“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

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Lievesley, R ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4957-258X, Swaby, H ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6292-2110, Stevenson, J ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2426-7087 and Harper, CA ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3172-0129, 2025. “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, 51 (1), pp. 22-41. ISSN 0092-623X

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2024.2402320

Abstract

People with sexual attractions to children are often subject to heavy stigmatization, and several studies have started to look at how this affects their mental health. This is likely due to a conflation with offending and sexual risk within society, which translates into academic work on the topic. In this context, little is known about how the experiences of non-offending individuals with attractions to children inform their treatment needs in non-forensic contexts. We conducted anonymous semi-structured interviews with 31 non-offending adult men who are attracted to children, recruited through online forums. The results focus on two superordinate themes central to interpersonal and intrapersonal experiences, and the effects of these on both everyday functioning (‘Living with a sexual interest in children’), and perceived treatment needs (‘Establishing treatment targets’). The findings have implications for the effective design and delivery of both preventative and healthcare-related support services, particularly in relation to early intervention and assisting this population in living full lives with their sexual attractions.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy
Creators:	Lievesley, R., Swaby, H., Stevenson, J. and Harper, C.A.
Publisher:	Routledge
Date:	2025
Volume:	51
Number:	1
ISSN:	0092-623X
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1080/0092623X.2024.2402320 DOI 2204890 Other
Rights:	© 2024 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	02 Sep 2024 11:01
Last Modified:	13 Jan 2025 09:58
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/52153