The Problem With "Predator Catching" Culture

[mrlolicon93]

In this video this guy explains his opinions on the whole predator catching trend and why he thinks predator catching and the more recent stigma against men finding teenagers attractive have to do with not protecting kids but rather demonizing men and male sexual preferences.

Here it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwzJ8wNpqoM

[WavesInEternity]

He has a very conservative view of what supposedly constitutes "sexual morality" (for the purposes of procreation and long-term partnership? oh my...), which I can't remotely agree with and taints his entire message, but otherwise, he does make two good points:

1) Yes, that trend of vigilantes "hunting sexual predators" has been getting out of hand, although it's nothing new. Chris Hansen's show was already morally wrong in my view.

2) He also makes an insightful observation in pointing out that the aging population and slight skew toward males has been making young women an increasingly scarce resource while at the same time ever-older decision-makers have been infantilizing young people more and more.

[MemeticTheory]

"More punitive responses to vigilantism were associated with being low in fundamentalism, extrinsic religiosity, and evangelism, and with being high in devotionalism and intrinsic religiosity. Motivations were more frequent predictors of responses to vigilantism than beliefs. Results are the first step in explaining relationships between religious characteristics and responses to vigilantism." -Relationship between religious characteristics and responses to vigilantism

[BLueRibbon]

'Predator catching culture' is nothing but a thinly veiled excuse for hunting people for sport. These people, and their viewers, would do the same to other sexual (or ethnic) minorities if they could get away with it.

[PorcelainLark]

"More punitive responses to vigilantism were associated with being low in fundamentalism, extrinsic religiosity, and evangelism, and with being high in devotionalism and intrinsic religiosity. Motivations were more frequent predictors of responses to vigilantism than beliefs. Results are the first step in explaining relationships between religious characteristics and responses to vigilantism." -Relationship between religious characteristics and responses to vigilantism

So we should be militant atheists? Or at least look for potential allies among them?

[MemeticTheory]

"More punitive responses to vigilantism were associated with being low in fundamentalism, extrinsic religiosity, and evangelism, and with being high in devotionalism and intrinsic religiosity. Motivations were more frequent predictors of responses to vigilantism than beliefs. Results are the first step in explaining relationships between religious characteristics and responses to vigilantism." -Relationship between religious characteristics and responses to vigilantism

So we should be militant atheists? Or at least look for potential allies among them?

Conservative Religion, Internalized Homonegativity, and Health
Outcomes
A signifcant body of research has found religion, and particularly conservative
religion, to be associated with higher levels of IH (Crowell et al., 2015; Grey
et al., 2013; Kulik, 2013; Quinn et al., 2015; Shilo & Savaya, 2012; Shilo et al.,
2016; Sowe et al., 2014; Stern & Wright, 2017). However, this literature also
largely relies upon religiously unafliated, inactive, or disafected samples of
sexual minorities and, as a consequence, may have limited validity for conservatively religious sexual minorities (Szymanski et al., 2008). Some IH scales may
in fact more accurately measure aspects of conservative religious belief rather
than the efects of those beliefs (Lefevor et al., 2020; Rosik et al., 2021), particularly as many scales include items pertaining to the morality of homosexuality
(Choi et al., 2017; Grey et al., 2013; Ross & Rosser, 1996). Movement away from
prioritizing a traditional religious identity to adopting a LGB sexual identity may
represent a fundamental alteration of one’s core organizing self-schema, including meaning attributions and moral frameworks (Lefevor et al., 2020), as well as
one’s primary support system.
Much research has linked IH to a variety of poor psychological and other
health outcomes. Higher levels of IH have been associated with poorer selfesteem and sense of self, greater psychological distress, increased depression and
anxiety, fewer social supports, greater sexual identity concealment, and greater
psychosocial difculties (Grey et al., 2013; Puckett et al., 2017a, 2017b; Rosser
et al., 2008; Sowe et al., 2014; Szymanski & Ikizler, 2013; Szymanski et al.,
2008)

"This study investigated the relationships between negative attitudes towards
homosexuals and two traditional ideologies: religiosity and nationalism, and explored the
link with attachment style. An Internet survey yielded 290 participants, of highly diverse
ages, nationalities, and religious backgrounds. The participants provided demographic
details, and completed measures of adult attachment, nationalism, religiosity, and both
explicit and implicit measures of homonegativity. The results indicated that both nationalism and religiosity were highly significant predictors of homonegativity. In the religious
group, homonegativity and religiosity were positively related. This finding was greater for
less securely attached individuals. Avoidance moderated the relationship in religious
females, while anxiety moderated the relationship in religious males. No significant
attachment moderation was found between the nationalism–homonegativity relationship"

"Overt sexual prejudice is declining, but heterosexuals who report little to no prejudice may still harbor subtle biases against gay men and lesbians. We examined implicit prejudice in a sample of 37 heterosexual college students who reported little or no sexual prejudice, using the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) and psychophysiological measures of affect. Skin conductance, heart rate, and facial electromyographic responses were recorded as participants viewed photos of mixed- and same-sex couples kissing and rated them on valence, arousal, and disgustingness. Sexual prejudice was evident in implicit (AMP) ratings and explicit ratings of valence and disgustingness, but not in psychophysiological responses. Results suggest that implicit prejudice harbored by young adults who endorse low levels of sexual prejudice is more cognitively than emotionally based, unlike the fear-based reactions commonly described for racism. Limitations and future directions for research are discussed."

Homonegativity is a persistent problem in society that negatively affects
communities. Prejudice against homosexuals continues to exist alongside
homonegativity brought on by religiosity. This highlights how homonegativity still
exists and the necessity of ongoing initiatives to fight prejudice and encourage
acceptance, particularly in religious situations. This thesis used a quantitative comparative design and examined how these four dimensions of homonegativity:
homophobia, violence, discrimination, and stereotyping are perceived by Catholic
lesbian and gay individuals from three generations which are the Generation Z,
Millennials, and Generation X. The data were gathered through a moderately
structured survey, and the results were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis Test,
and also utilized Dwass-Steel-Critchlow-Fligner pairwise comparison for the post
hoc analysis. According to the results of this study, a significant minority of people
still experience moderate to high levels of homonegativity. While the Generation X
perceive lower levels of homonegativity, the experiences of those from the
Generation Y/Millennials are similar to those of Generation Z. These findings
highlight the continued challenges faced by Catholic lesbians and gays, especially
among younger generations, despite greater societal acceptance. The results
emphasize the significance of tackling these challenges via specific programs and
pushing to guarantee a safer and more inclusive environment for LGBTQ+
individuals and to further the society's understanding of how generational
differences in the experience of homonegativity manifest"



I actually don't know, as the studies above show mixed results, and to translate this pedonegativity/MAPnegativity.. I don't know either.. but I could guess making a pedophobic/MAPphobic scale questionnaire could be results-based, if it scientific and 'objective' like looking at homophobia scale... or at least dimensions of homonegativity first... "four dimensions of homonegativity:
homophobia, violence, discrimination, and stereotyping" so pedonegativity would be... Pedophobia(including ageism and ableism), violence, discrimination, and stereotyping..." and now back to the homophobia scale...

"This study aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of the homophobia scale in students attending religion-based universities in Indonesia. This research is important as homosexuality is a controversial issue in the country and is still a topic of debate. The Homophobia Scale is a tool that assesses attitudes towards homosexuality through 17 items measuring positive affirmation, negative cognition, and the perceived threat of homosexual behavior. The scale was adapted for the Indonesian context, which is predominantly religious, based on The Heterosexual Attitudes Towards Homosexuality (HATH) Scale and Items, originally translated by bilingual experts. The translated scale was then reviewed for content by psychologists and communication experts, and field-tested for reliability and validity. Data from 327 students aged 18–35 from both state and private religion-based universities were analyzed using Rasch model analyses, including principal component analysis (PCA), reliability analysis, and differential item functioning (DIF) assessment. The study found that the homophobia scale accounted for 42.4 % of the raw variance, indicating its unidimensionality. The scale demonstrated an acceptable level of personal reliability and excellent reliability for individual items. Results revealed significant demographic effects, with age and study program showing more differential item functioning (DIF). Male students were more tolerant towards homosexuals than females. Additionally, students at state universities tended to be more tolerant but held negative views of homosexuality when associated with AIDS. In conclusion, the homophobia scale assessed in this study exhibits promising construct validity and sufficient psychometric properties. The findings indicate that negative stigma towards homosexuals and homophobia still persist among students at religion-based universities in Indonesia, despite limited interaction with homosexuals."

"The intensity and level of homophobia in society depends on public awareness regarding the significance of the number of homosexuals in society, which is becoming more prominent from time to time (Morris, 2019). Research conducted by Alfred Kinsey and colleagues in the late 1940s and early 1950s further increased awareness that 13 % of men and 7 % of women had homosexual tendencies (Spiegelhalter, 2015). Many people reject homosexuals based on their personal beliefs, saying that homosexuality is unacceptable in their society (Barragán-Medero & Pérez-Jorge, 2020). This leads to isolation, verbal harassment, insults, slurs, threats of harm, and even physical abuse, particularly among university students (Allen, 2019; Mathies et al., 2019). This behavior reflects homophobia, which involves harmful actions as a way to justify disliking people with different sexual preferences. Research shows that those who believe sexual orientation is a “choice” tend to be less tolerant of homosexuality compared to those who believe it is beyond an individual's control. Similarly, individuals who have interacted with lesbian or gay individuals tend to have more positive attitudes towards homosexuals than those who have not had such interactions (Kimmel, 2017)."

"In his study, Fyfe (1983) demonstrates that homophobia can manifest at three different levels: 1) cultural homophobia, which seeks to uphold traditional gender roles in conservative perspectives; 2) homophobic attitudes, which encompass a series of consistently negative attitudes towards homosexuals; 3) homophobia as a personality trait correlated with rigidity, authoritarianism, conservatism, and an intolerance of ambiguity and deviation. The preservation of conservative gender norms in culture is influenced by cultural norms upheld by religion (Wilets, 2016). However, religion is not always the primary influence shaping homophobic behavior (Schulte & Battle, 2004) and in some cases, does not contribute to homophobic attitudes at all (Wilets, 2016). While it is true that religion often strengthens or endorses positive attitudes towards homosexual qualities, it's essential to note that “religion” and “homophobia” are not synonymous. Negative attitudes towards homophobia are evident in the form of derogatory remarks and acts of violence stemming from animosity towards gays and lesbians (Odenbring & Johansson, 2021)."

So basically, a science-based pedophobia scale questionnaire would probably need to be multidimensional in aspects on youthphobia(abilites,age-based laws, adultism etc, pedophobia in general(denial of erotic age orientation, violent and ill, dangerous stereotypes etc) , ageism and'' 'knowledge of ageism' 'science of age(ism)' Teleionormativity attitudes and internationalization, and pedonegativity amongst teleiophiles, right wing authoritarianism(RWA), social dominance orientation(SDO), erotophobia and whorephobia..and more..I won't banter on at this point about it, I guess the scale could help with some defeating stereotypes and having people look at their biases...

[mrlolicon93]

'Predator catching culture' is nothing but a thinly veiled excuse for hunting people for sport. These people, and their viewers, would do the same to other sexual (or ethnic) minorities if they could get away with it.

Very true.

[MemeticTheory]

'Predator catching culture' is nothing but a thinly veiled excuse for hunting people for sport. These people, and their viewers, would do the same to other sexual (or ethnic) minorities if they could get away with it.

"Defining moral self-licensing
Moral self-licensing occurs when evidence of a person's virtue frees him or her to act less-than-virtuously [4]. For example, an opportunity to choose environmentally friendly products increased subsequent dishonesty [2], agreeing to provide help reduced people's charity donations [6], and endorsing a Black politician (Barack Obama) increased people's willingness to favor Whites over Blacks [7]. Apparently, the chance to establish ‘moral credentials’ [3] reduced people's inhibition against"

"Acting virtuously can subsequently free people to act less-than-virtuously. We review recent insights into this moral self-licensing effect: first, it is reliable, though modestly sized, and occurs in both real-world and laboratory contexts; second, planning to do good, reflecting on foregone bad deeds, or observing ingroup members’ good deeds is sufficient to license less virtuous behavior; third, when people need a license, they can create one by strategically acting or planning to act more virtuously, exaggerating the sinfulness of foregone bad deeds, or reinterpreting past behavior as moral credentials; and fourth, moral self-licensing effects seem most likely to occur when people interpret their virtuous behavior as demonstrating their lack of immorality but not signaling that morality is a core part of their self-concept." -When virtue leads to villainy: advances in research on moral self-licensing
Vigilantes monitor their social environment for signs of wrongdoing and administer unauthorized
punishment on those who they perceive to be violating laws, social norms, or moral standards. We
investigated whether the willingness to become a vigilante can be predicted by grandiose selfperceptions about one’s communality (communal narcissism) and enjoyment of cruelty (sadism).
As hypothesized, findings demonstrated both variables to be positively related to becoming a
vigilante as measured by reports of past and anticipated vigilante behavior (Study 1) and by
dispositional tendencies toward vigilantism (Studies 1 and 2). We also found communal narcissism
and sadism predicted the perceived effectiveness of vigilante actions exhibited by others (Study 2)
and the intention to engage in vigilantism after witnessing a norm violation (Study 3). Finally,
Study 3 also demonstrated that the tendency for communal narcissists and sadists to become a
vigilante might vary based on the expected consequences of the observed norm violation." -Communal Narcissism and Sadism as Predictors of
Everyday Vigilantism


"We test the theoretical and practical utility of the vigilante identity, a self-perception of being
the kind of person who monitors their environment for signs of norm violations, and who
punishes the perceived norm violator, without formal authority. We develop and validate a
measure of the vigilante identity scale (VIS) and demonstrate the scale’s incremental
predictive validity above and beyond seemingly related constructs (Studies 1 – 2e). We show
that the VIS predicts hypervigilance towards organizational wrongdoing (Study 2, 4),
punishment intentions and behavior in and of organizations (Studies 3 and 4) as well as in the
wider community (Study 1), and is activated under organizational justice failure conditions
(Study 3). We maintain that vigilantes can impact organizations and society from both inside
and outside organizational walls and we discuss theoretical implications for scholarship on
vigilantes, as well as on morality, social norms, and third-party punishment in organizations" -The vigilante identity and organizations


https://wiki.yesmap.net/wiki/Vigilantism David McDonald. (2014). 'The Politics of Hate Crime: Neoliberal Vigilance, Vigilantism and the Question of Paedophilia', in International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 68-80.
Newgon: Discusses cases such as "Bijan Ebrahimi – a 44‐year‐old Bristol man – was beaten, set alight and murdered" (p. 72) in July 2013, after local residents mistook his attempts to photograph young people vandalizing his garden and branded him a pedophile (see below abstract)
Abstract: "This article examines vigilantism and the question of hate crime. Broader shifts in penology have occurred in tandem with changes in the ways in which child sexual abuse has come to be understood. Using these shifts as a contextual backdrop, the article examines vigilance against the fear of crime where it manifests into vigilantism against real or perceived paedophiles. In doing so, the article attends to the politics of hate crime: namely, whether these actions belong within the confines of hate crime provisions or, alternatively, whether such provisions should expressly exclude the category of paedophilia. In its entirety, the article interrogates the dimensions of disgust associated with paedophilia, and explores issues arising from an alignment between paedophilia and hate crime."
[...]
"When police did finally intervene, it was to arrest Ebrahimi and take him away for questioning. Upon this, locals gathered to chant ‘paedo, paedo’. On inspection of his camera, the reality of the conflict within this public housing complex was revealed. Ebrahimi had been taking photographs of locals damaging his garden hanging pots, which he himself had complained to police about, and explained that he had taken the images as evidence. Ebrahimi’s family have since described him as ‘a quiet, disabled man whose only joys in life came from his horticultural interests and his cat’ (cited in Farmer 2013: no pagination)." (p. 72).
"Another relatively recent case – albeit far less devastating in its consequences – was heard before the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal in 2007. In this case the court was required to give consideration to whether such acts – vigilantism motivated by perceived paedophilia – may be considered hate crimes. In 2005, Darren Brian Dunn and Ibrahim Arja were neighbours in a complex of public housing units in the Sydney suburb of Riverwood. In the early hours of 29 August 2005, while Arja was overseas, Dunn set fire to chairs on the porch of Arja’s unit [... resulting] in significant damage to the complex of units, which were subsequently deemed uninhabitable."
"While Dunn’s belief that Arja was a paedophile was found to be erroneous, the sentencing judge held that a significant factor motivating Dunn was his ‘feeling s of antipathy towards his neighbour Mr Arja who he believed without justification at all, was a paedophile’. These findings, the judge ruled, constituted a significant aggravating factor [...] The court’s ruling was unambiguous. It found that:
Applying s21 A(2)(h) it is clear that the offences come fairly and squarely within it. The offence was motivated by a hatred or prejudice against Mr Arja solely because the applicant believed him to be a member of a particular group, ie paedophiles.

The consequence of this finding was the recognition that a belief that an individual is a paedophile is sufficient to constitute an aggravating factor in sentencing: that is to say, the belief an individual is a paedophile may give an act the character of a hate crime." (p. 73).

OCAG (Online Child Abuse Activist Groups)- Politically correct British term for "anti-paedophile" vigilantes, incorrectly implying that child abuse is their primary motivating factor.(Maybe they should be called 'Perceived Norm Violation Vigilante Groups')...? (PNVVGs)