Paraphilic Coercive Disorder Research Articles

Paraphilic Coercive Disorder

The work group of the American Psychiatric Association to revise DSM-III in 1985 proposed a controversial new sexual disorder titled paraphilic rapism. Subsequently the criteria defining paraphilic rapism was narrowed and the category was renamed paraphilic coercive disorder to reduce some of the objections. Eventually the diagnosis was withdrawn front the DSM-III-R because of the ensuring controversy. The intent of the present study was to establish whether clinicians agree on the prototypical features of the disorder and to identify specific descriptors for use as diagnostic criteria. A collection of 87 possible traits from the literature on rapists was made and the traits were combined with evaluative (good or bad) concepts from Osgood's semantic differential studies. The traits were rated for their prototypicality in describing individuals with paraphilic coercive disorder by two groups: (1) the staff of a sex offender treatment program and (2) a national sample of clinicians working with sex offender...

The concept of courtship disorder.

Four phases of normal human male courtship behavior may be differentiated: location and initial appraisal of a potential partner; pretactile interaction (e.g., smiling at, posturing for, or talking to a prospective partner); tactile interaction (e.g., embracing, petting); and effecting genital union. A particular class of erotic anomalies may be seen as distorted counterparts of the four normal phases: voyeurism; exhibitionism and obscene telephoning; toucheurism and frotteurism; and the preferential rape pattern. Data from male samples are presented that show that two or more of these anomalies are often found in the same individual. These data suggest the existence of a discrete syndrome which may be described as a courtship disorder.

Males disposed to commit rape.

The hypothesis that the preferential rape pattern belongs among the courtship disorders like voyeurism, exhibitionism, and toucheurism was tested. The study consisted of two experiments. The first compared 11 rape-prone males, who were most likely afflicted with the preferential rape pattern, with 11 sexually normal controls on penile response to narratives that depicted scenes in which the individual engaged in behavior typical of voyeurs, exhibitionists, or toucheurs. Narratives depicting normal tactile interaction (short of intercourse) with a genuinely participating woman, normal intercourse, and sexually neutral scenes were also presented. The rape-prone males responded more to the voyeuristic situations than did the controls. The standing of the normal intercourse situations on the scale of erotic value, relative to the other above-mentioned situations, was lower for the rape-prone males than for the normal controls. A second experiment compared 12 rape-prone males, who most likely demonstrated the preferential rape pattern, with 12 males with (other) courtship disorders and 12 sexually normal controls. Penile response to narratives depicting the individual involved in pretactile erotic activity, in tactile sexual activity short of intercourse, or in having intercourse was compared. Each situation was presented in two modalities depicting either a genuinely participating woman or a woman fearful of the individual. The penile responses of the rape-prone males, as well as those of males with other courtship disorders, differentiated less between sexual interaction with a fearful woman and such interaction with a participating woman than did the penile responses of normal controls. There was no significant difference in this respect between the rape-prone males and males with other courtship disorders.

The courtship disorders: a further investigation.

The senior author had put forward the hypothesis that voyeurism , exhibitionism, obscene telephone calling, toucheurism - frotteurism , and at least some cases of the preferential rape pattern all distort normal courtship behavior in basically the same manner. An earlier study (Freund et al., 1983) tested part of this hypothesis, namely that voyeurism , exhibitionism, and frotteurism - toucheurism , are closely related. However, the outcome of one of the experiments by which this test was performed could be interpreted as indicating that the relationship between these anomalous erotic inclinations consists simply in that they may be expressions of a disinclination toward intercourse. The present study was conducted to test this interpretation. It compared 16 exhibitionists with 16 sexually normal controls on penile responses to auditorily presented descriptions of the four phases of normal sexual interaction (location of a suitable partner; pretactile erotic interaction; tactile interaction short of intercourse; the situation of intercourse) and sexually neutral situations. These descriptions were narratives about the examined subject's involvement in such interaction. No differences in responding between exhibitionists and normal controls were observed. Both groups responded most to descriptions of intercourse. The second largest response was to tactile interaction (short of intercourse). The third was to situations of partner location and pretactile interaction, which were not differentiated from each other. Responses to sexually neutral situations were smaller than those to descriptions of any category of sexual interaction. This result refutes the hypothesis that exhibitionism develops on the basis of a disinclination toward intercourse. The close relationship between exhibitionism, and voyeurism and toucheurism (or frotteurism ), had been demonstrated earlier.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The courtship disorders.

This study tested parts of the hypothesis that voyeurism, exhibitionism, toucheurism and frotteurism, obscene telephone calling, and at least some cases of the preferential rape pattern are all based on the same disturbance. In Part One, a frequency count of patients referred for one of these activities who subsequently reported having engaged in others of this same class was in accord with the clinical impression that there is a high degree of concomitance among at least some of these activities. In Parts Two and Three, relative preference for anomalous vs. normal erotic interactions was assessed by monitoring penile volume changes during verbally presented descriptions of corresponding situations. Part Two demonstrated that patients who suffered from one of the disorders in question other than voyeurism and who denied voyeuristic activity or tendencies, nonetheless responded more to narratives describing voyeuristic situations than did controls. Part Three showed that exhibitionists who denied toucheuristic activity or tendencies responded more to toucheuristic stimuli than did controls.