Our brain he is always to blame for all the acts we commit, both good and bad.
What we are and what we do is the result of the control it exercises over us, although from our birth the circumstances under which we live or the education we receive can shape in some way what determines our neurobiology.
This is the case of pedophiles; who, as you know, are people who are sexually attracted to little children. The fact may remain a simple attraction that does not even have to be externalized, but it can also be taken to the extreme, making them commit truly deplorable crimes.
Is it easy to study the pedophile brain?
Know them brain traits of the pedophiles is very important, since it can serve to anticipate their actions and prevent them from ending up committing terrible crimes against victims as helpless as children.
However, it is not an easy task; since, as I said in the introduction, many pedophiles never commit acts that denote that they are, making it very difficult to find enough samples to carry out representative studies.
Even so, a few have been carried out, which conclude with different theories about the brain origin of pedophilia.
Theories on the neurobiological bases of pedophilia
On the one hand, according to Dr. James Cantor, Center for Addictions and Mental Health of Toronto, the problem lies in an error in the brain connections, which leads to associating the vision of young children with sexual desire instead of with the instinct of protection and nurturingWhich would be logical for someone with a normal brain.
In addition, through his research, consisting of examining the brain of a group of pedophiles through the magnetic resonance, this scientist has also observed that there is a great correlation between the presence of pedophile behaviors and the fact of being left-handed or ambidextrous.
Does this mean that someone left-handed is more likely to be attracted to children? Of course, not, but it does serve to determine that pedophilia may arise in the fetus’ brain during first trimester of pregnancy, in the same way as the predominance of the use of the left hand. The reasons why this occurs are not at all clear, but could be due to factors such as stress or malnutrition from the mother during this stage.
On the other hand, according to a study from 2014, this disorder may be due to a brain defect which leads to finding immature faces attractive due to a malfunction of the areas in charge of visual processing.
To verify this, they also studied magnetic resonance the brains of a group of volunteers, with people recognized as pedophiles and others who showed sexual preference for adults. They were shown Photos both children and adults and it was verified how and when the areas related to face processing and sexual attraction, noting that the activated zones were exactly the same in both cases, but that in the subjects no pedfilos When viewing the images of children a inhibition of the regions causing sexual attraction that did not appear in the other group.
The influence of the environment is also important
Does everything we’ve seen so far mean that pedophiles are doomed to abuse children? Logically, no. As I said before, many pedophiles are aware of this attraction, but they fight not to externalize it and never harm anyone.
In the same way that not all Men attracted to adults go around raping women, not all pedophiles harm children, so other factors such as education or the environment in which it grows.
Some people cross off pedophilia as a type of vampirism: if the vampire bites you you become like him and if they abuse you as a child, you will do the same when you grow up. This is a bit of an exaggeration, but I do know that if a person’s brain is oriented to this type of attraction, having grown up witnessing scenes where children are harmed can lead to committing this type of crimes.
So it is very important educate in respect to others and contribute psychological help in case it is necessary.
If everything still goes wrong and finally the subject ends up assaulting or abusing a child, the brain is not an excuse and the pedophile must be severely condemnedFor there is nothing more deplorable and petty than to harm someone as innocent as a child. You have the brain you have.
