Obscene Calls Research Articles

Pranks, Obscene Chatters, and Ambiguous Content: Exploring the Identification and Navigation of Inappropriate Messages to a Web-Based Sexual Assault Hotline

ABSTRACT Sexual assault crisis hotlines provide crucial support for survivors. Though some hotline users engage in inappropriate conduct (e.g. prank or obscene calls), few studies explore these interactions. To address the lack of literature exploring inappropriate hotline interactions, we conducted a secondary data analysis of chat transcripts (n = 233) shared with the research team as part of the formative evaluation of a university-based sexual assault program’s web-based crisis hotline. From those transcripts, we analyzed potentially inappropriate interactions (n = 38), most of which (n = 28) hotline responders flagged as inappropriate in post-chat log forms. We used codebook thematic analysis to explore how hotline responders identified and navigated these interactions. Our analysis generated three themes describing the processes through which responders seemed to identify potentially inappropriate chats – detecting implausibly graphic and abusive content, identifying patterns of presumably inauthentic chat topics, and interpreting ambiguous content. Hotline responders seemed to navigate ambiguous and less egregious boundary violations by gently redirecting conversations, and addressed clearer violations by setting firm, direct boundaries. Chatters responded to boundary setting by desisting and disconnecting or attempting to reengage responders. Findings highlight ambiguities and challenges web-based sexual assault hotline responders face and suggest a need for additional responder support, training, and debriefing options.

Terror by telephone: Normative anxieties around obscene calls in the 1960s

By 1967, telephone harassment complaints in the United States had hit an all-time high. Telephone companies, government officials, police, and media scrambled to make sense of and harness the surge in obscene calls. Such a phenomenon drew on the publics’ fears of an unknown and anonymous ‘pervert,’ which now had access to their private sphere through the technology of telephone calls. Previous research which had focused on obscenity laws and censorship with regards to cultural products, however neglects the gendered, sexual, and racialized implications of this historical episode of obscene calls. The discourse around obscene calls during the 1960s demonstrates that the telephone shifted from a technology of progress to a technology of ‘terror’ that delivered social anxieties around race, gender, and sexuality into the domestic sphere.

Comparing Sexuality, Aggressiveness, and Antisocial Behavior of Alleged Juvenile Sexual and Violent Offenders,

Sexual delinquency in juveniles is insufficiently explored in regard to the specificity of offender characteristics. The aim is to investigate relevant areas for juvenile sexual offending in a precourt, pretreatment group. Thirty-two alleged juvenile sexual offenders (ASO) referred to by police were compared with 32 juvenile nonsexual violent offenders (VNO) on standardized measures of aggressiveness and psychopathology, antisocial behavior, substance use problems, and sexuality. Less externalizing disorders and antisocial behavior were found among the ASOs than among the VNOs. The ASO group was sexually less experienced, had less trust in their relationship abilities, fewer victimization experiences, and reported more sexual deviance, while pornography use and obscene calls were reported less often. Few juvenile sexual offenders had severe problems in the investigated areas. Including groups of offenders before court, treatment or incarceration in research appears crucial to understand the full spectrum of sexual deviance in youth and avoid misguidance due to selection factors.

Frontotemporal Dementia—A Chameleon?

To the Editor: Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a pathologically heterogeneous illness characterized by progressive atrophy of the frontal and anterior temporal cortex. Some cases are familial, but the etiology is more often idiopathic.1 There is no known treatment, and the illness progresses inexorably to death, with a mean survival of about 8 years.1 FTD is often misdiagnosed because of its confusing initial presentation.2–4 A variety of psychiatric symptoms may be seen during the course of illness. We describe a patient with FTD who presented initially with mood and psychotic symptoms. Case report. Ms A, a 45-year-old woman, was in good health until May 2008. Her initial symptoms were depressed mood, crying spells, decreased energy, anhedonia, and poor appetite and sleep and were attributed to her father's death. She also reported that the police were keeping her under surveillance and that a neighbor was “messing with my head” and trying to harm her children, leading to homicidal threats. After accosting the neighbor, she was admitted with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, mixed, with psychotic features (DSM-IV criteria). Results of routine laboratory work, urine drug screen, and computed tomography scan were unremarkable. After 3 weeks of inpatient treatment, she was discharged with improvement of symptoms and resolution of the homicidal ideation. Within 1 month, a change in her behavior was noticed; she became loud and aggressive, started making obscene calls to her mother, and developed pressured speech. She quickly deteriorated, becoming dependent in activities of daily living. She was readmitted in December 2008; this admission lasted for about 3 months. Results from full medical and neurologic evaluation, including magnetic resonance imaging scan, electroencephalogram, and lumbar puncture, were unrevealing. Neuropsychological testing revealed prominent executive dysfunction, and positron emission tomography scan revealed severe frontal and temporal hypometabolism. The DSM-IV criteria for dementia were used and, furthermore, were also correlated with the Consensus Clinical Diagnostic Criteria for frontotemporal dementia.5 On presentation to our Memory Disorder Clinic in November 2009, she was mute, minimally interactive, and markedly apathetic; there was also some evidence of dysphagia. The family reported trials of numerous psychotropic medications, all with minimal effect. She had an unsteady gait, swaying from side to side and magnetic in nature. She was restless, repeatedly rising from her seat, but was easily redirected. Her mood could not be assessed, but her affect was flat. It did not appear that she was responding to internal stimuli. She died in January 2010. Frontotemporal dementia is the second most common dementia in younger individuals.6 A young person presenting with psychotic and mood symptoms may suggest a primary psychiatric diagnosis, but the clinician must consider a neuropsychiatric syndrome such as FTD. Often, the clinical picture will evolve over time. Importantly, the consensus criteria for diagnosis of FTD do not emphasize psychiatric features.3 For our patient, the onset of what appeared to be a typical depressive illness after her father's death proved to be a “red herring.” While she clearly presented with symptoms of a delusional depression, the clinical picture quickly evolved with increasing dependence in activities of daily living and mutism, and death soon followed. A review of the literature reveals cases in which the initial presentation of FTD was suggestive of a primary psychotic illness or a mood disorder.4,7 A greater index of suspicion for FTD in younger patients with new-onset psychiatric symptoms, and a longitudinal view as the disease progresses, will lead to better clinical diagnosis.

Telephone scatologia: Comorbidity with other paraphilias and paraphilia-related disorders

The term scatologia is derived from the Greek word, skato, for dung and logos for speech (Gayford, 1997). Thus, telephone scatologia, also referred to as telephone scatophilia and telephonicophilia, is a paraphilia (PA) characterized by a pattern of sexual arousal associated with exposing an unsuspecting victim to sexual and obscene material over the phone (Milner & Dopke, 1997; Schewe, 1997). Telephone scatologia remains classified as a PA not otherwise specified (NOS) in the DSM-IV, because there has been insufficient description of the disorder in the literature to merit a separate category (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Although specific PAs are distinguished by a characteristic paraphilic focus, all PAs feature recurrent, socially deviant, highly arousing sexual fantasies, urges, and activities that have a duration of at least 6 months and cause clinically significant distress or impairment (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). These latter diagnostic criteria would distinguish true telephone scatologists (TS) from telephone callers who just make a few obscene calls as a prank. Obscene telephone calling is a common behavior with more than 22,000 obscene phone call complaints filed in the Washington, DC area alone in 1989. This is particularly impressive considering that only 7–20% of sexually provocative calls are actually reported to the telephone company (Herold, Mantle, & Zemitis, 1979; Smith & Morra, 1994). Surveys

Understanding Communication Privacy: Unlisted Telephone Subscribers in the United States

A national survey of over 1500 American households was analyzed to identify demographic variables that can predict subscription to unlisted telephone service. The survey was conducted face-to-face among a stratified random sample of households. The demographic variables we identified that contribute to subscribership are (in order of importance) being an African-American, not owning a home, metropolitan residence, multifamily dwelling, lower education, and income. Characteristics commonly thought to be important, such as being young, female, having kids, or being a professional or manager, were not statistically significant variables when considered with the others. Our findings suggest that unlisted service may not only be valued by subscribers as a way to cut problem calls, but also to reduce general accessibility by outsiders. Based on this analysis, we advance new service concepts that might still provide value of reduced accessibility but also allow customers to enjoy benefits of selective interaction. These new forms of anonymity protection might be attractive not only because of their intrinsic qualities (reducing phone problems such as telemarketing and obscene calls), but also because of extrinsic ones (symbolism, prestige, ancillary effect of lowering social contact and integration). Further, these new services might resolve thorny regulatory and liability issues that now arise with emerging services that ordinarily require customers to disclose their phone numbers.

Obscene Telephone Calls to Women in England and Wales

Abstract: Data from the British Crime Survey are analysed which suggest that approximately 10% of women with access to a private telephone receive obscene calls per year. Young and middle‐aged women, separated and divorced women, and women living in inner cities, are more prone to victimisation, suggesting that some recipients of obscene calls are known to the caller. Women who have received obscene calls are more worried about burglary of their empty home, sex offences, ‘possibly sexual’ assault, and mugging than are women not receiving calls. It is suggested that it would be helpful to know more detail about patterns of victimisation: for example, do ex‐directory numbers ever receive obscene calls?

The prevalence of sexually stressful events among females in the general population

Five hundred sixteen adult females were administered a questionnaire inquiring into the nature of sexually stressful events in their lives. There were 500 responses, and, of those, 298 (59.9%) had experienced an event of this type. A total of 416 different incidents were reported. They were categorized by the authors as either noninvasive (harassment, obscene calls, exposures, "peepers") or invasive (fondling, attempted rape, rape). The invasive incidents were most often initiated by a friend, acquaintance, or relative. The noninvasive events were almost always perpetrated by strangers. The subjects were asked to report the emotional impact of the events. All were reported to be stressful, with rape being the most stressful event. Regardless of whether formal therapy was sought, all victims reported lowered stress levels over time. There were 98 incidents reported when the subjects were 13 years of age or younger. There were 45 invasive events, including 9 rapes. All the rapes were committed by acquaintances or relatives. Only one victim of childhood rape received professional attention. Of the 41 women who were raped, nearly 75% were raped by acquaintances or relatives. This does not parallel existing emergency room data, suggesting that the group of patients who report to medical authorities may be a skewed sample of rape victims. Only four victims reported their rapes to either legal or medical authorities.