Sexual Manifestations of Emotionally Disturbed Behavior

Abstract

It is difficult to define sexual disturbance today because concepts about emotional disturbance in general and sexual disorder in particular have recently undergone signify cant changes. Sexual disorders may be seen in terms of (a) specific aberrant acts or (b) the psychological and philosophic causes that underlie such acts. It would appear to be more meaningful to define them largely in relation to the self- defeating ways in which and reasons for which an individual behaves sexually rather than in terms of the concrete behaviors he performs. When so viewed, the basic causes of sexual disorders seem to be quite the same as those of most general emotional difficulties. Societal reaction to disturbed indi viduals with sexual problems has improved in recent years but is still much too condemnatory and punitive. At the same time, some social thinkers, in a misguided effort to pre vent the persecution of sexually troubled and deviant individuals unrealistically...

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Physical Height in Pedophilic and Hebephilic Sexual Offenders

Abstract

Adult men's height reflects, not only their genetic endowment, but also the conditions that were present during their development in utero and in childhood. We compared the adult heights of men who committed one or more sexual offenses and who were erotically interested in prepubescent children (pedophilic sexual offenders; n=223), those who were erotically interested in pubescent children (hebephilic sexual offenders; n=615), and those who were erotically interested in adults (teleiophilic sexual offenders; n=187), as well as men who had no known sexual offenses and who were erotically interested in adults (teleiophilic nonoffender controls; n=156). The pedophilic and the hebephilic sexual offenders were significantly shorter than the teleiophilic nonoffender controls. The teleiophilic sexual offenders were intermediate in height between the nonoffenders and the pedophilic and hebephilic sexual offenders and not significantly different from any of the other groups. This suggests that—regardless of whatever psychological sequelae might also have followed from the conditions present during early development—pedophilic and hebephilic...

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Sex, Lies, and Statistics: Inferences From the Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome

Abstract

Victims of child sexual abuse often recant their complaints or do not report incidents, making prosecution of offenders difficult. The child with sexual abuse accommodation syndrome (CSAAS) has been used to explain this phenomenon by identifying common behavioral responses. Unlike PTSD but like rape trauma syndrome, CSAAS is not an official diagnostic term and should not be used as evidence of a defendant's guilt or to imply probative value in prosecutions. Courts have grappled with the ideal use of CSAAS in the evaluation of child witness testimony. Expert testimony should be helpful to the jurors without prejudicing them. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled recently that statistical evidence about CSAAS implying the probability that a child is truthful runs the risk of confusing jury members and biasing them against the defendant. We review the parameters of expert testimony and its admissibility in this area,..

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Saved Sex Loving Our Young People Enough to Tell Them the Truth

Okay, I need to understand this 'victory,'" Jeannie started in. The governor of our state had just signed legislation stripping abortion giant Planned Parenthood of about $4 million in annual taxpayer funding. "First, you do not want to teach sex-ed and provide condoms in schools. Second, you do not want to fund an organization that provides contraception to prevent pregnancy. And you do not want abortion as an option. Do you really think that more teens will practice abstinence because of this?"

A mother of three, Jeannie's approach to teens and sex is, They're going to do it anyway, so you might as well give them birth control so nobody gets pregnant. Setting aside all the loaded presumptions in her diatribe, I was left thinking, We're talking about people, here, not animals in heat. Why should we accept such a low view of them?...

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White Privilege in Sex and Relationship Therapy

Counseling Psychology has emphasized the importance of using multicultural and social justice frameworks in psychotherapy to avoid reenacting in session the privilege and oppression dynamics that exist in larger society. People of Color have historically underutilized psychotherapy services and have higher attrition rates when they do attend therapy, even though they have been more likely to face more sources of psychological distress (Kearney, Draper, & Baron, 2005; Sue & Sue, 2008). Additionally, White therapists have been over-represented in professional and training settings (Fouad & Arredondo, 2007; Hays & Chang, 2003). Add to that the fact that therapists have been trained in and practice psychotherapy theories developed primarily by White men and you have a system of counseling that works for some and not all. Thus, White therapists could be at risk for harming their clients of Color, and possibly their White clients as well, because of the utilization of these...

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Injuries Of The Female Genitalia In Cases Of Sexual Assault

Abstract

Sexual violence is a global problem that particularly affects women and children. A retrospective analysis of 390 clinical-forensic examinations and 120 autopsies regarding injuries of the female genitalia in cases of sexual violence was performed. In the majority of cases no injuries of the female genitalia were found. Autopsy cases showed significantly more (and more serious) injuries of the genitalia than clinical forensic examinations (43 % vs. 25 %; p = 0.0004). Predominantly found were injuries of the external anogenital area, mostly tears or soft tissue lesions. In the current literature, data regarding the rate of injuries in victims of sexual violence vary strongly and their comparability is limited. Regarding the reconstruction of an offence, a forensic examination with an appropriate documentation of the injuries is evidently crucial.

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Spontaneous Abortions Among Nickel-exposed Female Refinery Workers.

Abstract

A case-control study to investigate whether women employed in nickel-exposed work areas in early pregnancy are at elevated risk of spontaneous abortion (SA). Data about pregnancy outcome and maternal factors were obtained about each delivery and SA from women in selected work places. Each pregnancy record was assigned a categorical nickel (Ni) exposure rating according to the women's occupations at pregnancy onset. The guidelines were the water-soluble Ni subfraction of the inhalable aerosol fraction obtained by personal monitoring for nickel- and copper-refinery workers or/and measured urinary-Ni concentrations. The unadjusted odds ratio for the association between the maternal exposure to Ni and an SA for Ni-exposed women was 1.38 (95% confidence interval: 1.04-1.84), and the adjusted was 1.14 (0.95-1.37). In conclusion, there was no statistical association between maternal occupational exposure to water-soluble Ni in early pregnancy and the risk of self-reported SA....

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Causal Attributions and Affective Responses to Provocative Female Partner Behavior by Abusive and Nonabusive Males

Abstract

The present study examined the effects of the degree of female partner provocation on cognitive attributions and affective responses in verbally abusive and nonabusive college males. In Phase 1 (N = 116), subjects listened to audiotapes of hypothetical dating situations in which the female partner's behavior was nonprovocative or moderately provocative; in Phase 2 (N = 105), the female partner's behavior was nonprovocative or highly provocative. The major hypothesis was that abusive males would make greater negative intent and responsibility attributions and report more powerful feelings of jealousy, rejection, and abandonment in response to moderately and highly provocative partner behavior but not in response to nonprovocative partner behavior than would nonabusive males. Results from Phase 1 showed that abusive males reported reliably greater negative attributions and feelings of jealousy, rejection, and abandonment in response to moderately provocative partner behavior than did nonabusive males. No group

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Drug-Induced Compulsive Behaviors: Exceptions to the Rule

To the Editor: We are intrigued by the recent article by Bostwick et al1 on the emergence of impulse control behaviors after treatment with dopamine agonists. It is amazing how these gambling and hypersexuality adverse effects occur and then seem to immediately abate simply by discontinuing the Parkinson disease medication without need for any additional addiction-related treatment. Ropinirole was recently investigated in a phase 4 clinical trial as a treatment for sexual dysfunction secondary to antidepressant pharmacotherapy,2 which speaks to its possible effects on sexual behavior. Dopamine agonists may affect the mesolimbic pathway, as do drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine, whose behavioral properties are attributed to this dopaminergic activity; sexual compulsivity is a well-established adverse effect of these medications.3 Furthermore, dopamine dysregulation syndrome, an addictive use pattern of dopamine agonists, causes the same behaviors observed in cocaine-dependent patients, such as punding, a stereotypical motor behavior...

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Dealing With A Problem That Doesn’t Exist? Professional Responses To Female Perpetrated Child Sexual Abuse

Abstract

Female involvement in sexual offences against children is more common than is generally thought and has serious implications for the long-term emotional and psychological well-being of victims. Drawing on findings from: a comprehensive review of the literature; an overview of relevant literature and legislation; and an electronic survey of Multi-Agency Public Protection Panels; this paper explores the criminal justice response to female sex offending in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The literature highlights that the way in which professionals identify and respond to child sexual abuse has been shown to be influenced by the gender of the perpetrator. Equally, whilst similar to male sex offending in terms of the intrusiveness and seriousness of the abuse, some aspects of female sex offending can cause particular problems for professionals. The fact that some sexual abuse can be disguised as childcare can make it difficult for professionals...

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Friendship: The Laws of Attraction

My best friend, Olivia, and I met in a fiction-writing class many years ago. We bonded in an instant during the discussion of one poor soul's incomprehensible story involving a woman who'd undergone surgery and was described delicately as having lost "that which made her a woman." Suddenly, out of my mouth sprang my impersonation of Monty Python's Eric Idle, "Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean?" Every other student in the room looked at me as if I'd lost my mind, but Olivia snorted with laughter. Thus, a friendship was born.

When people are asked, "What gives meaning to your life?" friendship figures at the top of the list. Yet the dynamics of friendship have remained mysterious and unquantifiable. Like romantic love, friendships were thought to "just happen." New research shows that the dance of friendship is nuanced far more complex than commonly thought....

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The Child Sexual Ause Accommodation Syndrome.

Abstract

Child victims of sexual abuse face secondary trauma in the crisis of discovery. Their attempts to reconcile their private experiences with the realities of the outer world are assaulted by the disbelief, blame and rejection they experience from adults. The normal coping behavior of the child contradicts the entrenched beliefs and expectations typically held by adults, stigmatizing the child with charges of lying, manipulating or imagining from parents, courts and clinicians. Such abandonment by the very adults most crucial to the child's protection and recovery drives the child deeper into self-blame, self-hate, alienation and revictimization. In contrast, the advocacy of an empathic clinician within a supportive treatment network can provide vital credibility and endorsement for the child. Evaluation of the responses of normal children to sexual assault provides clear evidence that societal definitions of "normal" victim behavior are inappropriate and procrustean, serving...

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Chapter 2: Sexual Etiqutte in Islam

Sexual intercourse and the sexual j with a legal spouse are governed by nature, and at the same time is a sunnah of the Prophets and the Ahlul Bayt (as). It has even been referred to as the most pleasurable thing in life. A group of companions and Shī°as of Imām as-Ŝādiq (as) narrate that the Imām asked us: “What is the most pleasurable thing?” We said: “There are many pleasurable things.” Imām said: “The most pleasurable thing is making love with (your) spouses.”1

It is also narrated from Imām as-Ŝādiq (as): “Whether in this world or in the hereafter, one has not, and will not, perceived a pleasure more pleasurable than sexual relations with women, and certainly this is the commentary of the words of Allāh (SwT) in the Qur`an, in Surat Āli-’ Imrān, verse 14 where He states: “To mankind has been made...

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Working with Sexual Offenders via Psychodrama

Abstract

Aim/Background: This paper describes a program providing group therapy to adjudicated adult male sex offenders and sex addicts via Psychodrama and discusses its format and program evaluation data. Topics treated in the sessions and means of approach are described. The format of work is outlined in manual form, rationales given for treatment choices, and evaluations of the program by the men in it are reported on.

Materials/ Methods: A description of procedures used and a manual are provided for others who may wish to use the practices described. Data are taken from program evaluations and self-reports.

Results: Numerical data and essay style quotes from program evaluations are provided which show that the men in the program find psychodramatic work personally meaningful and developing social bonding.

Conclusions: What the data reveal, limitations, and what directions we would like to move in future are described....

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Objective Assessment Of Sexual Arousal In Women With A History Of Hysterectomy

Abstract

Objective The potential contribution of psychological and anatomical changes to sexual dysfunction following hysterectomy is not clear. Radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer causes surgical damage to the autonomic nerves which are responsible for the increased vaginal blood flow during sexual arousal. Simple hysterectomy causes more limited nerve disruption. Photoplethysmographic assessment of vaginal pulse amplitude objectively measures vaginal blood flow during sexual arousal. We hypothesised that damage of the autonomic nerves results in a disrupted vaginal blood flow response during sexual stimulation.

Design Between-groups comparison of vaginal pulse amplitude.

Setting University hospital.

Sample Twelve women with a history of radical hysterectomy, 12 women with a history of simple abdomonal hysterectomy and 17 aged-matched controls.

Methods Photoplethysmographic assessment of vaginal pulse amplitude during sexual stimulation by erotic films. Self-reported ratings of subjective sexual arousal were collected after each erotic stimulus condition...

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Missing White Woman Syndrome How Media Framing Affects Viewers’ Emotions

Abstract

In this experiment, the study of missing white woman syndrome is extended to video coverage to determine whether visual framing and race have an effect on the emotions of viewers. Missing white woman syndrome relates to the idea that stories about attractive, young, white females who go missing are more prevalent in the news to the exclusion of similar stories about other demographics. This study examined the relationship between race and framing effects through a factorial design experiment and posttest questionnaire. Experimental conditions compared television news stories about women of different demographics who are portrayed differently in both visual and nonvisual frames. Results showed that visual framing did affect the emotions of viewers, but the race of the missing person did not...

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