James Cantor

Education and personal life

Cantor grew up on Long Island, New York and attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with a concentration in computer science and minors in mathematics and physics. He obtained his MA in psychology from Boston University and PhD in clinical psychology from McGill University with a thesis on "Reversal of fluoxetine-induced sexual dysfunction in male rats." He completed his postdoctoral training at CAMH, where he continued on staff.

When asked how he became a sex researcher, Cantor affectionately referred to his alma mater where he was studying computers as "junior Vulcan school." During his studies there, he was a resident adviser in the student dormitories, where he provided peer counseling to students dealing with academic or personal issues. "I discovered that those activities were the highlight of my day more than the technology-based parts of my day," he stated. He decided to pursue a doctorate in psychology at McGill University, which is where he found his research passion: the neurological underpinnings of sexual behavior.

Cantor gave a speech about his personal experience of being a gay graduate student at the 1991 annual convention of the American Psychological Association.

Research

Cantor's research centers on the development of sexual interests, including sexual orientation and paraphilias. His study using magnetic resonance imaging to examine the brains of male pedophiles was reported in several mainstream news media outlets. He found a significant decrease in the amount of white matter in their brains compared to control subjects, in addition to having lower IQ, and being shorter than average. This was interpreted as suggesting a link to early brain development. Cantor insists however that these findings do not imply that pedophiles should not be held legally responsible for their actions.

Cantor is one of the co-authors of a 2008 paper by Ray Blanchard, which shaped the DSM-5 proposal of replacing the pedophilia diagnosis with pedohebophilic disorder, adding hebephilia as part of the definition of this disorder but at the same time differentiating it into three subtypes: pedophilic type (attracted to children younger than 11), hebephilic (attracted to children between 11–14), and pedohebephilic type (attracted to both age groups mentioned). The main argument in the paper for this addition is that the DSM-IV-TR definition of pedophilia is not sufficient to cover attraction to "physically immature persons". The proposal has been criticized, mainly on the grounds that it pathologizes reproductively valid behavior in order to uphold current social and legal standards.

Cantor has rejected any linkage between homosexuality and pedophilia, saying, "It's quite solidly shown in the scientific literature that there is absolutely no association between being a gay man and being a pedophile".

Cantor's research suggests that "sex addiction" represents a variety of distinct problems, rather than a single unitary phenomenon. His typology of people seeking help for sex addiction includes paraphilic hypersexuals, avoidant masturbators, chronic adulterers, people with sexual guilt, and others.

Cantor delivered the keynote address at the founding of the Netherlands Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers in 2015. The Dutch national newspaper de Volkskrant covered the opening and called Cantor "an inspired speaker."

Public engagement

Cantor is widely referenced for providing scientific information about sex following high-profile cases of unusual sexual behavior. Such cases have included politician Anthony Weiner, entertainers Bill Cosby and Mark Salling, and former Subway spokesperson Jared Fogel.

In 2016, Cantor and his research were the subject of a documentary, I, Pedophile, which featured Cantor alongside interviews with pedophilic men. The program followed Cantor to the Prevention Project Dunkelfeld in Berlin, the other only centre in the world conducting research on the brain basis of pedophilia. According to the documentary film magazine POV, "This bold, brave, and revealing film challenges viewers to empathize with pedophiles as it explores the science that creates a pedophile's attraction to children and lets pedophiles explain their feelings and actions." Reviews were positive, calling the film "riveting and enlightening" and the research "ground breaking" and "revolutionary". It was nominated for the 2017 Donald Brittain award for best social/political documentary program by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.

Pedophilia and child sexual abuse

On CNN, Cantor expressed the opinion that society should make it easier for persons who are sexually attracted to children but have never committed any sexual offenses to receive support and assistance in staying offense free. In his view, it is the sexual offenses (child molestation) and not the sexual attractions (pedophilia) that merit social sanctions. "One cannot choose to not be a pedophile, but one can choose to not be a child molester."

Cantor has stated that, in his experience, pedophiles who commit sexual offenses against children "do so when they feel the most desperate—when they have nothing to lose, nothing in their lives worth protecting." He recommends that therapists use cognitive behavioral therapy and other techniques to reduce feelings of isolation and hopelessness so that pedophiles can lead "productive, offense-free lives."

"We can't seem to be able to change [pedophilia]," Cantor said in an interview. "The only logical thing left to us is to help these people lead as productive and healthy a life as possible. For some people, that's life basics: a regular job, a place to live, having a secure life worth protecting and worth obeying the law for... When we make it impossible for them to find a job or a place to live, they have a life that isn't worth protecting."

Cantor stated that the online group Virtuous Pedophiles—a group for pedophiles who acknowledge having a sexual interest in children, and whose members share the belief that sexual activity between adults and children is wrong and always will be—could help prevent child sexual abuse. He said such sites work by providing support to people who cannot seek help through traditional means for fear of being demonized—and reported to the police.

Sex addiction

In an interview about sex addiction and hypersexuality, Cantor expressed mixed views. When asked if he believed sex addiction should be considered a mental illness, he said yes, but added that "I've seen a lot of people use the term 'sex addiction' for a lot of different reasons. It’s very easy to imagine that someone would use the term to curry favour with the public, with the media or during a divorce, but this is hardly the only diagnosis that this happens to. People blame many different kinds of moral failings on many different things. But we also want to be very careful and not make the opposite mistake. Just because there are people who abuse the term and the concept, doesn't mean that there's no such thing."

Cantor has expressed dislike for labels being used to describe sexual addiction. He has said, "Because we know so little about people wanting to reduce their sexual behavior, it's important to avoid terms that assume one or another theory. The term 'sex addiction' implies that it works like substance addictions, even though we have no evidence for that. The term 'compulsive sexual behavior' implies that it's related to obsessive-compulsive disorder, even though we have no evidence for that either. I typically use the term 'hypersexuality' because it does not imply any theory or treatment, but that term isn't perfect either: there are people who refer themselves as 'hyper-' sexual, even though they engage in less (sometimes even much less) sexual activity than most other people."

Transgenderism

Cantor has written that transsexuality is a phenomenon of the brain, stating that MRI research has verified the Blanchard theory of there being two different kinds of male-to-female transsexuals. One of these types (called "homosexual transsexuals") have brains like gay men, which are mostly male with some features more common among women, and another type (called "autogynephilic transsexuals" or "heterosexual transsexuals") which also have brains that differ from typical, but not with features like those of women. In a subsequent article, Anton Guillamon, another neuroscientist studying transsexuality said, "Cantor seems to be right."

Cantor wrote that transsexuals deserve a "bill of transsexual rights," saying that expressions of such rights are overdue. "People choose whether to transition, but one does not choose to be dysphoric about the sex they were born into." He is skeptical of trans women who undergo procedures to look female and who live as women, but who do not seek sex reassignment surgery. Cantor has said that such women "often change their stories as they come to terms with everything."

Reception

Writing for The Walrus, reporter Simon Lewsen said, "Any scientist doing controversial work is going to be called on, repeatedly, to defend his ideas. It doesn't hurt that Cantor is charismatic and funny, given to wild hand gestures and stagey diction... You can imagine him tap dancing or impersonating Lenny Bruce." Reporter Tracy Clark-Flory referred to Cantor as "bitingly funny," after interviewing after interviewing him for Salon.com. The Toronto Star described "sitting inside his office at the College St. research hospital", stating that "Cantor is surrounded by books on sexology and eccentric decor—a framed sign that reads 'Data Is My Porn', a throw pillow that spells 'penis' in Braille."

Works