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Handedness in pedophilia and hebephilia

James M Cantor1, Philip E Klassen, Robert Dickey

  • 1Law and Mental Health Program, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 250 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1R8, Canada. james_cantor@camh.net

Archives of Sexual Behavior
|July 13, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Non-right-handedness is significantly more common in men with pedophilia, suggesting a neurological link. This finding is comparable to rates seen in autism spectrum disorder.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychology
  • Forensic Science

Background:

  • Pedophilia and hebephilia involve sexual interests in prepubescent and pubescent children, respectively.
  • Previous research suggested a link between non-right-handedness and pedophilia, but findings were inconsistent.
  • Understanding neurological correlates may aid in developing targeted interventions and prevention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between handedness and sexual interest in prepubescent and pubescent children among adult men.
  • To explore potential neurological underpinnings of pedophilia and hebephilia by examining non-right-handedness rates.
  • To clarify the relationship between handedness and the characteristics of sexual offenses.

Main Methods:

  • Assessed 404 adult men with illegal or clinically significant sexual behaviors using the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory and phallometric responses to various erotic stimuli.
  • Recorded victim demographics (sex and age) for offenders.
  • Combined data with a previous sample and analyzed handedness in relation to the age group of greatest erotic interest, differentiating between intrafamilial and non-intrafamilial offenses.

Main Results:

  • Right-handedness scores negatively correlated with arousal to prepubescent stimuli and positively with adult stimuli.
  • Non-right-handedness was approximately two-fold higher in men offending against prepubescent children compared to those offending against adults.
  • This association strengthened to three-fold higher after excluding incest offenders, suggesting a specific link to pedophilia.

Conclusions:

  • The elevated rates of non-right-handedness in pedophilia are comparable to those in pervasive developmental disorders like autism.
  • These findings suggest a potential neurological component in the development of pedophilia and hebephilia.
  • Further research into neurodevelopmental factors may be crucial for understanding and addressing these paraphilias.

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