This paper define the characteristics of pedophilia as it appears in the Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo, including both the characteristics of the pedophile and the reasons given for such behavior. The research employs a technique called analysis by opposition which means that news coverage on other forms of sexual violence against children (sexual abuse, child pornography, rape, and incest) is used to help shed light on the characteristics of pedophilia itself. Some 384 articles were analyzed, of which 114 referred to pedophilia, all published between 1994 and 1999. News on sexual abuse of children was biased by concepts of class and violence/illness, reiterating the lay view that violence can be either a result of barbarianism and poverty or of psychological disorder, both depending on the aggressor's social class. The theoretical perspective adopted, that there is a correlation between media and reality, indicates that this bias is shared by Brazilian society as a whole.
Violence; Pedophilia; Child; Newspapers