1. SEXUAL VARIATIONS AND DISORDERS
CHAPTER 8
SEXUAL VARIATIONS
AND
DISORDERS

2. SEXUAL BEHAVIOR Changing Views of Sexual Behavior Change over time
Sometimes permissive, at other times restrictive
Views toward sexual preferences vary across cultures and over time
Sigmund Freud – People innately sexual; sexual repression has negative effects.
Havelock Ellis – Emphasized psychological basis of sexual problems

3. SURVEYS OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR

4. HOMOSEXUALITY Homosexual behavior Homosexuals Bisexual behavior
Sexual behavior with member’s of one’s own sex
Homosexuals
Individuals who prefer to engage in sexual activity with members of their own sex over an extended period of time
Bisexual behavior
Preferred partners are sometime same sex, sometimes opposite sex
Origins of sexual orientation
Multiple determinants, including psychosocial and biological factors

5. HOMOSEXUAL EXPERIENCES OF MEN AND WOMEN
Description
Men
Women
Self-identified as homosexual or bisexual
2.8 %
1.4%
Had sex with person of same sex at least once since puberty
5.3%
3.5%
Felt desire for sex with person of same sex
7.7%
7.5%
Total reporting some same-sex desires or experiences
10.1%
8.6%

6. SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION
A persistent impairment of sexual interest or response
Types
Sexual desire – Low desire or related to physical conditions
Sexual arousal
Male - Erectile dysfunction
Female – Hypoactive sexual desire
Orgasm
Male – Premature or retarded ejaculation
Female – Lack of orgasm

7. REMOTE AND IMMEDIATE STRESSORS CONTRIBUTING TO SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION
Performance anxiety
Sexual or life-style problems
Inappropriate concerns and attitudes learned early in life
Relationship stress

8. GENDER IDENTITY DISORDER
Individual sexual self-concept- Feeling of being male or female
Differs from sexual preference
Gender identity problems in childhood
Prior to puberty, children express distress at their gender and intense desire to be the opposite sex
Gender identity disorder in adults
Transsexualism
Intense desire to change sexual identity and anatomical status
Nontranssexual gender identity disorder
Uncomfortable with their sex, frequently cross-dress, no desire to change anatomy

9. THE PARAPHILIAS Deviant sexual attraction Fetishism - Objects
Transvestic fetishism – Cross-dressing
Sexual sadism – Orgasm through inflicting pain
Sexual masochism – Orgasm through receiving pain or humiliation
Voyeurism – Gratification by watching others
Exhibitionism – Arousal from exposure of genitals in public setting
Pedophilia – Children are main source of sexual desire

10. PARAPHILIAS – CAUSES AND TREATMENT
Little research into causes but variety of factors probable:
Psychodynamic
Behavioral
Cognitive
Interactional
Treatment
Hormone treatment
Behavioral and cognitive-behavioral therapy sometimes effective
Conventional psychotherapy of little value

11. SEXUAL VICTIMIZATION Types Sexual victimizers Effect on victims
Sexual assaults like rape and child sexual abuse
Sexual victimizers
Most have Axis I and II diagnoses
Resistant to treatment, but cognitive-behavioral therapy is promising
Effect on victims
At least 500,000 victims a year
Victims may suffer long-lasting anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and depression
Many suffer from low self-esteem
Often leads to hypervigilance for cues associated with victimization

12. TREATMENT OF SEXUAL DYSFUNCIONS
Masters and Johnson
Focus on couples and verbal and nonverbal communication
Sensate focus – Sexual-retraining techniques
Cognitive-Behavioral
Individual or couples
Relaxation
Modeling
Systematic desensitization
Use of fantasy
Psychodynamic
For individuals whose symptoms are rooted in confect
Couples or individual
Sometimes combined with sex therapy