Morkeliph
04-14-2006, 4:05 PM
I think an interesting question that hopefully research will someday answer is how to account for sexual fetishes, a. k. a. paraphilias. Some research has been done on the topic, but I think generally, an exact conclusion has yet to be reached. Below is a link to an research article that deals explicitly with this subject. DISCLAIMER: The graphic images presented at the end of the article may be offensive to some individuals.
http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1115095
It has been extensively shown that for many serial offenders there is an abnormal association between violence and arousal. Other fetishes, such as foot fetish, exhibitionism, and necrophilia also exhibit abnormal associations between particular stimuli and sexual arousal. What could be the cause of such fetishes? One theory on the development of paraphilias has to do with classical (respondent) conditioning. Take the case of S&M or paraphilias associated with violence or physical pain. It is possible, and even likely, that for these individuals violence/pain was repeatedly paired with sexual stimulation. This would be obvious in the case of sexual and physical abuse, but violence pornography may be another means. With repeated "pairings" respondent conditioning is likely to occur, and analogous to Pavlov's dogs, the presentation of the CS (violence/pain) alone will elicit a CR (sexual arousal). In many circumstances, the effectiveness of the CS will extinguish with repeated presentations of the CS alone, but for some, the presentation of the CS and its elicited CR may be acted upon, via masturbation or other acts. In this case the CS may never extinguish because it is still followed by sexual stimulation (US), which would only strengthen conditioning to the CS. This may be one example, but not necessarily the only means, of how paraphilias develop. Interestingly enough, the same model could be applied to other scenarios involving 'abnormal' sexual arousal, such as sexual preference. The application of such a model to sexual preference, however, is certain to be a matter of incredible controversy and speculation.
http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1115095
It has been extensively shown that for many serial offenders there is an abnormal association between violence and arousal. Other fetishes, such as foot fetish, exhibitionism, and necrophilia also exhibit abnormal associations between particular stimuli and sexual arousal. What could be the cause of such fetishes? One theory on the development of paraphilias has to do with classical (respondent) conditioning. Take the case of S&M or paraphilias associated with violence or physical pain. It is possible, and even likely, that for these individuals violence/pain was repeatedly paired with sexual stimulation. This would be obvious in the case of sexual and physical abuse, but violence pornography may be another means. With repeated "pairings" respondent conditioning is likely to occur, and analogous to Pavlov's dogs, the presentation of the CS (violence/pain) alone will elicit a CR (sexual arousal). In many circumstances, the effectiveness of the CS will extinguish with repeated presentations of the CS alone, but for some, the presentation of the CS and its elicited CR may be acted upon, via masturbation or other acts. In this case the CS may never extinguish because it is still followed by sexual stimulation (US), which would only strengthen conditioning to the CS. This may be one example, but not necessarily the only means, of how paraphilias develop. Interestingly enough, the same model could be applied to other scenarios involving 'abnormal' sexual arousal, such as sexual preference. The application of such a model to sexual preference, however, is certain to be a matter of incredible controversy and speculation.