Notes
Outline
    Atypical Sexual Behavior
D. Kim Openshaw, Ph.D.
Family and Human Development
Atypical Sexual Behavior
What are the primary distinguishing characteristics of atypical sexual behaviors?
Atypical Sexual Behavior
What are the primary distinguishing characteristics of atypical sexual behaviors?
Paraphilia: literally means “beyond usual or typical love,” this term stresses that such behaviors are usually not based on an affectionate or loving relationship, but rather are expressions of psychsexually disordered behavior in which sexual arousal and/or response depends on some unusual, extraordinary, or even bizarre activity.
Caveats
First, the behaviors singled out in this presentation represent extreme points on a continuum.  Atypical sexual behaviors exist in many gradations, ranging from mild, infrequently expressed tendencies to full-blown, regularly manifested behaviors.
Second, our state of knowledge about these behaviors is incomplete.  For example, in most discussions it is assumed that the person who manifests the atypical behavior is male, and most reported cases are male.
"It is suggested that atypical..."
It is suggested that atypical sexual behavior may be decidedly more prevalent among males than females because male erotosexual differentiation (the development of sexual arousal in response to various kinds of images or stimuli) is more complex than that of the female and subject to more errors.
Third, atypical behaviors often occur in clusters.  That is, the occurrence of one paraphilia appears to increase the probability that others will be manifested, simultaneously or sequentially.
"A final consideration is the..."
A final consideration is the impact of atypical behaviors both on the person who exhibits them and on others to whom they may be directed.
People who manifest atypical sexual behaviors often depend on these acts for sexual satisfaction.
These people often find it very difficult to establish satisfying sexual/intimate relationships with partners.  Instead, their sexual expression may assume a solitary, driven, even compulsive quality.
"Some of these behaviors do..."
Some of these behaviors do involve other people whose personal space is violated in a coercive, invasive fashion.
Noncoercive and Coercive Paraphilias
A key distinguishing characteristic of Paraphilias is whether or not they involve an element of coercion.
Noncoercive and Coercive Paraphilias
Noncoercive
Fetishism
Transvestism
Sexual Sadism
Sexual Masochism
Autoerotic Asphyxia
Klismaphilia
Coprophilia
Urophila
Coercive
Exhibitionism
Scatological (Obscene Phone Calls)
Voyeurism
Frotteurism
Zoophilia
Necrophilia
Though Provoker
People typically are much less concerned about female exhibitionism than they are about male exhibitionism.  For example, if a woman were seen observing a man undressing in front of a window, the man might be accused of being an exhibitionist.  However, if the roles were reversed and the woman was undressing, the man would probably be labeled a voyeur.  What do you think of this sex-based inconsistency in labeling these behaviors?
Treatment of Coercive Paraphilias
Four Common Approaches
Psychotherapy: A noninvasive procedure involving verbal interaction between a client and therapist designed to improve a person’s adjustment to life.
Treatment of Coercive Paraphilias
Four Common Approaches
Behavior Therapy: Therapy based on assumption that maladaptive behavior has been learned and can be unlearned.
Aversive Conditioning
Systematic Desensitization
Orgasmic Reconditioning
Satiation Therapy
Treatment of Coercive Paraphilias
Drug Treatment
Antiandrogen drugs
Medroxyprogesterone acetate (MAP) or more commonly known as Depo Provera
Cyproteron acetate (CPA)
Drug treatment of coercive Paraphilias is most effective when combined with other therapeutic methods.
Social Skills Training
Sexual Addictions: Fact, Fiction or Misnomer?
The concept of sexual addiction suggests that some people who engage in excessive sexual activity are manifesting the outward symptoms of a process of psychological addiction in which feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and worthlessness are temporarily relieved through a sexual high.
Sexual Addictions: Fact, Fiction or Misnomer?
Many sexologists do not believe that sexual addiction should be a distinct diagnostic category because it is both rare and lacking in distinction from other compulsive disorders, such as gambling and eating disorders, and because this label negates individual responsibility for “uncontrollable” sexual compulsions that victimize others.
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