Ch. 10 Variant Sexual Behaviors Flashcards
When is sexual behavior abnormal: Statistical definition
a sexual behavior that is rare or not practiced by many people
When is sexual behavior abnormal: Sociological approach
sexual behavior that violates the norms of the society
When is sexual behavior abnormal: Psychological approach
criteria include discomfort, inefficiency, and bizarreness
The Normal—Abnormal Continuum
○ Normal and abnormal sexual behavior are not two separate categories but rather gradations on a continuum
○ A mild, or even a strong preference for an object is within the normal range of sexual behavior but is abnormal if it becomes an extreme necessity
Medical approach
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) recognizes 8 paraphilias
Paraphilia
any intense and persistent sexual interest other than sexual interest in genital stimulation or preparatory fondling with phenotypically normal, physically mature, consenting human partners
Kink
Umbrella term to address a wide range of fantasies, interests, identities, and consensually agreed upon behaviors
Elements of Kink
○ Eroticizing intense sensation (not just pain)
○ Eroticizing power dynamics
○ Fascination with specific sensory stimuli
○ Role play or dramatization of erotic scenarios
○ Erotic activities that induce heightened or altered status of consciousness
Motivations for kinks
- Peak experiences
- Emotion regulation (up or down)
- Attention regulation
- To address symptoms of neurodiversity
- To counter depression and anxiety symptoms
- To dampen overstimulation
- To heighten under-stimulation ( or to feel something)
- Creates a culture of inclusion for some – tends to be more accepting of body types, persons with disabilities, neurodiversity, and age
How common is kinks
- 46.7% of women and 59.6% of men had fantasies of dominating someone else sexually
- 52.1% of women and 46.2% of men had fantasies of being tied up by someone to obtain sexual pleasure
- 36.9% of women and 20.6% of men had fantasies of being spanked or whipped for sexual pleasure
Choking
- 35% of women 18-24 years old and 11% of women 25-29 report choking in most recent sexual encounter
- Seems exciting, kinky, or adventurous
- Less commonly for increased arousal or orgasm
- IT’S NOT SAFE!!!!!
Types of paraphilias
- Noncoercive
○ Victimless
○ Involve only oneself or a consenting partner - Coercive
○ Nonconsensual sexual activity
○ Cause harm to others
8 DSM 5 DEFINED PARAPHILIC DISORDERS
- Fetishism
- Transvestism
- Voyeurism
- Exhibitionism
- Frotteurism
- Pedophilia
- Sexual Sadism
- Sexual Masochism
Fetishes
- Sexual fantasies, urges, or behaviors involving use of nonliving objects
○ to produce or enhance a sexual arousal
○ with or in the absence of a partner
○ over a period of at least six months
○ causing significant distress
○ Partialism: specific to body parts
Media fetish
The material out of which an object is made, is the source of arousal
Hard media fetish
A hard substance such as leather or rubber
Soft media fetish
A soft substance such as silk or fur
Form fetish
The object and its shape are what is important for an Arousal
Why Do People Become Fetishists?
- Learning theory- fetishes result from classical conditioning in which a learned association is built between the fetish object and sexual arousal and orgasm
- Cognitive theory- fetishists have a serious cognitive distortion in that they perceive a nonconventional stimulus as erotic
- Addiction theory- a pathological relationship, with a sexual event or process, substituting it for a healthy relationship with others
transvestic disorder
- a heterosexual man who dresses in female clothing to produce or enhance sexual arousal
- persists for at least 6 months
- clinically significant distress
cross-dressing
- Dressing as a member of the other gender
- NOT drag queen
Sexual Sadism disorder
inflicting physical or psychological pain on another for the purpose of sexual pleasure.
Sexual Masochism disorder
deliberately involving yourself in a situation in which you are humiliated, beaten, or abused for the purpose of sexual excitement.
BDSM
- Consent between both partners
- Does not cause significant distress
voyeurism
- a person who becomes sexually aroused from secretly viewing nudes
- Becomes paraphilic when the fantasies, urges, or behaviors continue for at least 6 months and cause clinically significant distress or interpersonal dysfunction
exhibitionism
The person derives sexual pleasure from exposing his genitals to others in situations where this is clearly inappropriate
frotteurism
sexual fantasies, urges, or behaviors involving touching or rubbing one’s genitals against the body of a non- consenting person
Telephone Scatologia
Making of obscene phone calls to unsuspecting people
Asphyxiophilia
the desire to induce in oneself a state of oxygen deficiency in order to create sexual arousal or to enhance excitement and orgasm
Zoophilia (bestiality)
sexual contact with an animal
Troilism (or triolism)
refers to a sexual encounter in which one partner watches the other partner engage in sex with a third party
Saliromania
○ found mainly in men
○ desire to damage or soil a woman or her clothes
Coprophilia
feces are important to sexual satisfaction
Urophilia
urine is important to sexual satisfaction
Necrophilia
sexual contact with a dead person
Sexsomnia (sleep sex)
○ Automatic, unintentional sexual behaviors during sleep
○ Considered a sleep disorder, rather than a paraphilia
Hypersexuality
An excessive, insatiable sex drive in either men or women
Nymphomania
hypersexuality in women
Satyriasis
hypersexuality in men
prevention of sexual variations
- Difficult to do primary prevention
- Categories for diagnosis not nearly as clear cut as they may seem
- Multiple diagnoses for one person are not uncommon
- Analyze the components of sexual development
treatments of sexual variations
- Medical Treatments
- Psychopharmacological treatment
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies
○ Behavior therapy
○ Social skills training
○ Modification of distorted thinking
○ Relapse prevention
○ Multisystemic Therapy (MST)
○ targets young sex offenders
○ combination of family therapy, skills training, and cognitive behavioral training
Skills Training
- programs may include
§ how to carry on a conversation
§ how to develop intimacy
§ basic sex education - Sex surrogates interact socially and sexually with the client and a therapist
12-Step Programs
○ Modeled on the program of Alcoholics Anonymous
○ More common treatment in recent years
What Works?
○ Some programs more effective than others
○ Use of hormonal medications showed largest effect
○ Program effectiveness varied by type of offenders
○ Programs only effective when participation was voluntary
