Chapter 12 – Sexual Variance, Abuse, And Dysfunction

Question 1

Persistent sexual behaviour patterns in which unusual objects, rituals, or situations are required for full sexual satisfaction.

Answer 1

Paraphilias

Generally involve: nonhuman objects; the suffering or humiliation oneself or ones partner; children or other non consenting persons.
These patterns must last at least 6 months.

Question 2

What are 8 speific paraphilias?

Answer 2

1. Fetishism
2. Transvestism fetishism
3. Voyeurism
4. Exhibitionism
5. Sexual sadism
6. Sexual masochism
7. Pedophilia
8. Frotteurism- rubbing ones genital area against a nonconsenting person

Question 3

Sexual variant in which sexual interest centres on some inanimate object or non-sexual part of the body

Answer 3

Fetishism

Question 4

Achievement of sexual arousal and satisfaction by dressing as a member of the opposite sex

Answer 4

Transvestic fetishism

Question 5

Paraphilia characterized by sexual arousal in men at the thought or fantasy of being a woman

Answer 5

Autogynephilia

Question 6

Achievement of sexual pleasure through clandestine “peeping,” usually watching other people disrobe and/or engage in sexual activities

Answer 6

Voyeurism

Probably the most common illegal sexual activity

Question 7

Intentional exposure of one’s genitals to others under inappropriate circumstances and without their consent

Answer 7

Exhibitionism

Indecent exposure in legal term
Frequently the element of shock in the victim is highly arousing to these individuals

Question 8

A term that refers to interest in rubbing, usually one’s pelvis or erect penis, against a non-consenting person for sexual gratification

Answer 8

Frotteurism

Question 9

Achievement of sexual gratification by inflicting physical or psychic pain or humiliation on a sexual partner

Answer 9

Sadism

Question 10

Sexual stimulation and gratification from experiencing pain or degradation in relating to a lover

Answer 10

Masochism

Question 11

A form of masochism which involves self strangulation

Answer 11

Autoerotic asphyxia

Question 12

Describe causal factors relating to paraphilias

Answer 12

Nearly all persons our male; when occasionally found in women, the most likely ones are pedophilia, sadomasochistic activities, and exhibitionism.
Usually begin around the time of puberty or early adolescence.
Often have a very strong sex drive, with affected men often masturbating many times a day.
Frequently have more than one paraphilia.

One suggestion is that male vulnerability is closely linked to their greater dependence on visual sexual imagery. If so, men maybe more vulnerable to forming sexual associations to nonsexual stimuli, which may be most likely to occur after puberty, when the sexual drive is high.
Many believe that these associations arise as a result of classical and instrumental conditioning and/or social learning that occurs through observation and modeling. When observing paraffinic stimuli, or when fantasies about paraffinic stimuli occur, boys may masturbate, and the reinforcement by orgasm-release may serve to condition an intense attraction to paraphilic stimuli

Question 13

Identification with members of the opposite sex, persistent discomfort with one’s biological sexual identity, and strong desire to change to the opposite sex

Answer 13

Gender identity disorder

Question 14

The desire to be, or the insistence that one is, of the opposite sex

Answer 14

Cross-gender identification

Question 15

Persistent discomfort about one’s biological sex or the sense that the gender role of that sex is inappropriate

Answer 15

Gender dysphoria

Question 16

Gender identity disorder is characterized by two components:

Answer 16

Cross-gender identification and gender dysphoria

Question 17

Describe gender identity disorder of childhood

Answer 17

Boys show a marked preoccupation with traditionally feminine activities. May prefer to dress in female clothing, enjoy stereotypical girls activities, usually avoid rough and tumble play, and often expressed the desire to be a girl. Often ostracized as sissies by their peers.

Girls typically resist parents attempts to dress them in traditional feminine clothes, preferring boys clothing and short hair. Fantasy heroes typically include powerful male figures, show little interest in dolls and increased interest in sports. Distinguished by their desire to be a boy or to grow up as a man. Treated better by their peers than are boys because cross gender behaviour in girls is better tolerated.

Most gender dysphoric children do not become gender dysphoric adults, the problem generally remits during childhood.
Individuals who are still gender dysphoric into adolescence are likely to remain so into adulthood, and they are also likely to take medical steps to transform their bodies.

Question 18

Individuals who identify with members of the opposite sex (as opposed to acceptance of their own biological sex) and who strongly desire to (and often do) change their sex. In most cases says this is gender identity disorder in adults.

Answer 18

Transsexualism

Most, but not all, female-to-male transsexuals are sexually attracted to women.
In contrast, there are two kinds of male-to-female transsexuals: homosexual and autogynephilic transsexuals. Homosexual transexual men are generally very feminine and have the same sexual orientation as gay men, however, because these men experience their gender identity as female, they often defined their sexual orientation as heterosexual and resent being labelled gay. In contrast, autogynephilic transsexuals are motivated by a paraphilia in which their attraction is to thoughts, images, or fantasies of themselves as a woman.

Autogynephilic transsexualism almost always occurs in genetic males we usually report a history of transvestite fetishism, and usually fantasize that they have female genitalia, which can lead to a cute gender dysphoria, motivating their desire for sex reassignment surgery. May report sexual attraction to women, to both men and women, or to neither.

Question 19

Sexual contact that involves physical or psychological coercion or occurs when at least one individual cannot reasonably consent to the contact

Answer 19

Sexual abuse

Question 20

Summarize what is known about the frequency and nature of childhood sexual abuse.

Answer 20

Prevalence: depends on its definition, which has very substantially across studies. Reviews estimate that 7.9% of men and 19.7% of women had suffered sexual abuse prior to age 18. The highest rates were from African countries, and the lowest were from Europe; US figures were intermediate.

Consequences: both short-term and long-term consequences. Most common short-term are
fears, posttraumatic stress disorder, sexual inappropriateness, and poor self-esteem, but approximately one third of sexually abused children show no symptoms.
Associations between reports of childhood sexual abuse and adult psychopathology have been commonly reported. A wide variety of sexual symptoms have also been alleged to result from early sexual abuse such as sexual aversion and sexual promiscuity.

Question 21

Discuss the controversy surrounding both childhood testimony regarding sexual abuse and adult “recovered memories”.

Answer 21

Children’s testimony: children can easily be led to concoct stories of events that never occurred. The likelihood of concocting stories increases when interviewers have asked leading questions, repeated questioning, and reinforcing some kinds of answers more than others. This research shows that failure to proceed with care in interrogating children can easily lead to false accusations and injustice.

Recovered memories: some have argued that repressed memories are common and are responsible for a great deal of cycle pathology. Those sceptical about recovery of repressed memories point out that even normal, unrepressed memories can be highly inaccurate and that false memories can be induced experimentally.

Question 22

Paraphilia in which an adults preferred or exclusive sexual partner is a pre-pubertal child

Answer 22

Pedophilia

Acting out the desires for sexual activity is not necessary for the diagnosis. Defined by the body maturity, not the age, of the preferred partner.
Typical ages for pubescence are 10 to 13.
Men interested in pubescents are hebephilic. Proposed revised DSM diagnosis is pedohebephilia.
Frequently involves manual or oral contact with a cild’s genitals. Penetrative anal or vagina sex is much rarer.
Nearly all our mail, and about two thirds of their victims are girls typically between the ages of eight and 11. One in for prefers boys. The rate of homosexuality is much higher than among normal adult attracted men.
Homosexual pedophiles tend to have more victims than heterosexual ones and also use child pornography.
More likely to engage in self justifying cognitive distortion, including the belief that children will benefit from sexual contact with adults and the children often initiate such contact. Many appear to be shy and introverted yet still desire mastery or dominance over another individual. Some idealize aspects of childhood such as innocence, unconditional love, or simplicity.
Usually begins in adolescence and persists over a persons life. Many engaging work with children or youth so that they have extensive access to children; a subset never take advantage, but many others do. Much more likely to have been sexually or physical abused as children.
Neurobiological influences may include having a lower IQ, non-right-handedness, higher rates of head injuries resulting in loss of consciousness, and differences in brain structure.

Question 23

Culturally prohibited sexual relations between family members, such as a brother and sister or a parent and child

Answer 23

Incest

The incest taboo is virtually universal among Human Societies. Often produces children with mental and physical problems because close genetic relatives are much more likely to share the same recessive genes which often have negative biological effects. Mechanism for human incest avoidance appears to be lack of sexual interest in people to whom one is continuously exposed from an early age.

Actual incidence is difficult to estimate because it usually comes to light only one reported to law-enforcement or other agencies. Probably more common then is generally believed, in part because many victims are reluctant to report or do not consider themselves victimized. Brother-sister is the most common. Second most common is father-daughter. Girls living with stepfathers are at especially high risk. Mother-son is thought to be relatively rare.

Incest US child molesters tend to have some Teddo feel like arousal patterns. Differ from extra familial child molesters in at least two respects: the large majority of offences are against girls, whereas extra familial offences show a more equal distribution between boys and girls; incest offenders are more likely to offend with only one or a few children in the family, whereas pedophilic child molesters are likely to have more victims.

Question 24

Sexual activity that occurs under actual or threatened forcible coercion of one person by another

Answer 24

Rape

Statutory rape is sexual activity with a person who is legally defined to be under the age of consent even if the underage person consents. Often a crime of men against women, although in prison settings is often committed by men against men.

Since the late 1970s, the prevalence has diminished dramatically from nearly 3 to fewer than 0.5 per 1000 individuals per year. Decline is related to a general decline in crime during that period.

Question 25

What are the motivations of rapists?

Answer 25

Traditionally assumed that a rapist is motivated by last, although feminist scholars argue that rape is motivated by the need to dominate, to a third power, and to humiliate a victim rather than by a sexual desire for her. However, there are many compelling reasons why sexual motivation is often, if not always, a very important factor. For example, rape victims generally include a very high proportion of women in their teens and early 20s who are generally considered the most sexually attractive. Also, rapists usually say sexual motivation was a very important cause of their actions. At least some rapists exhibit features associated with paraphilia's and have multiple paraphilia's, and these types of men are typically highly sexually motivated. Research has shown that they have both aggressive and sexual motives but to varying degrees

Question 26

Discuss treatment of sex offenders

Answer 26

Psychotherapies: often have at least one of the following four goals – to modify patterns of sexual arousal, to modify cognitions and social skills to allow more appropriate sexual interactions with adult partners, to change habits or behaviour that increases the chance of reoffending, or to reduce sexual drive. Usually involves aversion therapy, in which a paraphilic stimulus is paired with an aversive event such as forced inhalation of noxious odours or a shock to the arm. Covert sensitization- The patient imagines a highly aversive event while viewing or imagining a paraphilic stimulus. Assisted covert sensitization – in which a foul odour is introduced to induce nausea at the point of peak arousal. Also need to be replaced by arousal to acceptable stimuli. Most often investigators have attempted to pair the pleasurable stimuli of orgasm with sexual fantasies involving sex between consenting adults. Although aversion therapy has been shown to be somewhat effective in the laboratory, how well it generalizes to the patients outside world is uncertain if his motivation wanes. Not used anymore as a sole form of treatment. The remaining psychological treatments are aimed at reducing the chances of sexual reoffending. Cognitive restructuring attempts to aluminate their cognitive distortion's because these may play a role in sexual abuse. Social-skills training aims to help them learn to process social information from women more effectively and to interact with them more appropriately. Biological and surgical treatments: Antidepressants from the SSRI category for reducing paraphilic desire and behavior, but not useful in treating sexual offenders. Castration – either surgical removal of the testes or that her mono treatment sometimes called chemical castration. Both lower the testosterone level, which in turn lowers the sex drive allowing the offender to resist any inappropriate impulses. Chemical castration has most often involved the administration of anti-androgen steroid hormones such as Depo-Provera which can have serious side effects. There are high relapse rates upon discontinuation. The recidivism rates for castrated offenders are typically less than 3%, compared with greater than 50% for Uncastrated offenders.

Question 27

Impairment either in the desire for sexual gratification or in the ability to achieve it

Answer 27

Sexual dysfunction

Question 28

Sexual disfunction disorders can occur in any of the first three phases of the human sexual response:

Answer 28

1. The desire phase: consists of fantasies about sexual activity or a sense of desire to have sexual activity 2. The excitement or arousal phase: characterized both by a subjective sense of sexual pleasure and by physiological changes that accompany this subject of pleasure, including penile erection in the mail and vagina lubrication and clitoral enlargement in the female 3. Orgasm: a release of sexual tension and a peaking of sexual pleasure 4. Resolution: the person has a sense of relaxation and well-being

Question 29

First phase of a human sexual response, consisting of fantasies about sexual activity or a sense of desire to have sexual activity

Answer 29

Desire phase

Question 30

Second phase of the human sexual response, in which there is generally a subjective sense of sexual pleasure and physiological changes, including penile erection in the mail and vagina lubrication and enlargement in the female

Answer 30

Excitement/arousal phase

Question 31

Third phase of the human sexual response, during which there is a release of sexual tension and a peaking of sexual pleasure

Answer 31

Orgasm

Question 32

Final phase of the human sexual response, during which a person has a sense of relaxation and well-being

Answer 32

Resolution

Question 33

Sexual disfunction in which either a man or a woman shows little or no sexual drive or interest

Answer 33

Hypoactive sexual desire disorder

Question 34

Sexual disfunction in which a person shows extreme aversion to, and avoidance of, all genital sexual contact with a partner

Answer 34

Sexual aversion disorder

Question 35

Sexual disfunction in which a male is unable to achieve or maintain an erection sufficient for successful sexual gratification; formally known as impotence

Answer 35

Male erectile disorder

Question 36

Sexual disfunction involving an absence of sexual arousal and unresponsiveness to most or all forms of erotic stimulation

Answer 36

Female sexual arousal disorder

Question 37

Persistent and recurrent onset of orgasm and ejaculation with minimal sexual stimulation

Answer 37

Premature ejaculation

Question 38

Retarded ejaculation, or the inability to ejaculate following a normal sexual excitement phase

Answer 38

Male orgasmic disorder

Question 39

Persistent or recurrent delay in, or absence of, orgasm after a normal sexual excitement phase

Answer 39

Female orgasmic disorder

Question 40

Involuntary spasm of the muscles at the entrance to the vagina that prevents penetration and sexual intercourse

Answer 40

Vaginismus

Question 41

Painful colitis in a male or a female

Answer 41

Dyspareunia

Question 42

Provide a number of examples of socio-cultural influences in sexual practises and cultural standards and values

Answer 42

All known cultures have taboos against sex between close relatives, but attitudes toward premarital sex have very considerably across history and around the world. Ideas about an acceptable sexual behaviour also change over time. Degeneracy and abstinence theory: The central belief of which was that semen is necessary for physical and sexual vigor in men and for masculine characteristics such as a beard growth developed by Simon Tissot. For you for myself asserted that practises were especially harmful – masturbation and patronizing prostitutes which wasted the vital fluid, semen, as well as overstimulating and exhausting the nervous system. Recommended that married people engage Soli in procreative sex to avoid the waste of semen. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg dissaproved of masturbation. Many believed that masturbation caused insanity- idea probably arose from observations that many patients in mental asylums masturbated openly. Ritualized homosexuality in Melanesia: 10 and 20% of Melanesian societies practised a form of homosexuality within the context of mail initiation rituals, which all male members of society must experience. In the Sambia of Papa New Guinea, they believed in Semen conservation and female pollution. Semen is important for many things like physical growth, strength, and spirituality. Believe that it takes many inseminations to impregnate a woman. Believe that scene and cannot easily be replenished by the body and so must be conserved or obtained elsewhere. The female pollution doctrine is the belief that the female body is unhealthy to males, primarily because of menstrual fluids. In order to obtain or maintain adequate amounts of semen, young Sandy and males practice email exchange with each other by practising fellatio in order to ingest sperm, but after puberty they can also take that penetrative role, inseminating younger boys. When they are well past puberty, they begin the transition to heterosexuality and the female body is not to be less dangerous at this time because the nails have ingested protective semen over the previous years. Homosexuality and American psychiatry: in the not-too-distant past, homosexuality was a taboo topic. Now various media outlets address the topic explicitly by including gay men and lesbians in leading roles. Homosexuality was officially removed from the DSM where it had previously been classified as a sexual deviation in 1973 and is no longer regarded as a mental disorder today. Around 1950, if you homosexuality as sickness begin to be challenged by both scientist and homosexual people themselves. Alfred Kinsey found that homosexual behaviour was more common then had been previously believed. Trained psychologist could not distinguish the psychological test results of homosexual subjects from those of heterosexual subjects.