for their development; adult informants repeatedly answered, when asked whether they submitted as boys, “Why yes! Otherwise how should I have grown?” Bachelors saw some boys as more attractive, gave them more attention; they sodomized boys until marriage, then engaged mostly in heterosex, but continued to have relations with boys on occasion. Source: Williams (1936)"

*'''Williams, F.E. (1969) Papuans of the Trans-Fly. ''Oxford'''''
::"It is actually regarded as essential to the growing boy to be sodomized.[...] In the meantime it is enough to note that every male adult in the Morehead district has in his time constantly played both parts in this perversion. The boy is initiated to it at the bull-roarer ceremony [...] When he becomes adolescent his part is reversed and he may then sodomize his juniors, the new initiates to the bull-roarer."
::"Gambadi informants describe the initial occasion more vividly. The father bids his son stoop to drink at a pool and as he does so catches him at a disadvantage. [...] It is to be noted that nowadays boys are not sodomized by their own fathers. The restriction of moiety exogamy is observed in sodomy as it is in marriage [...]"

=== Marind-anim ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"[R]itualized anal homosexual practices are institutionalized on a widespread scale throughout the entire Marind area. [...]. Homosexual anal intercourse is begun in male initiation for boys between the ages of seven and fourteen years (Van Baal 1966:143-144). Afterward, boys live in the men's clubhouse for some six years, avoiding females and regularly engaging in anal intercourse." (pp. 25-25)
::"This transition happens when the first signs of approaching puberty become apparent. He is then made an aroi-patur, literally a black boy. His body is blackened all over, and a mother's brother is appointed to act as his mentor, his binahor-iather. The meaning of the word binahor is uncertain, but it probably refers to the mentor's main function, that of being the boy's pederast who, by "feeding" the boy anally, contributes to his physical growth." (p. 132)

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Upon reaching puberty, a boy moved in with a mentor and his wife; he assisted the mentor in gardening, hunting, and other chores; their relation was sexual and lasted about seven years until boy’s later marriage; bond between them was extremely strong; the sexual contacts seemed to contribute to the strength of this bond; insemination was regarded as helpful to boy’s growth. Source: Van Baal (1966)"

=== Kimam / Kolepom papuans: ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The age at which [Kimam] boys enter the bachelor's house varies considerably in all villages, since it is dependent upon the simultaneous celebration of the final feast for a dead person. On this occasion a number of boys of varying ages, from about ten to fourteen years, are admitted. (Sometimes the boys are even younger.) [...] At his entry into the cult house, the boy is placed under the charge and guidance of a mentor who is designated as his "adoptive father." This man is supposed to have regular homosexual intercourse with the boy to make him strong with the semen that is inserted into his body through anal intercourse. In the western villages, there is no doubt that the adoptive father is mother's younger brother [...] They help each other in planting and harvesting, and they share food. A sister's son displays a conspicuous lack of respect toward his MB, even when there is a substantial difference in age. They play all sorts of pranks on each other, at which neither of them does or should get angry." (p. 300, 304)

::girls:
::"The first reports of missionaries and government officials mention the custom of "testing" sexually the marriageable [Kimam] girls. According to informants, the intention was to see whether the girls could stand the test. If they felt ill after intercourse, it was proof that they were not yet suited for marriage. It is possible that this trial took place during the promiscuous sexual intercourse of the ndambu festival.[...] When, for instance, an epidemic strikes the village and causes many deaths, as often happens, promiscuous heterosexual intercourse involving as many people as possible is organized in the village to collect large amounts of semen (probably by coitus interruptus). According to the information collected in the village of Bamol, very young girls are preferably selected for this sexual intercourse. [...] The first missionaries were in a better position to estimate the approximate age of the girls. They regularly made mention of schoolgirls who, for days on end, did not attend the mission school because they were sick after intercourse with a number of mature men. In his diary, Father Thieman (n.d.) mentions a number of girls (with names and exact age) who took part in sexual intercourse when they were no older than eight." (pp. 301, 304, 308)

=== Bedamini===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::“Bedamini, like the Marind-anim (Van Baal 1966:817), consider semen the essence of life. [...] Immature boys do not possess semen, and they can mature only through the intervention of their seniors. Behind this conception is also the assumption that weakness in males will ensue from too much association with women, in particular through sexual intercourse. Boys have been breast-fed and have spent their first years in a predominantly female sphere of influence. The solution to this dilemma is to supply the boys with semen from the age of eight to ten years. The insemination is managed orally, by having the boys manipulate and suck the penes of young unmarried men, an activity referred to as sibi. The young man who will be a boy's inseminator is selected by the boy's father, and he must belong to the opposite moiety, that is, to a group with whom the boy's clan intermarries.” (pp. 322-323)

=== Etoro ===
*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"The Etoro achieve this [semen transmission] through oral intercourse, the Kaluli through anal intercourse, and the Onabasulu through masturbation and smearing of the semen over the bodies of the initates [...] The Kaluli are traditional enemies of the Etoro, and the Etoro particularly revile them for their initiatory practices which are regarded as totally disgusting. (The feeling is probably mutual.) [...] Among the Etoro, "a youth is continually inseminated from about age ten until he reaches his early mid-twenties" (Kelly 1976:45). [...] Kaluli initiation and homosexual activities, in contrast, seem more truncated: [...] When a boy is eleven or twelve years old, he is engaged for several months in homosexual intercourse with a healthy older man chosen by his father. [...] (Schieffelin 1976:124)" (pp. 34- 35)

*'''Anitei, Stefan (2007). "[http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-to-Drink-Sperm-to-Become-a-Strong-Man-67804.shtml How to Drink Sperm to Become a Strong Man]," Softpedia, October 6.'''
*:"This power is transmitted between the members of the [Etoro] tribe by means of sex. That's why young boys, even at the age of 12, get it from the sperm of the older males. The boy gets "power" orally by a young man assigned to be his partner. Few years later, the teenager is formally involved in relationships with many male sex partners, after which he turns into an "inseminator" from an "inseminee.""

=== Kaluli ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Kaluli] From 8 to 28, males resided in sex-segregated hunting lodge; daily, boys accompanied older males on grueling hunting trips, learning essentials of the practice; at 10 or 11, a boy’s father chose for him an older male to inseminate him for months or years; some boys chose their own inseminator; insemination thought essential for growth. Men looked back on youth in hunting lodge with nostalgic excitement, zest; remembered continual hunting, growth-stimulating insemination, ritual discipline, unity of purpose, vigorous manly ethos as highlight of their lives; whole practice was one of prestige for them. Tradition ended in 1960s by colonial administration and missionaries, who policed against it. Source: Schieffelin (1982)"

===Gebusi===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Gebusi] Boys in early adolescence “coquettishly” initiated sexual relations with older, unrelated males. As with the Sambia, the belief was that insemination grew the boys into men. The sexual relations were based on personal affection rather than obligation. Sources: Herdt (1991, 1997)"

=== Sambia ===

*'''[[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt, G. H.]] (Ed.). (1984). Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia. ''University of California Press.'''''
::"Male development and masculinization after childhood are the responsibility of the men's secret cult and its initiation system. This cult is organized and perpetuated by the confederacy of hamlets. Boys are initiated at seven to ten years of age, when they are separated from their mothers, natal households, and younger siblings. [...] Sambia practice secret homosexual fellatio, which is taught and instituted in first-stage initiation. Boys learn to ingest semen from older youths through oral sexual contacts. First- and second-stage initiates may only serve as fellators; they are forbidden to reverse erotic roles with older partners. Third-stage pubescent bachelors and older youths thus act as fellateds, inseminating prepubescent boys. All males pass through both erotic stages, being first fellators, then fellateds: there are no exceptions since all Sambia males are initiated and pressured to engage in homosexual fellatio." (pp. 172-173)

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"[Sambia] Boys between 7 and 10 taken into men’s society; until age 14 fellated older bachelors up to age 25; semen viewed necessary for growth to be strong warrior; after age 25, most men stopped being semen “donors” to get married (some men continued who preferred boys); relations were not just duty for the boys, who were often complicit in arousing bachelors through bawdy enthusiasm; as boys matured, they tended to express more desire for insemination, became more aggressive in soliciting it. Sources: Herdt (1991, 1997)"

*'''Review of [[Gilbert Herdt]]'s famous fieldwork on the Sambia (by [[Walter L. Williams]] as quoted in our page on Herdt):'''
*:"Between the ages of about seven and thirteen, boys are taken from the maternal household and placed in a separate boys' house away from the village. For a period of several months to several years, depending on the culture, boys avoid all contact with females as they are prepared for manhood in elaborate initiations. It is the social duty of men to plant sperm in boys in order for them to grow. In some societies this is done by the boy performing oral sex upon the man, in others by him receiving anal intercourse, or in others by having the sperm rubbed on his body. The sexual act must always be with the boy receiving the older male's semen. To reverse roles is considered damaging to the boy's growth."

*'''Davenport, William H. (1992). [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/File:Davenport_chapter.pdf Adult-Child Sexual Relations in Cross-Cultural Perspective], in W. O'Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), ''The sexual abuse of children: Theory and research'' (Vol. 1, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 73-80), pp. 76-77.'''
*:"The best description of these patterns, by Herdt (1982, 1987) is with a people the author calls the Sambia. In brief, the pattern is as follows:
*::''Seven-to-ten-year-old Sambia boys are taken from their mothers when first initiated into the male cult, and thereafter experience the most powerful and seductive homosexual fellatio activities. For some ten to fifteen years, they engage in these practices on a daily basis, first as fellator, and then as fellated. Elders teach that semen is absolutely vital: it should be consumed daily since the creation of biological maleness and the maintenance of masculinity depend upon it. Hence, from middle childhood untul puberty, boys should perform fellatio on older youths.''

:::''Near puberty the same initiates become dominant youths. Ritual helps remake their social and erotic identity, the bachelors becoming the fellated partners for a new crop of ritual novices. ... [editor's quote extension from Herdt, G. H. (1987). "Guardians of the flutes: Idioms of masculinity" : "abundant evidence indicates that most youths also experience them as pleasurable and erotically exciting"] Yet, in spite of this formidable background, the final outcome is exclusive heterosexuality—of a particular form. Youths eventually become sexually attracted to women. At marriage (c. sixteen to twenty-five years of age), they may even act as true bisexuals, for a time. With fatherhood, however, homosexuality should cease; thereafter men should engage only in heterosexual activities. (Herdt 1987, pp. 2-3)''"

*'''Hyena, Hank (1999). "[http://web.archive.org/web/20131002090633/http://gettingit.com/article/56 Semen Warriors Of New Guinea]," Gettingit.com, September 16.'''
*:"Although many boys tremble initially ("I felt afraid... the penises were enormous," recalls Kalutuo, a Sambian from the Eastern Highlands) they all adjust quickly, because they believe semen is an elixir for manhood."

*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/NEW_GUINEAWEB.HTM Papua New Guinea]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"...the “Sambia” value male-virgin contacts (1984:p177), while “sexual partners are perceived as having more “heat” and being more exciting the younger they are. A second factor is reciprocity: the more asymmetrical the sexual partners (youth/boy), the more erotic play seems to culturally define their contact” [sic]. Against the background of an utterly phallocentric ideology on the androtrophic properties of semen, “Sambia” prepubertal boys (7-12, on average 8.5) fellate post-pubertal adolescents to ejaculation in order to grow and turn seminarchic themselves, so that they may reverse roles. The boys do not have orgasms, and might have “vicarious erotic pleasure as indicated by erections” only “near puberty” ([[Gilbert Herdt|Herdt]] and Stoller, 1990:p70-1)."

==Polynesia==

===Marquesas Islands===
For a range of sources on the Marquesas Islands, [[#Excerpt_Graphic_Library | see gallery below]], primarily ''Marquesan sexual behavior'' by Robert C. Suggs.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/marquesansexualb0000sugg/mode/2up Marquesan sexual behavior by Suggs, Robert C.]</ref>

*'''Martinson, Floyd M. (1973). ''[http://www.ipce.info/booksreborn/martinson/infant/InfantAndChildSexuality.html Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective]''. The Book Mark.'''
*:"Sex play was common practice from the earliest ages among the Marquesa and not only tolerated but encouraged. (Kardiner, 1939, p. 205-206). They recognized the erotic impulse in childhood and accorded it the right of free exercise. They eroticized the child by masturbating it to keep it quiet. In the case of the girls, labia were manipulated as a placebo, but also to encourage the growth of large labia, which to the Marquesans was a mark of beauty. Such activity was, no doubt, also erotically stimulating. There was social recognition of all sexual activity in childhood, and there were no restrictions against encouragement to exercise it freely; it was allocated the same place in the child's world that it occupied in the adult's."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Adolescent boys frequently had sex with each other. Married men rarely had homosex, but would when conditions prevented heterosexual intercourse; they preferred boys for this purpose, whose bodies they said were soft, like females; contacts with boys were casual, fleeting, and without stigma. Source: Suggs (1966)"

===Hawaii===
*'''Janssen, D.F. (2002). "[http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/HAWAII.HTM Hawaii]," ''Growing Up Sexually, Volume I: World Reference Atlas''.'''
*:"Karsch-Haack, (1901) stated that according to Richard Neuhauss, Hawai’ian “girls of 12 to 14 years are generally virgins no more and acts of impurity of father with daughter are no rarity[6] [...] For infant females in Hawai’i, “milk was squirted into her vagina, and the labia were pressed together (Diamond, 1990). The mons [veneris] was rubbed with kukui (candlenut) oil and pressed with the palm of the hand to flatten it and make it less prominent. The molding continued until the labia did not separate. This chore usually was done by the mother or by an “aunt” [...]”. The buttocks of infants, males more than females, were molded so that they became “rounded and not flat”, also clearly evolving from an aesthetic motive. A “blower” is designated for each male infant, ostensibly to prepare him for subincision of the foreskin: “the penis was blown into daily starting from birth. The blowing was said to loosen and balloon the foreskin [and] continued daily [...] until the young male was 6 or 7”, when penile subincision takes place. Diamond reports: “Individuals of both sexes were expected to initiate and participate in coitus at puberty, although sexual activity, play, instruction, and so forth occurred much earlier. For instance, as part of exploratory play, the young investigated each other’s genitals, and young males and females might masturbate each other heterosexually or homosexually. This activity occurred without adult disapproval, and it was considered to be an introduction to adulthood. Casual intercourse before adolescence was not an uncommon experience for males (Handy and Pukui, 1958) and females (Pukui, Haertig and Lee, 1972)"

*'''Milton Diamond. (2004 [1990]). [https://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/biblio/articles/2000to2004/2004-sexual-behavior-in-pre-contact-hawaii.html Sexual Behavior in Pre Contact Hawai'i: A Sexological Ethnography]. Published in: ''Revista Española del Pacifico''. 16: 37-58.'''
*:"Sex training was direct and firsthand. Young individuals learned of coitus and sex play from instruction, direct observation, and practice. As they slept in the family house (hale noa), they observed their parents having coitus. "Public privacy" among the Mangaian Islanders, as it was described by Marshall (1971, p. 108), probably is similar to the "privacy" that was found in Hawai'i and elsewhere in Polynesia: "[A Mangaian may copulate], at any age, in the single room of a hut that contains from five to fifteen family members of all ages — as have his ancestors before him. His daughter may receive and make love with each of her varied nightly suitors in the same room."
*:The young observed dogs, pigs, and other animals mating, and these activities were discussed openly with parents or other adults. Parturition was not a secret event and was well attended by the young and by adults, all of whom observed traditions that included the washing and burying of the placenta and, usually, the disposing of the umbilical cord (Pukui, Haertig and Lee, 1972, p. 16; Handy and Pukui, 1958, p. 78). The young Hawai‘ian also acquired sex education in day-by-day exposure to precepts, practices, and attitudes concerning sex. Traditionally, ... childish curiosity about sex was satisfied, with neither guilt nor shame instilled” (Pukui, Haertig, and Lee, 1972, p. 249). [...] Ellis (1782, Vol. 2, p. 153) wrote of sexual expression in Oceania: "The ladies are very lavish of their favors ... and some of their attachments seemed purely the effects of affection. They are initiated into this way of life at a very early period; we saw some, who could not be more than ten years old."
*:The time considered “right” to start coitus was not so much based on chronological age as on ability or maturity (Pukui, Haertig, and Lee, 1972, p. 78). [...] Suggs (1966) elaborated on the early sexual experiences of pubertal males with married females in their 30s and 40s in the Marquesas Islands, who “take special pains to be pleasing and patient with them ... a source of enjoyment for many Marquesan women” (p. 61). For young females of the Marquesas Islands, the first coital experience reportedly is earlier than it is for young males before menarche —and occurs unplanned with an adult male (Suggs, 1966, p. 63). [...] These adult/nonadult sexual interactions were socially approved behaviors. [...] For adults not to have given such practical education would have been unthinkable - a dereliction of duty.
*:Most important for Hawai‘ian society, the young learned of sexual humor. Among the Hawai‘ians, sex was and remains a rich source of humor and enjoyment. In everyday conversation and in song and story, it was considered to be an “art form” to speak using sexual double entendres (kaona). [...] Suggs (1966, p. 39) considered the early manifestations of infantile and childhood sexual behavior, including sexual behavior with adults, to be among the most distinguishing features of Marquesan sexual behavior. Many of the activities he described, however, are similar to activities that were present in Hawai'i and elsewhere in Oceania. Oliver (1974, pp. 458-459), for example, reported on adult/nonadult sexual behavior in Tahiti and quoted the missionary Orsmond from 1832: “In all Tahitians as well as officers who come in ships there is a cry for little girls,” and older females, when in a position to choose, preferred younger males. Marshall (1971, p. 126) described the routine early sexual encounters of young males and females in Mangaia as being with older, experienced males and females."

==Indonesia==

===Bali===
*'''Martinson, Floyd M. (1973). ''[http://www.ipce.info/booksreborn/martinson/infant/InfantAndChildSexuality.html Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective]''. The Book Mark.'''
*:"Among the Balinese, play and teasing with the genitals is common. A mother will pat her baby girl on the vulva and exclaim, "Pretty! Pretty!" (Bateson and Mead, 1942, p. 26, 32, 131). A boy's penis will be stroked and rubbed. After he has urinated, he will be dried by a flick of his penis. As he grows older, his penis will be pulled and stretched and ruffled, and he will often attempt to keep his balance when learning to walk by holding on to it. Babies are comforted and quieted by manipulating their genital organs. In fact, in Bali, a baby, especially a baby's genital, is a toy with which to play. There is much delight taken in stimulating and playing with the baby to watch him respond."

==South and Southeast Asia ==

=== Philippines ===
*'''[https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy-Claude_Burger Burger, G.C.] (Date unknown). ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20230830163437/https://youjo.love/media/8db97b489e84f14e500046445c113066d720c1e691df6cc7934220a7b565483f.pdf The Sexual Mistake of the West].'''''
*:"Enamored of travel, he went to a different country every year, and, that year, he visited the Philippines. Not wanting to stay in the capital, he had taken the bus in order to get closer to the population. He thus found himself next to a mother who had reserved only one seat for herself and her eight-year-old daughter. The child at first amused herself by running in the central aisle and approaching the other passengers, but after three hours on the way, she began to have enough. As she was becoming more and more cranky, the mother put her on her lap and asked our gentlemen from Bordeaux if it would bother him if she put her daughter’s legs on his knees, so that the little one could sleep better. He accepted, of course, when he noticed that the mother began masturbating the child, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. You can imagine him blushing, asking himself what he should do, looking all around him to see how the other passengers would react, feeling that he would be accused of complicity in incest. But all the neighbors watched with big calm smiles, as if it were obvious, and worthy of the greatest discretion. As soon as the little girl reached orgasm, she fell asleep like an angel..."

===Khumbo (Nepal)===
*'''Diemberger, H. (1993). Blood, sperm, soul and the mountain. In T. del Valle (Ed.), [https://library.lol/main/E2340CAF82B58307F2AA3CBD3D1F97C9 ''Gendered Anthropology''] (pp. 88). Routledge.'''
*:"Caili, an energetic and sensual woman, is playing with her youngest son, Migmar. I enter the house. Caili offers me a cup of barley beer and then continues to play with Migmar who does not really want to be disturbed. He drinks some milk from the breast and plays with his erect little penis. He offers it to his mother who sucks it tenderly and then continues to chat with me. Migmar is five years old."

=== Tibet ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Monasteries had a strong reputation for master-novice sexual relations, which participants viewed without shame as they made no attempt to conceal them to Westerners upon early contacts. Prince Peter (1963)"

=== Batak (Northern Sumatra) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In late childhood, boys moved into all-male houses with about a dozen other boys and young men. From puberty until marriage, homosexual behavior was prescribed and constant. Pederasty and age-equal sex were both common. Sequestering the sexes ensured girls remained virgins until marriage (premarital sex for girls was highly taboo). With outside cultural contact, the tradition began to change. Money & Ehrhardt (1972)"

=== Java ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"In Ponorogo area, all-male folk dance was a major cultural institution (before 1990s); spectating men admired beauty of dancing youths; boy dancers aged 8–14, called gemblaks, often had culturally approved sex with men; interviewees who had been gemblaks all viewed the sex positively; all got married; some had long-term sexual relationships with the dance troupe directors (the Waroks). Waroks were spiritual guides, valorized by the community. Each Ponorogo village had a formalized male group for unmarried males; the group did socially constructive work for the community; heterosexual sex before marriage was disapproved, so members had sex with gemblaks; this practice was seen as benefiting the gemblaks, who got gifts, the group members, who got a sexual outlet, the community, which got good works. Under Western influence, educated Ponorogo people began seeing all this as an embarrassment (relic from an “uncivilized” past); have since worked to end the practice. Weis (1974); Williams (2011)"

==Africa==

=== Maassai (Kenya, Tanzania) ===
*'''Carles Feixa (2011). Past and present of adolescence in society: The ‘teen brain’ debate in perspective. ''Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews'', Volume 35, Issue 8'''
::"Sexual intercourse with [postpubertal] girls is admitted as long as they do not become pregnant."

=== Azande (South Sudan, Northern Congo)===
*'''Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1970). [https://sci-hub.st/10.2307/672861 Sexual Inversion among the Azande. American Anthropologist], 72(6), 1428–1434.'''
*: "It was the custom for members of bachelor companies, some of whom would always be living in barracks at court, to take boy-wives. [...] Most young men consequently married late -- well into their twenties and thirties -- and, because girls were engaged (in a legal sense married) very young, often at birth, the only way youths could obtain satisfaction from a woman was in adultery. [...] The boys performed many of the smaller services a woman performs daily for her husband [...] Also, the boywife carried his husband's shield when on a journey. It should be understood that he performed these services lest it might be thought that the relationship was entirely of a sexual nature; it will be appreciated that it had an educational side to it. With regard to the sexual side, at night the boy slept with his lover, who had intercourse with him between his thighs (Azande expressed disgust at the suggestion of anal penetration). The boys got what pleasure they could by friction of their organs on the husband's belly or groin. However, even though there was this side to the relationship, it was clear from Zande accounts that there was also the comfort of a nightly sharing of the bed with a companion."
*: "The word "boy" (kumba gude) must, it would appear, be interpreted liberally, for as far as I could judge from what I was told the lads might have been anywhere between about twelve and twenty years of age"
*: "I have pointedly used the terms "wife,""husband," and "marriage," for, as the texts will make clear, the relationship was, for so long as it lasted, a legal union on the model of a normal marriage. The warrior paid bridewealth (some five spears or more) to the parents of his boy and performed services for them as he would have done had he married their daughter; if he proved to be a good son-in-law they might later replace the son by a daughter. Also, if another man had relations with his boy he could, I was told, sue him at court for adultery."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Under polygynous system, women were scarce; warriors married boys aged 12 or older; commanders might have more than one boy-wife; man and boy addressed each other with terms such as my love and my lover; boy performed wifely duties and apprenticed for man; on reaching adulthood, the boy typically joined a military company, taking a boy-wife of his own; tradition faded when practice of military service discontinued under British colonialism. Evans-Pritchard (1971); Murray & Roscoe (1998); Seligman & Seligman (1932)"

===Kadar (Nigeria)===
*'''Harris, M. [http://library.lol/main/98025ADB86EEFAF62B59DF2C3CA21CC7 ''Cultural Anthropology''] (New York: Harper and Row, 1983), p. 94.'''
*:"Among the Kadar of northern Nigeria, as reported by M. G. Smith (1968),<ref>M. G. Smith (1968). 'Secondary Marriage among Kadera and Kagoro.' In ''Marriage, Family, and Residence'', Bohannan, Paul and Middleton, J., eds. pp. 109-130. Garden City, N.Y.: Published for the American Museum of Natural History by the Natural History Press.</ref> most marriages result from infant betrothals. These matches are arranged by the fathers of the bride and groom when the girl is 3 to 6 years old. Ten years or more may elapse before the bride goes to live with her betrothed. During this time, a Kadar girl is not unlikely to become pregnant. This will disturb no one, even if the biological father is a man other than her husband:
*::''Kadar set no value on premarital chastity'' (1968, p. 113)."

=== Mossi (Burkina Faso) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"All chiefs (ca. late nineteenth century) had large groups of pages, boys aged 8 to 15 chosen for attractiveness (some were thought to be quite beautiful); on Friday nights, because heterosexual intercourse was forbidden, a (W. chief would engage in sex with a boy instead (he could also on other nights). Upon reaching maturity, a boy Africa) was given a wife by the chief. Murray & Roscoe (1998); Tauxier (1912)"

=== Tsonga (Southern Mozambique) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Common practice in twentieth century among native men, used as miners by colonialists, was taking boys as wives (with wedding feast, brideprice payment); boy performed domestic, sexual duties; was given presents, money in exchange; fidelity was expected; relationships were marked by intense feelings and jealousy; marriage could be terminated in divorce; some men took boy-wives home after mining, where they were accepted by men’s other wives and tribal leaders. Asked if boys desired being wives, an elderly Tsonga man answered, “Yes: for the sake of security, for the acquisition of property and for the fun itself.” A beard indicated the boy was no longer a sex object but a competitor for boys. Murray & Roscoe (1998); Wallace (2006)"

=== Bantu-Speaking Tribes (Central Africa) ===
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Male peer homosexual behavior was universal from puberty until age 18 or 20, and adult-youth sexual interactions were common as well. The older men disposed to form such relationships were described as bian nku’ma (having a heart for boys). In various Central Bantu groups, boy initiates resided at a sex-segregated lodge during their initiation phase and were required to manipulate the phalluses of the lodge-keeper and other adult male visitors, a practice that was seen as instrumental in helping the boys’ phalluses grow large and strong. Wallace (2006)"

=== Siwans (Libya) ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"Among the Siwans of Africa, for example, all men and boys engage in anal intercourse. They adopt the feminine role only in strictly sexual situations and males are singled out as peculiar if they do not indulge in these homosexual activities. Prominent Siwan men lend their sons to each other, and they talk about their masculine love affairs as openly as they discuss their love of women."

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"(Ages of boys involved 12–18) Pederasty was a well-entrenched custom from antiquity to at least 1950s; matchmakers made marriage-like ; arrangements between men and boys; the boy got a gift larger than brideprice for females; man and boy then entered into alliance with family approval; prominent men lent each other their sons for sex; love affairs and jealousies over boys were common; Robin Maugham said: “They will kill for a boy. Never for a woman.” Adam (1985); Herdt (1997)"

=== Lesotho ===
'''Herdt, G. H. (1997). Same sex, different cultures: Exploring gay and lesbian lives. ''Westview Press.'''''
::"In another contemporary southern African culture, Lesotho, age difference was important in relationships between young women who were attached and became homoerotically bonded. These are the “mummy-baby” relationships studied by anthropologist Judith Gay (1986). [...] Young women engaged in mummy/baby relations when they first entered adolescence. These distinctive bonds involved increasing degrees of intimacy, including open expressions of kissing, and might go on to the deepest sexual and lifelong bonds, though not so far that later marriage with a man was prevented. The roles of the older women were very different from those of the younger one, especially in terms of social obligations. The older woman took on the responsible role in the relationship, and she provided her younger partner with gifts and advice. The latter was important because it prepared the young girl for future relationships with men, most significantly her future husband. A woman might continue this relationship for some time after she was married. But then she would cease seeing her younger partner, who then in turn would find a younger woman of her own."

==India==

===Muria===

*'''Elwin, V. (1947). ''[http://library.lol/main/F416733E30BB1A46214CC9AC38656FDE The Muria and their Ghotul]''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.''' [Childhood of the Muria people of Bastar, in central India, as summarized here in scholarship by [[Tom O'Carroll]] (2018)].<ref>Thomas O'Carroll (2018). [https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-018-9519-1 Childhood ‘Innocence’ is Not Ideal: Virtue Ethics and Child–Adult Sex.] ''Sexuality and Culture'', 22:1230–1262 (pp. 1254-1255).</ref>
*:"Anthropologist Verrier Elwin described the elaborate sexual apprenticeship children have, which takes place principally in a special house for the young, known as the ''ghotul''. Infants and toddlers sleep in their parents' house. There are no locked doors and these little children inevitably see something of their parents' intimacies. By the time the children are six or seven a new domestic arrangement is brought into play. The child goes of to the ghotul, a self-regulated domain with its own boy leader and girl leader. The little children are free to come and go as they please between the ghotul and the parental home. Within the ghotul the children are free to engage in sex rehearsal play. Adolescents are able to have intercourse as they choose, able to experiment with different partners and under no pressure to make a premature commitment (Elwin 1947). Elwin, who spent much of his life in India, thought the arrangement worked very well. [...] In 1982, to the surprise of the academic community, it was reported that the ghotul system was still in existence and even expanding (von Fürer-Haimendorf 1982). [...] Elwin says that in practice [girls becoming pregnant] was a rare occurrence in the ghotul, even in the absence of modern contraceptives."

=== Crow ===
*'''Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. ''Harper & Brothers.'''''
::"A few Crow men adopt women's dress and mannerisms, and live alone. Adolescent boys and occasionally older men visit these ''bate'', as they are called. The bate stimulates the boy's genitals orally. One informant stated that there were four such men in his community and that seventeen of his adolescent friends visited them occasionally."

==The Balkans==

===Albania===

*'''Zimmerman, Ann (1994). "[https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/tell-mama-why-you-cry-part-i-6404797 'Tell Mama Why You Cry' (Part I)]," [https://web.archive.org/web/20100926211411/http://www.dallasobserver.com/1994-11-17/news/tell-mama-why-you-cry-part-i/1 (archive)], ''Dallas Observer'', November 17.'''
*:An Albanian immigrant to the US is arrested for retaining his culture: "This harsh--and irreversible--punishment came at the end of a strange case that began in 1989 when several witnesses reported seeing Krasniqi fondle his daughter during a karate tournament in a Plano high school gymnasium in which his son was competing. Several years after the family court ruling, Krasniqi finally had his day in criminal court. Collin County Judge Nathan White acquitted him of the charge of indecency with a child primarily on the strength of testimony from Massachusetts anthropologist Barbara Halpern--one of the country's foremost authorities on the peasant culture of the Balkans. Halpern explained that Sam Krasniqi's actions were done not with sexual intent, but rather with playful affection--in keeping with his culture, which cherishes children and showers them with physical affection. [...]
*: Shortly after the tournament began, Taylor's attention was drawn to the spectator in front of her. She watched as a 50-year-old man with thinning gray hair repeatedly rubbed the underpants-clad buttocks and bare legs of a little girl who was laid out across his lap. He also slipped his hand under the girl's panties and caressed and squeezed her buttocks. "He lifted her to face him and rubbed her front chest under her little dress. He then put his hand inside her panties from the leg opening and squeezed her vagina," Taylor wrote in a statement she gave police. [...]
*:Wunderlich, who did not retrun calls to the Observer, had to explain to Kathy what molestation meant. "If you mean something sexual like with me and my husband, you are wrong," Kathy responded. "It is not a sexual thing and there is no harm to my children," Kathy told Wunderlich. [...]
*:"According to Wunderlich's case notes, he admitted touching Lima and Tim, that it was acceptable in his country and it was just a big misunderstanding. "He denied it was sexual at all and said that I could kill him if he was lying and if it was sexually gratifying to him." Krasniqi has since insisted that Wunderlich misconstrued what he was telling her. At the karate tournament, Krasniqi insists he was just playing a game with his daughter--touching the parts of her body and asking her to say their names. "I tell Wunderlich, How can you love your children and not touch them?" Krasniqi explains, sitting in his home, surrounded by pictures of his children when they were younger.
*:Nowhere in Wunderlich's case notes does it indicate that anyone in her department tried to research the Krasniqis' culture. If they had they might have learned what Barbara Halpern, the anthropologist from Massachusetts, testified to in Krasniqi's criminal trial. The Krasniqis come from "very physically demonstrative culture. Children are universally adored. Until they attain school age and venture beyond the household gates, they are the constant subjects of hugs, caresses and overt displays of affection.""

*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''
::"Highly romanticized pederasty still found in latter half of twentieth century [...] [Y]ounger men frequently cultivated passionate, enthusiastic erotic relations with boys (12 to 17); Muslim Albanian custom of “boy-brides” also spread to Albanian Christians. Greenberg (1988); Murray (1997, 2000); Williams (1992)"

== See also ==
*[[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History]]
*[[Pederasty in Islam]]
*[[Pederasty in Japanese culture]]
* [https://wiki.yesmap.net/wiki/Walter_L._Williams#The_Spirit_and_the_Flesh_%281986%29 The Spirit and the Flesh (1986)] - the book by Walter L. Williams with a broad section on pederasty among non-western societies
* [[Gilbert_Herdt|Gilbert Herdt]] - anthropologist who studied ritualized intergenerational homosexuality in Melanesia

==Excerpt Graphic Library==

The EGL on '''Broader Perspectives''' has some relevant information. Just right click/save and reproduce by uploading in short-form media to bypass character limits.

{{Template:EGLBP}}

==References==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Research into effects on Children]][[Category:Research: Broader Perspectives]]

Gilbert Herdt

2026-07-31T16:59:17Z

Thorn: /* Selected relevant publications */

{{Template:Ac}}[[File:Herdt lecture 2017.jpg|thumb|260px|left|Gilbert Herdt pictured in lecture thumbnail]]'''Gilbert Herdt''' (born February 24, 1949) is Emeritus Professor of Human Sexuality Studies and Anthropology and a Founder of the Department of Sexuality Studies and National Sexuality Resource Center at San Francisco State University. Herdt is the recipient of various awards and research grants, and founded the Summer Institute on Sexuality and Society at the University of Amsterdam (1996), and the PhD Program in Human Sexuality at the California Institute for Integral Studies, San Francisco (2013).

Herdt is best known for conducting long term field work among the Sambia people of Papua New Guinea, where male intergenerational sexual practice was normal in the form of 'ritual insemination rites' which involved the consumption of semen. Males were required to pass through three specific sexual phases in their lives: boys provide sexual service to young men, adolescents then receive oral sex from boys, and finally, males enter adulthood by becoming heterosexual. His publications on the Sambia began in 1981, providing early and highly influential evidence of accepted [[Research:_Nonwestern_Intergenerational_Relationships|homosexuality in non-western society]]. By the late 1990's/early 2000's, Herdt found to his surprise that the Sambia community he had studied, came to abandon the intergenerational ritual insemination rites he had observed 20 years prior. Herdt has written widely on variation in human sexual expression, sex and gender, in Papua New Guinea, Melanesia, and across culture. Easily accessible papers include ''Why the Sambia Initiate Boys before Age 10'' (2000)<ref>Herdt, G. (2000). '[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BzKwnv0D0qIC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false 'Why the Sambia initiate boys before age 10'']. In John Bancroft (Ed.), ''The role of theory in sex research'' (pp. 82–109). Indiana University Press.</ref>, ''The Magical Age of 10'' (2000 - on puberty and adrenarche)<ref>Gilbert Herdt and Martha McClintock, Ph.D, [https://www.ipce.info/sites/ipce.info/files/biblio_attachments/herdt_-_the_magical_age_of_10_2000.pdf ''The Magical Age of 10''], in ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', Vol. 29, No. 6, 2000. </ref>, and his interview in ''[[Paidika|Paidika: The Journal of Pedophilia]]'' (1994)<ref>As one media article [http://www.come-and-hear.com/editor/ca-wt-04-19-02 wrote]: Herdt "said in an interview with the Dutch pedophilia journal Paidika that "the category 'child' is a rhetorical device for inflaming what is really an irrational set of attitudes" against sex with children." See Joseph Geraci, "Interview: Gilbert Herdt", ''Paidika: The Journal of Pedophilia'', Vol. 3, No. 2 (1994).</ref>.

*'''[[Walter L. Williams]], Review of Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia by Gilbert H. Herdt.<ref>[http://www.jstor.org/stable/3630601 Review of Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia by Gilbert H. Herdt. ''Journal of Anthropological Research'', Vol. 41, No. 3 (Autumn, 1985), pp. 351-354.]</ref> ''Journal of Anthropological Research'', Vol. 41, No. 3 (Autumn, 1985), pp. 351-354.'''

<blockquote>''This is the first published collection of ethnographic studies specifically about homosexual behavior in non-Western cultures. ''[...]'' Herdt challenges that Western stereotype of "a homosexual" or "a heterosexual" as distinct categories of persons. He points out that neither category makes sense in Melanesia, that we cannot properly speak of them in terms of the Western norms of "gay" or "straight."''

''What is instead found, in many areas of southern lowlands New Guinea and on smaller islands, is a strong cultural belief that there are two bodily fluids which bring about human life and growth: female breast milk and male semen. Infants need milk to grow, but in the Melanesian view boys cannot grow to become men without ingesting semen from adult males. Melanesian societies which have this belief institutionalize male homosexual behavior; it is obligatory for all boys as part of their socialization into manhood. Though the authors show the variations of specific beliefs and practices, this pattern usually exists in societies which have a fairly strict separation of the sexes.''

''Between the ages of about seven and thirteen, boys are taken from the maternal household and placed in a separate boys' house away from the village. For a period of several months to several years, depending on the culture, boys avoid all contact with females as they are prepared for manhood in elaborate initiations. It is the social duty of men to plant sperm in boys in order for them to grow. In some societies this is done by the boy performing oral sex upon the man, in others by him receiving anal intercourse, or in others by having the sperm rubbed on his body. The sexual act must always be with the boy receiving the older male's semen. To reverse roles is considered damaging to the boy's growth.''

''The most important homosexual relationship of a boy is with his mentor, assigned by his father and ideally his mother's brother. This mentor is responsible for educating the boy and seeing that he is raised into proper man-hood. They work and sleep together until the boy has matured. This overlay of ritual and male duty makes Melanesian notions of homoeroticism seem quite different from ours. Yet, as Herdt points out, these ritual acts are sexual, with erections and orgasms and close erotic bonding between individuals. It is this male bonding, in fact, which is the book's major concern.''

''These are egalitarian societies with no strong leadership roles but with almost constant warfare. What is crucial for the society is that a strong common bond be created that cements the men together into a close warriorhood. Just as heterosexual intercourse cements a marriage, in Melanesia, homosexual acts cement a warriorhood. Both heterosexual marriage and homosexual relationships are integral to Melanesian social harmony in that they help to widen the network of individuals to whom one is tied by close emotional bonds.''

''This information has enormous implications for our own society. ''[...]'' The Melanesian data, as well as comparable data from other world areas like ancient Greece, the Sudan, and medieval [[Pederasty in Japanese culture|Japan]], demonstrate that a warriorhood in fact can be strengthened by the bonds of homosexuality. Second, these data show that homosexual involvement is not inherently harmful for even young boys and that it can be an integral part of the mentor relationship that aids a boy's education into adulthood. The notion that boys are "recruited" into lifelong homosexual preference by early same-sex experiences is also shown to be false. In Melanesia, just as every boy is expected to be sexual only with other males, at a later time he is expected to be involved with both sexes; and then finally he is expected to marry a woman. In some groups he even is expected to give up sex with boys altogether after his first or second child is born.'' (pp. 351-352). </blockquote>

According to a September 2022 YouTube interview where Herdt discusses his research on the Sambia, he is planning an upcoming book on the topic.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmFEd1LpQxA The Dissenter, #678 Gilbert Herdt: The Anthropology of Sexual Orientation (Recorded on 30th 2022; uploaded to Youtube Sep 15, 2022).]</ref>

==Selected relevant publications==

*2009 ''Moral Panics, Sex Panics: Fear and the Fight over Sexual Rights'' (Editor and contributor, 2009).<ref>[https://library.lol/main/04A36ECC1A4318C0FDEF2F2A0B73F745 PDF of Moral Panics, Sex Panics on libgen (external link)]</ref> He dedicated this book to "five very special people - my oldest and closest friends from the 1970s to the 90s, whose love has enriched me and changed my life" - including to [[Theo Sandfort]] and Theo van der Meer.
*2006 ''The Sambia: Ritual, Sexuality and Change in Papua New Guinea''. Second Edition. New York: Wadsworth.
*2001 ''Children of Horizons: how gay and lesbian teens are leading a new way out of the closet'', editor with author Andrew Boxer. Beacon Press.
*2001 ''Secrecy and Cultural Reality''. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press
*2000 ''Something to Tell You: The Road Families Travel When a Child Is Gay''. New York: Columbia University Press.
*1999 ''Sambia Sexual Culture: Essays from the Field''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
*1998 ''Rituals of Manhood'', edited by Gilbert Herdt. New edition. New York:Transaction Publishers.
*1997 ''Same Sex, Different Cultures''. New York: Westview Press.
*1994 ''Third Sex, Third Gender''. New York: Zone Books.
*1993 ''Gay Culture In America: Essays From the Field''. Boston: Beacon Press
*1992 ''Children of Horizons: How Gay Youth are Forging a New Way Out of the Closet''. (With Andrew Boxer.) Boston: Beacon Press.
*Gilbert Herdt PhD. (1991). Commentary on Status of Sex Research<ref>[http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J056v04n01_02 Gilbert Herdt PhD. (1991). Commentary on Status of Sex Research, ''Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality'', 4:1, 5-12.]</ref>, ''Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality'', 4:1, 5-12.
*1987 ''The Sambia: Ritual and Gender in New Guinea''. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
*1984 ''Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia'' (Studies in Melanesian Anthropology), editor Gilbert Herdt. Berkeley: University of California Press
*1982 ''Rituals of Manhood''. Berkeley: University of California Press.
*1981 ''Guardians of the Flutes: Idioms of Masculinity''. New York: McGraw-Hill.

==See also==
<div style="column-count:3;-moz-column-count:3;-webkit-column-count:3">
*[[Journal of Homosexuality]]
*[[Ken Plummer]]
*[[John P. De Cecco]]
*[[Vern Bullough]]
*[[Gert Hekma]]
*[[Donald Mader]]
*[[Bruce Rind]]
*[[Philip Tromovitch]]
*[[Edward Brongersma]]
*[[Frits Bernard]]
*[[David Thorstad]]
</div>

==References==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:People]][[Category:People: American]][[Category:People: Academics]][[Category:Gay]][[Category:Research: Broader Perspectives]]

Gilbert Herdt

2026-07-31T16:58:57Z

Thorn: /* Selected relevant publications */

{{Template:Ac}}[[File:Herdt lecture 2017.jpg|thumb|260px|left|Gilbert Herdt pictured in lecture thumbnail]]'''Gilbert Herdt''' (born February 24, 1949) is Emeritus Professor of Human Sexuality Studies and Anthropology and a Founder of the Department of Sexuality Studies and National Sexuality Resource Center at San Francisco State University. Herdt is the recipient of various awards and research grants, and founded the Summer Institute on Sexuality and Society at the University of Amsterdam (1996), and the PhD Program in Human Sexuality at the California Institute for Integral Studies, San Francisco (2013).

Herdt is best known for conducting long term field work among the Sambia people of Papua New Guinea, where male intergenerational sexual practice was normal in the form of 'ritual insemination rites' which involved the consumption of semen. Males were required to pass through three specific sexual phases in their lives: boys provide sexual service to young men, adolescents then receive oral sex from boys, and finally, males enter adulthood by becoming heterosexual. His publications on the Sambia began in 1981, providing early and highly influential evidence of accepted [[Research:_Nonwestern_Intergenerational_Relationships|homosexuality in non-western society]]. By the late 1990's/early 2000's, Herdt found to his surprise that the Sambia community he had studied, came to abandon the intergenerational ritual insemination rites he had observed 20 years prior. Herdt has written widely on variation in human sexual expression, sex and gender, in Papua New Guinea, Melanesia, and across culture. Easily accessible papers include ''Why the Sambia Initiate Boys before Age 10'' (2000)<ref>Herdt, G. (2000). '[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BzKwnv0D0qIC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false 'Why the Sambia initiate boys before age 10'']. In John Bancroft (Ed.), ''The role of theory in sex research'' (pp. 82–109). Indiana University Press.</ref>, ''The Magical Age of 10'' (2000 - on puberty and adrenarche)<ref>Gilbert Herdt and Martha McClintock, Ph.D, [https://www.ipce.info/sites/ipce.info/files/biblio_attachments/herdt_-_the_magical_age_of_10_2000.pdf ''The Magical Age of 10''], in ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', Vol. 29, No. 6, 2000. </ref>, and his interview in ''[[Paidika|Paidika: The Journal of Pedophilia]]'' (1994)<ref>As one media article [http://www.come-and-hear.com/editor/ca-wt-04-19-02 wrote]: Herdt "said in an interview with the Dutch pedophilia journal Paidika that "the category 'child' is a rhetorical device for inflaming what is really an irrational set of attitudes" against sex with children." See Joseph Geraci, "Interview: Gilbert Herdt", ''Paidika: The Journal of Pedophilia'', Vol. 3, No. 2 (1994).</ref>.

*'''[[Walter L. Williams]], Review of Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia by Gilbert H. Herdt.<ref>[http://www.jstor.org/stable/3630601 Review of Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia by Gilbert H. Herdt. ''Journal of Anthropological Research'', Vol. 41, No. 3 (Autumn, 1985), pp. 351-354.]</ref> ''Journal of Anthropological Research'', Vol. 41, No. 3 (Autumn, 1985), pp. 351-354.'''

<blockquote>''This is the first published collection of ethnographic studies specifically about homosexual behavior in non-Western cultures. ''[...]'' Herdt challenges that Western stereotype of "a homosexual" or "a heterosexual" as distinct categories of persons. He points out that neither category makes sense in Melanesia, that we cannot properly speak of them in terms of the Western norms of "gay" or "straight."''

''What is instead found, in many areas of southern lowlands New Guinea and on smaller islands, is a strong cultural belief that there are two bodily fluids which bring about human life and growth: female breast milk and male semen. Infants need milk to grow, but in the Melanesian view boys cannot grow to become men without ingesting semen from adult males. Melanesian societies which have this belief institutionalize male homosexual behavior; it is obligatory for all boys as part of their socialization into manhood. Though the authors show the variations of specific beliefs and practices, this pattern usually exists in societies which have a fairly strict separation of the sexes.''

''Between the ages of about seven and thirteen, boys are taken from the maternal household and placed in a separate boys' house away from the village. For a period of several months to several years, depending on the culture, boys avoid all contact with females as they are prepared for manhood in elaborate initiations. It is the social duty of men to plant sperm in boys in order for them to grow. In some societies this is done by the boy performing oral sex upon the man, in others by him receiving anal intercourse, or in others by having the sperm rubbed on his body. The sexual act must always be with the boy receiving the older male's semen. To reverse roles is considered damaging to the boy's growth.''

''The most important homosexual relationship of a boy is with his mentor, assigned by his father and ideally his mother's brother. This mentor is responsible for educating the boy and seeing that he is raised into proper man-hood. They work and sleep together until the boy has matured. This overlay of ritual and male duty makes Melanesian notions of homoeroticism seem quite different from ours. Yet, as Herdt points out, these ritual acts are sexual, with erections and orgasms and close erotic bonding between individuals. It is this male bonding, in fact, which is the book's major concern.''

''These are egalitarian societies with no strong leadership roles but with almost constant warfare. What is crucial for the society is that a strong common bond be created that cements the men together into a close warriorhood. Just as heterosexual intercourse cements a marriage, in Melanesia, homosexual acts cement a warriorhood. Both heterosexual marriage and homosexual relationships are integral to Melanesian social harmony in that they help to widen the network of individuals to whom one is tied by close emotional bonds.''

''This information has enormous implications for our own society. ''[...]'' The Melanesian data, as well as comparable data from other world areas like ancient Greece, the Sudan, and medieval [[Pederasty in Japanese culture|Japan]], demonstrate that a warriorhood in fact can be strengthened by the bonds of homosexuality. Second, these data show that homosexual involvement is not inherently harmful for even young boys and that it can be an integral part of the mentor relationship that aids a boy's education into adulthood. The notion that boys are "recruited" into lifelong homosexual preference by early same-sex experiences is also shown to be false. In Melanesia, just as every boy is expected to be sexual only with other males, at a later time he is expected to be involved with both sexes; and then finally he is expected to marry a woman. In some groups he even is expected to give up sex with boys altogether after his first or second child is born.'' (pp. 351-352). </blockquote>

According to a September 2022 YouTube interview where Herdt discusses his research on the Sambia, he is planning an upcoming book on the topic.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmFEd1LpQxA The Dissenter, #678 Gilbert Herdt: The Anthropology of Sexual Orientation (Recorded on 30th 2022; uploaded to Youtube Sep 15, 2022).]</ref>

==Selected relevant publications==

*2009''Moral Panics, Sex Panics: Fear and the Fight over Sexual Rights'' (Editor and contributor, 2009).<ref>[https://library.lol/main/04A36ECC1A4318C0FDEF2F2A0B73F745 PDF of Moral Panics, Sex Panics on libgen (external link)]</ref> He dedicated this book to "five very special people - my oldest and closest friends from the 1970s to the 90s, whose love has enriched me and changed my life" - including to [[Theo Sandfort]] and Theo van der Meer.
*2006*''The Sambia: Ritual, Sexuality and Change in Papua New Guinea''. Second Edition. New York: Wadsworth.
*2001 ''Children of Horizons: how gay and lesbian teens are leading a new way out of the closet'', editor with author Andrew Boxer. Beacon Press.
*2001 ''Secrecy and Cultural Reality''. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press
*2000 ''Something to Tell You: The Road Families Travel When a Child Is Gay''. New York: Columbia University Press.
*1999 ''Sambia Sexual Culture: Essays from the Field''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
*1998 ''Rituals of Manhood'', edited by Gilbert Herdt. New edition. New York:Transaction Publishers.
*1997 ''Same Sex, Different Cultures''. New York: Westview Press.
*1994 ''Third Sex, Third Gender''. New York: Zone Books.
*1993 ''Gay Culture In America: Essays From the Field''. Boston: Beacon Press
*1992 ''Children of Horizons: How Gay Youth are Forging a New Way Out of the Closet''. (With Andrew Boxer.) Boston: Beacon Press.
*Gilbert Herdt PhD. (1991). Commentary on Status of Sex Research<ref>[http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J056v04n01_02 Gilbert Herdt PhD. (1991). Commentary on Status of Sex Research, ''Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality'', 4:1, 5-12.]</ref>, ''Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality'', 4:1, 5-12.
*1987 ''The Sambia: Ritual and Gender in New Guinea''. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
*1984 ''Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia'' (Studies in Melanesian Anthropology), editor Gilbert Herdt. Berkeley: University of California Press
*1982 ''Rituals of Manhood''. Berkeley: University of California Press.
*1981 ''Guardians of the Flutes: Idioms of Masculinity''. New York: McGraw-Hill.

==See also==
<div style="column-count:3;-moz-column-count:3;-webkit-column-count:3">
*[[Journal of Homosexuality]]
*[[Ken Plummer]]
*[[John P. De Cecco]]
*[[Vern Bullough]]
*[[Gert Hekma]]
*[[Donald Mader]]
*[[Bruce Rind]]
*[[Philip Tromovitch]]
*[[Edward Brongersma]]
*[[Frits Bernard]]
*[[David Thorstad]]
</div>

==References==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:People]][[Category:People: American]][[Category:People: Academics]][[Category:Gay]][[Category:Research: Broader Perspectives]]

Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality

2026-07-30T19:10:49Z

Thorn: /* Complementary behavior among minors */

<div style="margin-right: 25px; float: left;">__TOC__</div>
:''This article has been written in standard format mixed with an anthology.''

While the [[Debate_Guide:_Evolutionary_logic|evolutionary logic]] of intergenerational sexual behaviour and [[Hebephilia|hebephilic]] attraction towards pubertal [[Adolescence|adolescents]] of the opposite sex is easily explained by fertility potential of such behaviour ([[Research: Pedophilia as a sexual/erotic orientation|see mentions of hebephilia)]], the explanation of intergenerational attractions toward prepubertal children ([[pedophilia]]/pedosexuality), or adolescent homosexual partners ([[Pederasty|pederastic]] inclination), or the very existence of prepubertal [[child]] sexuality, is less obvious.

The emergence of such sexuality has several [[Wikipedia:Darwinism|evolutionary explanations]] with varying degrees of evidence, which come from [[Wikipedia:Ethology|ethology]] and [[Wikipedia:Neuroscience|neuroscience]]. There are suggestions that, in our evolutionary past, pedosexual behaviors could have had some evolutionary functions or been an evolutionary by-product of human sexuality development. These explanations may have pragmatic implications for the [[Research: A "cure" for pedophilia?#Psychological wellbeing for MAPs|well-being]] of both MAPs and minors. "Evolutionary scenarios are not just interesting explanatory “stories,” but can illuminate limits as well as opportunities for intervention" (Del Giudice M., 2014). Here is an attempt to categorize these hypotheses, although they overlap greatly and can hardly be considered separately. Rather, they describe different aspects of a complex evolutionary process.

== Adaptation to the lack of success in sexual competition ==
One hypothesis is that if a male is unsuccessful in sexual competition for fertile females, and he chronically feels inferior to others and is afraid of other adults, then his sexuality towards adults may be suppressed and redirected towards children, because children do not cause fear, and next to them the male feels his strength and superiority. Male's sexuality is more associated with dominance and this may explain the greater prevalence of attraction to children among men than among women.<ref>[https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5 Medicus, G., Hopf, S. (1990). The Phylogeny of Male/Female Differences in Sexual Behavior.] In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5</ref>

Excerpts:
* '''Medicus, G., Hopf, S. (1990). [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5 The Phylogeny of Male/Female Differences in Sexual Behavior.] In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5'''
*:"As has been pointed out, adult human sexual behavior with children and adolescents can be understood within the context of dimorphism. Male/ female differences in sexual behavior result at least in part from the different amounts of energy and time each sex expends for reproduction (see Table 4.1). This initial difference produces a difference in the functional proximity of the moods of fear and aggression to sexual mood (see Table 4.11), as well as a difference in the likelihood for active pursuit of sexual opportunities"
*:"One of the most consistent psychological correlates that has been identified is that many adult males who are sexually attracted to children and adolescents show manifestations of (real or self-perceived) social inadequacy with peers. Such males may suffer from feelings of anxiety when they consider sexual behavior with an adult partner (Johnston and Johnston, 1986; Panton, 1979; Segal and Marshall, 1985). Because sex and fear are such functionally distant moods in males, many human adult males cannot perform sexual actions when they feel inferior to their sexual partner or when they feel anxious (e.g., Bancroft, 1985; Eicher, 1980). This explanation is in accordance with the previously mentioned male/female dimorphism in the relationship of mood and behavior (see Table 4.11). Because of their small size, lack of experience, and sense of insecurity, children and adolescents of either sex do not arouse feelings of inferiority, fear, and anxiety in adult males. Thus, children and adolescents can become "sexual objects" for males who in sociosexual relations with adults feel inferior or anxious."

* '''Glenn D. Wilson and David N. Cox. 1983. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130410124803/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Child-Lovers%20-%20A%20Study%20of%20Paedophiles%20in%20Society.pdf The Child-Lovers: A Study of Paedophiles in Society.] By London: Peter Owen. Pp 132. British Journal of Psychiatry. 1983;143(4):430-430. doi:10.1192/S0007125000200780'''
*: "Examination of the characteristics of children that the paedophiles found most attractive points to the conclusion that the ability to achieve social dominance over the child may be the key to understanding the paedophile’s choice of sex target."
*: "Viewed in this way, paedophilia would seem to be one of several alternative adaptations to the problem of lack of success (or perceived inability to succeed) in intermale competition for access to females. It has been often noted by ethologists that the males of any species are thrown into strong Darwinian competition with one another. Those that are most successful monopolise an unequal share of female resources, and the others have to make do with various substitute sexual outlets. Following this model, we would not expect to find any genetic predisposition toward paedophilia per se, but as with homosexuality and certain other sex deviations, some degree of heritability would be mediated by the constitutional basis of dominance versus submissiveness. In other words, paedophiles may inherit their submissive nature, which in turn makes for difficulties in establishing normal sexual roles."

*'''Connie M. Anderson (1990). "Adolescent/Adult Copulatory Behavior in Nonhuman Primates." In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*: "Adult, subadult, and adolescent females are monopolized by adult male harem-holders, leaving a few adult and all subadult males without adult sexual partners. Under these conditions, males without harems choose a particular juvenile female to follow and display intense parental-like behavior towards her. Eventually, she becomes the first individual in the male's harem, and he begins mating with her at her first estrous swelling. Thus, both parental-like and copulatory motor patterns are directed at the same individual over the course of time and, for a brief period, even simultaneously."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Neither very young mature females nor males are desirable mates. [...] On the other hand, the lowest ranking, and therefore unattractive adult males and females do seek matings with adolescents. Low-status females are especially prone to seducing the almost always eager and obliging young males. It is quite likely that these inferior adults are making the best of a bad draw; any available mate is better than none at all in the harsh world of reproductive competition."

== Reproductive value pressure ==
Another close explanation is that the total reproductive potential is highest at the point far before fertility maximum, namely closely to the beginning of puberty. And along with selective pressure toward fully fertile partners, there is selective pressure toward maximum reproductive value, that may become stronger if long term mating strategies are more adaptive in a given evolutionary circumstances.

*'''Seto, M. C. (2017). The puzzle of male chronophilias. ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 46(1), 3-22.'''
::"Evolutionary theories about human mating strategies distinguish between reproductive value and fertility (Buss, 1989). Reproductive value refers to the potential number of offspring that could be produced over time, and thus focusing on reproductive value represents a longer-term strategy, as in the case of marriage to pubescent or even prepubescent girls. [...] Fertility, on the other hand, means maximizing the chances of reproduction, and thus would represent a shorter-term strategy focusing on young adult women (e.g., in their early to mid-20s). This is reflected in male-typical age preferences for casual sex partners, pornography actors, and models(Kenrick & Keefe,1992; Ogas & Gaddam, 2011; Rudder, 2014). Though preferences for other than sexually mature,fertile partners would probably be suboptimal, variations from heterosexual teleiophilia might be maintained in the human population — at a low frequency — as a result of opposing selection pressures (e.g., frequency-dependent selection) or as a byproduct of other adaptations."

== "Nest helper" hypothesis ==
{{research}}
The concept of "nest helper", is an explanation of a few individuals within a group being nonreproductive, yet aiding their group's survival. They may be affectionately disposed and caring towards others without reproducing, since this promotes the reproduction of peers who share some of the same genes due to being genetic relatives in the group. Due to sexual competition and the costs of human reproduction, not every individual ''can'' reproduce, hence there are indirect genetic benefits of "nest helping" that may overcome benefits of direct reproductive efforts for some individuals. This evolutionary hypothesis applies to both exclusive homosexuality and exclusive pedophilia, although due to a lack of investigation, there is at present little evidence for it (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":5">[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Feierman, Jay R. (1990). Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23</ref>).

Excerpts:
* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23'''
*:"Whereas a similar challenge has been met somewhat reasonably in terms of the "nest helper" concept of adult homosexuality, hypothesizing that another type of nest helper would have to erotically love and sexually interact with the children for whom he was caring"

== Help in developing sexual ability ==

Sex play between immature mammals is widespread, and among primates it is nearly universal. Sexual play functions as learning adequate mating skills. Sexual play mostly occurs among immature peers, but adults also often engage in sexual play with juveniles and help them develop sexual skills too.<ref>Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7</ref> In addition, sex can trigger the onset of fertility. Such a function could have played a role in the human evolutionary past (Dienske, 1990<ref name=":0">Dienske, Herman (1990). The Concept of Function in the Behavioral Sciences with Specific Reference to Pedophilia and Pedosexual Behavior: A Biophilosophical Perspective. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13</ref>). In some species, this function has built in to that extent that without early sexual experience with an adult an individual grows up unable to conceive.<ref name=":7">Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2</ref>

* '''Connie M. Anderson (1990). "Adolescent/Adult Copulatory Behavior in Nonhuman Primates". In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*: "Among nonhuman primates, then, sexual interaction between adult females and immature males is universal [...] Adult females do interact sexually with males of all ages, including infants too young to be capable of intromission or ejaculation. Females have little to lose by doing so, since they do not deplete their egg supply by unsuccessful matings and since they are unlikely to be seriously injured in the process. They may also help their immature male relatives by allowing them access to experienced females to practice sexual behavior so that they can perform successfully from the time spermatogenesis begins."

* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2'''
*: "In the squirrel monkey (Saimin), captivity-raised individuals of both sexes in mixed-sex peer groups were not even able to conceive unless they had been allowed, when they were juveniles, to have sexual contact with opposite-sex adults (Hopf, 1979, personal communication)."

*'''De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15'''
*: "Thus, juvenile male chimpanzees are attracted to females in estrus, and pubertal females begin to explore sexual contact with older males as soon as their genital swellings develop (van der Weel, 1978; de Waal, 1982; Goodall, 1986). Such intergenerational experience undoubtedly contributes to the development of adequate sexual skills."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Any behavior that is indisputably essential to survival, adaptation, or reproductive success develops in many different forms in different species, and often even varies in the same species in different environments. ‘The evolution of sex and sexual behavior is certainly no exception (Margulis & Sagan, 1986). It is, therefore, not surprising to find that mature and immature conspecifics engage each other in myriad sexual practices (Crews & Moore, 1986). [...] It is certainly no accident that species in which the immature play are also the ones most involved in preadolescent sex. Of those warmblooded, slowly maturing organisms that play (mostly mammals), an undetermined, but probably very large, number engage in sexual ventures. On the other hand, young animals that metamorphize into adult form and those with an exceedingly brief immaturity are obviously poor candidates for sexual participation with adults."
::"The fascinating evolutionary component is the appearance of play; sexual encounters of mature with immature animals that do not play differ sharply from the sexual interactions of those that do. [...] Sexual activity of young mammals is a clear aid to their performing adequately and sex play is probably essential to the development of normal adult primate copulation (Harlow, 1962; Wallen, Goldfoot, & Goy, 1981)."
::"[T]he mere fact that sex play with adults is so widespread in polygamous (i.e., multimale—multifemale mating) species supports speculation that encounters with adults provide the winning edge. "

== Advantage in sexual competition ==
The emergence of nonexclusive pedophilic interest could be due to males experiencing selection pressure to display affiliative behavior towards minors. Such a display aims to convince fertile females that the male is ready for paternal investment, thus giving advantages in access to the fertile female (Taub, 1990<ref>Taub, David M. (1990). The Functions of Primate Paternalism: A Cross-Species Review. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 338–377). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_14</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''Taub, David M. (1990). The Functions of Primate Paternalism: A Cross-Species Review. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 338–377). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_14'''
*: "Why then are these unrelated males forming special affiliations with and investing in these infants? Proponents of this view suggest that males form special relationships with infants as a means whereby they may develop a closer and stronger affiliative relationship with the infant's mother. This enhanced, or special, relationship with the mother, in turn, enhances the male's chances of mating with this female in the future."

== Sex as a buffer against aggression ==
Ethologist Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt suggested that the interconnection between sex and dominance is the basic ("reptilian") way of vertebrate sexuality organization. Aggression and dominance acquired a functional connection with male sexuality due to the fact that aggressive and dominant males tended to win in sexual competition. In contrast, submission was embedded in female sexuality. The submissive posture of the female ready for mating is a stimulus to transform male’s aggressive drive to the sexual drive. This prevents injuries and allows mating to occur. Thus aggression, dominance and submission were sexualized, and sexuality acquired the ability to buffer aggression in hierarchical relationships. (The manifestation of that ability is that the appeasing posture of a defeated enemy in animals often resembles the posture of a female ready to mate). Eibl-Eibesfeldt supposed that it is possible that this function could be partly transferred into the adult-juvenile hierarchical relationship (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1990<ref name=":1">[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6</ref>).

Excerpts:
* '''Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6'''
*: “Dominance between group members is also expressed by ritualized mounting, and submission, in turn, is expressed by female-type presenting. From these kinds of greeting rituals have evolved behaviors such as those of hamadryas baboons, in which males approaching high-ranking individuals present as if they, the presenters, were females. Their buttocks are hairless and red in mimicry of the female buttocks, thus enhancing the signal value of presenting (Wiclder, 1966, 1967b). The high-ranking individual may mount or just perform the intention to mount in response to the other's presenting. This use by primates of sexual motor patterns to acknowledge dominance rank order has often been interpreted as being equivalent to human homosexuality. This interpretation is an oversimplification. These sexual motor patterns are derived from copulatory behaviors but, then, have acquired a new function related to social hierarchies: mounting serves as an indication of dominance, and presenting serves as an indication of submission, an agonistic buffer in a greeting context”
*:“Children have characteristics, such as small size, that facilitate adult males' feeling dominant to them, as occurs in pedosexual behavior.”

== Sex for reconciliation and food sharing ==
The reduction of social tension mediated by sociosexual contact is widespread in the communities of human closest relatives, the [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|Bonobos]]. The tension arises in situations of competition or inequality referring to any kind of resources such as food, access to reproduction or any interesting stimulus matter. In addition to the reconciliation effect, sexual contacts allow them to willingly share resources with one another. Ethologist Frans de Waal pointed that this mechanism works for individuals of any status, sex and age, including contacts between adults and infants. Via this mechanism, adults share food with juveniles who are not their descendants and are not of reproductive interest. The emergence of this mechanism presumably occurred as a result of an evolutionary shift in relationships between males and females towards the more tolerant and equal in the case of Bonobos (de Waal, 1990<ref>[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15</ref>). Among most other primates except for humans, cases of adults, especially males, sharing food with another's offspring are quite rare (Mackey, 1990<ref name=":6">Mackey, Wade C. (1990). Adult·Male/Juvenile Association as a Species-Characteristic Human Trait: A Comparative Field Approach. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 299–323). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_12</ref>).

Frans de Waal suggests that our ancestor’s sexual behavior may have been similar to Bonobo's. This sex-for-food mechanism then allowed females to exchange sex for male commitment and paternal investment, thus giving rise to the human nuclear family. And subsequently, the very development of the nuclear family led to an increasing restriction of sex functions to heterosexual reproductive bonding only (de Waal, 2006<ref> [https://sci-hub.se/10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp de Waal, Frans B. M. (2006). Bonobo Sex and Society. Scientific American, 16, 14-21], doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15'''
*: "Typically, upon the introduction of food, the bonobos would become very active, engaging in aggressive competition but also inviting one another for sociosexual contact These contacts appeared to reduce the tension and to allow for food sharing. Thus, it could be demonstrated that subordinate group members more often asserted themselves toward dominant food possessors following a sociosexual contact than without such prior contact (de Waal, 1987). The interaction could even take the form of an exchange, e.g., a female presents to a male who is holding a large bundle of branches and leaves and takes the entire bundle out of his hands immediately following sexual intercourse. On other occasions, sociosexual behavior was used as a reconciliation. The majority of instances of genital massage, for instance, followed aggressive incidents in which the adult male had chased one of the adolescent males. After a couple of minutes, the younger male would return to the aggressor to present his genitals."
*:“Sociosexual behavior occurred with equal frequency and equal intensity in all age and sex combinations possible. Intergenerational sex was part of this general pattern. The bonobo's sexual reconciliation and reassurance patterns were described and contrasted with the behavior of the chimpanzee, which virtually lacks this nonreproductive function of sexual behavior. The evolutionary origin of this difference was sought in heterosexual bonding among bonohos in their natural habitat. [...] Coexistence of plural males and females without agonistic competition in mating could be guaranteed by changing the character of sexual behavior into affiliative behavior in which all individuals can participate, and by decreasing the reproductive meaning (Mori, 1984, p.277).[...] This possible evolutionary background of the phenomena observed in bonobos is of relevance in connection with human sexuality, both because of the shared biological ancestry and the fact that heterosexual bonding is characteristic of the human species as well."
*:"[T]he most logical pathway by which sexual behavior evolved into a general reassurance mechanism is that this mechanism was first established in the adult male/female relationship, after which it was adopted in other age and sex combinations. In other words, the widespread application of sexual behavior patterns in the bonobo' s social life has its origin in an emphasis on heterosexual bonding (de Waal, 1987). Field research supports this view in that male/female relationships seem closer and more tolerant in bonobos than in chimpanzees."

*'''de Waal, Frans B. M. (2006). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp Bonobo Sex and Society.] Scientific American, 16, 14-21, doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp'''
*:"Ocasionally, the role of sex in relation to food is taken one step further, bringing bonobos very close to humans in their behavior. It has been speculated by anthropologists--including C. Owen Lovejoy of Kent State University and Helen Fisher of Rutgers University--that sex is partially separated from reproduction in our species because it serves to cement mutually profitable relationships between men and women. The human females capacity to mate throughout her cycle and her strong sex drive allow her to exchange sex for male commitment and paternal care, thus giving rise to the nuclear family."
*:"This arrangement is thought to be favored by natural selection because it allows women to raise more offspring than they could if they were on their own."
*:"Given its peacemaking and appeasement functions, it is not surprising that sex among bonobos occurs in so many different partner combinations, including between juveniles and adults. The need for peaceful coexistence is obviously not restricted to adult heterosexual pairs."
*:“In fact, nuclear families are probably incompatible with the diverse use of sex found in bonobos. If our ancestors started out with a sex life similar to that of bonobos, the evolution of the family would have required dramatic change.
*: Human family life implies paternal investment, which is unlikely to develop unless males can be reasonably certain that they are caring for their own, not someone elses, offspring. Bonobo society lacks any such guarantee, but humans protect the integrity of their family units through all kinds of moral restrictions and taboos. Thus, although our species is characterized by an extraordinary interest in sex, there are no societies in which people engage in it at the drop of a hat (or a cardboard box, as the case may be). A sense of shame and a desire for domestic privacy are typical human concepts related to the evolution and cultural bolstering of the family."

* '''Mackey, Wade C. (1990). Adult·Male/Juvenile Association as a Species-Characteristic Human Trait: A Comparative Field Approach. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 299–323). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_12'''
*: "As pointed out earlier, human adult males share food/provisions with their young, and this sharing by adult males is relatively rare across the zoological kingdom. It is reasonable that the sharing of a most valuable commodity -- food -- is much easier emotionally for the provisioner if the provisioner "likes" the recipient, and conversely, a recipient tends to like someone who feeds him or her, especially during the dependency of preadulthood. Accordingly, the behavioral enhancement of any neurohormonal mechanisms (subtended by the relevant genetic material) that resulted in greater affiliative feelings, toward juveniles, for example, would facilitate food sharing. The facilitation might be further sensitized by the stimulus of those young who are provisioned showing outward signs of affiliation towards the provisioner. Across generations, the increased provisioning of juveniles by adult males would marginally increase those juveniles' viability, thereby increasing those adult males' chances of having descendants. Thus, the alleles in adult males and juveniles that canalized reciprocal adult-male/juvenile affiliative behavior, in general, and the resultant specific adult-male/juvenile association, in particular, would gradually and systematically displace competing alleles that did not facilitate the development of affiliation between adult males and juveniles. In the 20th century, food sharing from human adult males to juveniles has been found to be a universal practice"

*'''Woods, Vanessa; Hare, Brian (2011-04-01). "Bonobo but not chimpanzee infants use socio-sexual contact with peers". Primates. 52 (2): 111–116. doi:10.1007/s10329-010-0229-z.'''
::"Even as infants, bonobos use socio-sexual behaviour, whereas the same behaviour is completely absent in chimpanzee infants. Findings suggest that sociosexual behaviour in infant bonobos serves functions during social feeding that is not closely tied to reproduction."

== Nonconceptive sociosexual behavior as a result of self-domestication ==
It has been suggested that nonconceptive sociosexual behaviour, which include homosexual and intergenerational sexual contacts, consistently accompanies both natural and artificial selection against aggression ("domestication") being embedded in general pattern of juvenilization (like mammalian juvenile sex play).
*'''Hare, B., Wobber, V., & Wrangham, R. (2012). [https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/site-images/hare-et-al-2012-self-domestication.original.pdf The self-domestication hypothesis: Evolution of bonobo psychology is due to selection against aggression.] ''Animal Behaviour'', 83(3), 573–585. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.12.007'''
::"Experiments indicate that selection against aggression in mammals can have multiple effects on their morphology, physiology, behaviour and psychology, and that these results resemble a syndrome of changes observed in domestic animals. [...] In domesticated species, the characteristic down-regulation of aggressiveness and increased tolerance is accompanied by other differences, [...] behavioural changes include [...] increased pro-social behaviours, particularly play, nonconceptive sexual behaviour and grooming (Hemmer 1990; Clutton-Brock 1992; Coppinger & Coppinger 1998; Kunzl & Sachser 1999; Gariépy et al. 2001)."

::examples:
::"[Compared with chimpanzees:] Bonobos show more play and sociosexual behaviour as adults"
::"[Compared with wolves:] Dogs show more play and sociosexual behaviour as adults"
::"[Compared with wild guinea pigs:] Guinea pigs are more playful and show more sexual behaviour than cavies"

::"Typically, a new bonobo, even as an infant, can be introduced without incident; and two groups, including multiple adult males separated for weeks, months or years, can be reintegrated with little more than play and sexual contact as a result (B. Hare, V. Wobber & R. Wrangham, personal observations)."

::"Behaviourally, bonobos are similar to many domesticates (e.g. Kunzl & Sachser 1999) in showing intensified sexual behaviour. [...] they also display a substantial emancipation of sexual behaviour into nonconceptive functions that often involve same-sex partners (Savage-Rumbaugh & Wilkerson 1978; Kuroda 1984; Thompson-Handler et al. 1984; de Waal 1987, 1995; Kano 1989, 1992; Enomoto 1990; Dixson 1998; Hohmann & Fruth 2000; Furuichi & Hashimoto 2004; Paoli et al. 2007; Clay & Zuberbühler 2011; Woods & Hare 2011)."

::"selection for juvenile levels of aggression could explain the cascade of behavioural, physiological and morphological traits typical of juveniles that tend to be retained in adults of the descendant domesticated species (Trut 2001)."

::"The self-domestication hypothesis is therefore a potentially powerful tool for understanding the processes by which selection shapes both psychological and other seemingly unrelated traits, including those in humans (e.g. Leach et al. 2003; Dorus et al. 2004)."

== Sex as an attachment promoter. Development of paternal investment==
In addition to the “reptilian” connection between sex and dominance, Eibl-Eibesfeldt described another way of sexuality organization. That evolutionary later way is the interweaving of sex and attachment, which is typical for birds and some mammals forming long-term reproductive alliances. The ability of males to form attachment and exhibit caring behavior to a sexual partner is highly beneficial for females. Human evolution went through an increase in the maturation time of offspring, which led to huge reproductive costs for females. Thus, there was a particularly strong sexual selection of males, in which sexual desire was accompanied by consistent caring behavior towards the female and her offspring. This attachment to a sexual partner may be evolutionarily linked to child-parent attachment (in some species, this connection is manifested in the features of sexual courtship rituals containing signs of childish behavior, which function to induce caring behavior and affection in a sexual partner). So according to this theory, the functional system of parental care and the functional system of mating became interconnected. Eibl-Eibesfeldt wrote that romantic love occurs through the fusion of parental care and sexual desire, and this fusion is an antecedent for children and adolescents to evoke romantic feelings in some adults (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1990 <ref name=":1" />).

In line with Eibl-Eibesfeldt, ethologist Herman Dienske argues that, in the course of evolution, due to the ability of human females to conceal ovulation and to be continuously sexually receptive, male sexual interest has evolved in turn to foster consistent male proximity (to invest in offspring that take so long to mature), and subsequently could promote male proximity with the infant (Dienske, 1990<ref name=":0" />). Indeed, the repertoire of pedosexual behavior observed in humans, besides sexual actions, may also include caring behavior: comforting/caressing, feeding, grooming (body care such as washing or massage), protecting, teaching (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":7" />).

Excerpts:
* '''Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6'''
*: “If one observes courtship and greeting rituals in birds and mammals, one soon becomes aware that the patterns by which a friendly affiliation is established, upheld, or strengthened are basically derived from maternal behaviors and infantile appeals that trigger these patterns.”
*: “In human sexual behavior, strata of different phylogenetic origins can be distinguished. Sexuality based upon the mechanisms of male dominance and female submission, which characterizes the reptiles, also constitutes the basic layer of human sexuality. This reptilian heritage is superimposed, however, by a more recently acquired sexuality characterized by affiliation and love. The new potentiality to act in a friendly manner evolved with the development of parental care independently in birds and in mammals. In normal human sexual behavior, the archaic agonal sexuality is controlled by affiliative sexuality and, therefore, is characterized by love. Agonal sexuality is still with us, however, as indicated, among other features, by the phallic male-dominance displays, by a male hormonal response linked to dominance achievement, and by the sexual fantasies of submission that are experienced by females. Agonal sexuality normally is under the control of affiliative sexuality, and therefore, humans correctly associate sex with love. Certain forms of sexuality, such as sadomasochism and a particular form of male homosexuality, are explained as being a regression to the archaic agonal sexuality. Pedophilia and pedosexual behavior are explained within the regression context, too. Children have characteristics, such as small size, that facilitate adult males' feeling dominant to them, as occurs in pedosexual behavior. Since human adult/adult romantic love is derived by phylogeny from parental caregiving behavior, it is easily seen how, in some adult humans, the feeling of love toward children has been retained and eroticized, which is the true meaning of the term "pedophilia.”

*'''Dienske, Herman (1990). The Concept of Function in the Behavioral Sciences with Specific Reference to Pedophilia and Pedosexual Behavior: A Biophilosophical Perspective. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*:"it was pointed out that the continuous sexual activity of humans promotes the coherence of the adult-male/adult-female pair and that it encourages the male parent to participate in rearing his offspring. This assumption requires (1) that sex induces affiliation (i.e., the maintenance of proximity and the extension of favors) and (2) that this affiliation is continued after offspring are born and (3) is accompanied by male paternal care. The associations among sex, affiliation, and paternal care seem to be common in humans. This situation does not imply, however, a simple causal relationship. Infrequent or absent sex may precede divorce. It cannot be decided whether infrequent sex reduces affiliation or whether the decreased affiliation reduces sex. It is likely that sex and affiliation mutually enhance each other and that the absence of one of the two leads to a declining spiral that eventually results in separation or disinterest."
*: “the associations among sex, affiliation, and paternal care are not compelling in that alternative functional solutions exist. Nevertheless, the affiliation-promoting effect of sex seems apparent.”
*: “Human females, in contrast, lack such signals and thus have what is called "concealed ovulation" (Alexander and Noonan, 1979); in fact, the timing of human ovulation was not known until recently. Uncertainty concerning the time at which ovulation occurs would promote frequent copulations. It is possible that continuous sexual behavior in human females is their afflliation-promoting strategy, since it can induce more consistent male proximity (Daniels, 1983).”
*:“[P]edophilic and homosexual nonprocreative sexual contacts could be considered functional, since favors resulting from the affiliation, which is maintained in part by sexual behavior, can be considerable.”

*'''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2'''
*: "some of the components of parental investment, collectively called "nurturing behavior", are seen in both pedo-and ephebophilia and can be considered and discussed as (1) comforting and contact, (2) feeding, (3) grooming, (4) protecting, and (5) teaching."

* '''Money, J. (1990). Pedophilia: A Specific Instance of New Phylism Theory as Applied to Paraphilic Lovemaps. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions]. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_18'''
*:"This author's way of circumventing the debate is to say that there are in the human species phylogenetic building blocks, or phylisms, that in the course of individual sexuoerotic development are capable of being diverted from their usual expression, so as to become entrained to sexuoerotic arousal. In the case of pedophilia, the phylism of parent/child pairbonding becomes diverted and entrained to sexuoerotic, lover /lover pairbonding. The pedophile's attachment to a child represents a merger of parental and erotic love."
*:"The universal male/male pedophilia of the Sambia demonstrates the sexological plasticity of the human organism and the making of pedophilia into the social norm."

This hypothesis is also mentioned in modern scientific encyclopedias:

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. (2017). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1 Sexual Pathology.] In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] (pp. 7439 - 7445). Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1'''
*:“the evolutionary explanation behind the origin of pedophilia refers to the fusion of two evolutionarily ancient adaptive systems – reproduction and nurturing. Money (1990) states that a pedophile’s relationship to a child qualitatively, and also neurologically, resembles a blend between parental and erotic love. Likewise, it can be linked to the close cohesion between these two systems that can be observed also between phylogenetically close species.”.
*:”The founder of the human ethnology field, Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1973), directly warns about the type of affiliative-erotic relationship that connects to the composition of long-term partnership, which was developed both in mammals and birds together with nurturing behavior, and therefore it is not surprising that they are occasionally mixed in humans.”

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. "Male Sexual Disorders" In: Todd K. Shackelford (ed.), 2022, [https://annas-archive.org/md5/2d84ebccbbaafc78b4516ef6b129e5a2 The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology. Vol 4.] ''Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)''.'''
:: "A phylogenetic explanation of pedophilia refers to the fusion of two evolutionarily old systems– reproduction and nurturing (Money, 1990). It is also in line with the results of neuroimaging studies in which pedophilic men could be distinguished from controls by their increased fMRI activity in reaction to child versus adult faces (Ponseti et al., 2016) and increased brain responses to not only human but also animal infants in pedophiles (Ponseti et al., 2018), interpreted as an over-responsive nurturing system. This view agrees with older ethological theories that sees pedophilia as a mixture of parental and erotic love indicated by behavioral displays of both (Money, 2012)."

* '''Stevens, A., & Price, J. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315740577 Evolutionary Psychiatry: A new beginning] (Classic Ed.) (pp. 206-218) Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. doi:10.4324/9781315740577'''
*: “We would entertain the hypothesis proposed separately by Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1990) and by Money (1990) that two innate biosocial propensities – caregiving and sex-mating – have become fused in the course of ontogeny in those who display the paedophilic orientation.”
*:“[A]ffiliative erotic love, as Eibl-Eibesfeldt points out, itself evolved in birds and mammals together with the development of parental care-giving behaviour. ‘Since human adult/adult romantic love is derived by phylogeny from parent care-giving behaviour,’ asserts EiblEibesfeldt, ‘it is easily seen how, in some adult humans, the feeling of love toward children has been retained and eroticised, which is the true meaning of the term “pedophilia”.“.

Cross-species research indicate that the sexuality-attachment fusion in intergenerational relationships is widespread in nature and not restricted to humans:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"Intense sexually based friendships or consort relationships between older and younger animals have been documented in various species, including gorillas, orangutans, macaques (crab-eating, Japanese, rhesus, stumptail), Hamadryas baboons, and squirrel monkeys. Takenoshita (1998) observed consort relationships between adult and juvenile male Japanese macaques, where these pairs, in addition to engaging in homosexual interactions, foraged together, groomed one another, and attacked other monkeys together. Chevalier-Skolnikoff (1976) described intensely affectionate relationships between mature and immature stumptail male macaques, in which both older and younger partners responded with sexual excitement to the sexual interactions. Zuckerman (1932) observed a three-year sexual relationship between an adult and an immature male Hamadryas baboon. Redican, Gomber, and Mitchell (1974) observed an intense attachment between an adult male rhesus macaque and a much younger male, in which the latter took strong initiative in establishing the relationship and sexual interaction. Hamilton (1914), also studying rhesus macaques, reported that he “found that friendships between immature males and mature males are of frequent occurrence, and that they seem to have a sexual basis” (p. 308). In one illustrative case, Hamilton reported, when a separated mature-immature pair was allowed to reunite, the two rushed into an embrace, smacking their lips. Both animals showed marked sexual excitement, and the older mounted the younger, who rotated his head to achieve lip contact with the older partner."

=== Neurological, endocrinological and psychological evidence ===

Human sexuality researchers have confirmed the neurobiological interconnection of sexual and attachment systems. The release of oxytocin, vasopressin and prolactin, hormones associated with parental behavior, during sex and orgasm stimulates the formation of attachment, altruistic behavior and care for a partner. The reverse is also true: trusting and caring relationships can evoke sexual interest (Dewitte & Marieke, 2012 <ref> [https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/00224499.2011.576351 Dewitte, Marieke (2012). Different Perspectives on the Sex-Attachment Link: Towards an Emotion-Motivational Account.] The Journal of Sex Research, 49, 105–124. https://doi=10.1080/00224499.2011.576351</ref>; Fleischman, 2021 <ref> [https://www.dianafleischman.com/_files/ugd/cb1e47_2914fac5806e4843a8544c1cdee5a69a.pdf Fleischman, D. (2021). Sex as Bonding Mechanisms.] In: Shackelford, T.K., Weekes-Shackelford, V.A. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717</ref>).

Two decades after Eibl-Eibesfeldt suggested that the neural systems of sex and care are relatively more connected in people who are sexually attracted to children, neuroscientists have found some experimental evidence for that. Brain structures responsible for social connections, altruistic and parental motivation (such as the left anterior insula), in people with pedophilic interest, respond to infant stimuli more intensively, receiving reinforcement from the neural circuits responsible for mating. In addition, a greater connection between parental and mating systems is characteristic of males, which is explained by evolutionarily different ways of forming maternal and paternal investments (Ponseti et al., (2018). <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645 Ponseti J, Bruhn D, Nolting J, Gerwinn H, Pohl A, Stirn A, Granert O, Laufs H, Deuschl G, Wolff S, Jansen O, Siebner H, Briken P, Mohnke S, Amelung T, Kneer J, Schiffer B, Walter H, Kruger THC. Decoding Pedophilia: Increased Anterior Insula Response to Infant Animal Pictures.] Front Hum Neurosci. 2018 Jan 23;11:645. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645. PMID: 29403367; PMCID: PMC5778266.</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''Ponseti et al., (2018). "[https://sci-hub.se/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645 Decoding Pedophilia: Increased Anterior Insula Response to Infant Animal Pictures".] Front Hum Neurosci.'''
*: “This gives rise to the assumption that increased brain responses to infant stimuli in pedophilia are rather a consequence of an over-active nurturing system than of an over-active sexual system.”
*: “The left anterior insula, being a crucial area of nurturing processing, was also frequently found to be activated in sexual brain studies (Stoleru et al., 2012). Furthermore, the left anterior insula (as well as the SMA) is a constituent of the human attachment system, thereby enabling both nurturing and pair-bonding (Feldman, 2016). Based on both observations, (i) the over-responding to nurturing stimuli in various motivational areas and (ii) the functional overlap of nurturing and sexual processing of the involved left anterior insula a tentative and simple model of pedophilia could be as follows: Nurturing stimuli receive additional processing resources by mating-circuits. In case of human infant stimuli this leads to a sexual connotation of infant stimuli. This idea is supported by the suggestion that nurturing and pair-bonding are two closely inter-related domains in humans at the level of physiological functions, brain processing, and involved neuropeptides”
*: "In any case, from an evolutionary perspective, paternal nurturing is an unusual and probably more recently evolved male behavior. Phylogenetically speaking, male brains are not “geared” to handle infant stimuli. This may explain why the “parental caregiving” network of males and females displays differences (Abraham et al., 2014).
*: It might be hypothesized that, in contrast to ancient maternal infant stimulus processing, human male brains process infant stimuli with brain areas that might not be associated primarily with caregiving. If so, it is conceivable that the involvement of brain areas not “geared” to the paternal nurturing aspects associated with infant stimuli makes male brains vulnerable to not maintaining the functional division between the domains of nurturing and mating behavior."

*'''Schuler, M. et al (2019). "[https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/abn-abn0000412.pdf Empathy in pedophilia and sexual offending against children: A multifaceted approach]," ''Journal of Abnormal Psychology'', 128(5), 453–464.'''
*:"Participants included 85 pedophilic men who committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P+CSO), 72 pedophilic men who never committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P−CSO), and 128 nonoffending teleiophilic male controls (TC). Several affective and cognitive aspects of empathy were assessed using the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Whereas in self-reports (IRI) P+CSO scored lower than TC (P−CSO intermediate) in cognitive perspective-taking abilities, a performance-based measure (MET) revealed evidence for a better differentiation of emotional states in P−CSO as compared with P+CSO (TC intermediate). In addition, P+CSO and P−CSO showed significantly higher affective resonance while observing children (MET), which was paralleled by higher self-reported levels of personal distress in social situations (IRI). The results indicate evidence for higher general affective empathic resonance to children in pedophilic men but superior cognitive empathy abilities in nonoffending pedophiles only, which may act as a protective factor in the prevention of sexual offending."

=== Sex and attachment in general ===
*'''Fletcher, G. J. O.; Simpson, J. A.; Campbell, L.; Overall, N. C. . (2015). [https://pismin.com/10.1177/1745691614561683 Pair-Bonding, Romantic Love, and Evolution: The Curious Case of Homo sapiens.] Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(1), 20–36. doi:10.1177/1745691614561683'''
*:"Factor analytic studies of perceptions of romantic love in Western samples support these models, typically revealing three components (e.g., Aron & Westbay, 1996). The labels assigned to each factor vary across studies, but they reflect passion (sexual attraction), emotional bonding (intimacy), and commitment (caregiving)."
*:"romantic love provides a potent motivational push toward the kind of devotion and commitment required for the huge investment needed to support a mate and raise children successfully."
*:"romantic love is an adaptation — a commitment device — that facilitated longterm pair-bonding"
*:"The striking similarity between the behavioral manifestations of parent–infant love and romantic love suggests that evolution may have borrowed these ancient bonding mechanisms, originally evolved in mammals to bond mothers to their offspring, and applied them to men and women in the context of romantic pair-bonding."
*:"Using phylogenetic comparative methods with 230 different species, Opie et al. (2013) found that the evolution of monogamy is strongly related to paternal care of offspring"

== Evolutionary (by)product of human neotenization ==
Another factor of pedosexual attraction emergence is a human neotenization. The evolutionary advantage of retaining neotenic (childish) traits which elicit nurturing responses from adults, results in the retention of neotenic genetic traits due to sexual competition. Therefore such traits become sexually attractive. That leads to the observable progressive neotenization of humans in comparison with ancestors and subsequently increases likelihood of juveniles being sexually attractive. Since fertile females retained juvenile traits into their fertile years, the line between fertile and infertile female age became blurred. Thus, some males become oriented toward females who are too young for reproduction (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":5" />).

Excerpts:
* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23'''
*:“All of these genetically and culturally transmitted processes blur the distinction between reproductively competent adults and children and adolescents. Therefore, all of these processes must be considered to be determinants, at some level, of pedo- and ephebophilia.”
*:“pedo-and ephebophiles, like chins and spandrels, may have no primary adaptive function in themselves but, instead, may be rank-ordered by-products of selection for more adaptive attributes in their kin.”

*'''Lievesley, R. and Harper, C.A. (2024) “[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19419899.2024.2321149#d1e314 The interaction between perceived chronological age and physical sexual development in attractiveness judgments made by people who are attracted to children]”, ''Psychology and Sexuality'', DOI:10.1080/19419899.2024.2321149'''
*:"From an evolutionary perspective, men typically perceive more youthful faces as more attractive due to these indicating a greater degree of fertility (Gallup & Frederick, Citation2010, Little, Citation2015, Thornhill & Grammer, Citation1999). [...] [A]n increased degree of closeness of facial features appears to be encoded as indicating youth (Albert et al., Citation2007), and in turn, this youthfulness is associated with beauty (Sutherland et al., Citation2013)."

*'''Bogin, B. (1997). [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281997%2925%20%3C63%3A%3AAID-AJPA3%3E3.0.CO%3B2-8 Evolutionary hypotheses for human childhood]. ''Yearbook of Physical Anthropology'', 40, 63–89.'''
*:"Taken together, these studies indicate that adults are more likely to protect or nuture individuals with ‘‘neotenous’’ facial features. McCabe defines such features as having a relatively large ratio of cranium size to lower face size."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Our ability to imagine young children as sexual partners is probably increased substantially by two other unusual characteristics: neoteny and hidden estrus. Neoteny, the retention of juvenile traits in adulthood, is far more extensive in Homo sapiens than in any other primate (Bonner, 1980; Gould, 1977). Human adults resemble their small children a great deal more than adult primates do their immature offspring. [...] Moreover, many adolescent boys and young adults are beardless and they often have a complexion similar to that of young women and children. To confuse our senses further and muddle our minds, one- to two-fifths of young adolescent boys experience breast enlargement for a year or more (Katchadourian, 1977; Tanner, 1978). A similar case can be made for behavior. When we find in other animals the behavioral or physical traits of the young to be similar to adult female patterns we often find males courting the immature."
::"A concealed estrus combined with continuous female sexual receptivity and neoteny ought to increase the likelihood that men will find young girls sexually attractive, especially since males are not known anyway for making subtle differentiations between appropriate and inappropriate sex partners. Since women are more discriminating and, furthermore, would not be as confused by the facial resemblance of potential immature and adult sexual partners or by the conundrum of hidden estrus, female pedophilia should be much less common. Male homosexual pedophilia should fall somewhere in between."

The common hypothesis about pedosexuality is that it is merely a by-product of human neotenization. However, there are also arguments that diverse sexuality in adults (including homosexuality and pedosexuality, as seen, for example, in bonobos) in itself is a form of adaptive neoteny. Juvenile bisexual play is widespread among mammals and serves to acquire reproductive skills. Retaining this ability in adulthood may serve a range of sociosexual functions.

* '''Poiani, A. (2010). [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/animal-homosexuality/0352ED7E7645EE35B14FAAF3AE3A127B Animal homosexuality: A biosocial perspective.] ''Cambridge University Press''. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511762192'''
::"Indeed, under various potential selective mechanisms, canalisation of neotenic traits may favour the expression of a great diversity of sexual behaviours that are characteristic of the juvenile stages of development. That is, although from an ontogenetic perspective juvenile homosexual play is a route to efficient heterosexuality in most species, from a phylogenetic perspective neotenic processes, by retaining those juvenile traits past the period of sexual maturation throughout evolution, may produce adult homosexuals or bisexuals. In the adult, homosexual behaviours may then undergo further adaptations related to social life. A potential example of this process may be found in the bonobo, where juvenile same-sex sexual behaviours are as common as they are in the congeneric chimpanzee, but in adults they occur much more frequently than in chimpanzees, being expressed in specific socio-sexual contexts."
::Note: Although the authors make this claim about homosexuality only, there is no obstacle to extending the same conclusion to pedosexuality as well.

== Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis ==
On the basis of previously available evolutionary explanations (Mackey, 1990 <ref name=":6" />; Muscarella, 2000 <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1300/j082v40n01_03 Muscarella, F. (2000). The evolution of homoerotic behavior in humans.] Journal of Homosexuality, 40, 51–77.</ref>; Kirkpatrick, 2000 <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1086/300145 Kirkpatrick, R. C. (2000). The evolution of human homosexual behavior.] Current Anthropology, 41, 385–413</ref>; Neil, 2009<ref>[http://humanbehaviors.free.fr/Livre%20-%20Human%20bisexuality%20-%20The%20Origins%20and%20Role%20of%20Same-Sex%20Relations%20in%20Human%20Societies%202009.pdf Neill, J. (2009). The origins and role of same-sex relations in human societies.] Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.</ref>), [[Bruce Rind]] developed a hypothesis explaining the most widely documented type of male homosexuality in human history, namely [[pederasty]] (the relationship between a man and a peripubertal/[[Adolescence|adolescent]] boy) (Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4" />).

It is assumed that the evolutionary function of man-boy sexual relationships comes from our evolutionary past, when the environment was very different from the modern one. Humans have had a long evolutionary history as [[Wikipedia:Hunter-gatherer|hunter-gatherers]]. This time was characterized by intergroup warfare and the hunting of large animals. To do this, it was necessary to form close-knit same-sex male groups, to form specific male skills of war and hunting, and to maintain the specific masculine culture of this group. This created a selection pressure to create a mechanism to facilitate such rallying, recruitment and enculturation of new members, which is a long-term and labor-intensive undertaking. It is hypothesized that the sexual attraction between a boy and a man became such a mechanism, through the ability to form a strong emotional connection, prompting the mentor to teach and care, and the boy to seek training and a role model.<ref name=":4" />

The evolutionary benefit of such a mechanism is assumed both at the individual level (for the junior this is training, protection, and promotion in the male hierarchy, for the adult this is the expansion of the network of alliances) and at the group level (the clan received a reliable replenishment of group members, well-prepared, enculturated and committed to the culture of the group, which gave a competitive advantage).<ref name=":4" />

This hypothesis is supported by [[Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships|cross-cultural]] and [[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History|historical studies]], where a variety of independent cultures demonstrate the prevalence of institutionalized sexual relations between men and boys of peripubertal age. In many instances boys begin sexual practices with older boys and men long before the beginning of puberty (e.g. at age of 7), so in such cases this can't be called [[Pederasty|pederasty]] in the narrow sense, rather [[Pedophilia|pedophilia]].

These relationships are built into these cultures and are part of growing up and becoming a man. The readiness, desire and initiative for sexual contact comes not only from adult men, but also from boys, and this is recorded as a typical phenomenon in these cultures (see Table III in Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4" />). This also confirms the existence of an evolutionary benefit for younger participants.<ref name=":4" />

Moreover, this attraction is not associated with reproductive losses, unlike exclusive homosexuality. It is typical of all these cultures that, upon reaching adulthood, men get wives and at the same time have sexual relations with boys themselves. It is assumed that this ability of the average heterosexual male to experience pederastic attraction is specific to our species.<ref name=":4" />

But this ability is optional (facultative). That is, unlike obligate heterosexual attraction, pederastic interest is to a large extent activated or suppressed by the social environment. This explains the fact that there is a sharp difference in the prevalence of pederastic behavior and attraction between cultures, and the fact that in modern Western cultures it does not manifest itself widely.<ref name=":4" />

Excerpts:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
*:“Formally, this hypothesis holds that pederasty evolved in the early human hunter-gatherer EEA [Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness] as an adaptation (i.e., exaptation), whose function it was to reproduce the male group by facilitating the mentoring and enculturation of boys from peripubescence through adolescence, as well as their emotional and psychological binding with the group. This function was a solution to the recurring adaptive problems in the EEA of surviving and exploiting an extremely dangerous and competitive social and physical environment”
*:“In short, the ages of boys sought out as recruits in male groups, the period in which they are mentored and enculturated, the ages of boys that men in such societies (and our own) find erotically appealing, the ages at which boys are especially open to being mentored (and capable as well, owing to an emergent adult-cognitive capacity), and the ages at which they are open to pederastic relations appear to be part of a single package, in which each of these characteristics seems to be a design feature and element of a larger design, whose function is reproducing the male group.”
*:“It is important to emphasize that pederasty’s relatively infrequent expression in societies such as ours does not imply that it is not an adaptation. In our society, developmental inputs have traditionally been intensely hostile toward homosexual behavior, often accompanied by severe social sanctions, including public disgrace and punishment, which can be expected to have had a significant dampening effect on the emergence and activation of pederastic desire and the expression of pederastic behavior.”
*:“Thus, even though adaptive in the EEA , pederasty, being a facultative trait, is nevertheless rare in our environment. On the other hand, in cultures with cultural ideologies and social structures facilitative of pederastic desire and expression, its occurrence has been widespread across the male population, which is consistent with the assumptions that most males have at least a moderate potential for the behavior and that such potential is sufficient for the behavior to emerge, provided other factors are not inhibitory.”

* '''Schiefenhövel, W. (1990). Ritualized Adult-Male/Adolescent-Male Sexual Behavior in Melanesia: An Anthropological and Ethological Perspective. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) Pedophilia. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_16'''
*: "Men are expected to plan, work, fight, and sometimes, die together. The necessary altruistic behavior and effective cooperation of the warriors as well as the acceptance of a male hierarchy would have been fostered by the institution of prescribed homosexuality."

* '''Riegel, D. L. (2011). [https://web.archive.org/web/20130425190309/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Role%20of%20Androphilia%20in%20the%20Psychosexual%20Development%20of%20Boys.pdf The role of androphilia in the psychosexual development of boys.] ''International Journal of Sexual Health'', 23(1), 2–13. doi:10.1080/19317611.2010.509696'''
*:"Proceeding from Feierman's (1990) thesis, it can be postulated that in prehistoric times it is likely that many children, due to violence, disease, poor nutrition, and life spans that were considerably shorter than what we have considered normal for the past couple of centuries, found themselves without either parents or other adults who would be willing to take on the burden of looking after and feeding a not yet productive child. However, a boy who was sexually androphilic (Vanggaard, 1969) would have the potential advantage of closely bonding with an older male whose sexuality included a male-directed pedosexual component, and who would preferentially protect, provide for, and teach the boy the skills necessary to survive and prosper. Studies have identified such secondary boy-attracted pedosexual tendencies in 20% to 30% of self-identified heterosexual adult males (Freund, 1970; cf. Briere & Runtz, 1989, Quinsey, 1984, West, 1980), and these tendencies would not be selected against so long as the bearers were primarily heterosexual and only secondarily male-oriented pedosexual. There is no reason to believe that these percentages were not similar in prehistoric times; there is some evidence for familial transmission (Gaffney, Lurie, & Berlin, 1984). In the absence of our modern-day taboos, such adaptive and beneficial boy/older male relationships could proceed unimpeded, the boy's juvenile androphilic sexuality would typically be supplanted by heterosexuality as he matured (Sandfort, 1987), he would then pass on his genes, and thus both of these traits would be maintained in the gene pool."

* '''Rind, Bruce. (2014). [https://pismin.com/10.1080/19317611.2014.956853 Trends in evolutionary explanations for human male same-sex eroticism: a commentary on Riegel (2011).] ''International Journal of Sexual Health'', (), 1–11. doi:10.1080/19317611.2014.956853'''
*:"In this commentary, I discuss his social critique and focus on his evolutionary hypothesis, reviewing seven earlier hypotheses for comparison. "
*:"Werner (2006) focused exclusively on the evolution of male homosexual behavior. Based on selected cross-species data, he posited that male homosexual behavior evolved in stages over eons of time. In the first, involving primitive species (e.g., reptiles), single adult males controlled territories, where they waited for females for mating. Adolescent or transvestite males, who resembled adult females in form and/or behavior, gained entry to these territories because of their female mimicry and they were tolerated once there because they submitted homosexually to the adult resident. Their benefit for this submission was mating opportunities with visiting females, which otherwise would not have been available to them. In the second stage, male homosexual behavior changed function (i.e., was an exaptation) in various more complex descendent species with greater cognitive capacities (so that deception via female mimicry no longer worked) and in which adult males lived together in groups rather than as isolates. Here, the changed function of homosexual submission was to elicit tolerance from the dominant male, which served to uphold the dominance hierarchy, which in turn facilitated multi-male group living. The third and final phase occurred when multiple males did not simply live together but cooperated on common tasks. Here, male homosexual behavior changed function once again, in which it facilitated alliance formation, which in turn enabled pursuit of common tasks. He called his explanation the hierarchy/cooperation theory for human male homosexual behavior. Werner claimed that pathic (i.e., transgenderal) homosexuality was the most common form of male homosexual behavior cross-culturally, followed by transgenerational homosexuality. He speculated that different social structures produce different strategies for male/male cooperation, which in turn determine the form by which male homoeroticism is expressed."

* '''Jaroslava Varella Valentova, Andreone Teles Medrado, and Marco Antonio Correa Varella “Male Bisexuality”. In: Todd K. Shackelford (ed.), 2022, [https://annas-archive.org/md5/2d84ebccbbaafc78b4516ef6b129e5a2 The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology. Vol 4.] ''Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)''.'''
::"The alternative sneaking tactic can apply to transitory bisexual men, who would pursue predominantly same-sex relationships early in life when they do not possess status and/or resources to attract females, and create and maintain a family. In the younger age, they might have same-sex tutors or they might sexually serve to dominant males possessing resources. However, they might also sneak among the female partners of the dominant male, and gain at least some copulations and a nonzero reproductive success. Later in life they might switch to predominantly other-sex mating."

==Childhood as a target for sexual selection==

Some authors have suggested that not only adolescence but also middle childhood are involved in sexual selection process, and evolved as a stage at which individuals not only could but should take responsibilities. This appears to contradict how childhood is constructed in modern society (see also [[Research:_Cognitive_ability#Competence|research on childhood competence]]). According to such theories, in middle childhood, individuals become "nest helpers", helping in nurturing for younger siblings, foraging, and chores. This is a fine tuning stage of later social and sexual life-history strategies. First sexual or romantic attractions, sexual play, separation in gender roles typically emerge several years before puberty reflecting the fact that children are drawn into the evolutionary process of sexual selection much earlier than they become fertile. At this stage they actively learn sociosexual behavior and receive feedback about their sociosexual success from peer and adults, adapting their sexual competitive strategy to the environmental input. They engage in sexual and romantic relationship along with adults benefiting from learning, resources and social status they gain. This contributes to their sexual success in later life stages.

*'''Del Giudice M. (2014) [https://iris.unito.it/retrieve/handle/2318/1853338/974935/DelGiudice_2018_middle-childhood_chapter_pre.pdf Middle childhood: an evolutionary-developmental synthesis.]; 8:193–200. doi:10.1111/cdep.12084. in: Halfon N, Forrest CB, Lerner RM, et al., editors. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK543707/ Handbook of Life Course Health Development]. ''Cham (CH): Springer''; 2018. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-47143-3'''
*:"In summary, the life stage of juvenility/middle childhood has two major interlocking functions: social learning and social integration in a system of roles, norms, activities, and shared knowledge. While children are still receiving sustained investment from parents and other relatives—in the form of food, protection, knowledge, and so forth—they also start to actively contribute to their family economy. By providing resources and sharing the burden of child care, juveniles can boost their parents’ reproductive potential. The dual nature of juveniles as both receivers and providers explains many psychological features of middle childhood and has likely played a major role in the evolution of human life history (Kramer, 2011)."
*:"Middle childhood is one of the main stages of human development, marked by the eruption of the first permanent molars around age 6 and the onset of androgen secretion by the adrenal glands at about 6-8 years (Bogin, 1997)."
*:"The transition to middle childhood is typically associated with a strong separation in gender roles, even in societies where tasks are not rigidly assigned by sex."
*:"The stress response system plays a major role in gathering and storing information about environmental safety, predictability, and availability of resources; adrenarche contributes by translating that information into adaptive, sexually differentiated patterns of behavior (Del Giudice et al., 2011; Ellis & Del Giudice, 2014). Consistent with this view, both early relational stress and early nutrition have been found to modulate the timing of adrenarche (Ellis & Essex, 2007; Hochberg, 2008). It is no coincidence that the first sexual and romantic attractions typically develop in middle childhood, in tandem with the intensification of sexual play (Bancroft, 2003; Herdt & McClintock, 2000). By interacting with peers and adults, juveniles receive feedback about the effectiveness of their nascent behavioral strategies. The information collected during middle childhood feeds into the next developmental switch point, that of gonadarche (Ellis, 2013)"
*:"By determining children’s initial place in social networks and hierarchies, competition in middle childhood indirectly affects their ability to attract sexual and romantic partners later. In other words, middle childhood is a likely target for sexual selection — that is, natural selection arising from the processes of choosing mates (mate choice) and competing for mates (mating competition). My colleagues and I (Del Giudice et al., 2009) argued that sexual selection is one reason why sex differences emerge and intensify in middle childhood."

== Complementary behavior among minors ==
The hypothesis of pedophilic/pederastic attraction as a promoter of affection, care, and reproductive benefits in general on the side of youth is confirmed by the very existence of complementary behavior of minors, who [[Testimony: CSA (Children's Sexual Advances)|often show initiative and willingness for sexual relations with adults]]<ref>[https://ia802202.us.archive.org/16/items/rind-2022-reactions-to-minor-older-and-minor-peer-sex-in-finnish-survey/Rind%202022%20-%20Reactions%20to%20Minor-Older%20and%20Minor-Peer%20Sex%20in%20Finnish%20survey.pdf Rind, B. Reactions to Minor-Older and Minor-Peer Sex as a Function of Personal and Situational Variables in a Finnish Nationally Representative Student Sample. Arch Sex Behav 51, 961–985 (2022).], see also [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/images/Rindbasics.pdf Yesmap Primer] and [https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02224-0 DOI.org].</ref>. It’s assumed that such a behavior could function to receive affection and extra resources not available from the child's default caregiver, or as a way to indirect reproductive value (for example, through group survival by successful [[Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis|bonding to mentors]] during male warfare recruiting), or just as an attempt to develop sexual skills. This testifies to the evolutionarily beneficial and reciprocal essence of intergenerational attraction (Klapilová & Bártová, 2017; Stevens & Price, 2016; Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4"> [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Rind, B. (2013). Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) ''New York: Routledge.'' doi:10.4324/9781315432458</ref>).

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. (2017). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1 Sexual Pathology.] In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] (pp. 7439 - 7445). Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1'''
*:“The child’s adaptive behavioral function to demand nurture from adults and his prospective urge to perform sexual activities is not mentioned too often. Still, it is a rather widespread behavior across cultures and historical periods that can help the child receive extra resources not available from their own parents. It would therefore be a complementary strategy – from the pedophile’s side, there is the eroticization of nurturing behavior and attraction to signalization that encourages caretaking, whereas from the child’s side, it is a functional, environmentally conditioned strategy that brings benefits in the form of resources and possibly even acquisition of sexual experience and calibration of child sexuality”.

* '''Stevens, A., & Price, J. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315740577 Evolutionary Psychiatry: A new beginning] (Classic Ed.) (pp. 206-218) Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. doi:10.4324/9781315740577'''
*:“it is undeniable that many children in our society – especially those in boarding schools and childrens’ homes – suffer from ‘parent hunger’. They are what Mia Kellmer-Pringle has called ‘touch-hungry children’. It is possible that the care-eliciting ‘phylism’ in these children may become eroticized just as the care-giving phylism may be eroticized in adult paedophiles. Thus, children starved of parental affection may compete for the love and attention of adults in their environment by using erotic solicitation as a strategy for survival. To suggest this possibility is not to excuse adults who exploit the emotional needs of children for their personal gratification but to provide an evolutionary explanation as to how and why erotic bonds between adults and juveniles may occur. We would propose that both care-eliciting and care-giving phylisms can be eroticized.”

[[Bruce Rind]] gathered evidence of widespread minors' positive reactions, even in our restrictive culture, in his research. (Also, some relevant excerpts are in [[Research: Prevalence of Harm and Negative Outcomes#Simple or informed consent as predictive of positive reactions?|this section]]).

Here is some evidence from [[Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships|Nonwestern cultures]]:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"Anthropological studies on preindustrial societies with culturally institutionalized or widespread pederasty provide reports on how the younger males responded to sexual contacts with older males (see Table III ). Among the Javanese, men remembered their boyhood pederastic experiences entirely positively, despite the researcher’s probing to uncover negative cases (Williams, 2011). Sambian boys showed much initiative in these contacts, especially at older ages (Herdt, 1991, 1997). Keraki men believed that they could not have developed properly without these relations as boys (Williams, 1936). Kaluli men looked back on the complex of grueling hunting, living in a sex-segregated men’s lodge, ritual discipline, unity of purpose, vigorous manly ethos, and growth-stimulating insemination by older males as the highlight of their lives (Schieffelin, 1982). East Bay boys discussed their sexual experiences with men freely and without shame in the presence of their parents and friends (Davenport, 1965). Gebusi boys aged 11 to 14 initiated sexual relations with older males based on personal affection rather than obligation (Herdt, 1991). The bond between Marind-Anim boys and their adult male partners was extremely strong, which was apparently facilitated by the sexual interactions (Van Baal, 1966). Likewise, pederastic relations were extremely close among the Big Nambas (Layard, 1942). Among the Kiman, pederastic behavior would stop after adolescence, but “nevertheless, a lifelong emotional relationship often” resulted (Serpenti, 1984, p. 305). In various southern Mexican Indian tribes, adolescent boys were proud to have been chosen for pederastic relationships, seeing it as an honor to be their men’s lovers (Ross, 1991). And being a Tsongan boy-wife was not just good for security, but for the “fun” it afforded (Murray & Roscoe, 1998)."

And from [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|cross-species]] studies:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"In many species, the younger animals involved in age-discrepant homosex were frequently observed not simply assenting to the sexual interactions but actually initiating them (e.g., bonobos, chimps, gorillas, gibbons, Hanuman and Nilgiri langurs, crab-eating macaques, rhesus macaques, Tibetan macaques, patas monkeys). Specific examples include juvenile Tibetan macaques jumping up to the faces of adult males to be fellated (Ogawa, 1995), an adolescent gibbon repeatedly soliciting sex from his father (Edwards & Todd, 1991), and juvenile rhesus macaques fiercely competing to be the one mounted by an adult male (Kempf, 1917). In a number of species, the researchers noted the sexual excitement exhibited by the immature partners in age-discrepant homosex (e.g., rhesus, stumptail, and Tibetan macaques). In several species, sometimes immature males were assenting and sometimes not (e.g., siamangs, proboscis monkeys, crab-eating macaques, and squirrel monkeys)."

::"In humans’ closest relatives, bonobos and chimps, juvenile males frequently and preferentially solicit adult females and attempt to copulate with them. In most cases, they show sexual arousal with erections. Adult females are usually tolerant and even cooperative, but when they are not, the juvenile males frequently protest with whimpering or tantrums (Bagemihl, 1999; Hashimoto, 1997; Kano, 1980; Kollar, Beckwith, & Edgerton, 1968). Similar patterns have been observed in many other primate species (Bagemihl, 1999). Anderson and Bielert (1990) noted that “Among nonhuman primates . . . sexual interaction between adult females and immature males is universal” (p. 192). It may be that primate patterns do not extend to humans, but the similarity of the observed human and primate patterns in juvenile male-adult female sex suggests a phylogenetic continuum (cf. Ford & Beach, 1951)."

== Other relevant information ==

=== Ontogenetic plasticity ===

Here's an explanation for why, if a minor attraction was adaptive, it may not be ubiquitous today.
*'''Alanko K, Salo B, Mokros A, Santtila P, (2013). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235369954_Evidence_for_Heritability_of_Adult_Men's_Sexual_Interest_in_Youth_under_Age_16_from_a_Population-Based_Extended_Twin_Design "Evidence for heritability of adult men's sexual interest in youth under age 16 from a population-based extended twin design."] ''J Sex Med,'' 10(4):1090-9.'''
*:"Adult men's sexual interest in youthfulness‐related cues may be genetically influenced. [...] The amount of variance attributable to nonadditive genetic influences (heritability) was estimated at 14.6%.[...] Compared with the variance attributable to nonshared environmental effects (plus measurement error), the contribution of any genetic factors seems comparatively weak."
*::'''Editor''': Note, that a heritability coefficient close to zero does not mean the weakness/absence of genetic control over the trait, counter wise may point to high genetic consistency among population, in which case the trait variance is naturally more dependent on the environment. ("Traits such as walking and breathing have low heritability, because these are usually universal traits with slight variations. [...] as heredity becomes more similar, the environment becomes the primary explanation for differences."<ref>[https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/psychology/biological-bases-of-behavior/heritability/ Studysmarter.co.uk: Explanation on heritability]</ref>) This finding of low heritability may be interpreted to mean that the genetic ability to develop minor attraction is highly pervasive among humans and modified by nurture and other environments. This goes along with the [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding%2FEnculturation-Alliance_Hypothesis|Rind's conclusion]] on pederasty as evolutionary determined but a facultative trait.

*'''Bhugra, D. (2000). [https://sci-hub.ru/10.1080/14681990050001574 Disturbances in objects of desire: Cross-cultural issues.] Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 15(1), 67–78. doi:10.1080/14681990050001574'''
*:"Paraphilias are defined as sexual attractions to objects or individuals not normally found attractive. [...] It is argued that, in some types of individual deviance, cultural factors are more likely to play an important role. Some cultures are seen as sex-positive and others as sex-negative but, within each cultural setting, attitudes towards sex and the function of sexual activity are a key to understanding the development of sexual deviance. In cultures where sex is seen as an attraction-led phenomenon rather than a purely procreative one, individuals are more likely to be attracted to 'objects'."

===Undesirable traits as adaptations===

Both pedohebephilic attraction and childhood sexuality are likely influenced somewhat by environmental factors. For example, there exist theories of [[Research:_Psychopathy_and_abnormal_psychology#Adverse_childhood|adverse childhood in pedohebephiles]] and [[Research:_Youth_sexuality#Factors_of_earlier_sexual_development|factors of earlier sexual development]] in youth sexuality. These are unproven and causality is hard to infer. It has been speculated that these are [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Complementary_behavior_among_minors|complementary]] adaptations to difficult circumstances.

From a layman's point of view, undesirable traits that arise as a result of adverse environment are mental breakdowns. From an evolutionary perspective, these may be ways to adapt in a harsh, primordial context. It is worth keeping this perspective in mind.

*'''Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., & Draper, P. (1991). Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Development, 62, 647–670.'''
*:"The concept of "reproductive strategy" drawn from the field of behavioral ecology is applied to the study of childhood experience and interpersonal development in order to develop an evolutionary theory of socialization. The theory is presented in terms of 2 divergent development pathways considered to promote reproductive success in the contexts in which they have arisen. One is characterized, in childhood, by a stressful rearing environment and the development of insecure attachments to parents and subsequent behavior problems; in adolescence by early pubertal development and precocious sexuality; and, in adulthood, by unstable pair bonds and limited investment in child rearing, whereas the other is characterized by the opposite."

*'''Del Giudice, M. (2014b). [https://iris.unito.it/retrieve/e27ce435-4226-2581-e053-d805fe0acbaa/DelGiudice_2014_early-stress_jdohad_pre.pdf Early stress and human behavioral development: Emerging evolutionary perspectives.] Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, 5, 270-280.'''
*:“Stress experienced early in life exerts a powerful, lasting influence on development. Converging empirical findings show that stressful experiences become deeply embedded in the child's neurobiology, with an astonishing range of long-term effects on cognition, emotion, and behavior. In contrast with the prevailing view that such effects are the maladaptive outcomes of 'toxic' stress, adaptive models regard them as manifestations of evolved developmental plasticity.”
*:“Building on the concept of developmental plasticity, researchers have been increasingly advancing alternative models in which early stress does not primarily impair or dysregulate children’s developmental trajectories, but rather shifts them toward behavioral strategies that have proven biologically adaptive in harsh or unpredictable conditions”
*:“Exposure to stress works as a cue to local environmental conditions, and feeds into plasticity mechanisms that coordinate the development of alternative phenotypes.”
*:“In this perspective, many putative maladaptive traits such as anxiety, aggression, and impulsivity can be reframed as costly but adaptive phenotypes that improve an individual’s survival and reproduction prospects in hostile, unpredictable contexts. For example, increased vigilance and anxiety can be regarded as defensive reactions to potential threats, whereas aggression and impulsivity can be effective competitive strategies in harsh, unstable social environments. Furthermore, there is evidence that high levels of physiological and emotional reactivity increase an individual’s sensitivity to context, making him/her more open to both negative and positive social influences. Of course, some of these adaptive traits are going to have undesirable consequences for the individual and/or the social group, and may even be diagnosed as symptoms of psychopathology (e.g., conduct disorders). According to adaptive models, children exposed to early stress should exhibit patterns of impaired cognitive and emotional functioning when tested in safe, stress-free contexts and/or with tasks that mimic the demands of those contexts; but they should often perform better than their peers on tasks that reproduce key features of the dangerous, unpredictable environments they are adapted to. The initial evidence suggests that this may be the case.“

=== Response to critique of evolutionary explanations ===

*'''Karen Franklin. (2010). [https://pismin.com/10.1007/s10508-010-9616-1 Why the Rush to Create Dubious New Sexual Disorders?]. , 39(4), 819–820. doi:10.1007/s10508-010-9616-1'''
*:"As all students of Darwin know, evolutionary success strategies must be understood on a population-wide basis, not an individual level. Moreover, social scientists generally agree that biological evolution is rarely sufficient to understand human behavior in modern, complex social systems. Thus, to say that a trait may have emerged as evolutionarily adaptive in prehistoric times implies nothing of its presence or function on an individual level in contemporary society."

== See also ==

*[[Debate_Guide: Evolutionary logic|Debate Guide: Evolutionary logic]]
*[[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in_History|Intergenerational Relationships in History]]
*[[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals]]

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category: Research: Broader Perspectives]]

== References ==

Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality

2026-07-30T19:10:01Z

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While the [[Debate_Guide:_Evolutionary_logic|evolutionary logic]] of intergenerational sexual behaviour and [[Hebephilia|hebephilic]] attraction towards pubertal [[Adolescence|adolescents]] of the opposite sex is easily explained by fertility potential of such behaviour ([[Research: Pedophilia as a sexual/erotic orientation|see mentions of hebephilia)]], the explanation of intergenerational attractions toward prepubertal children ([[pedophilia]]/pedosexuality), or adolescent homosexual partners ([[Pederasty|pederastic]] inclination), or the very existence of prepubertal [[child]] sexuality, is less obvious.

The emergence of such sexuality has several [[Wikipedia:Darwinism|evolutionary explanations]] with varying degrees of evidence, which come from [[Wikipedia:Ethology|ethology]] and [[Wikipedia:Neuroscience|neuroscience]]. There are suggestions that, in our evolutionary past, pedosexual behaviors could have had some evolutionary functions or been an evolutionary by-product of human sexuality development. These explanations may have pragmatic implications for the [[Research: A "cure" for pedophilia?#Psychological wellbeing for MAPs|well-being]] of both MAPs and minors. "Evolutionary scenarios are not just interesting explanatory “stories,” but can illuminate limits as well as opportunities for intervention" (Del Giudice M., 2014). Here is an attempt to categorize these hypotheses, although they overlap greatly and can hardly be considered separately. Rather, they describe different aspects of a complex evolutionary process.

== Adaptation to the lack of success in sexual competition ==
One hypothesis is that if a male is unsuccessful in sexual competition for fertile females, and he chronically feels inferior to others and is afraid of other adults, then his sexuality towards adults may be suppressed and redirected towards children, because children do not cause fear, and next to them the male feels his strength and superiority. Male's sexuality is more associated with dominance and this may explain the greater prevalence of attraction to children among men than among women.<ref>[https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5 Medicus, G., Hopf, S. (1990). The Phylogeny of Male/Female Differences in Sexual Behavior.] In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5</ref>

Excerpts:
* '''Medicus, G., Hopf, S. (1990). [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5 The Phylogeny of Male/Female Differences in Sexual Behavior.] In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_5'''
*:"As has been pointed out, adult human sexual behavior with children and adolescents can be understood within the context of dimorphism. Male/ female differences in sexual behavior result at least in part from the different amounts of energy and time each sex expends for reproduction (see Table 4.1). This initial difference produces a difference in the functional proximity of the moods of fear and aggression to sexual mood (see Table 4.11), as well as a difference in the likelihood for active pursuit of sexual opportunities"
*:"One of the most consistent psychological correlates that has been identified is that many adult males who are sexually attracted to children and adolescents show manifestations of (real or self-perceived) social inadequacy with peers. Such males may suffer from feelings of anxiety when they consider sexual behavior with an adult partner (Johnston and Johnston, 1986; Panton, 1979; Segal and Marshall, 1985). Because sex and fear are such functionally distant moods in males, many human adult males cannot perform sexual actions when they feel inferior to their sexual partner or when they feel anxious (e.g., Bancroft, 1985; Eicher, 1980). This explanation is in accordance with the previously mentioned male/female dimorphism in the relationship of mood and behavior (see Table 4.11). Because of their small size, lack of experience, and sense of insecurity, children and adolescents of either sex do not arouse feelings of inferiority, fear, and anxiety in adult males. Thus, children and adolescents can become "sexual objects" for males who in sociosexual relations with adults feel inferior or anxious."

* '''Glenn D. Wilson and David N. Cox. 1983. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130410124803/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Child-Lovers%20-%20A%20Study%20of%20Paedophiles%20in%20Society.pdf The Child-Lovers: A Study of Paedophiles in Society.] By London: Peter Owen. Pp 132. British Journal of Psychiatry. 1983;143(4):430-430. doi:10.1192/S0007125000200780'''
*: "Examination of the characteristics of children that the paedophiles found most attractive points to the conclusion that the ability to achieve social dominance over the child may be the key to understanding the paedophile’s choice of sex target."
*: "Viewed in this way, paedophilia would seem to be one of several alternative adaptations to the problem of lack of success (or perceived inability to succeed) in intermale competition for access to females. It has been often noted by ethologists that the males of any species are thrown into strong Darwinian competition with one another. Those that are most successful monopolise an unequal share of female resources, and the others have to make do with various substitute sexual outlets. Following this model, we would not expect to find any genetic predisposition toward paedophilia per se, but as with homosexuality and certain other sex deviations, some degree of heritability would be mediated by the constitutional basis of dominance versus submissiveness. In other words, paedophiles may inherit their submissive nature, which in turn makes for difficulties in establishing normal sexual roles."

*'''Connie M. Anderson (1990). "Adolescent/Adult Copulatory Behavior in Nonhuman Primates." In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*: "Adult, subadult, and adolescent females are monopolized by adult male harem-holders, leaving a few adult and all subadult males without adult sexual partners. Under these conditions, males without harems choose a particular juvenile female to follow and display intense parental-like behavior towards her. Eventually, she becomes the first individual in the male's harem, and he begins mating with her at her first estrous swelling. Thus, both parental-like and copulatory motor patterns are directed at the same individual over the course of time and, for a brief period, even simultaneously."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Neither very young mature females nor males are desirable mates. [...] On the other hand, the lowest ranking, and therefore unattractive adult males and females do seek matings with adolescents. Low-status females are especially prone to seducing the almost always eager and obliging young males. It is quite likely that these inferior adults are making the best of a bad draw; any available mate is better than none at all in the harsh world of reproductive competition."

== Reproductive value pressure ==
Another close explanation is that the total reproductive potential is highest at the point far before fertility maximum, namely closely to the beginning of puberty. And along with selective pressure toward fully fertile partners, there is selective pressure toward maximum reproductive value, that may become stronger if long term mating strategies are more adaptive in a given evolutionary circumstances.

*'''Seto, M. C. (2017). The puzzle of male chronophilias. ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 46(1), 3-22.'''
::"Evolutionary theories about human mating strategies distinguish between reproductive value and fertility (Buss, 1989). Reproductive value refers to the potential number of offspring that could be produced over time, and thus focusing on reproductive value represents a longer-term strategy, as in the case of marriage to pubescent or even prepubescent girls. [...] Fertility, on the other hand, means maximizing the chances of reproduction, and thus would represent a shorter-term strategy focusing on young adult women (e.g., in their early to mid-20s). This is reflected in male-typical age preferences for casual sex partners, pornography actors, and models(Kenrick & Keefe,1992; Ogas & Gaddam, 2011; Rudder, 2014). Though preferences for other than sexually mature,fertile partners would probably be suboptimal, variations from heterosexual teleiophilia might be maintained in the human population — at a low frequency — as a result of opposing selection pressures (e.g., frequency-dependent selection) or as a byproduct of other adaptations."

== "Nest helper" hypothesis ==
{{research}}
The concept of "nest helper", is an explanation of a few individuals within a group being nonreproductive, yet aiding their group's survival. They may be affectionately disposed and caring towards others without reproducing, since this promotes the reproduction of peers who share some of the same genes due to being genetic relatives in the group. Due to sexual competition and the costs of human reproduction, not every individual ''can'' reproduce, hence there are indirect genetic benefits of "nest helping" that may overcome benefits of direct reproductive efforts for some individuals. This evolutionary hypothesis applies to both exclusive homosexuality and exclusive pedophilia, although due to a lack of investigation, there is at present little evidence for it (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":5">[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Feierman, Jay R. (1990). Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23</ref>).

Excerpts:
* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23'''
*:"Whereas a similar challenge has been met somewhat reasonably in terms of the "nest helper" concept of adult homosexuality, hypothesizing that another type of nest helper would have to erotically love and sexually interact with the children for whom he was caring"

== Help in developing sexual ability ==

Sex play between immature mammals is widespread, and among primates it is nearly universal. Sexual play functions as learning adequate mating skills. Sexual play mostly occurs among immature peers, but adults also often engage in sexual play with juveniles and help them develop sexual skills too.<ref>Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7</ref> In addition, sex can trigger the onset of fertility. Such a function could have played a role in the human evolutionary past (Dienske, 1990<ref name=":0">Dienske, Herman (1990). The Concept of Function in the Behavioral Sciences with Specific Reference to Pedophilia and Pedosexual Behavior: A Biophilosophical Perspective. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13</ref>). In some species, this function has built in to that extent that without early sexual experience with an adult an individual grows up unable to conceive.<ref name=":7">Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2</ref>

* '''Connie M. Anderson (1990). "Adolescent/Adult Copulatory Behavior in Nonhuman Primates". In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*: "Among nonhuman primates, then, sexual interaction between adult females and immature males is universal [...] Adult females do interact sexually with males of all ages, including infants too young to be capable of intromission or ejaculation. Females have little to lose by doing so, since they do not deplete their egg supply by unsuccessful matings and since they are unlikely to be seriously injured in the process. They may also help their immature male relatives by allowing them access to experienced females to practice sexual behavior so that they can perform successfully from the time spermatogenesis begins."

* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2'''
*: "In the squirrel monkey (Saimin), captivity-raised individuals of both sexes in mixed-sex peer groups were not even able to conceive unless they had been allowed, when they were juveniles, to have sexual contact with opposite-sex adults (Hopf, 1979, personal communication)."

*'''De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15'''
*: "Thus, juvenile male chimpanzees are attracted to females in estrus, and pubertal females begin to explore sexual contact with older males as soon as their genital swellings develop (van der Weel, 1978; de Waal, 1982; Goodall, 1986). Such intergenerational experience undoubtedly contributes to the development of adequate sexual skills."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Any behavior that is indisputably essential to survival, adaptation, or reproductive success develops in many different forms in different species, and often even varies in the same species in different environments. ‘The evolution of sex and sexual behavior is certainly no exception (Margulis & Sagan, 1986). It is, therefore, not surprising to find that mature and immature conspecifics engage each other in myriad sexual practices (Crews & Moore, 1986). [...] It is certainly no accident that species in which the immature play are also the ones most involved in preadolescent sex. Of those warmblooded, slowly maturing organisms that play (mostly mammals), an undetermined, but probably very large, number engage in sexual ventures. On the other hand, young animals that metamorphize into adult form and those with an exceedingly brief immaturity are obviously poor candidates for sexual participation with adults."
::"The fascinating evolutionary component is the appearance of play; sexual encounters of mature with immature animals that do not play differ sharply from the sexual interactions of those that do. [...] Sexual activity of young mammals is a clear aid to their performing adequately and sex play is probably essential to the development of normal adult primate copulation (Harlow, 1962; Wallen, Goldfoot, & Goy, 1981)."
::"[T]he mere fact that sex play with adults is so widespread in polygamous (i.e., multimale—multifemale mating) species supports speculation that encounters with adults provide the winning edge. "

== Advantage in sexual competition ==
The emergence of nonexclusive pedophilic interest could be due to males experiencing selection pressure to display affiliative behavior towards minors. Such a display aims to convince fertile females that the male is ready for paternal investment, thus giving advantages in access to the fertile female (Taub, 1990<ref>Taub, David M. (1990). The Functions of Primate Paternalism: A Cross-Species Review. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 338–377). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_14</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''Taub, David M. (1990). The Functions of Primate Paternalism: A Cross-Species Review. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 338–377). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_14'''
*: "Why then are these unrelated males forming special affiliations with and investing in these infants? Proponents of this view suggest that males form special relationships with infants as a means whereby they may develop a closer and stronger affiliative relationship with the infant's mother. This enhanced, or special, relationship with the mother, in turn, enhances the male's chances of mating with this female in the future."

== Sex as a buffer against aggression ==
Ethologist Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt suggested that the interconnection between sex and dominance is the basic ("reptilian") way of vertebrate sexuality organization. Aggression and dominance acquired a functional connection with male sexuality due to the fact that aggressive and dominant males tended to win in sexual competition. In contrast, submission was embedded in female sexuality. The submissive posture of the female ready for mating is a stimulus to transform male’s aggressive drive to the sexual drive. This prevents injuries and allows mating to occur. Thus aggression, dominance and submission were sexualized, and sexuality acquired the ability to buffer aggression in hierarchical relationships. (The manifestation of that ability is that the appeasing posture of a defeated enemy in animals often resembles the posture of a female ready to mate). Eibl-Eibesfeldt supposed that it is possible that this function could be partly transferred into the adult-juvenile hierarchical relationship (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1990<ref name=":1">[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6</ref>).

Excerpts:
* '''Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6'''
*: “Dominance between group members is also expressed by ritualized mounting, and submission, in turn, is expressed by female-type presenting. From these kinds of greeting rituals have evolved behaviors such as those of hamadryas baboons, in which males approaching high-ranking individuals present as if they, the presenters, were females. Their buttocks are hairless and red in mimicry of the female buttocks, thus enhancing the signal value of presenting (Wiclder, 1966, 1967b). The high-ranking individual may mount or just perform the intention to mount in response to the other's presenting. This use by primates of sexual motor patterns to acknowledge dominance rank order has often been interpreted as being equivalent to human homosexuality. This interpretation is an oversimplification. These sexual motor patterns are derived from copulatory behaviors but, then, have acquired a new function related to social hierarchies: mounting serves as an indication of dominance, and presenting serves as an indication of submission, an agonistic buffer in a greeting context”
*:“Children have characteristics, such as small size, that facilitate adult males' feeling dominant to them, as occurs in pedosexual behavior.”

== Sex for reconciliation and food sharing ==
The reduction of social tension mediated by sociosexual contact is widespread in the communities of human closest relatives, the [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|Bonobos]]. The tension arises in situations of competition or inequality referring to any kind of resources such as food, access to reproduction or any interesting stimulus matter. In addition to the reconciliation effect, sexual contacts allow them to willingly share resources with one another. Ethologist Frans de Waal pointed that this mechanism works for individuals of any status, sex and age, including contacts between adults and infants. Via this mechanism, adults share food with juveniles who are not their descendants and are not of reproductive interest. The emergence of this mechanism presumably occurred as a result of an evolutionary shift in relationships between males and females towards the more tolerant and equal in the case of Bonobos (de Waal, 1990<ref>[https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15</ref>). Among most other primates except for humans, cases of adults, especially males, sharing food with another's offspring are quite rare (Mackey, 1990<ref name=":6">Mackey, Wade C. (1990). Adult·Male/Juvenile Association as a Species-Characteristic Human Trait: A Comparative Field Approach. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 299–323). Springer, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_12</ref>).

Frans de Waal suggests that our ancestor’s sexual behavior may have been similar to Bonobo's. This sex-for-food mechanism then allowed females to exchange sex for male commitment and paternal investment, thus giving rise to the human nuclear family. And subsequently, the very development of the nuclear family led to an increasing restriction of sex functions to heterosexual reproductive bonding only (de Waal, 2006<ref> [https://sci-hub.se/10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp de Waal, Frans B. M. (2006). Bonobo Sex and Society. Scientific American, 16, 14-21], doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''De Waal, Frans B. M. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15 Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among bonobos.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 378–393). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_15'''
*: "Typically, upon the introduction of food, the bonobos would become very active, engaging in aggressive competition but also inviting one another for sociosexual contact These contacts appeared to reduce the tension and to allow for food sharing. Thus, it could be demonstrated that subordinate group members more often asserted themselves toward dominant food possessors following a sociosexual contact than without such prior contact (de Waal, 1987). The interaction could even take the form of an exchange, e.g., a female presents to a male who is holding a large bundle of branches and leaves and takes the entire bundle out of his hands immediately following sexual intercourse. On other occasions, sociosexual behavior was used as a reconciliation. The majority of instances of genital massage, for instance, followed aggressive incidents in which the adult male had chased one of the adolescent males. After a couple of minutes, the younger male would return to the aggressor to present his genitals."
*:“Sociosexual behavior occurred with equal frequency and equal intensity in all age and sex combinations possible. Intergenerational sex was part of this general pattern. The bonobo's sexual reconciliation and reassurance patterns were described and contrasted with the behavior of the chimpanzee, which virtually lacks this nonreproductive function of sexual behavior. The evolutionary origin of this difference was sought in heterosexual bonding among bonohos in their natural habitat. [...] Coexistence of plural males and females without agonistic competition in mating could be guaranteed by changing the character of sexual behavior into affiliative behavior in which all individuals can participate, and by decreasing the reproductive meaning (Mori, 1984, p.277).[...] This possible evolutionary background of the phenomena observed in bonobos is of relevance in connection with human sexuality, both because of the shared biological ancestry and the fact that heterosexual bonding is characteristic of the human species as well."
*:"[T]he most logical pathway by which sexual behavior evolved into a general reassurance mechanism is that this mechanism was first established in the adult male/female relationship, after which it was adopted in other age and sex combinations. In other words, the widespread application of sexual behavior patterns in the bonobo' s social life has its origin in an emphasis on heterosexual bonding (de Waal, 1987). Field research supports this view in that male/female relationships seem closer and more tolerant in bonobos than in chimpanzees."

*'''de Waal, Frans B. M. (2006). [https://sci-hub.se/10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp Bonobo Sex and Society.] Scientific American, 16, 14-21, doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0606-14sp'''
*:"Ocasionally, the role of sex in relation to food is taken one step further, bringing bonobos very close to humans in their behavior. It has been speculated by anthropologists--including C. Owen Lovejoy of Kent State University and Helen Fisher of Rutgers University--that sex is partially separated from reproduction in our species because it serves to cement mutually profitable relationships between men and women. The human females capacity to mate throughout her cycle and her strong sex drive allow her to exchange sex for male commitment and paternal care, thus giving rise to the nuclear family."
*:"This arrangement is thought to be favored by natural selection because it allows women to raise more offspring than they could if they were on their own."
*:"Given its peacemaking and appeasement functions, it is not surprising that sex among bonobos occurs in so many different partner combinations, including between juveniles and adults. The need for peaceful coexistence is obviously not restricted to adult heterosexual pairs."
*:“In fact, nuclear families are probably incompatible with the diverse use of sex found in bonobos. If our ancestors started out with a sex life similar to that of bonobos, the evolution of the family would have required dramatic change.
*: Human family life implies paternal investment, which is unlikely to develop unless males can be reasonably certain that they are caring for their own, not someone elses, offspring. Bonobo society lacks any such guarantee, but humans protect the integrity of their family units through all kinds of moral restrictions and taboos. Thus, although our species is characterized by an extraordinary interest in sex, there are no societies in which people engage in it at the drop of a hat (or a cardboard box, as the case may be). A sense of shame and a desire for domestic privacy are typical human concepts related to the evolution and cultural bolstering of the family."

* '''Mackey, Wade C. (1990). Adult·Male/Juvenile Association as a Species-Characteristic Human Trait: A Comparative Field Approach. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 299–323). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_12'''
*: "As pointed out earlier, human adult males share food/provisions with their young, and this sharing by adult males is relatively rare across the zoological kingdom. It is reasonable that the sharing of a most valuable commodity -- food -- is much easier emotionally for the provisioner if the provisioner "likes" the recipient, and conversely, a recipient tends to like someone who feeds him or her, especially during the dependency of preadulthood. Accordingly, the behavioral enhancement of any neurohormonal mechanisms (subtended by the relevant genetic material) that resulted in greater affiliative feelings, toward juveniles, for example, would facilitate food sharing. The facilitation might be further sensitized by the stimulus of those young who are provisioned showing outward signs of affiliation towards the provisioner. Across generations, the increased provisioning of juveniles by adult males would marginally increase those juveniles' viability, thereby increasing those adult males' chances of having descendants. Thus, the alleles in adult males and juveniles that canalized reciprocal adult-male/juvenile affiliative behavior, in general, and the resultant specific adult-male/juvenile association, in particular, would gradually and systematically displace competing alleles that did not facilitate the development of affiliation between adult males and juveniles. In the 20th century, food sharing from human adult males to juveniles has been found to be a universal practice"

*'''Woods, Vanessa; Hare, Brian (2011-04-01). "Bonobo but not chimpanzee infants use socio-sexual contact with peers". Primates. 52 (2): 111–116. doi:10.1007/s10329-010-0229-z.'''
::"Even as infants, bonobos use socio-sexual behaviour, whereas the same behaviour is completely absent in chimpanzee infants. Findings suggest that sociosexual behaviour in infant bonobos serves functions during social feeding that is not closely tied to reproduction."

== Nonconceptive sociosexual behavior as a result of self-domestication ==
It has been suggested that nonconceptive sociosexual behaviour, which include homosexual and intergenerational sexual contacts, consistently accompanies both natural and artificial selection against aggression ("domestication") being embedded in general pattern of juvenilization (like mammalian juvenile sex play).
*'''Hare, B., Wobber, V., & Wrangham, R. (2012). [https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/site-images/hare-et-al-2012-self-domestication.original.pdf The self-domestication hypothesis: Evolution of bonobo psychology is due to selection against aggression.] ''Animal Behaviour'', 83(3), 573–585. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.12.007'''
::"Experiments indicate that selection against aggression in mammals can have multiple effects on their morphology, physiology, behaviour and psychology, and that these results resemble a syndrome of changes observed in domestic animals. [...] In domesticated species, the characteristic down-regulation of aggressiveness and increased tolerance is accompanied by other differences, [...] behavioural changes include [...] increased pro-social behaviours, particularly play, nonconceptive sexual behaviour and grooming (Hemmer 1990; Clutton-Brock 1992; Coppinger & Coppinger 1998; Kunzl & Sachser 1999; Gariépy et al. 2001)."

::examples:
::"[Compared with chimpanzees:] Bonobos show more play and sociosexual behaviour as adults"
::"[Compared with wolves:] Dogs show more play and sociosexual behaviour as adults"
::"[Compared with wild guinea pigs:] Guinea pigs are more playful and show more sexual behaviour than cavies"

::"Typically, a new bonobo, even as an infant, can be introduced without incident; and two groups, including multiple adult males separated for weeks, months or years, can be reintegrated with little more than play and sexual contact as a result (B. Hare, V. Wobber & R. Wrangham, personal observations)."

::"Behaviourally, bonobos are similar to many domesticates (e.g. Kunzl & Sachser 1999) in showing intensified sexual behaviour. [...] they also display a substantial emancipation of sexual behaviour into nonconceptive functions that often involve same-sex partners (Savage-Rumbaugh & Wilkerson 1978; Kuroda 1984; Thompson-Handler et al. 1984; de Waal 1987, 1995; Kano 1989, 1992; Enomoto 1990; Dixson 1998; Hohmann & Fruth 2000; Furuichi & Hashimoto 2004; Paoli et al. 2007; Clay & Zuberbühler 2011; Woods & Hare 2011)."

::"selection for juvenile levels of aggression could explain the cascade of behavioural, physiological and morphological traits typical of juveniles that tend to be retained in adults of the descendant domesticated species (Trut 2001)."

::"The self-domestication hypothesis is therefore a potentially powerful tool for understanding the processes by which selection shapes both psychological and other seemingly unrelated traits, including those in humans (e.g. Leach et al. 2003; Dorus et al. 2004)."

== Sex as an attachment promoter. Development of paternal investment==
In addition to the “reptilian” connection between sex and dominance, Eibl-Eibesfeldt described another way of sexuality organization. That evolutionary later way is the interweaving of sex and attachment, which is typical for birds and some mammals forming long-term reproductive alliances. The ability of males to form attachment and exhibit caring behavior to a sexual partner is highly beneficial for females. Human evolution went through an increase in the maturation time of offspring, which led to huge reproductive costs for females. Thus, there was a particularly strong sexual selection of males, in which sexual desire was accompanied by consistent caring behavior towards the female and her offspring. This attachment to a sexual partner may be evolutionarily linked to child-parent attachment (in some species, this connection is manifested in the features of sexual courtship rituals containing signs of childish behavior, which function to induce caring behavior and affection in a sexual partner). So according to this theory, the functional system of parental care and the functional system of mating became interconnected. Eibl-Eibesfeldt wrote that romantic love occurs through the fusion of parental care and sexual desire, and this fusion is an antecedent for children and adolescents to evoke romantic feelings in some adults (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1990 <ref name=":1" />).

In line with Eibl-Eibesfeldt, ethologist Herman Dienske argues that, in the course of evolution, due to the ability of human females to conceal ovulation and to be continuously sexually receptive, male sexual interest has evolved in turn to foster consistent male proximity (to invest in offspring that take so long to mature), and subsequently could promote male proximity with the infant (Dienske, 1990<ref name=":0" />). Indeed, the repertoire of pedosexual behavior observed in humans, besides sexual actions, may also include caring behavior: comforting/caressing, feeding, grooming (body care such as washing or massage), protecting, teaching (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":7" />).

Excerpts:
* '''Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6 Dominance, Submission, and Love: Sexual Pathologies from the Perspective of Ethology.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 150–175). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_6'''
*: “If one observes courtship and greeting rituals in birds and mammals, one soon becomes aware that the patterns by which a friendly affiliation is established, upheld, or strengthened are basically derived from maternal behaviors and infantile appeals that trigger these patterns.”
*: “In human sexual behavior, strata of different phylogenetic origins can be distinguished. Sexuality based upon the mechanisms of male dominance and female submission, which characterizes the reptiles, also constitutes the basic layer of human sexuality. This reptilian heritage is superimposed, however, by a more recently acquired sexuality characterized by affiliation and love. The new potentiality to act in a friendly manner evolved with the development of parental care independently in birds and in mammals. In normal human sexual behavior, the archaic agonal sexuality is controlled by affiliative sexuality and, therefore, is characterized by love. Agonal sexuality is still with us, however, as indicated, among other features, by the phallic male-dominance displays, by a male hormonal response linked to dominance achievement, and by the sexual fantasies of submission that are experienced by females. Agonal sexuality normally is under the control of affiliative sexuality, and therefore, humans correctly associate sex with love. Certain forms of sexuality, such as sadomasochism and a particular form of male homosexuality, are explained as being a regression to the archaic agonal sexuality. Pedophilia and pedosexual behavior are explained within the regression context, too. Children have characteristics, such as small size, that facilitate adult males' feeling dominant to them, as occurs in pedosexual behavior. Since human adult/adult romantic love is derived by phylogeny from parental caregiving behavior, it is easily seen how, in some adult humans, the feeling of love toward children has been retained and eroticized, which is the true meaning of the term "pedophilia.”

*'''Dienske, Herman (1990). The Concept of Function in the Behavioral Sciences with Specific Reference to Pedophilia and Pedosexual Behavior: A Biophilosophical Perspective. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 324–337). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_13'''
*:"it was pointed out that the continuous sexual activity of humans promotes the coherence of the adult-male/adult-female pair and that it encourages the male parent to participate in rearing his offspring. This assumption requires (1) that sex induces affiliation (i.e., the maintenance of proximity and the extension of favors) and (2) that this affiliation is continued after offspring are born and (3) is accompanied by male paternal care. The associations among sex, affiliation, and paternal care seem to be common in humans. This situation does not imply, however, a simple causal relationship. Infrequent or absent sex may precede divorce. It cannot be decided whether infrequent sex reduces affiliation or whether the decreased affiliation reduces sex. It is likely that sex and affiliation mutually enhance each other and that the absence of one of the two leads to a declining spiral that eventually results in separation or disinterest."
*: “the associations among sex, affiliation, and paternal care are not compelling in that alternative functional solutions exist. Nevertheless, the affiliation-promoting effect of sex seems apparent.”
*: “Human females, in contrast, lack such signals and thus have what is called "concealed ovulation" (Alexander and Noonan, 1979); in fact, the timing of human ovulation was not known until recently. Uncertainty concerning the time at which ovulation occurs would promote frequent copulations. It is possible that continuous sexual behavior in human females is their afflliation-promoting strategy, since it can induce more consistent male proximity (Daniels, 1983).”
*:“[P]edophilic and homosexual nonprocreative sexual contacts could be considered functional, since favors resulting from the affiliation, which is maintained in part by sexual behavior, can be considerable.”

*'''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). A Biosocial Overview of Adult Human Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents. In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 8–68). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_2'''
*: "some of the components of parental investment, collectively called "nurturing behavior", are seen in both pedo-and ephebophilia and can be considered and discussed as (1) comforting and contact, (2) feeding, (3) grooming, (4) protecting, and (5) teaching."

* '''Money, J. (1990). Pedophilia: A Specific Instance of New Phylism Theory as Applied to Paraphilic Lovemaps. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions]. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_18'''
*:"This author's way of circumventing the debate is to say that there are in the human species phylogenetic building blocks, or phylisms, that in the course of individual sexuoerotic development are capable of being diverted from their usual expression, so as to become entrained to sexuoerotic arousal. In the case of pedophilia, the phylism of parent/child pairbonding becomes diverted and entrained to sexuoerotic, lover /lover pairbonding. The pedophile's attachment to a child represents a merger of parental and erotic love."
*:"The universal male/male pedophilia of the Sambia demonstrates the sexological plasticity of the human organism and the making of pedophilia into the social norm."

This hypothesis is also mentioned in modern scientific encyclopedias:

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. (2017). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1 Sexual Pathology.] In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] (pp. 7439 - 7445). Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1'''
*:“the evolutionary explanation behind the origin of pedophilia refers to the fusion of two evolutionarily ancient adaptive systems – reproduction and nurturing. Money (1990) states that a pedophile’s relationship to a child qualitatively, and also neurologically, resembles a blend between parental and erotic love. Likewise, it can be linked to the close cohesion between these two systems that can be observed also between phylogenetically close species.”.
*:”The founder of the human ethnology field, Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1973), directly warns about the type of affiliative-erotic relationship that connects to the composition of long-term partnership, which was developed both in mammals and birds together with nurturing behavior, and therefore it is not surprising that they are occasionally mixed in humans.”

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. "Male Sexual Disorders" In: Todd K. Shackelford (ed.), 2022, [https://annas-archive.org/md5/2d84ebccbbaafc78b4516ef6b129e5a2 The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology. Vol 4.] ''Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)''.'''
:: "A phylogenetic explanation of pedophilia refers to the fusion of two evolutionarily old systems– reproduction and nurturing (Money, 1990). It is also in line with the results of neuroimaging studies in which pedophilic men could be distinguished from controls by their increased fMRI activity in reaction to child versus adult faces (Ponseti et al., 2016) and increased brain responses to not only human but also animal infants in pedophiles (Ponseti et al., 2018), interpreted as an over-responsive nurturing system. This view agrees with older ethological theories that sees pedophilia as a mixture of parental and erotic love indicated by behavioral displays of both (Money, 2012)."

* '''Stevens, A., & Price, J. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315740577 Evolutionary Psychiatry: A new beginning] (Classic Ed.) (pp. 206-218) Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. doi:10.4324/9781315740577'''
*: “We would entertain the hypothesis proposed separately by Eibl-Eibesfeldt (1990) and by Money (1990) that two innate biosocial propensities – caregiving and sex-mating – have become fused in the course of ontogeny in those who display the paedophilic orientation.”
*:“[A]ffiliative erotic love, as Eibl-Eibesfeldt points out, itself evolved in birds and mammals together with the development of parental care-giving behaviour. ‘Since human adult/adult romantic love is derived by phylogeny from parent care-giving behaviour,’ asserts EiblEibesfeldt, ‘it is easily seen how, in some adult humans, the feeling of love toward children has been retained and eroticised, which is the true meaning of the term “pedophilia”.“.

Cross-species research indicate that the sexuality-attachment fusion in intergenerational relationships is widespread in nature and not restricted to humans:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"Intense sexually based friendships or consort relationships between older and younger animals have been documented in various species, including gorillas, orangutans, macaques (crab-eating, Japanese, rhesus, stumptail), Hamadryas baboons, and squirrel monkeys. Takenoshita (1998) observed consort relationships between adult and juvenile male Japanese macaques, where these pairs, in addition to engaging in homosexual interactions, foraged together, groomed one another, and attacked other monkeys together. Chevalier-Skolnikoff (1976) described intensely affectionate relationships between mature and immature stumptail male macaques, in which both older and younger partners responded with sexual excitement to the sexual interactions. Zuckerman (1932) observed a three-year sexual relationship between an adult and an immature male Hamadryas baboon. Redican, Gomber, and Mitchell (1974) observed an intense attachment between an adult male rhesus macaque and a much younger male, in which the latter took strong initiative in establishing the relationship and sexual interaction. Hamilton (1914), also studying rhesus macaques, reported that he “found that friendships between immature males and mature males are of frequent occurrence, and that they seem to have a sexual basis” (p. 308). In one illustrative case, Hamilton reported, when a separated mature-immature pair was allowed to reunite, the two rushed into an embrace, smacking their lips. Both animals showed marked sexual excitement, and the older mounted the younger, who rotated his head to achieve lip contact with the older partner."

=== Neurological, endocrinological and psychological evidence ===

Human sexuality researchers have confirmed the neurobiological interconnection of sexual and attachment systems. The release of oxytocin, vasopressin and prolactin, hormones associated with parental behavior, during sex and orgasm stimulates the formation of attachment, altruistic behavior and care for a partner. The reverse is also true: trusting and caring relationships can evoke sexual interest (Dewitte & Marieke, 2012 <ref> [https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/00224499.2011.576351 Dewitte, Marieke (2012). Different Perspectives on the Sex-Attachment Link: Towards an Emotion-Motivational Account.] The Journal of Sex Research, 49, 105–124. https://doi=10.1080/00224499.2011.576351</ref>; Fleischman, 2021 <ref> [https://www.dianafleischman.com/_files/ugd/cb1e47_2914fac5806e4843a8544c1cdee5a69a.pdf Fleischman, D. (2021). Sex as Bonding Mechanisms.] In: Shackelford, T.K., Weekes-Shackelford, V.A. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717</ref>).

Two decades after Eibl-Eibesfeldt suggested that the neural systems of sex and care are relatively more connected in people who are sexually attracted to children, neuroscientists have found some experimental evidence for that. Brain structures responsible for social connections, altruistic and parental motivation (such as the left anterior insula), in people with pedophilic interest, respond to infant stimuli more intensively, receiving reinforcement from the neural circuits responsible for mating. In addition, a greater connection between parental and mating systems is characteristic of males, which is explained by evolutionarily different ways of forming maternal and paternal investments (Ponseti et al., (2018). <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645 Ponseti J, Bruhn D, Nolting J, Gerwinn H, Pohl A, Stirn A, Granert O, Laufs H, Deuschl G, Wolff S, Jansen O, Siebner H, Briken P, Mohnke S, Amelung T, Kneer J, Schiffer B, Walter H, Kruger THC. Decoding Pedophilia: Increased Anterior Insula Response to Infant Animal Pictures.] Front Hum Neurosci. 2018 Jan 23;11:645. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645. PMID: 29403367; PMCID: PMC5778266.</ref>).

Excerpts:
*'''Ponseti et al., (2018). "[https://sci-hub.se/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00645 Decoding Pedophilia: Increased Anterior Insula Response to Infant Animal Pictures".] Front Hum Neurosci.'''
*: “This gives rise to the assumption that increased brain responses to infant stimuli in pedophilia are rather a consequence of an over-active nurturing system than of an over-active sexual system.”
*: “The left anterior insula, being a crucial area of nurturing processing, was also frequently found to be activated in sexual brain studies (Stoleru et al., 2012). Furthermore, the left anterior insula (as well as the SMA) is a constituent of the human attachment system, thereby enabling both nurturing and pair-bonding (Feldman, 2016). Based on both observations, (i) the over-responding to nurturing stimuli in various motivational areas and (ii) the functional overlap of nurturing and sexual processing of the involved left anterior insula a tentative and simple model of pedophilia could be as follows: Nurturing stimuli receive additional processing resources by mating-circuits. In case of human infant stimuli this leads to a sexual connotation of infant stimuli. This idea is supported by the suggestion that nurturing and pair-bonding are two closely inter-related domains in humans at the level of physiological functions, brain processing, and involved neuropeptides”
*: "In any case, from an evolutionary perspective, paternal nurturing is an unusual and probably more recently evolved male behavior. Phylogenetically speaking, male brains are not “geared” to handle infant stimuli. This may explain why the “parental caregiving” network of males and females displays differences (Abraham et al., 2014).
*: It might be hypothesized that, in contrast to ancient maternal infant stimulus processing, human male brains process infant stimuli with brain areas that might not be associated primarily with caregiving. If so, it is conceivable that the involvement of brain areas not “geared” to the paternal nurturing aspects associated with infant stimuli makes male brains vulnerable to not maintaining the functional division between the domains of nurturing and mating behavior."

*'''Schuler, M. et al (2019). "[https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/abn-abn0000412.pdf Empathy in pedophilia and sexual offending against children: A multifaceted approach]," ''Journal of Abnormal Psychology'', 128(5), 453–464.'''
*:"Participants included 85 pedophilic men who committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P+CSO), 72 pedophilic men who never committed hands-on child sexual offenses (P−CSO), and 128 nonoffending teleiophilic male controls (TC). Several affective and cognitive aspects of empathy were assessed using the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Whereas in self-reports (IRI) P+CSO scored lower than TC (P−CSO intermediate) in cognitive perspective-taking abilities, a performance-based measure (MET) revealed evidence for a better differentiation of emotional states in P−CSO as compared with P+CSO (TC intermediate). In addition, P+CSO and P−CSO showed significantly higher affective resonance while observing children (MET), which was paralleled by higher self-reported levels of personal distress in social situations (IRI). The results indicate evidence for higher general affective empathic resonance to children in pedophilic men but superior cognitive empathy abilities in nonoffending pedophiles only, which may act as a protective factor in the prevention of sexual offending."

=== Sex and attachment in general ===
*'''Fletcher, G. J. O.; Simpson, J. A.; Campbell, L.; Overall, N. C. . (2015). [https://pismin.com/10.1177/1745691614561683 Pair-Bonding, Romantic Love, and Evolution: The Curious Case of Homo sapiens.] Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(1), 20–36. doi:10.1177/1745691614561683'''
*:"Factor analytic studies of perceptions of romantic love in Western samples support these models, typically revealing three components (e.g., Aron & Westbay, 1996). The labels assigned to each factor vary across studies, but they reflect passion (sexual attraction), emotional bonding (intimacy), and commitment (caregiving)."
*:"romantic love provides a potent motivational push toward the kind of devotion and commitment required for the huge investment needed to support a mate and raise children successfully."
*:"romantic love is an adaptation — a commitment device — that facilitated longterm pair-bonding"
*:"The striking similarity between the behavioral manifestations of parent–infant love and romantic love suggests that evolution may have borrowed these ancient bonding mechanisms, originally evolved in mammals to bond mothers to their offspring, and applied them to men and women in the context of romantic pair-bonding."
*:"Using phylogenetic comparative methods with 230 different species, Opie et al. (2013) found that the evolution of monogamy is strongly related to paternal care of offspring"

== Evolutionary (by)product of human neotenization ==
Another factor of pedosexual attraction emergence is a human neotenization. The evolutionary advantage of retaining neotenic (childish) traits which elicit nurturing responses from adults, results in the retention of neotenic genetic traits due to sexual competition. Therefore such traits become sexually attractive. That leads to the observable progressive neotenization of humans in comparison with ancestors and subsequently increases likelihood of juveniles being sexually attractive. Since fertile females retained juvenile traits into their fertile years, the line between fertile and infertile female age became blurred. Thus, some males become oriented toward females who are too young for reproduction (Feierman, 1990<ref name=":5" />).

Excerpts:
* '''Feierman, Jay R. (1990). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23 Human Erotic Age Orientation: A Conclusion.] In: Jay R. Feierman (Ed.), [https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions] (pp. 552–566). Springer, New York. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_23'''
*:“All of these genetically and culturally transmitted processes blur the distinction between reproductively competent adults and children and adolescents. Therefore, all of these processes must be considered to be determinants, at some level, of pedo- and ephebophilia.”
*:“pedo-and ephebophiles, like chins and spandrels, may have no primary adaptive function in themselves but, instead, may be rank-ordered by-products of selection for more adaptive attributes in their kin.”

*'''Lievesley, R. and Harper, C.A. (2024) “[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19419899.2024.2321149#d1e314 The interaction between perceived chronological age and physical sexual development in attractiveness judgments made by people who are attracted to children]”, ''Psychology and Sexuality'', DOI:10.1080/19419899.2024.2321149'''
*:"From an evolutionary perspective, men typically perceive more youthful faces as more attractive due to these indicating a greater degree of fertility (Gallup & Frederick, Citation2010, Little, Citation2015, Thornhill & Grammer, Citation1999). [...] [A]n increased degree of closeness of facial features appears to be encoded as indicating youth (Albert et al., Citation2007), and in turn, this youthfulness is associated with beauty (Sutherland et al., Citation2013)."

*'''Bogin, B. (1997). [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/%28SICI%291096-8644%281997%2925%20%3C63%3A%3AAID-AJPA3%3E3.0.CO%3B2-8 Evolutionary hypotheses for human childhood]. ''Yearbook of Physical Anthropology'', 40, 63–89.'''
*:"Taken together, these studies indicate that adults are more likely to protect or nuture individuals with ‘‘neotenous’’ facial features. McCabe defines such features as having a relatively large ratio of cranium size to lower face size."

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::"Our ability to imagine young children as sexual partners is probably increased substantially by two other unusual characteristics: neoteny and hidden estrus. Neoteny, the retention of juvenile traits in adulthood, is far more extensive in Homo sapiens than in any other primate (Bonner, 1980; Gould, 1977). Human adults resemble their small children a great deal more than adult primates do their immature offspring. [...] Moreover, many adolescent boys and young adults are beardless and they often have a complexion similar to that of young women and children. To confuse our senses further and muddle our minds, one- to two-fifths of young adolescent boys experience breast enlargement for a year or more (Katchadourian, 1977; Tanner, 1978). A similar case can be made for behavior. When we find in other animals the behavioral or physical traits of the young to be similar to adult female patterns we often find males courting the immature."
::"A concealed estrus combined with continuous female sexual receptivity and neoteny ought to increase the likelihood that men will find young girls sexually attractive, especially since males are not known anyway for making subtle differentiations between appropriate and inappropriate sex partners. Since women are more discriminating and, furthermore, would not be as confused by the facial resemblance of potential immature and adult sexual partners or by the conundrum of hidden estrus, female pedophilia should be much less common. Male homosexual pedophilia should fall somewhere in between."

The common hypothesis about pedosexuality is that it is merely a by-product of human neotenization. However, there are also arguments that diverse sexuality in adults (including homosexuality and pedosexuality, as seen, for example, in bonobos) in itself is a form of adaptive neoteny. Juvenile bisexual play is widespread among mammals and serves to acquire reproductive skills. Retaining this ability in adulthood may serve a range of sociosexual functions.

* '''Poiani, A. (2010). [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/animal-homosexuality/0352ED7E7645EE35B14FAAF3AE3A127B Animal homosexuality: A biosocial perspective.] ''Cambridge University Press''. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511762192'''
::"Indeed, under various potential selective mechanisms, canalisation of neotenic traits may favour the expression of a great diversity of sexual behaviours that are characteristic of the juvenile stages of development. That is, although from an ontogenetic perspective juvenile homosexual play is a route to efficient heterosexuality in most species, from a phylogenetic perspective neotenic processes, by retaining those juvenile traits past the period of sexual maturation throughout evolution, may produce adult homosexuals or bisexuals. In the adult, homosexual behaviours may then undergo further adaptations related to social life. A potential example of this process may be found in the bonobo, where juvenile same-sex sexual behaviours are as common as they are in the congeneric chimpanzee, but in adults they occur much more frequently than in chimpanzees, being expressed in specific socio-sexual contexts."
::Note: Although the authors make this claim about homosexuality only, there is no obstacle to extending the same conclusion to pedosexuality as well.

== Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis ==
On the basis of previously available evolutionary explanations (Mackey, 1990 <ref name=":6" />; Muscarella, 2000 <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1300/j082v40n01_03 Muscarella, F. (2000). The evolution of homoerotic behavior in humans.] Journal of Homosexuality, 40, 51–77.</ref>; Kirkpatrick, 2000 <ref>[https://sci-hub.se/10.1086/300145 Kirkpatrick, R. C. (2000). The evolution of human homosexual behavior.] Current Anthropology, 41, 385–413</ref>; Neil, 2009<ref>[http://humanbehaviors.free.fr/Livre%20-%20Human%20bisexuality%20-%20The%20Origins%20and%20Role%20of%20Same-Sex%20Relations%20in%20Human%20Societies%202009.pdf Neill, J. (2009). The origins and role of same-sex relations in human societies.] Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.</ref>), [[Bruce Rind]] developed a hypothesis explaining the most widely documented type of male homosexuality in human history, namely [[pederasty]] (the relationship between a man and a peripubertal/[[Adolescence|adolescent]] boy) (Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4" />).

It is assumed that the evolutionary function of man-boy sexual relationships comes from our evolutionary past, when the environment was very different from the modern one. Humans have had a long evolutionary history as [[Wikipedia:Hunter-gatherer|hunter-gatherers]]. This time was characterized by intergroup warfare and the hunting of large animals. To do this, it was necessary to form close-knit same-sex male groups, to form specific male skills of war and hunting, and to maintain the specific masculine culture of this group. This created a selection pressure to create a mechanism to facilitate such rallying, recruitment and enculturation of new members, which is a long-term and labor-intensive undertaking. It is hypothesized that the sexual attraction between a boy and a man became such a mechanism, through the ability to form a strong emotional connection, prompting the mentor to teach and care, and the boy to seek training and a role model.<ref name=":4" />

The evolutionary benefit of such a mechanism is assumed both at the individual level (for the junior this is training, protection, and promotion in the male hierarchy, for the adult this is the expansion of the network of alliances) and at the group level (the clan received a reliable replenishment of group members, well-prepared, enculturated and committed to the culture of the group, which gave a competitive advantage).<ref name=":4" />

This hypothesis is supported by [[Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships|cross-cultural]] and [[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History|historical studies]], where a variety of independent cultures demonstrate the prevalence of institutionalized sexual relations between men and boys of peripubertal age. In many instances boys begin sexual practices with older boys and men long before the beginning of puberty (e.g. at age of 7), so in such cases this can't be called [[Pederasty|pederasty]] in the narrow sense, rather [[Pedophilia|pedophilia]].

These relationships are built into these cultures and are part of growing up and becoming a man. The readiness, desire and initiative for sexual contact comes not only from adult men, but also from boys, and this is recorded as a typical phenomenon in these cultures (see Table III in Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4" />). This also confirms the existence of an evolutionary benefit for younger participants.<ref name=":4" />

Moreover, this attraction is not associated with reproductive losses, unlike exclusive homosexuality. It is typical of all these cultures that, upon reaching adulthood, men get wives and at the same time have sexual relations with boys themselves. It is assumed that this ability of the average heterosexual male to experience pederastic attraction is specific to our species.<ref name=":4" />

But this ability is optional (facultative). That is, unlike obligate heterosexual attraction, pederastic interest is to a large extent activated or suppressed by the social environment. This explains the fact that there is a sharp difference in the prevalence of pederastic behavior and attraction between cultures, and the fact that in modern Western cultures it does not manifest itself widely.<ref name=":4" />

Excerpts:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
*:“Formally, this hypothesis holds that pederasty evolved in the early human hunter-gatherer EEA [Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness] as an adaptation (i.e., exaptation), whose function it was to reproduce the male group by facilitating the mentoring and enculturation of boys from peripubescence through adolescence, as well as their emotional and psychological binding with the group. This function was a solution to the recurring adaptive problems in the EEA of surviving and exploiting an extremely dangerous and competitive social and physical environment”
*:“In short, the ages of boys sought out as recruits in male groups, the period in which they are mentored and enculturated, the ages of boys that men in such societies (and our own) find erotically appealing, the ages at which boys are especially open to being mentored (and capable as well, owing to an emergent adult-cognitive capacity), and the ages at which they are open to pederastic relations appear to be part of a single package, in which each of these characteristics seems to be a design feature and element of a larger design, whose function is reproducing the male group.”
*:“It is important to emphasize that pederasty’s relatively infrequent expression in societies such as ours does not imply that it is not an adaptation. In our society, developmental inputs have traditionally been intensely hostile toward homosexual behavior, often accompanied by severe social sanctions, including public disgrace and punishment, which can be expected to have had a significant dampening effect on the emergence and activation of pederastic desire and the expression of pederastic behavior.”
*:“Thus, even though adaptive in the EEA , pederasty, being a facultative trait, is nevertheless rare in our environment. On the other hand, in cultures with cultural ideologies and social structures facilitative of pederastic desire and expression, its occurrence has been widespread across the male population, which is consistent with the assumptions that most males have at least a moderate potential for the behavior and that such potential is sufficient for the behavior to emerge, provided other factors are not inhibitory.”

* '''Schiefenhövel, W. (1990). Ritualized Adult-Male/Adolescent-Male Sexual Behavior in Melanesia: An Anthropological and Ethological Perspective. In: Feierman, J.R. (eds) Pedophilia. Springer, New York, NY. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9682-6_16'''
*: "Men are expected to plan, work, fight, and sometimes, die together. The necessary altruistic behavior and effective cooperation of the warriors as well as the acceptance of a male hierarchy would have been fostered by the institution of prescribed homosexuality."

* '''Riegel, D. L. (2011). [https://web.archive.org/web/20130425190309/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/The%20Role%20of%20Androphilia%20in%20the%20Psychosexual%20Development%20of%20Boys.pdf The role of androphilia in the psychosexual development of boys.] ''International Journal of Sexual Health'', 23(1), 2–13. doi:10.1080/19317611.2010.509696'''
*:"Proceeding from Feierman's (1990) thesis, it can be postulated that in prehistoric times it is likely that many children, due to violence, disease, poor nutrition, and life spans that were considerably shorter than what we have considered normal for the past couple of centuries, found themselves without either parents or other adults who would be willing to take on the burden of looking after and feeding a not yet productive child. However, a boy who was sexually androphilic (Vanggaard, 1969) would have the potential advantage of closely bonding with an older male whose sexuality included a male-directed pedosexual component, and who would preferentially protect, provide for, and teach the boy the skills necessary to survive and prosper. Studies have identified such secondary boy-attracted pedosexual tendencies in 20% to 30% of self-identified heterosexual adult males (Freund, 1970; cf. Briere & Runtz, 1989, Quinsey, 1984, West, 1980), and these tendencies would not be selected against so long as the bearers were primarily heterosexual and only secondarily male-oriented pedosexual. There is no reason to believe that these percentages were not similar in prehistoric times; there is some evidence for familial transmission (Gaffney, Lurie, & Berlin, 1984). In the absence of our modern-day taboos, such adaptive and beneficial boy/older male relationships could proceed unimpeded, the boy's juvenile androphilic sexuality would typically be supplanted by heterosexuality as he matured (Sandfort, 1987), he would then pass on his genes, and thus both of these traits would be maintained in the gene pool."

* '''Rind, Bruce. (2014). [https://pismin.com/10.1080/19317611.2014.956853 Trends in evolutionary explanations for human male same-sex eroticism: a commentary on Riegel (2011).] ''International Journal of Sexual Health'', (), 1–11. doi:10.1080/19317611.2014.956853'''
*:"In this commentary, I discuss his social critique and focus on his evolutionary hypothesis, reviewing seven earlier hypotheses for comparison. "
*:"Werner (2006) focused exclusively on the evolution of male homosexual behavior. Based on selected cross-species data, he posited that male homosexual behavior evolved in stages over eons of time. In the first, involving primitive species (e.g., reptiles), single adult males controlled territories, where they waited for females for mating. Adolescent or transvestite males, who resembled adult females in form and/or behavior, gained entry to these territories because of their female mimicry and they were tolerated once there because they submitted homosexually to the adult resident. Their benefit for this submission was mating opportunities with visiting females, which otherwise would not have been available to them. In the second stage, male homosexual behavior changed function (i.e., was an exaptation) in various more complex descendent species with greater cognitive capacities (so that deception via female mimicry no longer worked) and in which adult males lived together in groups rather than as isolates. Here, the changed function of homosexual submission was to elicit tolerance from the dominant male, which served to uphold the dominance hierarchy, which in turn facilitated multi-male group living. The third and final phase occurred when multiple males did not simply live together but cooperated on common tasks. Here, male homosexual behavior changed function once again, in which it facilitated alliance formation, which in turn enabled pursuit of common tasks. He called his explanation the hierarchy/cooperation theory for human male homosexual behavior. Werner claimed that pathic (i.e., transgenderal) homosexuality was the most common form of male homosexual behavior cross-culturally, followed by transgenerational homosexuality. He speculated that different social structures produce different strategies for male/male cooperation, which in turn determine the form by which male homoeroticism is expressed."

* '''Jaroslava Varella Valentova, Andreone Teles Medrado, and Marco Antonio Correa Varella “Male Bisexuality”. In: Todd K. Shackelford (ed.), 2022, [https://annas-archive.org/md5/2d84ebccbbaafc78b4516ef6b129e5a2 The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology. Vol 4.] ''Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)''.'''
::"The alternative sneaking tactic can apply to transitory bisexual men, who would pursue predominantly same-sex relationships early in life when they do not possess status and/or resources to attract females, and create and maintain a family. In the younger age, they might have same-sex tutors or they might sexually serve to dominant males possessing resources. However, they might also sneak among the female partners of the dominant male, and gain at least some copulations and a nonzero reproductive success. Later in life they might switch to predominantly other-sex mating."

==Childhood as a target for sexual selection==

Some authors have suggested that not only adolescence but also middle childhood are involved in sexual selection process, and evolved as a stage at which individuals not only could but should take responsibilities. This appears to contradict how childhood is constructed in modern society (see also [[Research:_Cognitive_ability#Competence|research on childhood competence]]). According to such theories, in middle childhood, individuals become "nest helpers", helping in nurturing for younger siblings, foraging, and chores. This is a fine tuning stage of later social and sexual life-history strategies. First sexual or romantic attractions, sexual play, separation in gender roles typically emerge several years before puberty reflecting the fact that children are drawn into the evolutionary process of sexual selection much earlier than they become fertile. At this stage they actively learn sociosexual behavior and receive feedback about their sociosexual success from peer and adults, adapting their sexual competitive strategy to the environmental input. They engage in sexual and romantic relationship along with adults benefiting from learning, resources and social status they gain. This contributes to their sexual success in later life stages.

*'''Del Giudice M. (2014) [https://iris.unito.it/retrieve/handle/2318/1853338/974935/DelGiudice_2018_middle-childhood_chapter_pre.pdf Middle childhood: an evolutionary-developmental synthesis.]; 8:193–200. doi:10.1111/cdep.12084. in: Halfon N, Forrest CB, Lerner RM, et al., editors. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK543707/ Handbook of Life Course Health Development]. ''Cham (CH): Springer''; 2018. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-47143-3'''
*:"In summary, the life stage of juvenility/middle childhood has two major interlocking functions: social learning and social integration in a system of roles, norms, activities, and shared knowledge. While children are still receiving sustained investment from parents and other relatives—in the form of food, protection, knowledge, and so forth—they also start to actively contribute to their family economy. By providing resources and sharing the burden of child care, juveniles can boost their parents’ reproductive potential. The dual nature of juveniles as both receivers and providers explains many psychological features of middle childhood and has likely played a major role in the evolution of human life history (Kramer, 2011)."
*:"Middle childhood is one of the main stages of human development, marked by the eruption of the first permanent molars around age 6 and the onset of androgen secretion by the adrenal glands at about 6-8 years (Bogin, 1997)."
*:"The transition to middle childhood is typically associated with a strong separation in gender roles, even in societies where tasks are not rigidly assigned by sex."
*:"The stress response system plays a major role in gathering and storing information about environmental safety, predictability, and availability of resources; adrenarche contributes by translating that information into adaptive, sexually differentiated patterns of behavior (Del Giudice et al., 2011; Ellis & Del Giudice, 2014). Consistent with this view, both early relational stress and early nutrition have been found to modulate the timing of adrenarche (Ellis & Essex, 2007; Hochberg, 2008). It is no coincidence that the first sexual and romantic attractions typically develop in middle childhood, in tandem with the intensification of sexual play (Bancroft, 2003; Herdt & McClintock, 2000). By interacting with peers and adults, juveniles receive feedback about the effectiveness of their nascent behavioral strategies. The information collected during middle childhood feeds into the next developmental switch point, that of gonadarche (Ellis, 2013)"
*:"By determining children’s initial place in social networks and hierarchies, competition in middle childhood indirectly affects their ability to attract sexual and romantic partners later. In other words, middle childhood is a likely target for sexual selection — that is, natural selection arising from the processes of choosing mates (mate choice) and competing for mates (mating competition). My colleagues and I (Del Giudice et al., 2009) argued that sexual selection is one reason why sex differences emerge and intensify in middle childhood."

== Complementary behavior among minors ==
The hypothesis of pedophilic/pederastic attraction as a promoter of affection, care, and reproductive benefits in general on the side of youth is confirmed by the very existence of complementary behavior of minors, who [[Testimony: CSA (Children's Sexual Advances)|often show initiative and willingness for sexual relations with adults]]<ref>[https://ia802202.us.archive.org/16/items/rind-2022-reactions-to-minor-older-and-minor-peer-sex-in-finnish-survey/Rind%202022%20-%20Reactions%20to%20Minor-Older%20and%20Minor-Peer%20Sex%20in%20Finnish%20survey.pdf Rind, B. Reactions to Minor-Older and Minor-Peer Sex as a Function of Personal and Situational Variables in a Finnish Nationally Representative Student Sample. Arch Sex Behav 51, 961–985 (2022).], see also [https://www.newgon.net/wiki/images/Rindbasics.pdf Yesmap Primer] and [https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02224-0 DOI.org].</ref>. It’s assumed that such a behavior could function to receive affection and extra resources not available from the child's default caregiver, or as a way to indirect reproductive value (for example, through group survival by successful [[Research: Evolutionary Perspectives on Intergenerational Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding/Enculturation-Alliance Hypothesis|bonding to mentors]] during male warfare recruiting), or just as an attempt to develop sexual skills. This testifies to the evolutionarily beneficial and reciprocal essence of intergenerational attraction (Klapilová & Bártová, 2017; Stevens & Price, 2016; Rind, 2013 <ref name=":4"> [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Rind, B. (2013). Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) ''New York: Routledge.'' doi:10.4324/9781315432458</ref>).

* '''Klapilová, K., Bártová, K. (2017). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1 Sexual Pathology.] In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1717 Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.] (pp. 7439 - 7445). Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3382-1'''
*:“The child’s adaptive behavioral function to demand nurture from adults and his prospective urge to perform sexual activities is not mentioned too often. Still, it is a rather widespread behavior across cultures and historical periods that can help the child receive extra resources not available from their own parents. It would therefore be a complementary strategy – from the pedophile’s side, there is the eroticization of nurturing behavior and attraction to signalization that encourages caretaking, whereas from the child’s side, it is a functional, environmentally conditioned strategy that brings benefits in the form of resources and possibly even acquisition of sexual experience and calibration of child sexuality”.

* '''Stevens, A., & Price, J. (2016). [https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315740577 Evolutionary Psychiatry: A new beginning] (Classic Ed.) (pp. 206-218) Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. doi:10.4324/9781315740577'''
*:“it is undeniable that many children in our society – especially those in boarding schools and childrens’ homes – suffer from ‘parent hunger’. They are what Mia Kellmer-Pringle has called ‘touch-hungry children’. It is possible that the care-eliciting ‘phylism’ in these children may become eroticized just as the care-giving phylism may be eroticized in adult paedophiles. Thus, children starved of parental affection may compete for the love and attention of adults in their environment by using erotic solicitation as a strategy for survival. To suggest this possibility is not to excuse adults who exploit the emotional needs of children for their personal gratification but to provide an evolutionary explanation as to how and why erotic bonds between adults and juveniles may occur. We would propose that both care-eliciting and care-giving phylisms can be eroticized.”

[[Bruce Rind]] gathered evidence of widespread minors' positive reactions, even in our restrictive culture, in his research. (Also, some relevant excerpts are in [[Research: Prevalence of Harm and Negative Outcomes#Simple or informed consent as predictive of positive reactions?|this section]].

Here is some evidence from [[Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships|Nonwestern cultures]]:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"Anthropological studies on preindustrial societies with culturally institutionalized or widespread pederasty provide reports on how the younger males responded to sexual contacts with older males (see Table III ). Among the Javanese, men remembered their boyhood pederastic experiences entirely positively, despite the researcher’s probing to uncover negative cases (Williams, 2011). Sambian boys showed much initiative in these contacts, especially at older ages (Herdt, 1991, 1997). Keraki men believed that they could not have developed properly without these relations as boys (Williams, 1936). Kaluli men looked back on the complex of grueling hunting, living in a sex-segregated men’s lodge, ritual discipline, unity of purpose, vigorous manly ethos, and growth-stimulating insemination by older males as the highlight of their lives (Schieffelin, 1982). East Bay boys discussed their sexual experiences with men freely and without shame in the presence of their parents and friends (Davenport, 1965). Gebusi boys aged 11 to 14 initiated sexual relations with older males based on personal affection rather than obligation (Herdt, 1991). The bond between Marind-Anim boys and their adult male partners was extremely strong, which was apparently facilitated by the sexual interactions (Van Baal, 1966). Likewise, pederastic relations were extremely close among the Big Nambas (Layard, 1942). Among the Kiman, pederastic behavior would stop after adolescence, but “nevertheless, a lifelong emotional relationship often” resulted (Serpenti, 1984, p. 305). In various southern Mexican Indian tribes, adolescent boys were proud to have been chosen for pederastic relationships, seeing it as an honor to be their men’s lovers (Ross, 1991). And being a Tsongan boy-wife was not just good for security, but for the “fun” it afforded (Murray & Roscoe, 1998)."

And from [[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|cross-species]] studies:
*'''Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Thomas K Hubbard, Beert Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research: The Debate over Male Intergenerational Relations]]. (pp. 1-90) New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315432458'''
::"In many species, the younger animals involved in age-discrepant homosex were frequently observed not simply assenting to the sexual interactions but actually initiating them (e.g., bonobos, chimps, gorillas, gibbons, Hanuman and Nilgiri langurs, crab-eating macaques, rhesus macaques, Tibetan macaques, patas monkeys). Specific examples include juvenile Tibetan macaques jumping up to the faces of adult males to be fellated (Ogawa, 1995), an adolescent gibbon repeatedly soliciting sex from his father (Edwards & Todd, 1991), and juvenile rhesus macaques fiercely competing to be the one mounted by an adult male (Kempf, 1917). In a number of species, the researchers noted the sexual excitement exhibited by the immature partners in age-discrepant homosex (e.g., rhesus, stumptail, and Tibetan macaques). In several species, sometimes immature males were assenting and sometimes not (e.g., siamangs, proboscis monkeys, crab-eating macaques, and squirrel monkeys)."

::"In humans’ closest relatives, bonobos and chimps, juvenile males frequently and preferentially solicit adult females and attempt to copulate with them. In most cases, they show sexual arousal with erections. Adult females are usually tolerant and even cooperative, but when they are not, the juvenile males frequently protest with whimpering or tantrums (Bagemihl, 1999; Hashimoto, 1997; Kano, 1980; Kollar, Beckwith, & Edgerton, 1968). Similar patterns have been observed in many other primate species (Bagemihl, 1999). Anderson and Bielert (1990) noted that “Among nonhuman primates . . . sexual interaction between adult females and immature males is universal” (p. 192). It may be that primate patterns do not extend to humans, but the similarity of the observed human and primate patterns in juvenile male-adult female sex suggests a phylogenetic continuum (cf. Ford & Beach, 1951)."

== Other relevant information ==

=== Ontogenetic plasticity ===

Here's an explanation for why, if a minor attraction was adaptive, it may not be ubiquitous today.
*'''Alanko K, Salo B, Mokros A, Santtila P, (2013). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235369954_Evidence_for_Heritability_of_Adult_Men's_Sexual_Interest_in_Youth_under_Age_16_from_a_Population-Based_Extended_Twin_Design "Evidence for heritability of adult men's sexual interest in youth under age 16 from a population-based extended twin design."] ''J Sex Med,'' 10(4):1090-9.'''
*:"Adult men's sexual interest in youthfulness‐related cues may be genetically influenced. [...] The amount of variance attributable to nonadditive genetic influences (heritability) was estimated at 14.6%.[...] Compared with the variance attributable to nonshared environmental effects (plus measurement error), the contribution of any genetic factors seems comparatively weak."
*::'''Editor''': Note, that a heritability coefficient close to zero does not mean the weakness/absence of genetic control over the trait, counter wise may point to high genetic consistency among population, in which case the trait variance is naturally more dependent on the environment. ("Traits such as walking and breathing have low heritability, because these are usually universal traits with slight variations. [...] as heredity becomes more similar, the environment becomes the primary explanation for differences."<ref>[https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/psychology/biological-bases-of-behavior/heritability/ Studysmarter.co.uk: Explanation on heritability]</ref>) This finding of low heritability may be interpreted to mean that the genetic ability to develop minor attraction is highly pervasive among humans and modified by nurture and other environments. This goes along with the [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Mentorship-Bonding%2FEnculturation-Alliance_Hypothesis|Rind's conclusion]] on pederasty as evolutionary determined but a facultative trait.

*'''Bhugra, D. (2000). [https://sci-hub.ru/10.1080/14681990050001574 Disturbances in objects of desire: Cross-cultural issues.] Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 15(1), 67–78. doi:10.1080/14681990050001574'''
*:"Paraphilias are defined as sexual attractions to objects or individuals not normally found attractive. [...] It is argued that, in some types of individual deviance, cultural factors are more likely to play an important role. Some cultures are seen as sex-positive and others as sex-negative but, within each cultural setting, attitudes towards sex and the function of sexual activity are a key to understanding the development of sexual deviance. In cultures where sex is seen as an attraction-led phenomenon rather than a purely procreative one, individuals are more likely to be attracted to 'objects'."

===Undesirable traits as adaptations===

Both pedohebephilic attraction and childhood sexuality are likely influenced somewhat by environmental factors. For example, there exist theories of [[Research:_Psychopathy_and_abnormal_psychology#Adverse_childhood|adverse childhood in pedohebephiles]] and [[Research:_Youth_sexuality#Factors_of_earlier_sexual_development|factors of earlier sexual development]] in youth sexuality. These are unproven and causality is hard to infer. It has been speculated that these are [[Research:_Evolutionary_Perspectives_on_Intergenerational_Sexuality#Complementary_behavior_among_minors|complementary]] adaptations to difficult circumstances.

From a layman's point of view, undesirable traits that arise as a result of adverse environment are mental breakdowns. From an evolutionary perspective, these may be ways to adapt in a harsh, primordial context. It is worth keeping this perspective in mind.

*'''Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., & Draper, P. (1991). Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Development, 62, 647–670.'''
*:"The concept of "reproductive strategy" drawn from the field of behavioral ecology is applied to the study of childhood experience and interpersonal development in order to develop an evolutionary theory of socialization. The theory is presented in terms of 2 divergent development pathways considered to promote reproductive success in the contexts in which they have arisen. One is characterized, in childhood, by a stressful rearing environment and the development of insecure attachments to parents and subsequent behavior problems; in adolescence by early pubertal development and precocious sexuality; and, in adulthood, by unstable pair bonds and limited investment in child rearing, whereas the other is characterized by the opposite."

*'''Del Giudice, M. (2014b). [https://iris.unito.it/retrieve/e27ce435-4226-2581-e053-d805fe0acbaa/DelGiudice_2014_early-stress_jdohad_pre.pdf Early stress and human behavioral development: Emerging evolutionary perspectives.] Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, 5, 270-280.'''
*:“Stress experienced early in life exerts a powerful, lasting influence on development. Converging empirical findings show that stressful experiences become deeply embedded in the child's neurobiology, with an astonishing range of long-term effects on cognition, emotion, and behavior. In contrast with the prevailing view that such effects are the maladaptive outcomes of 'toxic' stress, adaptive models regard them as manifestations of evolved developmental plasticity.”
*:“Building on the concept of developmental plasticity, researchers have been increasingly advancing alternative models in which early stress does not primarily impair or dysregulate children’s developmental trajectories, but rather shifts them toward behavioral strategies that have proven biologically adaptive in harsh or unpredictable conditions”
*:“Exposure to stress works as a cue to local environmental conditions, and feeds into plasticity mechanisms that coordinate the development of alternative phenotypes.”
*:“In this perspective, many putative maladaptive traits such as anxiety, aggression, and impulsivity can be reframed as costly but adaptive phenotypes that improve an individual’s survival and reproduction prospects in hostile, unpredictable contexts. For example, increased vigilance and anxiety can be regarded as defensive reactions to potential threats, whereas aggression and impulsivity can be effective competitive strategies in harsh, unstable social environments. Furthermore, there is evidence that high levels of physiological and emotional reactivity increase an individual’s sensitivity to context, making him/her more open to both negative and positive social influences. Of course, some of these adaptive traits are going to have undesirable consequences for the individual and/or the social group, and may even be diagnosed as symptoms of psychopathology (e.g., conduct disorders). According to adaptive models, children exposed to early stress should exhibit patterns of impaired cognitive and emotional functioning when tested in safe, stress-free contexts and/or with tasks that mimic the demands of those contexts; but they should often perform better than their peers on tasks that reproduce key features of the dangerous, unpredictable environments they are adapted to. The initial evidence suggests that this may be the case.“

=== Response to critique of evolutionary explanations ===

*'''Karen Franklin. (2010). [https://pismin.com/10.1007/s10508-010-9616-1 Why the Rush to Create Dubious New Sexual Disorders?]. , 39(4), 819–820. doi:10.1007/s10508-010-9616-1'''
*:"As all students of Darwin know, evolutionary success strategies must be understood on a population-wide basis, not an individual level. Moreover, social scientists generally agree that biological evolution is rarely sufficient to understand human behavior in modern, complex social systems. Thus, to say that a trait may have emerged as evolutionarily adaptive in prehistoric times implies nothing of its presence or function on an individual level in contemporary society."

== See also ==

*[[Debate_Guide: Evolutionary logic|Debate Guide: Evolutionary logic]]
*[[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in_History|Intergenerational Relationships in History]]
*[[Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals|Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals]]

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category: Research: Broader Perspectives]]

== References ==

Research: Intergenerational Sexual Behaviors in Animals

2026-07-29T13:02:40Z

Thorn: /* Rind's cross-species summary */

{{research}}<div style="margin-right: 25px; float: left;">__TOC__</div>
Intergenerational sexual activity has been documented in numerous species, particularly closely related primates. Bonobos are one example - see, nature documentaries and home movies: [https://av.tib.eu/media/22174 (1)], [https://fstube.net/w/jhRL37NdsWTscpPr5dkTsS (Backup)]

While this should not be interpreted as an instruction on how humans should behave, it does cast doubt on the biological necessity of arbitrary, morality-based prohibitions against age-discrepant behavior.

==Biological Exuberance==

The following are excerpted from ''[https://libgen.vg/edition.php?id=136630482 Biological Exuberance - Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity]'' by Bruce Bagemihl (2000).

===Heterosexual===

*'''Bonobo''': "Both adult males and females interact sexually with adolescents and juveniles (three-to-nine-year-olds). In fact, young females go through a five-to-six-year period sometimes referred to as ADOLESCENT STERILITY (although no pathology is involved) during which they actively participate in heterosexual mating (often with adults) but never get pregnant. Sexual behavior between adults and infants of both sexes is common - about a third of the time it is initiated by the infant and may involve genital rubbing and full copulatory postures (including penetration of an adult female by a male infant). (''Biological Exuberance - 274'')

*'''Chimpanzee''': Although incestuous matings between adults are not common, mothers engage in sexual activity with their infant son fairly often. Young females typically experience a one-to-three-year period of ADOLESCENT STERILITY after their first menstruation, during which time they mate heterosexually without conceiving. (''Biological Exuberance - 278'')

*'''Gorilla''': "Both males and females also engage in masturbation, and younger animals frequently participate in nonpenetrative sexual activity. Mountings of the latter type are usually incestuous, involving siblings, half siblings, or (more rarely) parents and their offspring (or their siblings' offspring)." (''Biological Exuberance - 283'')

*'''Orangutan''': "Mothers frequently engage in incestuous contact with their infants, manually or orally stimulation the penis or clitoris (or being stimulated by the infant), and may even mount the infants." (''Biological Exuberance - 287'')

*'''Gibbons (White-handed gibbon and Siamang)''': "In one case, a Siamang father was observed fondling his adolescent daughter's vulva with his fingers while her younger brother licked her clitoris. Mothers may invite their juvenile sons - as young as four to five years - to lick and groom their genitals (usually with no hostile reaction from the father)." (''Biological Exuberance - 291'')

*'''Langur and Nilgiri Langur (Presbytis entellus and Presbytis johnii)''': "Females also occasionally mount males, while adult-juvenile heterosexual interactions also occur." (''Biological Exuberance - 296'')

*'''Japanese Macaque''': "Females in some troops frequently form consortships with sexually immature (preadolescent) males;..." [...] "In some troops, a unique form of "baby-sitting" has developed. Although males in this species do not typically participate in parenting, high-ranking males in some populations take care of infants that are not their own for short periods. They groom, carry, embrace, and protect the infants, usually with the consent of their mothers. [...] ,a few male caretakers interact sexually with infants (usually females), masturbating themselves while carrying them or even thrusting against them. (''Biological Exuberance - 305'')

*'''Rhesus Macaque''': "In some cases, though, "aunts" engage in aggressive or sexual interactions with the infants as well and may even try to "kidnap" another female's baby." (''Biological Exuberance - 310'')

*'''Crested-Black Macaque (Macaca Nigra)''': "Infant and very young male Crested Blacks often mount adult females, performing pelvic thrusts and even achieving penetration. " (''Biological Exuberance - 322'')

*'''Savanna Baboon, Hamadryas Baboon:''' "Sexual activity in Baboons also sometimes includes copulation with partners that are not optimal for breeding: adult male Savanna Baboons and adult female Hamadryas Baboons may mate with juvenile animals, incestous matings are common in inbred troops [...]" (''Biological Exuberance - 327'')

*'''Tamarin and Marmosets''': "Both male and female Lion Tamarins (Leontophitecus rosalia) sometimes mount their own offspring of both sexes, including adolescent and younger individuals. Approximately 1 percent of mounting activity in Common Marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) occurs among adolescent and younger males." (''Biological Exuberance - 334'')

*'''Dolphin''': "Young dolphins are sexually precocious, and incestuous copulation have been observed between males a few months and their mothers." (p. 346) [...] "In captivity, "baby-sitting" males have been observed harassing mothers, trying to "kidnap" their calves, and even behaving sexually towards the infants "including trying to mate with them). (''Biological Exuberance - 347'')

*'''Orca''': "[...] while heterosexual interactions also occur between adults and adolescents (of both sexes) and youngsters (juveniles as well as calves)." (''Biological Exuberance - 351'')

*'''Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris)''': "As noted above, some male Northern Elephant Seals routinely try to copulate with weaned pups - about half of all pups are subjected to such forced mating or rape attempts, which they usually violently resist. In some cases the pups are severely injured by the bulls, with deep gashes and punctures from neck bites. Aggressive sexual behavior by bulls is the leading cause of mortality among pups on the breeding grounds, accounting for the deaths of about 1 in 200 pups each year." (''Biological Exuberance - 363'')

*'''Northen Fur Seal (Callorhinus Ursinus)''': "[...] male Northern Fur Seals have also been known to attempt forcible copulations with pups of their own species." (''Biological Exuberance - 369'')

*'''White-tailed Dear (Odocoileus virginianus) and Mule or Black-Tailed Deer''': "Incestuous activity - including fawns mounting their mothers - also occurs in these species." (''Biological Exuberance - 381'')

*'''Wapiti, Elk, or Red Deer and Barasingha (Cervus elaphus) or Swamp Deer (Cervus duvauceli)''': "Sexual behavior by calves - including adult-calf interactions - also occurs in these species. Wapiti/Red Deer calves sometimes mount adults (including their mothers, in Red Deer), while female Red Deer occasionally mount calves." (''Biological Exuberance - 385'')

*'''Caribou or Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and Moose (Alces Alces)''': "Males of booth species sometimes try to mount calves [...]" (''Biological Exuberance - 389'')

*'''Giraffe''': "Giraffes engage in a few forms of nonprocreative heterosexual activity as well: younger females in heat occasionally mount male calves, while calves sometimes mount their mothers." (''Biological Exuberance - 393'')

*'''Blackbuck (Gazelle, Antilope cervicapra)''': "Female Blackbucks sometimes engage in nonreproductive mounts of fawns or young animals." (''Biological Exuberance - 404'')

*'''Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis), Thinhorn or Dall's Sheep (Ovis dalli) and Asiatic Mouflon or Urial (Ovis orientalis)''': "Rams also sometimes mount lambs [...]" (''Biological Exuberance - 408'')

*'''Musk-Ox and Mountain Goat''': "Even during breeding years, some heterosexual courtship activity in both Muskoxen and Mountain Goats may be directed by males toward nonprocreating individuals such as yearlings and calves. [...] Females in this species have been observed mounting adult males and courting, mounting, or being mounted by their own yearlings or kids." (''Biological Exuberance - 412'')

*'''Plains Zebra (Equus quagga) and Takhi or Przewalski's horse (Equus przewalskii)''': "In addition, male Plains Zebras often try to mate with unrelated juvenile females that are not yet sexually mature. In fact, stallions - alone or in groups of up to 18 at a time - may "abduct" adolescent females by separating and chasing them from their family groups, after which they will try to copulate with the young mares. Interestingly, the female shows the behavioral signs of being "in heat" before she reaches the age when she can actually conceive; usually an "abducted" mare returns to her family group after her period of "heat" is finished. [...] Although Takhi males are not as involved in parenting as mares, a stallion may act as a "surrogate mother" to his own foal if it has lost its mother, even allowing the foal to "suckle" on his penis sheath." (''Biological Exuberance - 420'')

*'''Llama''': "Adult males occasionally copulate with yearling females, who are probably not old enough to breed." (''Biological Exuberance - 426'')

*'''Elephant (Afrikanska and Asiatiska)''': "In addition, males sometimes try to mount juvenile animals, who squeal in protest until a female intervenes." (''Biological Exuberance - 430'')

*'''Laughing Hyena''': "Some males, unable to copulate, engage in a form of "masturbation" in which they thrust their penis in the air and spontaneously ejaculate; others have been seen mounting cubs." (''Biological Exuberance - 447'')

*'''Rufous Bettong or Rat Kangaroo (Aepyprymnus rufescens)''': "For example, adult males generally make more sexual approaches to juvenile females than to sexually adult females." (''Biological Exuberance - 454'')

*'''Fat-Tailed Dunnart (Sminthopsis Crassicadudata)''': "Adult male Fat-Tailed Dunnarts sometimes display sexual interest in juvenile females, and incestuous matings have also been recorded." (''Biological Exuberance - 459'')

*'''Red Squirrel (Tamaiasciuris hudsonicus) and Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)''': "Juveniles, of both species often participate in mounting or sexual chases, for example, including incestuous activity between siblings or mothers being mounted by their offspring." (''Biological Exuberance - 463'')

*'''Hoary Marmot (Marmot caligata)''': "Sexual activity also occurs among juveniles, including mounting of adults." (''Biological Exuberance - 466'')

*'''Dwarf Cavy (Microcavia australis), Cui (Galea musteloides) and Aperea (Cavia aperea)''': "As mentioned above, sexual behavior between adults and juveniles is widespread in these species. About a quarter of all courtship and sexual interactions in Dwarf Cavies involve adult males and juveniles, while adult male Cuis also chin-rump follow juvenile females as young as two weeks old. In addition, juvenile Cuis of both sexes sometimes mount both adult males and females, including their own mothers. [...] Adult males in two other species of Cavies, the Mocó or Rock Cavy (Kerodon Rupestris) and the Préa (Galea Spixii), also sometimes court juvenile males, and youngsters mount adults of both sexes as well." (''Biological Exuberance - 469'')

*'''European Shag (Phalacrocorax Aristotelis)''': "In a few cases, adult male Shags have been observed mating with their own chicks [...]" (''Biological Exuberance - 507'')

*'''Tasmanian Native Hen (tribonyx mortierii)''': "[...] about 10 percent of copulation involve parents mounting their own offspring, including young chicks." (''Biological Exuberance - 521'')

*'''Ring-Billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) and Common or Mew Gull (Larus canus)''': "[...] and about 5 percent of adults court and mount chicks. Most of this activity involves females behaving incestuously with their own offspring, including full copulatory REVERSE MOUNTS of young birds. Mounted chicks may be as young as two weeks old, and they usually collapse under the weight of the adult mounting them and cry out in distress. Some individuals appear to be "habitual molesters" in that they repeatedly interact sexually with chicks, including their own." (''Biological Exuberance - 547'')

*'''Herring Gull (Larus Arentatus)''': "Several forms of heterosexual family abuse and adult-juvenile violence have also been documented in Herring Gulls. Males sometimes incestuously mount their own chicks and have even been seen breaking and eating their own eggs." (''Biological Exuberance - 555'')

*'''Black-Headed Gull (Larus Ridibundus)''': "In addition, males occasionally try to mate with chicks (including their own), who may be only a few days old; juveniles also mount each other)." (''Biological Exuberance - 559'')

===Homosexual===
*"And in the majority of cases, male and female homosexualities present their own unique blends of behaviors and characteristics that defy any simplistic categorization - such as Bonobos, where sexual penetration occurs in female rather than male same-sex activity, where sexual interactions between adults and adolescents are a prominent feature of female interactions, and where males do not form strongly bonded relationships with each other the way females do, but engage in less homosexual activity overall and more affectionate activity such as openmouthed kissing." (''Biological Exuberance - 30'')

*'''Bonobo''': "GG-rubbing occurs among females of all ages, from adolescent to very old, but if an older and a younger female are interacting, often the younger female will be on top. (p. 271) [...] In addition, when new females (usually adolescents) join a troop, they often pair up with an older female with whom they have most of their sexual and affectionate interactions. These bond need not be exclusive - either party may have sex with other females or males - but such mentorlike pairings can last for a year or more until the newcomer is fully integrated into the troop. [...] Manual stimulation of the genitals by a partner also occurs: typically an adolescent male spreads his legs and presents his erect penis to an adult male, who takes the shaft in his hand and caresses it with up-and-down movements." (''Biological Exuberance - 273'')

*'''Gorilla''': "There is often intense competition among the males for "preferred" partners - often the younger males - and older, higher ranking males frequently "guard" their favorite males and fight to protect them from the advances of other males." (''Biological Exuberance - 281'')

*'''White-Handed Gibbon (Hylobates lar) and Siamang (Hylobates syndactylus)''': "Within their nuclear family groups, male Gibbons sometimes engage in homosexual activities with each other. This incestuous activity often takes place between adolescent or younger male and his father (or stepfather, if his parents have divorced and re-paired); in Siamangs it may also occur between brothers." (''Biological Exuberance - 289'')

*'''Hanuman Langur (Presbytis entellus) and Nilgiri Langur (Presbytis Langur)''': "All females participate freely in homosexual mounting, including lactating, pregnant, menstruating, ovulating, and nonovulating females. This behavior is especially common among mothers, who have developed a special "baby-sitting" system: they transfer their young to other individuals in the troop (usually other females but sometimes males) for a short time (a similar pattern is found in Nilgiri Langurs). This allows them to engage in homosexual (and other) activites. Most mounting between females occurs among adults, through some involves adults with juveniles (up to four years old), usually with the younger female mounting the older one. Altough most homosexual participants are unrelated, some mountings are incestous, mostly between half sisters (about 27 percent of all lesbian mounts) and more rarely, between mother and daughter (about 1 percent of mounts); heterosexual matings are virtually never incestuous." (''Biological Exuberance - 294-295'')

*'''Japanese Macaque (Macaca fuscata)''': "Homosexual pairings occur among females of all ages, from adolescents to the very old, and sometimes an adult female will pair with a pubescent female. Interestingly, an incest taboo is in effect for homosexual but not heterosexual courtships: females never choose close relatives (mothers, sisters, daughters, granddaugthers, first cousins) as partners, whereas brother-sister and mother-son consorts do occasionally occur. Aunts and nieces, however, do not generally recognize each other as kin in this species, and so they sometimes consort together." (''Biological Exuberance - 303'')

*'''Crab-Eating Macaque (Macata fascicularis)''': "Males can also develop intense sexual relationships with one another, especially between older and younger males. In one such pair observed in captivity, affectionate embraces frequently led to sexual arousal and homosexual mounting, often accompanied by excited lip-smacking or crooning sounds; the male being mounted sometimes even turned his head to kiss his partner during a mount." (''Biological Exuberance - 317'')

*'''Pig Tailed Macaque (Macaca nemestrina)''': "Some same-sex mountings is incestuous, e.g., between mother and daughter or siblings of either sex." (''Biological Exuberance - 321'')

*'''Crested Black Macaque (Macaca nigra)''': "Younger males often mount older ones in this species." (''Biological Exuberance - 321'')

*'''"Baboon" (other species)''': "Among the Patas Monkeys (Erythrocebus patas), adolescent and younger males often fondle and nuzzles the scrotum and genitals of adult males." (''Biological Exuberance - 328'')

*'''(Common) Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri sciureus)''': "Homosexual mounting sometimes occurs between male Squirrel Monkeys, especially younger individuals or between an older and younger (adult) partner; adult males also perform the genital display to each other." (''Biological Exuberance - 332'')

*'''Lion Tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) and White-fronted Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus Albifrons)''': "Both male and female Lion Tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) sometimes mount their own offspring of both sexes, including adolescents and younger individuals. Approximately 1 percent of mounting activity in Common Mamosets (Callithrix Jacchus) occurs among adolescent and younger males (brother living in the same family group). In White-fronted Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus Albifrons), young males occasionally suck and fondle the scrotum of older males, while homosexual activity among females (including mounting) also occurs in Brown Capuchins (C. apella) and Weeper Capuchins (C. olivaceous)." (''Biological Exuberance - 334'')

*'''Verreaux's Sifaka (Propithecus Verreauxi)''': "Male Verreaux's Sifakas sometimes mount other males during the mating season. The mounted animal - usually a younger adult or adolescent male - often snaps at the mounter and tries to wriggle free (as do females trying to escape from unwelcome heterosexual advances)." (''Biological Exuberance - 336'')

*'''Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and Spinner Dolphin (Stenella lingirostris)''': "If there is an age difference between male partners, either may penetrate the other, and Bottlenose adolescents have even been observed penetrating much older males." (''Biological Exuberance - 343'')

*'''Orca (Orcinus orca)''': "Altough males of all ages participate in homosexual activities, this behaviour is most prevalent among "adolescent" Orcas (sexually mature individuals 12-25 years old) More than three quarters of all sessions involve males who are more than five years apart in age, altough age-mates also interact together (especially among adolescents)." (''Biological Exuberance - 350'')

*'''Gray Seal (Halichoerus grypus) and Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris)''': "Those males who have completed their molt often roll around in pairs near the water and mount each other; bulls of all ages participate in this activity. Both adolescent and younger adult Northern Elephant Seal bulls also engage in homosexual mounting during the molt period. This occurs in shallow waters near the shore, often as part of extended bouts of harmless playfighting among clusters of males. [...] Adult males do not participate in this activity. However, they do sometimes mount younger adolescent and juvenile males (two to four years old). Typically the older male approaches the younger male at rest, moving up alongside him and sometimes placing his front flipper over his back in the position characteristic of heterosexual copulations. Usually the younger male struggles to escape, and the mounter may try to subdue him by pressing or bouncing his neck down on top of him or biting his neck. The older male may have an erection and attempt to penetrate the younger male, but he rarely succeeds. Altough they prefer juveniles or adolescents, a few bulls also try to copulate with much younger animals, such as weaned pups of both sexes (who strongly resist their advances)." (''Biological Exuberance - 361'')

*'''Australian Sea Lion (Neophoca cinerea) and New zealand Sea Lion (Phocarctos hookeri)''': "All age groups participate, altough there is often an age difference between the two males, with the younger male typically mounting the older one (especially in New Zealand Sea Lions)." (''Biological Exuberance - 367 - 368'')

*'''Walrus (Odobenus Rosmarus)''': "Typically a younger male displays to an older one, and courting males often situate themselves in the water near a favorite cliff face, boulder, or rock formation at the water's edge. The spectacular display consists of inflation of the throat pouches - often preceded by head bowing - interspersed with dives by one or both males, and an incredible series of vocalizations that form a courtship "song". (p. 371) [...] Although most homosexual behaviour is confined to the summer haul-outs, younger males sometimes also mount adults or other younger males during the breeding season. Groups of younger Walruses may crowd around an older male and roll on top of him; in addition, an adult male occasionally sings his courtship songs to a group of younger males or is accompanied by a younger attendant male while he sings. Often, his companion surfaces and dives in synchrony with him. This behavior, known as SHADOWING, occurs regardless of whether the adult is courting a female. [...] During breeding season, up to a third of mounting activity may take place between younger males or between adult and younger males, and 2-19 percent of singing males have a younger male companion "shadowing" them." (''Biological Exuberance - 372'')

*'''White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)''': "Adult male White-tailed Deer sometimes mount each other, as do yearling males (especially during the nonbreeding season); occasionally a younger male mounts an older one during this activity." (''Biological Exuberance - 379'')

*'''Wapiti, Elk, or Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) and Barasingha or Swamp Deer (Cervus duvauceli)''': "Usually the two animals engaging in same-sex activity are fully grown adults, but in male Wapiti homosexual mounting may occur between adult bulls and spikehorns (yearlings whose antlers are spikes, having yet to develop prongs). Red Deer yearlings also participate in same-sex activity including occasional incestuous homosexual mountings by females of their mothers." (''Biological Exuberance - 383 - 384'')

*'''Caribou or Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and Moose (Alces alces)''': "Caribou sometimes mount each other, as do younger males, while yearling Moose have been observed trying to mount adult bulls. In addition, bull Moose sometimes associate with younger male companions." (''Biological Exuberance - 388'')

*'''Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana)''': "Males of all age groups participate in homosexual courtship and mounting, although adult males usually direct their attentions to adolescent males. Mounting between males sometimes occurs during sparring or play-fighting as well." (''Biological Exuberance - 394'')

*'''Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis) and Thinhorn or Dall's Sheep (Ovis dalli)''': "Typically an older, higher ranking male will court a male younger than him, using a sequence of stylized movements." (''Biological Exuberance - 406'')

*'''Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus)''': "Adult male Mountain Goats court younger (yearling) males, again using the species typical heterosexual behavior patterns: the courting male approaches the other in a crouching position, creeping on his stomach with his head stretched forward (a posture referred to as the LOW-STRETCH). He may also flick his tongue in and out of his mouth while making soft bussing sound, jerk his head sideways, and attempt to lick the other male's flanks. Typically the yearling male responds aggressively to the courting adult. Adult males occasionally perform this display toward other adults as well. In addition, yearling females sometimes mount their own mothers. [...] In contrast, yearling Mountain Goats that are courted by older males are primarily heterosexuals, since they reject most same-sex advances." (''Biological Exuberance - 411'')

*'''African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) and Asiatic Elephant (Elephas maximas)''': "Homosexual mating lasts about the same lenght as heterosexual mating, generally less than a minute, altough one male may mount another several times in succession. Both older bulls and younger males participate in this activity. [...] Male Elephants also form "companionships" usually composed of an older bull and an attendant younger male (in contrast, there are no long-lasting heterosexual bonds in these species). In African Elephants, the younger male often helps the older one by guarding him or pulling down branches for him; in other cases, the older bull may help a younger male (or vice versa) who is injured or suffering from blindness of paralysis. The two males are constant companions and generally isolated from other Elephants; occasionally, an older bull will have two attendants. Among Asiatic Elephants, such male companionships appear not to be as long-lasting as in African Elephants. Younger attendant males in African Elephants are sometimes reported to have enlarged genitalia." (''Biological Exuberance - 428 -429'')

*'''Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta)''': "Homosexual mounting between females also occur in this species; in some cases an adolescent or younger adult mounts an older one." (''Biological Exuberance - 446'')

*'''Rufous Bettongs or Rat Kangaroo (Aepyprymnus rufescens)''': "Some homosexual interactions in Rufous Bettongs involve adult females courting and mounting juvenile females and vice versa." (''Biological Exuberance - 454'')

*'''Gray Squirell (Sciurus carolinensis)''': "Gray Squirells are sequentially or chronologically bisexual: juveniles, adolescents, and young adults (up to one and a half years old) show a preference for homosexual activity, while older adults generally exhibit much less same-sex mountings." (''Biological Exuberance - 463'')

*'''Dwarf Cavy (Microcavia australis), Cui or Yellow-Toothed Cavy (Galea musteloides) and Aperea or Wild Cavy (Cavia Aperea)''': "In Dwarf Cavies, adult males are sexually attracted to juveniles of both sexes. A typical homosexual courtship begins with the adult and the younger male sitting quietly together - often right in front of the youngster's mother, who is not visibly disturbed. The two males may kiss and nuzzle their noses together, after which the adult begins to gently nibble on the juvenile's rump. This is often followed by a courtship behavior known as CHIN-RUMP FOLLOWING, in which the adult male places his chin on the youngster's rump, as they move together in circles or figure-eight patterns. If the male is especially aroused, he will stop to pat his paws against the juvenile's rump, sometimes even licking, sniffing, and nuzzling the anus and perineal region while lifting up the youngster's hindquarters with his nose. Adult males frequently have favorite males that they prefer to court and interact sexually with, actively seeking them out while ignoring others. (p. 467) [...] Adult male Apereas sometimes court younger males by RUMPING, in which the adult throws one or both hind legs over the rump of the youngsters. [...] Adult males occasionally also have an adolescent companion; the two males sit and feed together, as well as kiss one another. Sometimes the adult male will permit his companion to mount a female that he is courting. (p. 468) [...] Adult males in two other species of Cavies, the Mocó or Rock Cavy (Kerodon rupestris) and the Preá (Galea spixii), also sometimes court juvenile males, and youngsters mount adults of both sexes as well." (''Biological Exuberance - 469'')

*'''Ring-Billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)''': "For example, one or both partners in a homosexual pair are often younger females: couples in which there is an age difference between the two females - one an adult, the other an adolescent or younger adult - are particularly common in some populations." (''Biological Exuberance - 545'')

*'''Guianan Cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola rupicola)''': "Homosexual activity between adult and adolescent males, as well as among adolescent males, is a routine occurence in Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock. Males court and display to each other, as well as engage in homosexual mounting. (p. 567) [...] If an adolescent male approaches an adult who is courting a female, the female usally leaves (or is chased away), and the two males turn their attentions to each other." (''Biological Exuberance - 568'')

*'''Swallow-Tailed Manakin (Chiroxiphia caudata)''': "Male Swallow-tailed Manakins perform an elaborate group courtship ritual, the JUMP DISPLAY. Sometimes this display is directed toward females, sometimes toward yearling or younger adult males (the latter resembling females in their green plumage, but distinct because of their red-orange caps), and less commonly toward another adult male." (''Biological Exuberance - 572'')

*'''Bicolored Antbird (Gymnopithys bicolor) and Ocellated Antbird (Phaenostictus mcleannani)''': "Homosexual pair-bonds are sometimes long-lasting associations, persisting for many years. Partners may both be adults, or an older bird may pair with a younger one. In Ocellated Antbirds, father-son courtship-feedings also sometimes occur when a younger male remains within the clan structure." (''Biological Exuberance - 576'')

== Rind's cross-species summary==
[[Bruce Rind]]'s article on ''Pederasty(2013)'' <ref>Rind, B. (2013). [https://greek-love.com/media/PDFs/Rind.Pederasty.an.Integration.pdf Pederasty: An Integration of Empirical, Historical, Sociological, Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Evolutionary Evidence and Perspectives.] In: Hubbard & Verstraete (Eds.), [[Censoring Sex Research|Censoring Sex Research]].'''</ref> contains excellent cross-cultural (see also [[Research: Nonwestern Intergenerational Relationships|Nonwestern]] and [[Research: Intergenerational Relationships in History|Historical]] sections) and cross-species summary tables of intergenerational male homosexuality (the tables are also in the Excerpt Graphic Library below). Here is the exact quotation of the tables on animals, which is partly based on the Bagemihl, B. (1999). ''Biological exuberance''<ref>Bagemihl, B. (1999). Biological exuberance: Animal homosexuality and natural diversity. ''New York: St. Martin’s Press''. available via [[Help:Research_Resources#Information_Freedom_Companions|option 2]]</ref> (see above), but with many important details.

=== Table IV: Homosexual Behavior Between Mature and Immature Males in Primates. ===
In this table Rind also provided rating of species' typical receptiveness to sexual encounters coded as : 1 = mostly unwilling with resistance or aggression; 2 = mix of receptive and non-receptive encounters; 3 = mostly receptive with no or little aggression.
==== Great Apes ====

*'''Bonobos (Pan paniscus)''' 3: Mature males frequently performed thrusts on much younger males who might actively solicit the mounting (Kano, 1980). Common also is an adult male masturbating an adolescent male lying on his back with legs spread apart. Sex serves to reduce social tension (de Waal, 1997).

*'''Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)''' 3: Male homosex varies considerably across and within chimp populations (Bagemihl, 1999). Kollar et al. (1968) described multiple age-gap encounters (e.g., a young juvenile male interrupted copulation of an adolescent male and female, then presented to the older male, who mounted him).

*'''Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla)''' 3: In all-male groups, adults are most attracted to adolescents; mounting can be initiated by either (Harcourt, 1979; Yamagiwa, 1987, 2006). Courtship and copulation occur daily (Bagemihl, 1999). Age-gap sex may help group cohesiveness (Harcourt, 1979).

*'''Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus)''' 3: Homosex is often consensual (heterosex often not), often occurs within a special friendship (Bagemihl, 1999). Example: An adolescent male that received fellatio from a young adult male became very attached to him, and followed him wherever he went (Rijksen, 1978).

==== Lesser Apes ====

*'''White-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar)''' 3: Homosex occurs sometimes in father-son pairs (Bagemihl, 1999). Edwards and Todd (1991) observed fifty-five episodes between father and adolescent son, always without tension or aggression, initiated by both; seemed to provide reassurance to the adolescent.

*'''Siamangs (Hylobates syndactylus)''' 2: Father-son sex occurs (like gibbons), but is sometimes accompanied by threats, when the younger partner wants to end it before the older one does (unlike gibbons) (Bagemihl, 1999).

==== Old World Monkeys ====

*'''Hanuman langurs (Presbytis entellus)''' 3: Immature males frequently engage in mounting, often with like-aged males, but also with mature males (Sommer et al., 2006). Immature males increase their touching, mounting, and embracing of adult males as they mature (Jay, 1965). Weber (1973) found that male-male age-gap mounting was usually initiated by the immature partner, with apparent function of securing social acceptance (juveniles are no longer protected by mothers and turn to other adults; mounting and other physical contact are mechanisms to achieve social integration).

*'''Nilgiri langurs (Presbytis johnii)''' 3: Dominant males (alphas) mount subordinate males (juveniles, adolescents, younger adults) in dominance displays, which the subordinates may initiate by presenting. Mounts are brief, with several thrusts but no penetration, and are part of a communication matrix that maintains troop harmony (Hohmann, 1989; Poirier, 1970).

*'''Proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus)''' 2: Homosexual mounting occurs in younger males (adolescents and juveniles); it tends to stem from play wrestling. It is resisted by the younger male in some cases (as females sometimes also do in heterosexual mounting). Its frequency is low, as is heterosexual sex (Bagemihl, 1999; Yeager, 1990).

*'''Bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata)''' 3: Males of all ages are frequently involved in a wide variety of homosex. Younger males often masturbate other males to orgasm, sometimes eating the semen. Some do only a little homosex, others a great deal (Bagemihl, 1999).

*'''Crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis)''' 2: Males can develop intense sexual friendships, especially between older and younger males (with affection, arousal, mounting). Homosexual mounting is both consensual (54%) and nonconsensual (46%). In the former, the mountee fully cooperates and may initiate the mounting (Bagemihl, 1999).

*'''Crested black macaques (Macaca nigra)''' 3: Younger males often mount older ones (Bagemihl, 1999). Dixson (1977) frequently observed the oldest male in one troop presenting to younger males, who invariably responded by mounting him, often with erections. Also, ritualized “greeting” gestures (e.g., penis-grabbing), especially by younger males, are common practice (Bagemihl, 1999).

*'''Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata)''' 3: All adult and juvenile males were seen presenting to another male (aggression was rare, <3%) (Hanby & Brown, 1974). Takenoshita (1998) observed free-ranging adult-juvenile consort relationships (adults ejaculated, juveniles erected; they foraged, groomed, and attacked others together).

*'''Pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina)''' 3: Age-equal and age-gap male-male mounting (juveniles, adolescents, adults) occurs frequently, is not associated with force (as heterosexual mounting sometimes is), and makes up from 8% to 67% of individual males’ overall mounts (Bagemihl, 1999). Dominants invite subordinates to mount them as an elaborate display of tolerance toward subordinates (Oi, 1990) or mount subordinates as a rank maintenance mechanism (Tokuda et al., 1968).

*'''Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)''' 3: Age-gap consort relationships occur, highly affectionate (Bagemihl, 1999). Kempf (1917) observed two juvenile males competing to be mounted by an adult male. Homosex helps juveniles get protection, integrate into group (Carpenter, 1942). Older, younger both show sexual excitement; mature-immature relationships are frequent, seem to have sexual basis (Hamilton, 1914). Redican et al. (1974) observed an immature male taking the sexual initiative with an adult male in an intensive relationship.

*'''Stumptail macaques (Macaca arctoides)''' 3: Chevalier-Skolnikoff (1976) reported mutual excitement and affection in several intense friendship-based mature-immature sexual relationships. These were “rewarding” to all participants (e.g., protection for younger partner). Homosex seemed to foster greater social cohesion.

*'''Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana)''' 3: Ogawa (1995) found that male adult-juvenile homosex occurs on a regular basis; either may initiate oral sex on the juvenile; it is never aggressive; both are excited; context is friendly. It seems to serve to reduce tension.

*'''Savanna baboons (Papio cynocephalus)''' 3: All males, from juvenile to adult, greet one another via ritualized sexual behaviors. These behaviors (presenting, mounting, fondling) occur briefly (a few seconds), constitute “greetings,” and appear to serve in part formation of coalitions (Bagemihl, 1999; Smuts & Watanabe, 1990).

*'''Hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas)''' 3: Zuckerman (1932) observed a three-year sexual relationship between an adult and immature male. Whenever the immature was threatened, the adult immediately rescued it.

*'''Gelada baboons (Theropithecus gelada)''' 3: Bernstein (1975) found that mounting occurs between bachelors and immature males in the all-male group. When a bachelor successfully challenges a harem leader, he switches entirely to heterosex (the deposed leader switches to homosex).

*'''Mona monkeys (Cercopithecus mona)''' 3: Glenn, Ramsier, and Benson (2006) found that homosex, with oral sex (often with orgasm), is universal in all-male groups, where males spend most of their lives. It involves all combinations from juveniles to adults; aggression is extremely rare. It seems to function to help younger males’ immigration and social skills, as well as the groups’ social cohesion.

*'''Patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas)''' 3: Adolescent or younger males often fondle and nuzzle the genitals and scrotum of adult males (Bagemihl, 1999).

==== New World Monkeys ====

*'''Squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus)''' 3: Denniston (1980) frequently observed male homosexual behavior, the commonest form being between adults and adolescents. Baldwin (1969) frequently observed sexual mounting and sometimes consortships between older adolescents and much younger juveniles (of both sexes); older adolescents, unlike younger adolescents, were gentle with their younger partners, who consequently allowed the interactions to take place (by contrast, they tended to resist the much rougher initiatives from younger adolescents).

==== Prosimians ====

*'''Verreaux’s sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi)''' 1: Homosexual behavior is rare in prosimians. In this lemur species, adult males sometimes mount younger adults or adolescents, who often snap and struggle to wriggle free (Bagemihl, 1999).

=== Table V: Homosexual Behavior Between Mature and Immature Males in Subprimate Mammals ===
All descriptions based on Bagemihl (1999) unless primary sources are indicated.

==== Marine Mammals ====

===== Dolphins and whales =====

*'''Boto or Amazon River dolphin (Inia geoffrensis)''': Males participate in a wide variety of homosexual behavior, including various kinds of intercourse. When there is an age difference typically the older penetrates the younger. Pairs interacting sexually display a great deal of mutual affection, which Bagemihl (1999, p. 341) illustrates in a photo, in which an adult and immature partner are touching while swimming side by side.

*'''Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)''': Homosexual behavior largely exceeds heterosexual behavior. Adolescents and younger males typically live in all-male groups, where homosexual behavior is common and exclusive. Only as full adults do they attempt to father calves via heterosexual contact. Younger adolescents form homosexual pair-bonds with like-age males, which often last throughout life. When there is an age difference in homosexual sex, either party may penetrate the other—adolescents have been observed penetrating adults (Bagemihl, 1999). McBride and Hebb (1948) observed adult males repeatedly interacting sexually with younger males and described an intense, affectionate bond in one pair. In an extensive ten-year field study, young immature males were found to be the most sexual (most often with male peers, but also with all other age-sex classes); most of adult males’ sexual interactions were with immature males (Mann, 2006).

*'''Orca or killer whales (Orcinus orca)''': Orcas are the largest in the dolphin family. Homosexual behavior is integral to male social life. During salmon feasting, males of all ages spend afternoons courting, being affectionate, and engaging in overt homosexual behaviors, with 90% being reciprocated. Sessions last an hour on average. Most involve adolescents and an age difference of at least five years. At least half of all males get involved.

*'''Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus)''': 3–5% of males may be homosexually bonded, with couples consisting of two adults or an older and younger male. Sexual interactions leading to orgasm can take place in groups of primarily younger males.

*'''Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus)''': Intensive male homosexual sessions lasting up to forty minutes occur, involving mainly groups of adolescents and young adults.

===== Seals and Manatees =====

*'''Gray seals (Halichoerus grypus)''': Male homosexual behavior is common; males of all ages mount each other on shore after molting.

*'''Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina)''': Male homosexual behavior is common, involving males of all ages, but mainly adolescents and adults.

*'''Northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris)''': Adolescent and young adult males do same-sex mounting during the molting season. Adult males sometimes mount younger adolescent or juvenile males, but the younger males usually struggle to escape.

*'''Australian sea lions (Neophoca cinerea) & New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri)''': Male homosexual mounting is common. All ages may be involved, but usually a younger partner mounts an older one. As mating is polygynous, many males never mate heterosexually.

*'''West Indian manatees (Trichechus manatus)''': Males can form bachelor herds. Males of all ages intensively interact homosexually, involving embracing, kissing, mouthing, caressing, genital rubbing, and frequent ejaculation.

*'''Walruses (Odobenus rosmarus)''': Males are segregated during the nonbreeding summer months. Here, homosexual courtship, affection, and sex are common. Typically, a younger male will display to an older one, and each may mount the other. Groups of younger males may crowd an adult male, making body contact. An adult may sing a courtship song to a group of younger males or a specific younger male companion that accompanies him. Younger and older males also pursue each other during the breeding season. Homosexual behavior is very common if not universal among male Walruses, even during the breeding season, where up to a third of mounting is between younger males or between an adult and a younger male.

==== Hoofed Mammals ====

===== Deer and Moose =====

*'''White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)''': Males are sex-segregated most of year. Mounting sometimes occurs between two adults, two yearlings, or an older-younger pair, where the younger mounts the older one (Bagemihl, 1999). Most commonly, it is young males that mount others. Mounting is not based on dominance; no specific function is apparent. Mountees generally do not oppose being mounted if age-discrepant, but do so more if two immature males are involved (Bartós & Holeckova, 2006).

*'''Wapiti (Cervus elaphus)''': They are sex-segregated most of year. Mounting occasionally occurs between two adult or adult-yearling males. Male pairs may form companionships, either older-younger or age-equal.

*'''Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus)''': Males sometimes mount each other, with the younger mounting the older one.

*'''Moose (Alces alces)''': They are often solitary. Yearling males sometimes mount adult males. Sometimes adult males associate with younger male companions called satellites.

===== Antelopes and Gazelles =====

*'''Pronghorns (Antilocapra americana)''': Some males get territories and breed. The rest live in bachelor herds, where homosexual mounting occurs to a moderate degree. Males of all ages participate, but adult males usually direct their attentions to adolescents. Mounting is preceded by courting. Most males (70%) never breed.

*'''Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra)''': Males with territories mate with females. The rest live in bachelor herds, where most engage in mounting. This follows friendly sparring. Adult males often perform courtship displays to adolescent males before mounting them. Blackbuck males are predominantly homosexual, leaving the group only once or twice in their lives attempting to breed.

*'''Grant’s gazelles (Gazella granti)''': They live in mixed or all-male groups. Homosexual behavior is rare. Adult males usually attack other males trying to mount them.

===== Wild Sheep, Goats, Buffalo =====

*'''Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) & Thinhorn sheep (Ovis dalli)''': Males live in homosexual societies in sex-segregated bands. Only during the rutting season do they meet females. Older males court younger, smaller males and mount them. The mountee facilitates by assuming lordosis. Interactions are non-aggressive; the younger male is usually willing. So pervasive is this, that females will mimic younger males to attract older males. Geist (1975) views older-younger male homosex as an adaptation, allowing the younger males to live in the group.

*'''Musk-oxen (Ovibos moschatus)''': They are in mixed or all-male groups. Adult males court and mount adolescent and juvenile males. Younger males do the same with each other. Mountees sometimes resist (as females do), but sometimes assent. About 40% of courting and 10% of mounting are homosexual.

*'''Mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus)''': They are often sex-segregated. Adult males court younger males, using the species-typical approach used in courting females. Typically, the yearling male reacts aggressively. Almost one-fifth of courtships during the breeding season occur between adult and yearling males.

*'''American bison males (Bison bison)''': Male bison spend most of their time alone or in bachelor herds. In these herds, homosexual mounting, including full penetration, is prevalent, especially among younger males (i.e., adolescents), and exceeds heterosexual mounting in frequency. The mounted animal often facilitates the mounting. Younger males also sometimes form tending bonds with other males, involving following, defending, and mounting or being mounted by their partners (Bagemihl, 1999). Homosexual behavior is not based on dominance, but may serve a bonding function (Vervaecke & Rodin, 2006).

===== Other Hoofed Mammals =====

*'''Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis)''': They are often in all-male groups. Sparring between males is almost always gentle, begins as calves and juveniles, and is most common among adolescents. Participants are often of different sizes, with the smaller, younger one usually initiating. Mounting sometimes accompanies sparring, and mostly involves older adolescents mounting younger ones. These behaviors are not associated with dominance. Homosexual behavior occurs mainly among the young (Pratt & Anderson, 1985).

*'''African elephants (Loxodonta africana) & Asiatic elephants (Elephas maximus)''': African and Asiatic male elephants often form all-male herds. Breeding males associate only temporarily with females. Male homosexual mounting occurs regularly, especially among younger males. In African elephants, homosexual mounting may be preceded by extensive affectionate interaction, and both adult and younger males participate. Males also form long-lasting bonds called companionships, mainly between older and younger “attendants”—heterosexual couples do not form long-lasting bonds. The attendant male and adult male often help each other in various ways, and they are constant companions. Sometimes an older male will have two attendant males. In Asiatic male elephants, almost a fifth have a male companion.

==== Other Mammals ====

*'''Dwarf cavies (Microcavia australis)''': Dwarf cavies are small rodents that live in colonies of twenty to fifty individuals. Adult males are sexually attracted to juveniles of both sexes. A typical homosexual encounter begins with an adult male and juvenile male sitting together quietly, often in front of the juvenile’s mother, who is not visibly bothered. The two males then engage in affectionate contact, which eventually escalates to sexual behavior. Adult males often have favorite younger males, and will actively seek them out while ignoring other juvenile males. More than half of adult male-juvenile sexual interactions are same-sex. Most males are homosexually involved. Occasionally, an adult male will have an adolescent male companion, who feeds with him and is physically affectionate with him. The adult may allow the adolescent to mount a female he is courting. Adult males in two other species, mocó or rock cavies (Kerodon rupestris) and préa (Galea spixii), sometimes also court juvenile males.

*'''Feral cats (Felis catus)''': In an extensive field study, a quarter of males did homosexual mounting, but only occasionally. It always occurred in the presence of estrus females. Mounters were adults, and mountees were adolescents, smaller in size, comparable to adult female size. Mounters bit the backs of mountees’ necks, as they do when mounting females. Older-younger male homosexual mounting appears to be an outlet for heterosexual mountings that were recently frustrated (Yamane, 2006).

=== Table VI: Homosexual Behavior Between Mature and Immature Males in Birds ===
All descriptions based on Bagemihl (1999)
==== Aquatic and shore birds ====

*'''Canada geese (Branta canadensis)''': 18 % of adult males form homosexual bonds with partners, who may be other adults or juveniles.

*'''Ruffs (Philomachus pugnax)''': About half of males are involved predominantly in same-sex sex. Certain adult males acquire a territory called a lek, where they display to potential sex partners, male as well as female. Male visitors may be those without leks or younger males, who have not yet developed adult plumage. The younger males rarely are heterosexually involved, but instead do mounting with each other and with adult lek residents.

==== Perching and song birds ====

*'''Guianan cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola rupicola)''': Male homosexual mounting between two adolescents and between an adult and adolescent is routine, accounting for about half of all copulations and involving about 40 % of the total male population and 64 % of the adolescent male population. Certain adult males acquire leks, which females and young males visit to see whether they want to mate. In a typical homosexual encounter, while an adult male is displaying his colorful plumage, an adolescent male will land nearby. The adult keeps his back to the adolescent, showing off his plumage and inviting the adolescent to mount him. The adolescent climbs onto the adult’s back, achieves genital contact, and then mounts several times in succession. Adolescents usually visit the display courts of numerous other adult males and may have relations with up to seven adults in a season, including some adults without leks. Adult males who avoid heterosexual contacts are the ones most often mounted by adolescent males.

*'''Swallow-tailed manakins (Chiroxiphia caudata)''': Several adult males will form long-term associations and display together on their leks to attract both females and adolescent males. When a young male arrives, the adult males perform a group courtship ritual, in which they take turns jumping up and hovering in front of him. The young male sits motionless as he watches the spectacle. Same-sex sexual behavior likely makes up a sizable proportion of all sexual activity.

*'''Blue-backed manakins (Chiroxiphia pareola)''': Pairs of adult males behave similarly to swallow-tailed manakins, displaying to a third male, which is sometimes an adolescent, performing leapfrogging and cartwheels to impress the other male.

*'''Bicolored antbirds (Gymnopithys bicolor)''': Male homosexual pair-bonds make up 4–6% of all pair-bonds; partners may be two adults or an older and younger bird. The bonds are initiated by courtship-feeds, in which one offers the other a spider or an insect. The receiving male, unlike a female, then passes it back. Once paired, they become constant companions.

*'''Red bishop birds (Euplectes orix)''': In their nesting territories, adult males court both females and males, the latter being younger males who look like females in terms of their plumage coloring. When a younger male approaches, the adult male performs a distinct bumble-flight and displays his plumage to attract the comer.

*'''Orange bishop birds (Euplectes franciscanus)''': In captivity, both adult and younger males attempt to mount young males, who usually reject the attempt or react indifferently at most.

*'''Red-shouldered widowbirds (Euplectes axillaris)''': Adult males sometimes court younger males.

*'''Black-billed magpies (Pica pica)''': Homosexual behavior involving adult males with adolescent or juvenile males occurs occasionally. A typical courtship begins with one male ritually begging the other, followed by the second hopping around the first. Afterward, the two might form a pair-bond, in which they stay near one another, preen one another, and cooperate in evicting intruders.

*'''Gray-breasted jays (Aphelocoma ultramarina)''': Adult males have been observed to courtship-feed younger males.

*'''Victoria’s riflebirds (Ptiloris victoriae)''': Adult males sometimes court younger males, using spectacular displays that are also used in heterosexual interactions. Male-male courtships occur frequently, although mounting is rarer and is likely to drive the mountee away.

*'''Regent bowerbirds (Sericulus chrysocephalus)''': Males build bowers, tunnels of twigs decorated with a variety of colors (e.g., from berries). Adult males display in their bowers to both females and younger males, sometimes ritually offering gifts to their guests. Juvenile males also build bowers and court males and females. When an adult male arrives, the juvenile male behaves in a ritual manner to attract the adult into the bower. Adult males spend 15% of their time displaying to other males, and juvenile males spend 28% of their time doing the same.

*'''Satin bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus)''': Adult males have been observed to court younger males.

*'''Superb lyrebirds (Menura novaehollandiae)''': Adult males often court adolescent males upon encountering them alone or in groups. The adult may closely follow the adolescent, even for hours, periodically performing a wing display accompanied by serenading the younger male with a variety of vocalizations. Adults will occasionally mount the adolescents, but genital contact may not occur because the younger male does not facilitate the interaction. Adolescent males also court and mount one another, behavior that is usually mutual. Occasionally an adult and adolescent male will engage in a mutual display to one another. Adult males approach groups of adolescents fairly often during breeding season and twice as often outside of it. They spend more than half their time away from their display mounds associating with adolescent males. Most males are bisexual, courting both females and adolescent males. Adolescent males appear to be exclusively homosexual in their behaviour and often form companionships with like-aged males. Male and female lyrebirds live largely separate lives aside from brief encounters during breeding season.

==== Other birds ====

*'''Anna’s hummingbirds (Calypte anna)''': Both females and juvenile males visit an adult male’s territory to feed on his supply of currant and blossoms. If a juvenile male visits, the adult male will perform a dive display several times, in which he climbs 150 feet, dives toward the visitor, and makes loud shrieking sounds. After the display, the visitor will usually fly off, with the adult in pursuit, singing at him. If the adult succeeds in attempting to mount the younger male, the latter usually strongly resists, and the adult may attempt to use force. About 25% of sex in this species is between males.

*'''Acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus)''': A ritualized group display occurs involving courtship and sex. At dusk, the members of a group gather and begin mounting one another in all combinations. Males mount females and other males, females mount males and other females, young woodpeckers mount older ones, and older woodpeckers mount younger ones. Reciprocal mounting is common. This mounting display is a regular feature in this species, occurring daily all year around.

==Other sources==
*'''Green, Richard (2002). [https://www.ipce.info/library_2/files/green_asb_2002.html "Is pedophilia a mental disorder?"], ''Archives of Sexual Behavior'', 31 (6), 467-471. Citing: De Waal, F. (1990). "Sociosexual behavior used for tension regulation in all age and sex combinations among Bonobos." In J. Feierman (Ed.), ''[https://library.lol/main/3CA15750CD7EC06C3052B55B5E16C76D Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions]'' (Jay R. Feierman, ed, pp. 379–393). '''
*:"Observations concern a near relative of Man, the bonobo, where these “pigmy chimps” are allowed free access to any other bonobo for sexual contact at the San Diego Zoo. Nonfertile combinations (same-sex or juvenile–adult combinations) were as frequent as potentially fertile, adult male–female combinations. Further, one third of sociosexual contacts by an adult with an infant were initiated by the infant (De Waal, 1990)."
* '''[[Steven Angelides]] (2004) [https://sci-hub.ru/10.1215/10642684-10-2-141 Feminism, Child Sexual Abuse, and the Erasure of Child Sexuality]''' ''GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies'', Volume 10, Number 2, pp. 141-177 ; a copy on [https://web.archive.org/web/20130420133540/http://snifferdogonline.com/reports/Child%20Abuse,%20Sexuality%20and%20Violence/Feminism,%20Child%20Sexual%20Abuse,%20and%20the%20Erasure%20of%20Child%20Sexuality.pdf webarchive]
*:"They were often justified as well by cross-species comparisons, which emphasized the naturalness of adult-child sex in other mammals. In Sex Offenders Paul H. Gebhard et al. claimed that "sexual activity between adult and immature animals is common and appears to be biologically normal." Indeed, it "is precisely what we see in various animals, particularly monkeys." This fact lessened "the horror with which society views the adult who has sexual relations with young children."<sup>21</sup> As Robert S. De Ropp summed up, in a more matter-of-fact articulation of the underlying masculinist assumptions: "The craving of the elderly male for the young female is not necessarily confined to the human species. Old stags are always after little ones and the young does are always willing."<sup>22</sup> [...] 21. Paul H. Gebhard et al., Sex Offenders: An Analysis of Types (New York: Harper and Row, 1965), 54, 276, 54. 22. Robert S. De Ropp, Sex Energy: The Sexual Force in Man and Animals (New York: Delacorte, 1969), 111-12."
*'''deMause, Lloyd (2002). ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120224062853/http://psychohistory.com/htm/eln08_childrearing.html The Emotional Life of Nations]'', chapter 8.'''
*:"Primate mothers are widely reported as copulating with their children; indeed, many cannot learn to reproduce unless they have had sex with adults when they were children. Many immature primates "copulate with their mothers...explore adult genitalia and experience manipulation of their own." Our closest ancestors, the bonobo chimps-termed "the erotic champions" of primates-spend much of their time sucking and masturbating the genitals and "genitogenital rubbing" of both male and female juveniles, "to reduce tensions." Primate children are regularly observed being taught to thrust against their mothers' genitals. This "sexualization of the infant" was likely extended when human infants grew much larger heads, since it meant in order to get through the narrow birth canal before the head grew too large human infants had to be "born fetal," extremely immature and increasingly helpless, so that in early humans "maternal attention was not sufficient to care for more helpless infants..."This in turn meant a selection for those babies who could most satisfy the mother's erotic needs-for instance through the extension of non-hairy, erotic skin areas-for they would be best nursed and cared for as an erotic, tension-reducing object. Likewise, those human mothers were selected who had evolved the largest and most erotic breasts and who had genitals shifted around to the front, where they could rub them against their children."
*'''Rind, B., Bauserman, R. and Tromovitch, P. (2000). ''[http://www.ipce.info/library_2/rbt/science_frame.htm Science versus orthodoxy: Anatomy of the congressional condemnation of a scientific article and reflections on remedies for future ideological attacks]''.'''
*:"Ford and Beach (1951), in their seminal review of cross-cultural and cross-species data, observed that "[a]s long as the adult members of a society permit them to do so, immature males and females engage in practically every type of sexual behavior found in grown men and women" (p, 197) They also observed that juvenile sexual activity in monkeys and apes is "no less natural for the young primate than are the chasing, wrestling, and mock fighting that consume so much of his waking life" (p. 255). Psychologists have all but ignored these perspectives in favor of fitting their descriptions and explanations of juvenile sexuality to current Western values."

*'''Rind, Bruce (2009). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20111122131235/https://www.inter-disciplinary.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/gsbs1rind.pdf Social Response to Age-Gap Sex Involving Minors: Empirical, Historical, Cross-Cultural, and Cross-Species Considerations]." Paper presented at the "Good sex, bad sex: Sex law, crime and ethics" conference in Budapest, Hungary, May 4 to 6, 2009.
*:"If age-gap sex involving non-adults is, by nature, as disturbing as most contemporary authorities believe it is, then should we not see evidence for this elsewhere in nature—for example, in our close primate relatives? Age-gap sex in primates is commonplace but shows no evidence of the trauma many think is so [[intrinsic harm|intrinsic]] to these contacts.
*:Bonobos and chimpanzees are our closest animal relatives. Immature males in these two species are highly sexual, much more than immature females. They behave sexually with other immatures and with adults of both sexes, but prefer mature females, with whom they often attempt to initiate sex. In most cases, they show sexual arousal, with erections. The mature females are quite tolerant of the young males and usually allow them to attempt copulation. When immature male chimps are rebuffed by mature females, they typically whimper and throw tantrums. Researchers have concluded that male chimps in early puberty actually need copulatory practice with older females, else their adult copulating behavior will be inept.
*:In bonobos, when a female reaches adolescence, she transfers into a new group, where she pairs up with one adult female in particular, who acts as her “mentor.” This relationship, which is sexually based and lasts about a year, helps the adolescent female integrate into the new group and eventually be accepted by all the other females.
*:Age-gap homosexual relations among males are also quite common in apes and Old World monkeys. Pederasty in gorillas, for example, is pervasive. In this species, while one male dominates a group of females in a harem, the remaining males form an all-male group for many years at a time, in which courtship and copulation occur on a daily basis between adult and adolescent males. Several researchers directly observing this behavior have concluded that it serves to maintain group cohesiveness. In rhesus macaques, sexual relations between mature and immature males are frequent. They often occur despite the presence of receptive females. Young males tend to welcome these contacts and may even compete for older males’ attentions. The relations can be highly affectionate and appear to be functional for the immature males’ development of sexual and gregarious behaviors. Similarly affectionate age-gap male homosexual relations have been observed in various other species, such as orangutans, Hanuman langurs, and stumptail macaques. Among Tibetan macaques, oral-genital contact between adult and juvenile males occurs on a regular basis. Sometimes the younger partner jumps onto the adult’s face to initiate it; other times the adult begins the contact by turning the juvenile upside down. Both younger and older participants generally seem excited. These behaviors are never aggressive and appear to reduce tension between the them. Similar age-gap relations occur daily and universally in Mona monkeys; the sexual interactions are almost never aggressive and appear to help the younger males integrate into the male group and to maintain group cohesion.
*:When it comes to human age-gap sexual relations, the stereotype is that they are, by nature, aggressive encounters, where the older person imposes his will on an unwilling younger partner, who is traumatized and psychologically ruined. It is striking, then, that we find just the opposite in the primate data, where researchers document that eagerness and even initiative on the part of the younger animal are commonplace,26 and they repeatedly describe positive developmental and social functions that these relations appear to serve—just as historians and anthropologists also have also done with regard to other times and cultures."

*'''Rind, Bruce (2024). "[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383699408_Same-Sex_Sexual_Behavior_Age-Class_and_Coalitions_in_Male_Rhesus_Macaques_Macaca_mulatta Same‑Sex Sexual Behavior, Age‑Class, and Coalitions in Male Rhesus Macaques]". ''Archives of Sexual Behavior''. 1-20. 10.1007/s10508-024-02983-6.
*:"In the present study, relations between same-sex sexual behavior (SSB), age-class, and coalitional behavior in male rhesus macaques were examined in a re-analysis of data ﬁrst analyzed and reported by Clive et al. (2023). [...] Most dyads contained at least one non-adult (76%). Young and prime adult mounters most often selected non-adults to mount. Mounters were often sexually motivated: most for adolescents (72%); equally for juveniles (57%) and adults (56%). Finally, the highest rate of SSB with coalitional context appeared in adolescent–adult dyads involved in multiple repeated mounts. SSB, age-class, special friendships, bonding, and coalitions were linked, as reported in some other primate species and human societies cross-culturally. Employing age-class in male SSB analysis improved description and explanation."

* '''Jaroslava Varella Valentova, Andreone Teles Medrado, and Marco Antonio Correa Varella “Male Bisexuality”. In: Todd K. Shackelford (ed.), 2022, [https://annas-archive.org/md5/2d84ebccbbaafc78b4516ef6b129e5a2 The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology. Vol 4.] ''Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)''.'''
::"Lilley et al. (2020) and Wrangham (1993) complement by describing that nonconceptual sex between individuals of the same sex among nonhuman primates may have been an exaptation of reproductive behavior, which acquired other diverse functions, such as: establishment of dominance, practice by immatures for a future successful copulation, reduce tensions, and help with reconciliations, in addition to facilitating the formation of alliances and reducing the reproductive success of other individuals."

* '''Zanna Clay, Liza R. Moscovice, and Thibaud Gruber “Bonobo Sexual Behavior and Psychology” In: Todd K. Shackelford (ed.), 2022, [https://annas-archive.org/md5/2d84ebccbbaafc78b4516ef6b129e5a2 The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology. Vol 4.] ''Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)''.'''
::"As bonobos reach juvenility, their sexual behavior becomes more frequent and elaborated, including both participating as third parties as well as actively engaging in sex themselves (Hashimoto, 1997). Excerpts from Kano’s observations of the Wamba bonobos paint an informative picture: ''adults are generally cooperative in awakening the erotic impulses of these juveniles. A female that has finished copulating and GG rubbing will stop and wait when a male juvenile clings to her behind; the female will grasp the juvenile’s hips and insert his penis. [...] The female does her best to accommodate the partners, one by one, without much ado. [...] Adult males are also enthusiastic about “sex education.” After copulation, they mount and thrust at juveniles, either male or female, that approach and present. Without inserting their penis, the adult males rub against the top of the hips and the thigh. Often, instead of thrusts, an adult male raises one ankle in the air and lightly scratches the side of the juvenile’s chest.'' (Kano, 1992, p. 196)"

*''' Joseph H. Manson "Capuchin Sexual Behavior" In: Todd K. Shackelford (ed.), 2022, [https://annas-archive.org/md5/2d84ebccbbaafc78b4516ef6b129e5a2 The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology. Vol 4.] ''Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)''.'''
::"Cebus subordinate adult males [(Capuchin monkeys comprise a subfamily, Cebinae)] , compared to alpha males, carry and play with infants more frequently, and they direct these behaviors toward male infants much more than toward female infants (Perry, 2012). Because subordinate males are unlikely to be these infants’ fathers (see below), these relationships are not a form of paternal investment but may function as a means of long-term recruitment of allies for male–male competition (Perry, 2012)."
::"Nonconceptive sexual behavior includes copulations by noncycling (i.e., pregnant or lactating) females, sexual behavior in which one or both partners are juveniles, nonconceptive sexual postures (e.g., females mounting males), and same-sex sexual interactions between adults. All four of these phenomena have been observed in capuchins (Fragaszy et al., 2004). Male-male pseudo-copulations in C. capucinus are particularly noteworthy (Manson et al., 1997). [...] As a conspicuous form of intimate contact, these interactions might function to build or test trust (Smuts & Watanabe, 1990; Zahavi, 1977) or to display social bonds to third parties (Wrangham, 1993)."

* '''Jackson R. Ham et al. (2022) [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376635722001127 The emergence and early development of socio-sexual behavior in beluga calves (Delphinapterus leucas)], ''Behavioural Processes, Volume 200'', doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104695'''
::"Highlights: • Juvenile socio-sexual behaviors were more frequent when adult males were present. • The sexual repertoire of immature males, but not females, changes with age. • Immature belugas prefer to interact with older belugas. • Social partner preferences change with age."
::"The emergence of socio-sexual behaviors was relatively consistent among immature animals. [...] The presence of an adult male significantly predicted if immature belugas would initiate and participate in socio-sexual behavior. However, partner preferences changed with age. In the first year of life, belugas engaged in sexual behavior with their mother most frequently but preferred to play with older males if given a choice. By the third year of life, belugas engaged in socio-sexual behavior most frequently with other immature animals."

*'''Sommer, V., & Vasey, P. L. (Eds.). (2006). [https://books.google.com/books/about/Homosexual_Behaviour_in_Animals.html?id=KXM3F59y1jkC Homosexual behaviour in animals: An evolutionary perspective]. ''Cambridge University Press.''''' (no e-book, only preview on google books is available)

:: “[An] adolescent [gibbon] was observed soliciting sexual contact with the adult male in his family group. As Edwards and Todd (1991) suggest, the youth may have needed ‘reassurance’ that he was still welcome in the family.” (''see'' Edwards, A.-M. A. R., and Todd, J. D. (1991). Homosexual behavior in wild white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar). Primates 32: 231–236. DOI: 10.1007/BF02381180)

::“Genital stimulation occurs in context of play in all of the African great apes (Tutin, 1979; Tutin and McGinnis, 1981; Harcourt et al., 1981; Nadler, 1986; Enomoto, 1990; Kano, 1992; Hashimoto, 1997). Frequent genital stimulation behaviour may be a common feature of the African great apes in the early stage of development. During the first year of life, male infant chimpanzees show an interest in the sexual swellings of adult females, and successfully achieve intromission before reaching two years old (Tutin and McGinnis, 1981). Male infant bonobos begin to show sexual behaviour at less than one year of age and have been observed trying to copulate with their mothers (Kano, 1992). Immature gorillas started to show genital stimulation behaviour during the period of infancy (Nadler, 1986; this study).”

:: “Homosexual activity, particularly during immature play, could facilitate social and motor development. Indeed, among macaques, adequate opportunity to engage in mounting when young is necessary for competent performance of heterosexual copulation in adulthood, and the actual sex of mounting partners is irrelevant (Goy and Wallen, 1979).

::Immature langurs, as young as three months, frequently engage in mounting, with both immature and mature partners of either sex. The combination juvenile female–juvenile female and juvenile male–juvenile male is the most frequent (Srivastava et al., 1991).”

::gorillas:
::“[...] even adult male gorillas occasionally exhibit interest in genital stimulation with immatures, and solicit them in the absence of females. Since the genital stimulation behaviour of gorillas has no socio-sexual functions, adult males show such behaviour in a purely sexual context. Frequent courtship and chest-beating displays by the two silverbacks around the young partners and intensive fights between them observed in the all-male group show that homosexual behaviour did not have tension-reduction role but, instead, resulted in increased competition between silverbacks over same-sex partners.

::It is likely that the homosexual behaviour of immature gorillas is a developmental by-product, which may increase the potential of adult males to engage in homosexual behaviour in the context of skewed sex ratios. [...] The formation of all-male groups and homosexual behaviour may possibly contribute to the survival of younger males for future reproduction."

::“…silverbacks may erupt if same-sex partners do not target a single silverback with solicitations to mount them. In such instances, silverbacks may be uncertain as to who has priority of access to a particular same-sex partner. This appeared to be the case for Pt and Ht, both sub-adults, who did not solicit either silverback. The silverbacks subsequently engaged in severe competition for access to these sub-adult male sexual partners. In contrast, when Ts, another sub-adult, and Si, a blackback, showed solicitation to one of the silverbacks, competition for these sexual partners did not erupt. Neither silverback showed intensive courtship to another silverback’s partner. There appeared to be a kind of respect for ‘ownership’ of other’s same-sex partners, as observed in heterosexual copulation (Harcourt, 1978, 1981; Watts, 1996). These observations suggest that homosexual interactions involving silverbacks may be purely sexual in character, because they parallel heterosexual interactions."

::"Another difference in homosexual interactions between silverbacks and immatures was the fixed role in mounting for the former. The two silverbacks always mounted the younger individuals, while both blackbacks and sub-adults took the roles of both mounter and mountee."

:: ''note'': Silverback: a fully mature adult male gorilla often dominant in the group. Blackback: a younger, not yet fully mature male gorilla; typically an adolescent or young adult stage.)

*'''Bixler, R. H. (1992). "Do we/should we behave like animals?" In: W. T. O’Donohue & J. H. Geer (Eds.), The sexual abuse of children: Volume I—Theory and research (pp. 81–107). ''Routledge''. doi: 10.4324/9781315799698-7'''
::drosophila
::"Adult males of many drosophila species court the immature and essentially in the same manner in which they court females (McRobert & Tompkins, 1983). Young males, as well as immature females, excite their adult counterparts with both visual and pheromonal stimuli (Gailey, Hall, & Siegel, 1985; Gailey, Jackson, & Siegel, 1985; Siegel, Hall, Gailey, & Kyriacou, 1984; Tompkins, 1984; Zawistowski & Richmond, 1985). Within hours after they have emerged from their pupal cases (eclosed) males begin to lose their homosexual appeal because they start to synthesize a courtship-inhibiting pheromone. Their attractiveness to adult males declines sharply, but does not evaporate entirely, as the courtship-stimulating pheromone that misled adult males is produced in steadily diminishing quantities. [...] Finally, the courted immature males when placed later with mature females mate significantly faster (p 0.001) than do inexperienced males (McRobert & Tompkins, 1988). [...] The same males that court immature conspecifics also court and copulate with mature females. [...] it is likely that it has committed a recognition error (Aiken, 1981; Colgan, 1983; Tompkins, 1989). However, the immature male clearly benefited from its being mistaken for a female and courted."

::rats
::"Moore and Morelli (1979) found that rat mothers spend more time licking the anogenital region of male pups than that of their sisters. The role of genital stimulation in developing efficient excretory habits is well established; perhaps the differential treatment of the sexes is explicable solely by the greater complexity of male excretory morphology. It is also possible that this difference in treatment affects the eventual sexual behavior of the male or even of its mother."

::mammals in general
::"There also is a common pattern of adult-young sex “play” among mammals in normal settings, much of which is initiated by the immature males and some by females (Byers, 1984; Geist, 1971; Grubb, 1974; Hoffman, 1985; Lent, 1979; Schaller & Mirza, 1974; de Waal, 1990; also see Klemm, Sherry, Schake, & Sis, 1983/1984; Tennessen, Price, & Berg, 1985, for homosexual abuse of young by peers and Lott, 1983/1984, for evidence that homosexual mounting and anal penetration occurs in the wild). Parallels to this mammalian pattern are not found in species that do not play, such as ectotherms, most birds, and some mammals (Smith, Pt. 1, 1984; Wilson, 1975)."

::primates in general
::"Immature primates are confronted by and, even more frequently, seek participation in sexual behavior with adults. The young watch adults or harass them when they copulate and do so with obvious interest (Colvin, 1985; Goodall, 1986; Hrdy, 1977; Thierry, 1986; Tutin, 1979; de Waal, 1982). They explore adult genitalia and experience manipulation of their own (Chevalier-Skolnikoff, 1976; Estrada, Estrada, & Ervin, 1977; Goodall, 1968; Nadler, 1985; Schaller, 1963; Thierry, 1986; de Waal, 1982, 1990); they court and are courted (Cheney, 1978; Hayaki, 1985; Hrdy, 1977; Kummer, 1968). Immature males mount and may copulate with their mothers (Bixler, 1981b; Harlow, Joslyn, Senko, & Dopp, 1966; Missakian, 1973; Sugiyama & Koman, 1979); with other mature females (Cheney, 1978; Chevalier-Skolnikoff, 1976; Colvin, 1985; Estrada, Estrada, & Ervin, 1977; Fossey, 1979; Goodall, 1968, 1986; Harcourt, Fossey, Stewart, & Watts, 1980; Hayaki, 1985; Kummer, 1968; Kummer & Kurt, 1963; Sugiyama & Koman, 1979; Takasaki, 1985; Tardif, 1983; Thierry, 1986), and adult males (Chevalier-Skolnikoff, 1974, 1976; Dunbar, 1984). Immature females are less likely to be involved in copulatory-like behavior with adults but it is by no means rare (Abegglen, 1986; Chevalier-Skolnikoff, 1976; Dunbar, 1984; Kummer & Kurt, 1963; Nadler, 1985; Tardif, 1983; de Waal, 1990)."

==Excerpt Graphic Library==

The EGL on '''Broader Perspectives''' has some relevant information. Just right click/save and reproduce by uploading in short-form media to bypass character limits.

{{Template:EGLBP}}

==External links==

*[https://www.greek-love.com/index.php/general-history/pederasty-amongst-primates/pederasty-japanese-macaques-minoo-leca-gunst-vasey-2014 Male Homosexual Behavior in a Free-Ranging All-Male Group of Japanese Macaques at Minoo, Japan] - Jean-Baptiste Leca et al.
*[https://www.greek-love.com/index.php/general-history/pederasty-amongst-primates/pederasty-mountain-gorillas-yamagiwa Intra- and inter-group interactions of an all-male group of virunga mountain gorillas] - Juichi Yamagiwa.

==References==

[[Category:Official Encyclopedia]][[Category:Research: Broader Perspectives]]