Human Sexuality – Voyeurism & Exhibitionism
Essay title: Human Sexuality – Voyeurism & Exhibitionism
Human Sexuality
Voyeurism & Exhibitionism
Voyeurism is a disorders of sexual arousal. It involves the act of observing unsuspecting individuals, usually strangers, who may be naked or in the process of disrobing. Even engaging in sexual activity. Masturbation usually occurs during, or shortly after, voyeuristic activities. A variation of voyeurism entails listening to erotic conversations including telephone sex. The beginning of this disorder usually takes place before the age of fifteen and tends to be extremely chronic. The main criteria for the diagnosis is a person repeatedly for a period of six months having intense sexual desires, fantasies or behaviors concerning the act of watching an unsuspecting person who is naked, disrobing or having sex. This activity usually causes clinically important distress, impaired work, social, and or personal functioning. Voyeurism may also co-occur with another paraphilia, known as exhibitionism. In society, only a certain level of voyeurism is allowed including one’s fulfillment from or out of watching XXX movies and reading the magazines. When diagnosing someone with this disorder it is very important that any other similar disorders including (Antisocial Personality Disorder, Dementia) are ruled out to make sure that the diagnosis is precise. Over the years many different theories have been linked to the initial cause of voyeurism with many stemming from the psychoanalytic tradition. It has also been suggested by many researchers that childhood trauma including but not limited to sexual abuse and significant childhood experiences that voyeurism emerged. When treating someone with voyeurism disorder typically involves psychotherapy to uncover and attempt to work through the underlying cause of the behavior. Behavioral and group therapy have also proved to be effective in helping individuals with the voyeurism disorder that are willing to change.
In Exhibitionism, it usually involves intense, recurrent and sexually arousing fantasies involving the exposure of the individuals genitals, and this may, in turn, translate into putting this