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Deconstructing "Sexual Deviance": Identifying and Empirically Examining Assumptions about "Deviant" Sexual Fantasy in
Tamara Turner-Moore1, Mitch Waterman1
1School of Psychology, University of Leeds.
Journal of Sex Research
|August 30, 2022
Summary
Challenging Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) assumptions, this study found sexual offenders (SO) have diverse fantasies, not solely "deviant" ones. Findings suggest "sexual deviance" concepts may negatively impact understanding sexual crime.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Forensic Psychology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) categorizes sexual deviance based on specific assumptions about sexual fantasies.
- These assumptions often portray individuals with sexual offending (SO) histories as exclusively preferring deviant fantasies, differentiating them from non-offending (NO) populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine and challenge three core assumptions regarding "sexual deviance" as defined in the DSM.
- To investigate the nature of sexual fantasies in sexual offending (SO), non-sexual offending (NSO), and non-offending (NO) men.
Main Methods:
- Adult male volunteers (N = 279) from sexual offending, non-sexual offending, and non-offending groups participated.
- Data collection involved anonymous descriptions of favorite sexual thoughts and responses to the revised Wilson Sex Fantasy Questionnaire (WSFQ) within a larger survey (N = 6,289).
- Latent class analysis was employed to identify distinct types of favorite sexual thoughts.
Main Results:
- Latent class analysis revealed five types of favorite sexual thoughts, with vaginal/oral sex with multiple women being most common among SO men, challenging the first DSM assumption.
- Both SO and NO men showed over-representation in thought types considered "deviant" by the DSM, tempering the second assumption; however, SO men were specifically over-represented for thoughts involving children.
- All identified thought types were multidimensional, containing elements not solely classified as "deviant" by the DSM, contesting the third assumption.
Conclusions:
- The study challenges the simplistic "deviant" vs. "non-deviant" dichotomy of sexual fantasies.
- Findings suggest that the perception of "sexual deviants" as fundamentally "different" or "other" may be flawed and could negatively influence research, therapy, and the understanding of sexual crime.
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