Etiology of Paraphilia

Question 1

Response Control Models

Answer 1

Arousal Suppression Model

Response Compatibility Model

Question 2

Arousal Suppression Model:

Answer 2

• rape/paraphilia hinges on the ability of men to suppress their sexual arousal
  
  • ie. paraphilic men are less able to suppress their sexual arousal to paraphilic cues

Question 3

Response compatibility model:

Answer 3

• Aggression and arousal do not cancel each other out in rapists (they should in normal responses)
  
  • a rapist is able to perform whilst experiencing both aggression & arousal; normal people cannot

Question 4

Stimuli Control Models

Answer 4

Sexual preference model
inhibition model
Disinhibition model
Emotional State augmentation

Question 5

Sexual preference model:

Answer 5

• cues of violence are excitatory (eg. force, humiliation, coercion, etc.)
  
  • person MAY be aroused by normal stimuli but WILL be aroused by paraphilic cues

Question 6

Inhibition model:

Answer 6

• arousal is NOT inhibited by cues of violence/paraphilia

* normal person WILL be inhibited but not paraphiliacs

Question 7

Disinhibition model:

Answer 7

• an emotional or cognitive state which increases arousal to rape when it would otherwise be inhibited
  
  • eg. alcohol, drugs, anger, victim blaming, excuses, porn

Question 8

Emotional state augmentation:

Answer 8

• nonsexual emotions (eg. anger, love) will affect sexual arousal
  
  • strong emotions, both negative and positive, will serve to increase sexual arousal

Question 9

Social Learning Models

Answer 9

• learning will influence thoughts, behaviours, etc.
  
  • can be direct (witnessing paraphiliac behaviour) or indirect (victimization; assoc. with sexual/non-sexual developmental issues like conduct disorder, aggression, anxiety, depression)
  • there are multiple pathways to this model:
    • poor parent-child attachments (insecure attachments, children learn inappropriate ways to deal with people)
    • low self-esteem; anxiety
    • responsive to any type of attention (eg. sexual) = more likely to tolerate sexual advances, which then becomes normalized
    • therefore learns to behave in sexually inappropriate ways
    • which leads to sexualized offending, resulting in a cycle of abuse (the abused becomes the abuser)

Question 10

Courtship Disorder

Answer 10

• Freud, 1990; Freud & Blanchard, 1986: normal sexual contact occurs through four stages:
  
  • location, pre-tactile (looking, smiling), tactile (sexual touching, hugging), genital union (sex)
  • certain paraphilias are distortions of certain phases
  • eg. voyeurism violates location, exhibitionism violates pre-tactile, frotteurism violates tactile
  • rape forgoes the entire courtship entirely

Question 11

McGuire et al., 1965: Conditioning Model

Answer 11

• Pairing of non-sexual cues with sexual arousal (eg. pair spider with arousal)
  
  • Pavlovian conditioning through masturbation
  • Reinforced with operant conditioning (reward = orgasm)
  • Stimuli is generalized (spiders -> all spider-related stimuli)
  • Unconditioning is possible (“aversive conditioning”; pair negative stimuli with fetish; used to “unpair” paraphilia and arousal)

Question 12

Hypersexuality

Answer 12

• PRD (paraphilia related disorders): cultural sanctioned aspects of normal sexual arousal (eg. lots of sex, porn)
  
  • total sexual outlet measured by the sexual outlet inventory (SOI); measuring both conventional & unconventional sexual behaviours; measures time spend viewing, fantasizing, masturbating, and engaged in paraphilic/non-paraphilic behaviours
  • developmental factors: younger onset = higher likelihood of paraphilia in life in terms of sexuality, variety, frequency; male = higher chance; younger onset of axis I disorders (mood disorder, depression, ADHD, etc.) = higher chance of paraphilia
  • is physiological, not psychological
    • high testosterone = high sex drive
    • neurotransmitters responsible for attention regulation and learning; low levels = high sexual appetite = more difficult to control urges
    • brain injuries
    • deficits in brain functioning