I like to think I can go into most subjects with an open mind, but here's one that the majority of us find a little too disturbing.It is thought provoking in terms of is this a condition, a sexual preference, is there any such thing as rehabilitation?It certainly has many cringeworthy moments, along with shouting at the tv moments!

While touching on some of society's most taboo and disturbing issues, Louis Theroux forms a fascinating and eerie look at a mental hospital populated by sex offenders. At first, these sex offenders may seem like fine, slightly creepy individuals. There are points in which Louis is just casually talking with one before asking them what their crime was. "I'm a child molester" they say, and everything seems to go quiet.As the documentary progresses, things seem to get more dark, twisted, and mysterious. Though provoking questions are masterfully crafted through Louis' confused lens. Does society look down upon these offenders too harshly? Can their crimes ever be forgiven? can they be cured of their demented desires? Louis provides these sex offenders with both shock and sympathy. The setting of the mental hospital is painstakingly eerie, and many questions of morality are constantly being brought up. This is a dark and troubling documentary, but a chilling and interesting one nonetheless.

In this documentary, Louis Theroux enters a complex in California where they lock up sex offenders who have completed their prison sentences. Using a controversial law, the state sometimes locks up these men because they are seen as a continued risk to the community--which any sane person would agree with BUT which is also most likely unconstitutional.During the course of the program, Louis interviews many prisoners. Some are in a treatment program within this prison and some have refused. A few seem sincere (such as the guy who had himself castrated to eliminate or at least greatly reduce his inappropriate urges), a few it's uncertain and a few are absolute $^%&s. However, in all cases, the repetitive nature of these offenders and way almost all of them minimize their risk is frightening. I loved seeing some of these folks saying they were CURED or HAD NO URGES. I also was amazed that a multiply convicted sex offender would NOT characterize himself as a pedophile! HELLO!! Well, I used to work in a similar treatment program and know that these comments are complete crap--and Louis seemed to indicate this as well, though in the nice non-confrontational Theroux fashion. This is a very informative and scary film that is very well made-- especially for someone wanting to learn more about sex offenders. But, as a parent, I know it's rather scary to watch as well.

I generally really like Louis Theroux's documentaries and am very glad that he gives time to the subjects that he does.I've given this a seven as it's obviously an extremely contentious topic that is very unlikely to be explored in a proper manner or at all if it wasn't for Louis.I think any psychological issue such as this needs to be fully understood to be able to start dealing with the problem and making progress- firstly for the victims of child molesters, then for the person affected with these desires. That said, "A Place For Paedophiles" did leave me with a lot of unanswered questions.As far as I know, the origin/cause of paedophilia is unknown. This is obviously a massive obstacle in dealing with this issue- we have no idea if it's a sexual orientation, if it's a desire solely caused by abuse or some sort of physical/mental trauma, etc.The title itself didn't seem very clear. A paedophile basically describes someone with a sexual attraction to children (but not necessarily someone who has acted on these desires, i.e a child molester). The fact that this distinction hasn't been made seems unhelpful.I think the distinction should be made because if a person has had these desires for most of their life, they could possibly be categorised as a sexual orientation, which would mean the person has thoughts and desires that are just part of their make up.So even if the paedophile recognises the irreparable damage he/she would inflict on a child by acting on these inbuilt desires and makes sure that he/she never ever does, they are still dammed for having the thoughts and viewed as sex offenders regardless.So all these supposed treatments and strange processes, (such as the PPG to measure sexual arousal from different sources) seemed very dubious. I wish Louis had asked for more information on why this polygraph test is relevant, how the patients' treatment is supposed to stop people's natural bodily reaction to arousal (though SSRI's might do the trick(!) ).I've probably missed out a lot of things I wanted to express here, but oh well. Worth watching, but I think it could have been explored much more fully.