Trying to control the reflex of disgust during the last 40 years

  • Auteur:
    Erik van Beek, Ingrid Gerritsma
  • Pdf openbaar:
    Yes

In this article long term changes in public and societal view on and care towards pedophiles are analysed. We wonder if, in broader perspective, the attitude towards pedophiles might be an example of the public attitude to minorities and vulnerable people in general. The main leading question was: has Tijdschrift voor Seksuologie (TvS) been able to catch the changing spirit of time? By using several sources from within and outside TvS, we will show that, since intense polemics during the eighties, the tolerant attitude to pedophiles has disappeared, and has changed into intolerance, fear, defensive and repressive thinking and acting. During the last three decades, silence ruled among professionals on the subject of pedophylia, outside - but definitely inside - TvS, as is shown by a one-sided and unilateral series of publications on pedosexuality and treatment of pedosexuals in TvS during this period.

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