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ABOUT THE AUTHOR My background is actually in mathematics and education. I have a master's degree in applied mathematics, and I recently completed my doctorate in mathematics education at the University of Maryland College Park. I have worked as a mathematician and computer programmer, but most of my adult life has been spent teaching. I taught high school math for 13 years, and I am currently a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics at Georgetown University. I am also a Christian, in the Anabaptist tradition. Anabaptism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes adult baptism, discipleship, service to others, separation of church and state, and peace and justice. The main Anabaptist groups are the Mennonites and the Church of the Brethren (of which I am a member). I also have great respect for the Quakers, who place a similar emphasis on service, peace, and justice. I became interested in the issue of juvenile sex offenders and child perpetrators in the summer of 2001. That was when I met a gifted young college student whose character and academic talent impressed me. He had finished his high school requirements in ninth grade, and had spent the rest of his high school career taking Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses. He was moving quickly through a rigorous college program in a high-tech field. But he also told me about
a disturbing ordeal he had been forced to endure during his high school
years. At the age of 16, he had been falsely accused of child
molestation. Although he was not guilty, and was never even charged, he
and his parents were pressured by police to have him assessed by
plethysmograph and placed in sex-offender treatment using aversive
arousal reconditioning therapy. When I heard his story, I thought: This is therapy? Connecting a boy's genitals to a device? Lie detector tests? Forcing the patient to make up and tape record sexual fantasies? Calling him “deviant”? As a teacher, I would have been seriously reprimanded, if not dismissed, for calling a student “stupid,” and “deviant” is certainly a much harsher epithet than “stupid.” And what about forcing someone who's never committed a crime to label themselves as an offender? Victim? Cycle of abuse? There was no victim. There was no abuse. I wondered why his parents would go along with this. I decided to try to learn more about this therapy. The more I read, the sicker I felt, especially as I read about the treatment of younger children. This young man said he was in a group for 14-17 year olds, and there was a different group for 11-13 year olds that met afterward. After doing some research, it began to make sense. Hopefully, you've read the rest of this site: The fear and lack of knowledge related to youth sexuality. The use of unreliable polygraphs and plethysmographs to assess deviance without any scientific basis. Parents who, out of fear and lack of information, rely on the experts. Experts who assume that all children judged as abnormal are the same: aggressive, monstrously pathological, and manipulative. The belief that the evil within these youth justifies extreme experimental methods without accountability or ethical constraints. I'm hoping that the only reason this barbaric treatment goes on is because it's hidden from the public and mainstream mental health professionals. Hopefully, regardless of our beliefs about sexual morality and social acceptability, we can agree that sexual abuse of youth must stop, whether it occurs through coerced sex, or through coerced treatment that is psychologically traumatic, inhumane, and based on ignorance. Geoff Birky
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