Lievesley, R ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4957-258X, Harper, C
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3172-0129, Awan, A and Bishop, A,
2025.
Beyond pro- and anti-contact: Understanding the ideologies of people attracted to children.
Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy.
ISSN 0092-623X
(Forthcoming)
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Abstract
In the past decade, there has been increased academic and social attention paid to people who are living in the community and experience sexual and/or romantic attractions to children. Most of this attention has focused on determining risk or identifying treatment needs in abuse prevention contexts. However, research into the ideologies (broadly defined as action-oriented belief systems) of people within this community is still scarce. In this paper, we challenge the common assumption that people who are attracted to children are divisible into pro-contact and anti-contact groups on the issue of sexual interactions with children. Using one of the largest currently available online studies of individuals who are attracted to children (N = 389), we develop a model and associated measurement tool showing how ideological positioning is associated with views about the permissibility of sexual contact with children and the extent to which people experience self-acceptance. We further show how these ideological positions are linked to different self-labeling, treatment needs, and risk. We close the paper by providing a novel framework for understanding the effects of different ideological positions for clinical practice and provide a professional assessment tool for use by therapists working with this population in treatment settings.
Item Type: | Journal article |
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Publication Title: | Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy |
Creators: | Lievesley, R., Harper, C., Awan, A. and Bishop, A. |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis (Routledge) |
Date: | 30 May 2025 |
ISSN: | 0092-623X |
Identifiers: | Number Type 2447981 Other |
Divisions: | Schools > School of Social Sciences |
Record created by: | Jeremy Silvester |
Date Added: | 04 Jun 2025 10:32 |
Last Modified: | 04 Jun 2025 10:32 |
URI: | https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/53690 |
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