FEBRUARY 2003

SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN
A letter in The Irish Times on January 21st.

Madam, as a psychiatrist, I read reports of the Tim Allen trial with increasing bewilderment.The astonishing spin of transforming a case of clear, and self-confessed, child pornography into one meriting collective sympathy for a man described by a psychologist giving evidence on his behalf as a "rescuer" is repulsively fascinating."Rescuer" would appear to be an extraordinarily risque word to choose given the circumstances, suggesting an unspoken, and ultimately not misguided, confidence in the sympathy that was openly displayed in court to the defendant.

In the psychological evidence given by Dr. Tony Humphreys on Tim Allen's behalf, the defendant's behaviour was described as "compulsive".

It is important to point out that paedophilia is not an addictive disorder, is not classified in any internationally accepted definition of mental disorder as an addictive disorder, and does not respond to treatments for addictive disorders.

Paedophiia, rather, is classified as a sexual perversion for which there is no specific effective treatment.This is also the reason why the "treatment" of paedophilia rests with the judicial, rather than the psychiatric, services.I would have thought that an Irish Court would view with a sardonic eye the increasing use of psychiatric labels to "medicalise" anti-social behaviour.

This tendency is not being driven by professional bodies, and while one may be amused by the concept of the Hollywood disorder "sexual addiction" (between consenting adults), this does not apply when one party is a non-consenting child to adult sexual fantasies

Yours, Veronica O'Keane, MB, PhD,MRCPsych,FRCPI.
iNSTITUTE OF PSYCHIATRY, London, SE5.