PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Robert Prentky
AU  - Howard Barbaree
TI  - Commentary: Hebephilia—A Would-be Paraphilia Caught in the Twilight Zone Between Prepubescence and Adulthood
DP  - 2011 Dec 01
TA  - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
PG  - 506--510
VI  - 39
IP  - 4
4099  - http://jaapl.org/content/39/4/506.short
4100  - http://jaapl.org/content/39/4/506.full
SO  - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law2011 Dec 01; 39
AB  - This commentary addresses the controversy surrounding the proposed Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Revision (DSM-5) diagnosis of pedohebephilia. We examine adult male sexual attraction to young pubescent females and whether such attraction is deviant and constitutes a mental disorder, and, independent of that question, whether there is any defensible basis for asserting that hebephilia is a legitimate paraphilia. We conclude our analysis by looking at three profiles: adults with sexualized interest in pre- and postpubescent children, adults with sexualized interest in adult and pubescent adolescent women, and adults with exclusive sexualized interest in young pubescent women. We suggest that in the third instance of exclusivity, the Criterion B requirement of impairment may become critical to legitimizing a diagnosis of hebephilia.