Pedophilia is back in the news. A furor arose after the American Psychological Association published a study suggesting that sex between adults and willing minors causes no lasting psychological damage, and that accounts of pedophilia are often overstated and should be described in more positive terms. "A willing encounter ... would be labeled simply 'adult-child sex,' a value-neutral term," the study's authors said. "A willing encounter between an adolescent and an adult with positive reactions... would be labeled scientifically as 'adult-adolescent sex.' " One of the study's authors, Robert Bauserman of the University of Michigan, had previously argued against the taboo as a contributor to a 1990 special issue of the Journal of Homosexuality that was devoted to the question of sex between men and boys.

Recently the Pulitzer Prize, the Obie, and the New York Drama Circle award were bestowed on a play, How I Learned to Drive, which portrays a sexual relationship between a 40-year-old man and his 11-year-old niece. The director of the Los Angeles production, Mark Brokaw, says "it's not about pedophilia as much as it's about a very special, very singular relationship between these two individuals." Meanwhile, free speech enthusiasts are fighting community efforts to keep photo books such as David Hamilton's The Age of Innocence out of bookstores. Reviewing the book, Time writer Bruce Handy described its photos of nude children carrying captions like "Not unless—or until—I say so!" as "creepy," especially considering that Hamilton freely admits his intent to arouse. The book, Handy concludes, "portrays real girls as ripening, imminently deflowerable teases. Doesn't that make them fair game, and isn't that what children are never supposed to be?"

Finally, Insight reports that in several divorce cases in California and Utah, custody of children has been awarded to fathers accused of abusing them. Under the theory of "parental alienation syndrome," estranged wives may be prone to make spousal or child abuse accusations against their husbands during contentious custody cases that their children then believe. The theory's critics cite a lack of supporting research that would help determine the validity of these abuse accounts—other than whether a child demonstrates negative feelings towards the father.

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