Hi all, my name is Isobel and I am a student at Cambridge University, studying criminology and sociology. I am completing a dissertation arguing against the stigmatisation of MAPs. As part of my research, I will be interviewing several non-offending paedophiles (or NOMAPs, if you prefer), to discuss how stigma has affected your lives, and how communities like this one may reduce the harms associated with stigma.
These interviews will be conducted virtually with complete anonymity guaranteed; I do not need to know your name, age, or any identifying information, and participants are welcome to use voice-altering software, cover your faces, or talk without any video software at all (though I would prefer to use a video call, just to make conversation easier). The interviews will last approximately 60-90 minutes, and be primarily conducted in English. Interviews will be recorded so that I can transcribe them, though the recordings will be stored securely and accessible only to me, and participants may read over their transcript and redact any statements they would like. All recordings and transcripts will be deleted after my research is completed, and as this in an undergraduate study, my findings will not be made public.
If you have any questions regarding the security, confidentiality, or general process, please contact me directly at mailto:[email protected] (Protonmail accounts are free, encrypted, and require zero personal details).
I would really appreciate your involvement. I am on your side and seek to challenge the stigma that MAPs face.
I do not consider myself a MAP as I am only really attracted to anime characters, but I wish you the best of luck on your dissertation, Isobel!
Although I can guarantee you with utmost certainty that all the studies and science in the world will never change the view of the people in the UK. Sorry, I despise that place.
I feel like I would want way more information from you about who you are and who you work for other than an anonymous protonmail acct if I were to answer any questions tbh
If I’m incorrect or out of line, I apologize in advance.
Having a Proton email doesn’t instill confidence in anyone here, other than you may be other than who you say you are. Too many SJWs come around trying to dox people, or expose and ridicule those of us trying to cope with life, or just are downright disruptive to an otherwise intelligent, conversational forum.
Why don’t you have a Cambridge.edu email if you’re an undergrad? I doubt you’re going to find anyone to volunteer. Unless you’ve cleared this with Elliot or another admin, please feel free to leave.
Honestly, this is a very reasonable question and your suspicion is fair. My Cambridge email address is [email protected], and I can also send my ethical approval over to anyone who would prefer some confirmation from someone beyond myself.
That being said, I would prefer to be contacted via Proton, simply because protected the confidentiality and anonymity of participants (including from me) is absolutely central to my study. As such, all related contact needs to occur somewhere that I trust a little more than a .edu address, and remain separate from my unrelated communications.
I hope this clears things up and thank you for bringing to my attention how sketchy this looks - my bad.
I have explained this below, but the use of Proton is simply a way to protect the anonymity and confidentiality of any participants who reach out; it’s a little more secure and prevents their details from being accessible through my personal, or academic address. That being said, my academic email address is [email protected] and I can provide proof of my study’s legitimacy (in the form of my signed ethics approval form from my university) if needed, though I don’t believe that is possible on this forum.
Thanks for raising your concerns, honestly they make a olt of sense and I’m sorry I didn’t see that sooner.
Thank you for understanding our suspicions and for clearing that up. And understanding my defensiveness. If you’ve read any number of posts on this forum, you can see what many of us go through and have to tolerate from non-MAP. It’s hard enough for some to keep their inclinations under control without opening themselves up to yet more venomous attacks on their character. Character has nothing to do with our attractions. If someone’s found their way to this forum they are looking for support and never want to hurt anyone. This is my opinion of course.
It’s well understood the loathing we face on a daily basis, much less what could happen to anyone should their “secret” be revealed. People with minor attractions are considered the most heinous people on the planet. Worthy of the woodchipper as far as any upright, good Christian citizen is concerned. A very caring, understanding, and empathetic public to our plight. Our conundrum.
I’m glad you’re doing your best to keep things anonymous! That is the most important thing if you expect anyone to be honest with their answers and explanations. When dealing with people’s feelings one needs to have the utmost respect and non-judgmental attitude toward someone who has ideas and feelings alien to your own. Lest you destroy that person. I suspect many of us are quite fragile on the inside. I know I can be.
If you wouldn’t mind filling everyone in a little more about yourself. What’s your program of study? Your goals with your undergraduate work? How will you conduct the interviews? Through Zoom calls? Or Skype?
This is how it usually goes, well at least from other Universities.
A)
You set-up an anonymous survey to question those who you want to interview. Seeing how you are asking for participants you should already have all the necessary questions ready. Why not put them in a survey where people can simply answer them?
B)
You contact people who actually work for Prostasia they confirm your legitimacy and publish a post saying that there is someone looking for participants.
I never seen someone just come in and ask like that.
The loathing you describe is actually one of the main confirmations that this should be the subject of my dissertation. I made a post on reddit questioning whether this would be a good area to research, or too controversial for my undergrad, and the sheer amount of hatred and anger I received made me absolutely certain that the stigma surrounding paedophilia is just absurd. In particular, the comments telling me that all MAPs should simply be killed, which I’m sure the community would be happy to just line up for, regardless of their criminal history (or lack thereof)???
I study criminology and sociology specifically, so this topic effectively combines the two. I care about what works - at a policy level - and how human behaviour occurs. While this is only an undergraduate thesis, I a, keen to continue with the subject at a post-graduate level, as I genuinely think that it’s one of the biggest social blind spots of our time, which so few people are willing to hear about.
My interviews will be conducted over Whereby, which is a platform that is mostly equivalent to Zoom and Skype but with a little more emphasis on security.
Thanks for the advice, I am not very familiar with Prostasia!
I am choosing to conduct my research through interviews instead of surveys as this is a qualitative study through and through. I am not attempting to prove my thesis (that stigma exacerbates the harms associated with paedophilia), but instead to collect in-depth, personal accounts and see where they fit into it.
The interviews will be long and semi-structured, so while I do have an idea of the questions I’d like to ask, I have a lot more flexibility to follow the conversation as it goes and see what direction it takes - hopefully allowing for more personal data. Finally, I think that this structure will allow me to humanise the participants a lot more in my dissertation, which helps to support my thesis that MAPs are just normal people who are by no means intrinsically dangerous, harmful, or “other”, and that they are deserving of our sympathy and respect.
I can verify the legitimacy of my research by sharing my ethical approval (as I have done to a few of the people who have contacted me), which comes directly from my university’s “Chair of the Sociology Ethics and Risk Assessment for Research (SERAR) Committee”, though I’m afraid the only way I can really offer this is through direct contact - for which my preference is Proton (just for its more robust security).
Apologies if I have violated any of the norms and general protocol of this site. I am working on a deadline and just need as many people to see this proposal as possible, so I can actually conduct my research. Thank you for asking directly and giving me the chance to explain my position, though.