Sexual Paraphilias As an Alternative Route to Emotional
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SEXUAL PARAPHILIAS AS AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE TO EMOTIONAL INTIMACY Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the California School of Professional Psychology Alliant International University Irvine In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Psychology by Eric Jones, M.A. Approved by: Manijeh Daneshpour, Ph.D., Chairperson PREVIEWScott R. Woolley, Ph.D. Sesen Negash, Ph.D. ProQuest Number: 10745188 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ProQuest 10745188 Published by ProQuest LLC ( 2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. PREVIEW789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346 SEXUAL PARAPHILIAS AS AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE ii PREVIEW ©Eric Jones, 2018 SEXUAL PARAPHILIAS AS AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE iii Dedication To my wife, Jackelyn, and my daughter, Felicity, for all of your love and support. And to my chair, Manijeh, for your continued patience and guidance despite all the delays and missed deadlines. PREVIEW SEXUAL PARAPHILIAS AS AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE iv Acknowledgements Many thanks to the administrators, moderators and members of the following websites for permitting advertisement of the study and taking part in it: ADISC.org Fetlife.com Facebook.com Imagefap.com Reddit.com Thestudentroom.co.uk Uncommonforum.com PREVIEW SEXUAL PARAPHILIAS AS AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE v Abstract This study explores the relationship between intere st in several sexual paraphilias and the need for emotional intimacy. Participants identified their level of interest and engagement in 11 paraphilic behaviors and completed the Need to Belong Scale (NTBS). Participants who endorsed at least one paraphilic interest scored significantly higher on the Need to Belong Scale than those who endorsed none. Participants who reported that they had engaged in a particular paraphilic behavior of interest within the last month did not score significantly different from those who espoused an interest or had engaged in a paraphilic behavior in the past. It is important to note, however, that those who had engaged in a paraphilic behavior had lower scores than those who simply endorsed an interest. This finding suggests that there may be a relationship between the need for emotional intimacy and an interest in sexual paraphilias. PREVIEW SEXUAL PARAPHILIAS AS AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE vi Table of Contents Dedication iii Acknowledgements iv Abstract v List of Tables vii CHAPTER I. Introduction 1 Statement of the Problem 4 CHAPTER II. Literature Review 7 Introduction 7 Attachment 8 Intimacy 9 Paraphilias 11 Specific Paraphilias 12 Research on Sexual Offenders 14 Paraphilia Treatment 15 CHAPTER III. Methodology 18 Participants 18 Measures 18 Procedures 19 Analysis PREVIEW 19 CHAPTER IV. Results 21 CHAPTER V. Discussion 28 Limitations and Recommendations for Future Research 30 Clinical Implications 33 References 35 APPENDIX A. Demographic Questionnaire 40 APPENDIX B. Interest in Sexual Paraphilias Questionnaire 42 APPENDIX C. Intimacy Attitude Scale - Revised 45 SEXUAL PARAPHILIAS AS AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE vii APPENDIX D. Informed Consent Agreement 46 APPENDIX E. Request for Permission to Advertise Study 48 APPENDIX F. Dissertation Proposal 49 PREVIEW SEXUAL PARAPHILIAS AS AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE viii List of Tables Table 1. Demographic Breakdown 22 Table 2. Test of Primary Hypothesis 23 Table 3. Paraphilia Response Groupings and NTBS Scores by Group 24 Table 4: Comparing Presence of a Paraphilic Interest and Religiosity 24 Table 5 . Individual Paraphilia Analyses 25 Table 6. Comparing NTBS Scores Based on Engagement 27 PREVIEW SEXUAL PARAPHILIAS AS AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE 1 Introduction In the United States, we struggle with understanding traditional sexual behavior, let alone anything that deviates from the norm. The terms “deviant” and “perversion” are testament enough to this, originally neutral, clinical words that have come to label people and behaviors as worthy of contempt. To date, the research on sexual behavior has been fairly limited to dealing with sexual offenders, exploring traditional sexual behavior in relationships, and some limited research on specific paraphilic behaviors. Few theories exist that adequately explain the development and function of paraphilias, limiting our ability to productively examine such proclivities. Worse yet, it is entirely possible that the stigma created by that lack of understanding could augment the drive to pursue them, creating a potentially problematic circular causality. To this end, this study aims to identify the functions of paraphilias in a relational behavior, examining whether they serve as an alternative process to the formation of relational intimacy. Paraphilias, long classified as mental disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1994, 2000), encompass a wide range of interests and behaviors. They are broadly defined as “a pattern of recurring sexually arousing mental imagery or behavior that involves unusual and especially socially unacceptable sexualPREVIEW practices.” Depending on who is defining acceptable sexual behavior, they may consist of any sexual thought or behavior that leads to arousal outside of heterosexual vaginal intercourse. Normalcy is an elusive construct and all too frequently sexuality is associated with shame (Mollon, 2008), leading to a great deal of distress for those who deviate from what is considered to be the norm. While ostracizing those who engage in certain paraphilias may be useful from a SEXUAL PARAPHILIAS AS AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE 2 societal standpoint, such as in the cases of pedophilia and rape, those who engage in paraphilias consensually or alone are still subject to rejection for their interests. With any behavior that causes people distress, either directly or indirectly, there is reason to consider what purpose that behavior serves that allows it to persist despite pressures to desist. In therapeutic terms, having insight into the motivations for behaviors can help therapists validate patient experiences or engage in several therapeutic techniques, such as functional analysis. Knowing how behaviors meet our needs can help us identify alternative behaviors that might meet the same need with fewer consequences. In other cases where people struggle with intransigent behavioral patterns, such as addiction, ample evidence has shown that we cannot expect people to simply abstain from the behavior without sufficient mitigation of the motivating factors (APA, 2012). Furthermore, lack of knowledge about underlying motivations leaves room for the propagation of stigmas and for the participants in the behavior to create negative self- concepts that can be damaging, e.g. “I can’t stop doing this dirty thing, so I must be bad”. Many different theories exist that attempt to explain why people engage in paraphilic behaviors. Various biological theories exist that identify the neurological roots of fetishistic and paraphilic interests (Epstein, 1961; Mitchell, Falconer, & Hill, 1954; Waismann, Fenwick, Wilson, Hewett, & Lumsden,PREVIEW 2003). While Freud’s (1961) interest in sexuality and sexual deviancy is well known (McConaghy,1974; Rachman & Hodgson, 1968), several other scholars have attempted to define paraphilias as being tied to attachment deficits, with mixed results (Abracen, Looman, Di Fazio, Kelly & Stirpe1, 2006; Burk & Burkhart; 2003; Ward, Hudson, Marshall & Siegert, 1995). Behaviorists are more likely to describe paraphilic behaviors as self- reinforcing due to associations made between sexual gratification and the subject of the paraphilic interest. SEXUAL PARAPHILIAS AS AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE 3 Any or all of these theories may be true in part, though this researcher argues that each represents an incomplete perspective. Neurobiology ostensibly has a role in all human actions, though there are few cases where the causal relatio nship it has with behaviors can be ascertained. Attachment deficits drive the way we navigate intimate relationships, though they neither uniformly predict intimate interactions, nor do they reliably correlate with differences in sexual functioning (Péloquin, Brassard, Lafontaine & Shaver, 2013). Reinforcement may well play a significant role in the development of paraphilic interests, though it fails to adequately explain the persistence and pervasiveness that many of these interests for many those who espouse them. When direct relationships cannot be found, we must examine mediating variables, and in the case of sexual paraphilias, the proposed mediating variable is intimacy. The drive for intimacy is one of the major motivators of social interaction. It is well understood that humans seek to be close to other humans, and there are many ways of going about pursuing intimacy (Mashek & Aron, 2004). Sexual intimacy is one of the more complex of these, and as such is prone to some amount of confusion. In the United States, “intimacy” or “being intimate” are often employed euphemistically to refer to sexual intercourse. Men in many parts of the world are viewed as preferring sexual intimacy over romantic connection, as well as preferring the practical