PhD thesis on MAP stigma

[Jim Burton]

I noticed this just today. Funny that it was submitted at the same university as Gemma Ahearne!

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... ed_Persons

[Fragment]

It seems pretty clear that hearing the actual voices of MAPs seems to be the most important thing in reducing stigma and humanising.

Simply providing information even has the potential to backfire and cause more negative reactions. I think that's a real warning for MAP activism going forward.

This entailed a one-page article developed by the researchers on child sexual abuse, minor attraction, treatments, and attitudes towards treatment. Following the intervention, participants to report significantly more negative attitudes, and perceived MAPs as being more dangerous. Furthermore, participants were more likely to view treatment as a waste of resources, and report that MAPs were fundamentally different and could not be reasoned with. Authors noted that the educational intervention may not have had the desired effects since exposing participants to common myths may have subtly reinforced them, or led to mistrust due to the lack of citations within the information.

Results showed that education about paedophilic orientations and extrinsic non-offending motivation led participants to hold significantly stronger negative apprehensions and emotions, higher social distance, and punitive attitudes.

[Fragment]

I was made aware that my comments assumed readership of the thesis, and to someone that hadn't read it, they implied that providing information has a negative impact. That's not correct.

There were 10 studies analysed in the thesis. Of these, studies that focused on MAP's actual voices resulted in a reduction in stigma. However some of the studies, particularly Jara & Jeglic (2021), found that simply provision of educational information actually increased negative perceptions towards MAPs.

This implies that the kind of information we provide is very important. Factual information, presented poorly, can make people double down on their negative beliefs.

Instead, it seems, trying to grow compassion towards MAPs is a better path for stigma reduction.