Gerontophilia

For the film, see Gerontophilia (film).
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Gerontophilia is the sexual preference for the elderly. A person with such a sexual preference is a gerontophile. The word gerontophilia was coined in 1901 by Richard von Krafft-Ebing.[1] It derives from Greek: geron, meaning "old man or woman" and philie, meaning "love".[2] Gerontophilia is classified as a paraphilia, but is not mentioned in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or International Classification of Diseases.[1]

The prevalence of gerontophilia is unknown.[1] A study of pornographic search terms on a peer-to-peer network reported that 0.15% had gerontophilic themes.[3] Sex offenders with elderly victims do not necessarily have gerontophilia. There are other possible motivations for these offenses, such as rage or sadism, that may not involve a sexual preference for the elderly. There are no studies showing that most such offenders are gerontophiles. In one small study, two of six sex offenders against the elderly evinced gerontophilic tendencies.[4] Gerontophilia can also be expressed with consenting elderly partners in a legal context.[1][5]

Research on gerontophilia is limited to a small number of case studies, beginning with a paper by French physician Charles Féré in 1905. Féré described a 27-year-old man who rejected an arranged marriage with a 20-year-old "beauty" in favor of a 62-year-old woman.[1] Such studies commonly report that the subject had an early sexual experience with a much older woman.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Janssen, D.F. (2014). ""Gerontophilia": A Forensic Archaism". Sexual Offender Treatment 9 (1). ISSN 1862-2941.
  2. ↑ Kaul, A.; Duffy, S. (1991). "Gerontophilia: A case report". Medicine, Science and the Law 31: 110–114.
  3. ↑ Hammond, S., Quayle, E., Kirakowski, J., O'Halloran, E., & Wynne, F. (2009). An examination of problematic paraphilic use of peer to peer facilities. Conference proceedings: Advances in the analysis of online paedophile activity. Paris, France. p. 65.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ball, H. N. (2005). "Sexual offending on elderly women: A review". Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology 16 (1): 127-138.
  5. ↑ Milner, Joel S., Dopke, Cynthia A., and Crouch, Julie L. (2008). "Paraphilia Not Otherwise Specified: Psychopathology and Theory". In Laws, D. Richard. Sexual Deviance: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment, 2nd edition. The Guilford Press. p. 388.