How does society view minor-attracted people and what effect does this have on their wellbeing and help-seeking behaviour?

Abstract

Minor-attracted persons (MAPs), or individuals who identify themselves as having a sexual attraction to children are a highly stigmatised population. This study sought to build on existing research about the stigmatisation of minor-attracted persons (MAPs) by examining how the general public perceives MAPs and how this marries with how MAPs perceive the public to view them. We also examined what effect these perceptions have on the wellbeing and help-seeking behaviours of MAPs. The study used a cross-sectional, between-groups design, with data collected via an anonymous online survey. Two samples were collected: a sample of MAPs recruited from online forums Virtuous Pedophiles and B4Uact (n = 94); and a sample of the general public recruited using the paid survey platform Prolific (n = 98). We found that the general public had generally negative views of MAPs in relation to ideas of dangerousness, disgust, unpredictability and untrustworthiness. This was consistent with how MAPs thought the general public would perceive them. We also found that MAPs had significantly lower levels of wellbeing than the general public, except for negative emotions and loneliness for which there was no significant difference. Internalised and externalised stigma was found to be associated with wellbeing of MAPs, with internalised stigma having a stronger relationship with wellbeing than externalised stigma. Both internalised and externalised stigma were not found to be associated with actual help-seeking however internalised stigma was associated with considering seeking help. The results from this study largely support an existing theoretical framework of stigma-related stress developed for MAPs (Jahnke et al., 2015), except for how barriers to treatment are conceptualised in the framework, due to no significant association with stigma and actual help-seeking.