Paraphilia
zh-tw:性欲倒錯
Paraphilia is a mental health term recently used to indicate arousal in response to sexual objects or situations that are not part of societally
normative arousal/activity patterns, and that may interfere with the capacity for reciprocal affectionate sexual activity.
Paraphilia is a rarely used label for sexual desires or
activities that lie well outside the societal
norm. Many of these activities are often considered perversions or psychosexual disorders in various societies, and how to regard these behaviors is a
controversial matter in all situations. The term "paraphilia" is seldom used, but it is seen by some as aiding objectivity in regard to kinds of behavior that are generally regarded as
taboo, and are shunned, criminalized, or even
punished by death.
Because it is intended to indicate sexual acts that meet with societal disapproval, the specific acts included under the rubric of
paraphilia vary from time to time and from place to place, and indeed from edition to edition of such works as the
DSM.
Overview
\nWhat is considered to be "perversion" or "deviation" varies from society to society. Paraphilias are often called sexual perversions or sexual deviancy with negative connotations or kinky sex with more positive connotations. Some specific paraphilias have been or are currently crimes in some jurisdictions. In some religions they are considered sins. Since the development of psychology attempts have been made to characterize them in terms of their etiology and in terms of the ways they change the functioning of individuals in social situations. Some behaviors that might be classified as paraphilias by some subsets of society may be viewed as harmless eccentricities by other subsets of society.
Some paraphilias are defined as potential mental disorders in the DSM-IV. These are:
- exhibitionism: deriving sexual pleasure from being watched\n*fetishism: sexual attraction to particular objects \n*frotteurism: deriving sexual pleasure from rubbing against other people\n*masochism: deriving sexual pleasure from sexual submission \n*pedophilia: sexual attraction to children\n*sadism: deriving sexual pleasure from inflicting pain\n*voyeurism: deriving sexual pleasure from watching others
Homosexuality
\nThe societal viewpoint on homosexuality is various, being at times considered a personal choice, genetic condition, or a mental illness (e.g., a paraphilia) [1]. Recently many in the
Western world have taken a much milder stance against it
[1]. The DSM has never defined homosexuality as a paraphilia because the term
paraphilia was first introduced to the DSM in 1980, after homosexuality had been removed from the list of illnesses.
Behavioral imprinting
\nObservation of paraphiliac behavior has provided valuable scientific information on the mechanisms of sexual attraction and
desire, such as
behavioral imprinting. Careful investigation has also led to the tentative conclusions that normal biological processes may sometimes be manifested in idiosyncratic ways in at least some of the paraphilias, and that these unusual manifestations are frequently associated with unusual (and especially traumatic) events associated with early sexual experience.
History of the term
The term was coined by Viennese psychotherapist Wilhelm Stekel (in his book Sexual Aberrations) in 1925, from the Greek para- (beside) + philos (loving), and first used in English in Stekel's translated works. It was not in widespread use until the 1950s, and was first used in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM) in 1980. It was used by Sigmund Freud, as well as by the
sexologist John Money.
Non-consensual and criminal paraphilias
The paraphilias listed below are either non-consensual or, if acted out, criminal in most jurisdictions.
Common paraphilias
The following paraphilias are sufficiently common in the general population to be frequently observed in clinical literature, as well as being able to support entire sub-genres of mainstream commercial pornography.
Note that non-consensual sadomasochistic acts may consititute assault, and therefore belong in the list above. Some jurisdictions criminalize sadomasochistic acts, regardless of consent.
Non-consensual exhibitionism in public places, where people who have not previously consented to watch are exposed to sexual display, is also an offense in most jurisdictions. (See indecent exposure).
Note: Wikipedia does not give legal advice.
Other paraphilias
The paraphilias listed below are less common.
There are also many other rare paraphilias.
The supposed paraphilia of autogynephilia, or sexual pleasure from perceiving oneself as a
woman, has been proposed as a motivation for
transgender behavior, but is generally regarded as theoretical in nature. It is not well accepted.
Religion and Paraphilia
Some religious conservatives views paraphilias as deviations from God's original plan for human sexuality, or from religious laws. Depending in part on the nature of the paraphilia in question, judgements can differ as to whether it should be considered a case of sexual sin, or of
mental illness.
See also
\n*List of philias\n*
Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing for history of classifying sexual object choice as a disease
External links
\n*DSM-IV and DSM-IV-TR list of paraphilias
Category:Sexology\nCategory:Paraphilia
