10.13 Psychological Perspectives and Treatments for Sexual Deviations

Freud's Psychoanalytic Understanding of Paraphilias

Freud's psychoanalytic theory dominated the psychological perspective on paraphilias throughout the 20th century, positing that these disorders arise from both biological and psychological factors during early development.

Definition of Perversion

• Perversion: Refers to behaviors that deviate from the orthodox definitions of normal behavior. While perversion can describe various forms of deviation, it predominantly pertains to sexual behaviors deemed particularly abnormal or repulsive.
• Difference from Deviant Behavior: Deviant behavior encompasses a broader spectrum, such as petty crime, which may not necessarily be labeled as perverse.
• Terminology Usage: Perversion is often seen as derogatory; thus, the term paraphilia has emerged in psychological literature to replace it. However, the term paraphilia is controversial, leading to the use of terms like deviation in certain contexts.

Focus of Psychological Literature

• The majority of literature focuses on pedophilic disorder. Multiple psychological theories exist regarding the behavior of men who perpetrate child sex offenses.
• Child Sexual Abuse (CSA): Considered a predisposing factor for the transition from victim to offender, but it fails to explain why most CSA victims are female, yet most offenders are male. This discrepancy indicates that boys' experiences of CSA may have different psychosocial effects compared to girls.
• A notable counterpoint is that the majority of abuse victims do not go on to perpetrate abuse, although some individuals with pedophilic disorder, who were abused as children, may exhibit preferences aligned with the age at which the abuse occurred, suggesting a replication of their experiences.

Paraphilic Lovemaps

Understanding Lovemaps

• Lovemap: John Money introduced the term to describe a person's emotional and mental blueprint for their ideal erotic situations. Money defined it as:

"A developmental representation or template in the mind and in the brain depicting the idealized lover and the idealized program of sexual and erotic activity projected in imagery or actually engaged in with that lover."

• Lovemaps evolve similarly to language acquisition, establishing in early life and reflecting individual uniqueness akin to an accent. While lovemaps do not exist at birth, their development starts shortly thereafter and culminates after puberty.
• Certain aspects may only be recognized later in life, often triggered by experiences like pornography.

Vandalized Lovemaps

• Vandalized Lovemaps: Occur when the lovemapping process is traumatized, such as through exposure to or participation in inappropriate behaviors like child sexual abuse, incest, or sadomasochism. Money indicates such lovemaps are formed between ages five and eight and can lead to paraphilic or hyposexual behaviors.

Paraphilic Disorders

Characteristics of Paraphilic Disorders

• In paraphilic disorders, lust becomes associated with fantasies and practices that society views as forbidden or penalized.
• Money suggests that lust in these cases may be displaced from normal lovemaps to vandalized ones either due to abuse or due to non-sexual experiences that led to genital arousal.

Sexual Violence and Its Motivations

Profile of Perpetrators

• No standardized profile exists for sexually violent individuals. Offenders may have various backgrounds and could be known to the victim, such as family members or friends, or be complete strangers.
• The primary motivators of sexual violence relate to power and control rather than sexual desire. It is predominantly an aggressive act aimed at degrading and dominating the victim.