Participate in a Survey About Treatment Needs

[regan.yaraskavitch]

Hello!

My name is Regan Yaraskavitch, and I am a Research Assistant at the University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research at The Royal (Canada). I'm here to share my team’s study information and survey link - thank you kindly for your time!

Prevent It: Youth (PI:Y): Engagement Survey for Intervention Targeting Youth who have Sexual Urges Toward Children

Study Aim and Research Questions
The main aim of this study is to evaluate the treatment needs and determine appropriate treatment targets, as well as get a sense of the feasibility of an adapted intervention for youth and young adults who are struggling with their sexual urges or interests toward children. We will seek to answer the following research questions:

1. What are the most important treatment needs/targets of youth and young adults who are struggling with their sexual urges or interests toward children aged 12 or younger?
2. What are possible recruitment strategies for an online, anonymous intervention targeting youth and young adults who are struggling with their sexual urges or interests toward children aged 12 or younger?

Who Can Participate
To participate in this survey, you must be:
1. Between the ages of 16 and 25 years old
2. Experiencing/Experienced sexual urges toward children aged 12 or younger
3. Able to read and write in English

What you’ll be asked to do
You will be asked to complete an online, anonymous survey (meaning your identity will not be known or recorded) that will be used to determine effective treatment needs and targets for an online, anonymous intervention for youth and young adults who are struggling with their sexual urges or interests toward children aged 12 or younger.

This survey will take about 15-20 minutes to complete. If you complete the entire survey, we will donate $20 to one of the World Childhood Foundation’s project partners to thank you for your time. Your identity will remain completely anonymous and you will not be involved with the exchange of funds in any way.

You will be asked to answer questions about your sexual urges or interests toward children and what an effective and engaging treatment would look like in your opinion. If you are between 18-25 years old you will be asked to recall your experiences with your sexual urges or interests toward children when you were 16-17 years old and what an effective and engaging treatment would have looked like to you at these ages.

The questions will be given in different formats. For example, you will be asked to review and select which option(s) best apply to you and rate how important things are to you (or would have been to you) in relation to treatment needs. You will also be asked open-ended questions (meaning you will need to type your own response) about your former treatment experiences.

Interested in participating in this study?
Click https://www.soscisurvey.de/PreventItYouth/ to access the survey

For questions please contact Dr. Sacha Maimone at Sacha.Maimone@theroyal.ca

This study has been reviewed and approved by the ROHCG REB as study # 0121

[BLueRibbon]

This research team went through the proper channels, and we are happy to endorse their study.

Please participate if you meet the criteria.

[Fragment]

I won't be able to participate in this one due to the age requirements. But I hope you get a good response.

I am very happy about this:

We will NOT ask you about any past or current sexual and/or illegal behavior.

MAPs who have acted should not be excluded from research on topics that aren't specifically about non-acting MAPs. The experience of minor-attraction seems largely the same for people who have had legal difficulties as it is for those who haven't.

[WavesInEternity]

I won't be able to participate in this one due to the age requirements.

Same. Not that I ever felt that my minor-attraction required any sort of treatment in and of itself. The severe distress I experienced as a result was entirely due to the social stigma and hatred, associated conflicts with family, etc.

The experience of minor-attraction seems largely the same for people who have had legal difficulties as it is for those who haven't.

Very true. On a related topic, I was recently surprised to see evidence that there is no significant difference in likelihood of offending between anti-c and pro-c MAPs.

[Fragment]

I had a look through the questions, Regan and while generally supportive, I think there is one thing that a lot of people misunderstand when talking about minor attraction. It's summed up in this question:

If you could be sure that no one would ever find out and that you would not be punished, how likely would you be to have sexual contact with a child aged 12 or younger?

I could not answer this without knowing one very critical piece of information. "Is there a child aged 12 or younger that would be interested in sexual contact with me?" I have zero percent chance of sexual contact with an unwilling child. I'd have a very high chance of sexual contact with a minor who is willing if it were totally legal. (I use the word 'willing' because the word 'consent' has a lot of baggage.)

I think there are many MAPs who would share my feelings on this. I highly recommend that in future research such a question either 1) includes the word 'willing' before 'child' or 2) asks about both willing and unwilling children.

One of the biggest misconceptions about MAPs, even non-offending or anti-contact MAPs, is that we are holding ourselves back from evil actions. Sex with an adult may not be a positive thing for minors, that's a research question. But whether or not it's a positive thing in reality, for most of us, in our fantasies, the minor is willing and enjoys the experience. We do not fantasize causing harm.

[WavesInEternity]

One of the biggest misconceptions about MAPs, even non-offending or anti-contact MAPs, is that we are holding ourselves back from evil actions. Sex with an adult may not be a positive thing for minors, that's a research question. But whether or not it's a positive thing in reality, for most of us, in our fantasies, the minor is willing and enjoys the experience. We do not fantasize causing harm.

That's a very good point, and I fully second your recommendation regarding the question you quoted.

Even in my case, while I do have rapey and sadistic desires (pretty unusual for MAPs), it only happened once in my entire life that I've ever briefly felt that I had to keep such desires "under control" in any way, and that was because of a complex combination of factors: 1) I was a 15-year-old teenager who still wrestled with self-denial regarding such desires but also had my libido at its youthful peak; 2) I found myself without any lolicon as a sexual outlet for over a week at the family cottage; 3) there was a 7-year-old girl I was very much in love with running around in an adorable swimsuit on a regular basis.

Nowadays, I've made peace with all aspects of my sexuality, have experimented with hardcore BDSM at length with adult partners and know enacting non-consent with a willing partner can be just as satisfying to me as the "real thing" could ever be, if not more so because of how wonderful it is to connect so deeply with someone that "no" is explicitly redefined as "yes, harder". I am quite confident in my ability to respect my partner's boundaries. (I made a few small mistakes in the beginning, but I learned.) I have no desire to harm anyone and even my most sadistic desires no longer feel "evil" since I know I can fully satisfy them without ever harming anyone, and indeed with my partner being an enthusiastic participant. As a teenager, those desires felt wrong—nearly as much as my paedophilic desires—especially since they totally contradict my broader personality. When I found out that there existed some psychologically stable and sane girls who are genuinely sexually submissive and masochistic, I literally couldn't believe it. It really changed my perspective on sexuality ("Really? You want me to do that to you and you're not insane?"). In retrospect, it was similar to the impact of recently learning the facts regarding AMSC being far from always harmful, and that it was possible for young people to be willing.

In short, in the same way as my answer to the question "Would you ever hurt your partner during sex?" would be conditioned upon whether or not my partner is willing, the same is true if you ask me if I'd have sex with a barely pubescent girl. In both cases, I'd be very cautious, and not primarily because of the law.