Sexual Deviancy

Paraphilia (previously known as sexual perversion and sexual deviation) is the experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It has also been defined as sexual interest in anything other than a consenting human partner.

There is no scientific consensus for any precise border between unusual sexual interests and paraphilic ones. There is debate over which, if any, of the paraphilias should be listed in diagnostic manuals, such as the '' Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM) or the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).

The number and taxonomy of paraphilia is under debate; one source lists as many as 549 types of paraphilia. The DSM-5 has specific listings for eight paraphilic disorders. Several sub-classifications of the paraphilias have been proposed, and some argue that a fully dimensional, spectrum or complaint-oriented approach would better reflect the evidence.

Terminology

History

Many terms have been used to describe atypical sexual interests, and there remains debate regarding technical accuracy and perceptions of stigma. Sexologist John Money popularized the term ''paraphilia'' as a non-pejorative designation for unusual sexual interests. Money described paraphilia as "a sexuoerotic embellishment of, or alternative to the official, ideological norm." Psychiatrist Glen Gabbard writes that despite efforts by Stekel and Money, "the term ''paraphilia'' remains pejorative in most circumstances."

Coinage of the term ''paraphilia'' (''paraphilie'') has been credited to Friedrich Salomon Krauss in 1903 and it was used with some regularity by Wilhelm Stekel in the 1920s. The term comes from the Greek παρά (''para'') "beside" and φιλία (''-philia'') "friendship, love".

In the late 19th century, psychologists and psychiatrists started to categorize various paraphilias as they wanted a more descriptive system than the legal and religious constructs of sodomy and perversion. Before the introduction of the term ''paraphilia'' in the DSM-III (1980), the term ''sexual deviation'' was used to refer to paraphilias in the first two editions of the manual. In 1981, an article published in ''American Journal of Psychiatry'' described paraphilia as "recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors generally involving" the following:
* Non-human objects
* The suffering or humiliation of oneself or one's partner
* Children
* Non-consenting persons

Homosexuality and non-heterosexuality

Homosexuality, now widely accepted as a variant of human sexuality, was at one time discussed as a sexual deviation. Sigmund Freud and subsequent psychoanalytic thinkers considered homosexuality and paraphilias to result from psychosexual non-normative relations to the Oedipal complex. As such, the term ''sexual perversion'' or the epithet ''pervert'' have historically referred to gay men, as well as other non-heterosexuals (people who fall outside the perceived norms of sexual orientation).

By the mid-20th century, mental health practitioners began formalizing "deviant sexuality" classifications into categories. Originally coded as 000-x63, homosexuality was the top of the classification list (Code 302.0) until the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the DSM in 1973. Martin Kafka writes, "Sexual disorders once considered paraphilias (e.g., homosexuality) are now regarded as variants of normal sexuality."

A 2012 literature study by clinical psychologist James Cantor, handedness, IQ and cognitive profile, and neuroanatomy". The research then concluded that the data seemed to suggest paraphilias and homosexuality as two distinct categories, but regarded the conclusion as "quite tentative" given the current limited understanding of paraphilias.

Causes

The causes of paraphilias in people are unclear, but some research points to a possible prenatal neurodevelopmental correlation. A 2008 study analyzing the sexual fantasies of 200 heterosexual men by using the Wilson Sex Fantasy Questionnaire exam determined that males with a pronounced degree of fetish interest had a greater number of older brothers, a high 2D:4D digit ratio (which would indicate excessive prenatal estrogen exposure), and an elevated probability of being left-handed