padraig (u.s.)
a monkey that will go ape
!!
that's not a dumb question at all, but I don't think it's possible, at least with the current level of knowledge & technology. it's like the search for a "gay gene"; people have this idea that there's a genetic switch and you just flick it and bam! no more gay son. but that's not how genetics works, not at all. the issue is that sexual orientation/preference isn't a trait in the same way that eye color is. clearly genetic predisposition is a huge influence, but (especially w/r/t pedophilia) there are so many environmental factors and I think it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to separate out what influence comes from what, in terms of doing studies that would give you usable data.
incidentally, I encourage you to exhibit a healthy skepticism any time you see anyone making hard & fast genetic claims about a topic as fuzzy as sexuality.
edit: nomad beat me to the punch with a different answer, but I think both of our answers are right. it's true that many child molesters have high testosterone levels, which you can look at as a genetic disposition towards high production of that hormone. I don't know if any studies have been done to show a causation (rather than merely a correlation) between high testosterone and child molestation. even you did do such a study, again, you'd have to some way of separating out the influence of high testosterone levels from other factors.
chemical castration, AFAIK, just kills the sex drive altogether, it doesn't actually take away any of the underlying desires. likely explaining the high recidivism rate.
this might be a dumb or potentially offensive question: has anyone ever tried to demonstrate that some people are more genetically predisposed for paedophillia?
that's not a dumb question at all, but I don't think it's possible, at least with the current level of knowledge & technology. it's like the search for a "gay gene"; people have this idea that there's a genetic switch and you just flick it and bam! no more gay son. but that's not how genetics works, not at all. the issue is that sexual orientation/preference isn't a trait in the same way that eye color is. clearly genetic predisposition is a huge influence, but (especially w/r/t pedophilia) there are so many environmental factors and I think it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to separate out what influence comes from what, in terms of doing studies that would give you usable data.
incidentally, I encourage you to exhibit a healthy skepticism any time you see anyone making hard & fast genetic claims about a topic as fuzzy as sexuality.
edit: nomad beat me to the punch with a different answer, but I think both of our answers are right. it's true that many child molesters have high testosterone levels, which you can look at as a genetic disposition towards high production of that hormone. I don't know if any studies have been done to show a causation (rather than merely a correlation) between high testosterone and child molestation. even you did do such a study, again, you'd have to some way of separating out the influence of high testosterone levels from other factors.
chemical castration, AFAIK, just kills the sex drive altogether, it doesn't actually take away any of the underlying desires. likely explaining the high recidivism rate.
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