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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Sexual sadism.

Definitions of sexual sadism in ICD-10 and DSM-IV will be presented as well as the historical routes of the concept. Today studies on differently selected clinical samples reveal a different distribution of sexual sadism versus masochism with masochism prevailing in general especially outpatient psychiatric facilities, and sadism prevailing in forensic settings, thus corroborating the concept of two separated diagnoses sadism versus masochism. In forensic settings the diagnosis of a sadistic character disorder (sadistic personality disorder [SPD] according DSM-III-R) is found to a much higher degree than in other clinical samples (50-fold). Our own follow-up study on a forensic sample implies that sadism as a paraphilia is of relevance for relapse-rates of sex-offenders. Symptoms of SPD can be combined with sexual sadism, or occur independently. This may corroborate arguments in favor of a dimensional concept of sexual sadism. Symptoms of SPD may then be a sign of generalization of sadistic traits at least in some cases. A concept of two factors contributing to sadistic pleasure is suggested, one taking the aspect of bodily gratification by sexual-aggressive stimuli as decisive, and the other taking inner representation of hostile objects into consideration (stressing the antisocial-anger-rage aspect).

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disord↗
PubMed1999

Sadism and psychopathy in violent and sexually violent offenders.

A nonrandom sample (N = 41) of inmates from a maximum security prison were classified as either psychopathic or nonpsychopathic (using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R)) and violent or sexually violent. Sadism was measured using the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II) Scale 6B, the Personality Disorder Examination (PDE) items for sadistic personality disorder, and the sexual sadism criteria of DSM-IV. Psychopaths were found to be significantly more sadistic than nonpsychopaths (MCMI-II and PDE). Overall power was relatively high. Sadism did not differentiate the violent and sexually violent groups. A diagnosis of sexual sadism was too infrequent (n = 3) for meaningful statistical analysis. The trait measures of sadism and psychopathy measures (PCL-R, Factor 1 and Factor 2) significantly and positively correlated. Results provide further empirical validity for the theoretically proposed and clinically observed relationship between sadistic traits and psychopathic personality.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

An anatomical commentary on the concept of infantile oral sadism.

Although this paper is entitled 'An anatomical commentary on the concept of infantile oral sadism' it is also an attempt to examine hypotheses regarding the sources of oral sadism. Freud did not explicitly refer to an oral sadistic phase of development in early infancy, believing as he did that sadism was a component instinct. Abraham postulated that oral sadism arises when the teeth erupt and the jaw muscles function. Melanie Klein, however, came to claim that oral sadistic impulses operate from birth and arise from the infant's innate potential for fantasy. This hypothesis is akin to Freud's theory of primal fantasies. The anatomical record supports Abraham's theory of the source of oral sadism.

Female↗
PubMed1992

Sadism and other paraphilias in normal controls and aggressive and nonaggressive sex offenders.

Penile circumference responses (PCRs) to a visual age/gender erotic preference battery were analyzed from 60 normal controls and 227 sexual offenders. Sixty offenders were classified as sexual aggressives on the basis of their behavior and damage to their victims. The mean PCR to sadism slides (visual portrayals of nonsexual violence against fully clothed females) was significantly larger for the sexually aggressive group compared to the sexual nonaggressive offender and normal control groups. There were no significant differences in mean victim damage scores between the sexual aggressives who responded significantly to the sadism slides and those who did not. Thus, PCRs were not useful in identifying more from less dangerous sexual aggressives. The incidence of a clinically significant PCR to any of the four paraphilic categories included in the assessment battery was 28, 60, and 65% in the normal controls, sexual nonaggressives, and sexual aggressives, respectively. For sadism, it was 5, 8, and 45% respectively, for these groups. Pedophilia had a low incidence of co-occurrence with other paraphilias whereas sadism, transvestism/fetishism, and the courtship disorder paraphilias had a high incidence of co-occurrence.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Sexual sadism and sadistic personality disorder in sexual homicide.

Controversies exist about the diagnostic validity of sexual sadism and its relation to sadistic personality disorder in sex offenders. The aim of this study was to investigate which diagnostic, developmental, and criminal characteristics differentiate sexual sadistic from non-sadistic sexual homicide perpetrators. Psychiatric court reports on 166 men who had committed a sexual homicide were evaluated regarding psychiatric, sexual and criminal history. Sixty-one offenders (36.7%) with sexual sadism (SeSd) were compared with 105 (63.3%) offenders without this diagnosis (NSeSd). Besides the sexual sadistic symptoms, there were seven factors that discriminated best between the two groups (sexual masochism, sadistic personality disorder, isolation in childhood, multiple sexual homicide, previous rape, previous tendencies for similar behavior, and long duration of the homicidal act). Sexual sadism is connected with circumscribed other characteristics and has to be considered in risk assessment and treatment of sex offenders.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗
PubMed2002

Diagnosing sexual sadism in sexual offenders: reliability across diagnosticians.

On the basis of detailed accounts of offences committed by 12 dangerous sexual offenders and of descriptions of their life histories, their responses to various tests, self-reports of offenders' sexual interests and activities, and results of phallometric evaluations, 15 expert forensic psychiatrists diagnosed whether each offender met the criteria for sexual sadism. The psychiatrists also indicated their confidence in the diagnoses they made and rated the relevance to the diagnosis of sexual sadism for various features of the offence and the offender. Results revealed unsatisfactory levels of diagnostic agreement among the psychiatrists. On the other hand, they agreed quite well on the importance for the diagnosis of several of the offence features described. Suggestions are offered for clinical practice.

Humans↗
PubMed2002

Issues concerning the reliability and validity of the diagnosis of sexual sadism applied in prison settings.

This study examined limited aspects of the diagnoses of sexual sadism among incarcerated sexual offenders. The diagnoses examined in this study were made by experienced forensic psychiatrists following DSM-III-R or DSM-IV criteria. Archival data was extracted on 51 sexual offenders for whom a psychiatric evaluation had been requested. Analyses of offense history and features, offender self-reports, and phallometric data, indicated few differences between those offenders diagnosed as sadists and those not so diagnosed. In fact, where there were differences, the data indicated that the nonsadists were the most deviant. The results are discussed in terms of their meaning for both forensic practice in prisons and the value of the diagnosis of sexual sadism.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗
PubMed2005

Envy, shame, and sadism.

In this article, envy is identified as a drive derivative, erupting as a definable behavior in the anal phase of psychosexual development, locating envy as first being experienced during the stage of self-development, separation/individuation. The aim of envy, as identified by the nature of the investment the subject makes in envied objects, is described as "aquisitiveness," or, following Klein, sadism, defined in terms of the subject wanting to incorporate the envied object, making the aim of envy narcissistic, that is, an aggrandizing of the self. The usual aim assigned to envy, destructiveness, is conceptualized as a defense against the cannibalistic hunger of envy, in response to the regulatory affect, shame. The dynamic of this defense accounts for the dyadic nature of the object of envy (as opposed to jealousy), supporting the "splitting" quality of this defense. This rendering of envy, shame, and sadism promotes the integration of narcissistic urges into normative psychosexual development and deepens an understanding of the splitting defense in pathological narcissism.

Defense Mechanisms↗
PubMed1999

Sadistic personality disorder in sex offenders: relationship to antisocial personality disorder and sexual sadism.

To investigate the relationship of sadistic personality disorder (SPD), as defined in the appendix of DSM-III-R, to other personality disorders and to sexual sadism, 70 sex offenders (27 child molesters, 33 rapists, and 10 murderers) were assessed by the International Personality Disorder Examination. In 19 subjects (27.2%) from the total sample, SPD was diagnosed. The highest overlap appeared with borderline personality disorder (31.6%) and antisocial personality disorder (42.1%). However, in four cases SPD was the only personality disorder diagnosed. Factor analysis of the antisocial and sadistic criteria resulted in four major factors--one factor with high loadings on the sadistic criteria and the violent criteria of antisocial personality disorder, two factors with different forms of adult and juvenile aggression, and a fourth factor with high loadings on the antisocial criteria covering exploitative behavior. The results do not support SPD as a discrete disorder. Nevertheless, SPD may be seen as an important subdimension of antisocial personality disorder, distinct from more exploitative forms of antisocial behavior with less violence. Of those patients with SPD, 42.1% also had a DSM-III-R diagnosis of sexual sadism, which may be the most dangerous configuration.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Criterion-related validity of a phallometric test for paraphilic rape and sadism.

Eight men admitting to sadistic fantasies or urges (fantasizers), 7 sadistic rapists (sadists), 14 nonsadistic rapists, 31 courtship-disordered men (men displaying exhibitionism, voyeurism, frotteurism, or a combination of these paraphilias), and 20 community controls were compared on their relative phallometric responses to stimuli depicting rape, violent rape, and nonsexual violence. This study extended previous research by including a group of men who admitted to having sadistic fantasies or urges, in contrast to rapists who are likely to deny any such interests because of possible legal or social sanctions, and by including a large comparison group of men with a paraphilia other than sadism. Criterion-related validity was greater after combining the sadistic and nonsadistic rapists: fantasizers, sadists, and rapists did not differ from each other; fantasizers differed from community controls in their relative responses to rape, violent rape, and nonsexual violence; rapists differed from community controls in their relative responses to violent rape and nonsexual violence; and courtship-disordered men differed from community controls in their relative responses to nonsexual violence.

Fantasy↗
PubMed1988

Sexual sadism: brain, blood, and behavior.

The behavior of sadists is bizarre and poorly understood. There are gross endocrine and brain abnormalities in a small number of these men. Approximately two-fifths show subtle temporal lobe brain abnormalities that are logically linked to sexual behavior and require further exploration. It would be interesting to explore the interface of the endocrine system and the brain--that is, to determine if there are interactive processes that may be related to the development of sexual anomalies, perhaps early in life as suggested by Kolarsky et al. Certainly, biological factors cannot determine whether an individual will act on his sexual impulses. Many psychological factors, such as family background and substance abuse, play a significant role in the dangerousness of the individual. However, it appears that biological factors are noteworthy in sexual sadism. Brain pathology, especially, shows some correlation with force used in offences and likelihood of recidivism, and for this reason alone it merits further study.

Aggression↗
PubMed1976

Sadism revisited.

Sadism has been for a long time, among psychoanalytic and other writers, the subject of extensive theorizing and controversy. This paper takes a fresh look at the many dimensions (sexual, characterological, neurotic, psychotic, neurological) of this old aberrations.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Lay theories of etiology and "cure" for four types of paraphilia: fetishism; pedophilia; sexual sadism; and voyeurism.

The current study set out to investigate the structure, determinants, and relationship between lay theories of the etiology and efficacy of "cures" for four types of paraphilia: fetishism, pedophilia, sexual sadism, and voyeurism. One hundred and five participants completed a four-part questionnaire, which was divided into (a) demographic details, (b) perceptions of the etiology, (c) ratings of cure for each paraphilia, and (d) the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Previous studies of lay theories have demonstrated a clear and interpretable factor structure similar to that of explicit academic theories, as well as a clear and logical relationship between perceived etiology and cure. A similar structure was expected to emerge in this study, together with positive correlations between the various factors and personality type. A factor analysis revealed a clear and logical factor structure for etiology and cure items. Further, etiology and cure factors correlated strongly with each other but only moderately with demographic details and personality differences. These findings are discussed in relation to growing literature in the field.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

The intrinsic appeal of evil: sadism, sensational thrills, and threatened egotism.

Three main sources of intrinsic appeal and satisfaction from performing violent acts are described. First, sadism involves deriving pleasure directly from the suffering of the victim. An opponent-process model is suggested. Second, the quest for thrilling sensations to escape from boredom can produce violent acts, including many in which the harmful consequences were not intended. Third, threatened egotism entails that one's favorable view of self (orpub1ic image) has been attacked, and violent responses are directed toward the source of this attack. Relevant individual differences (respectively, low guilt, high sensation seeking, and narcissism) moderate these patterns. Analyzing the intrinsic appeal of evil acts is a useful complement to analyzing situational determinants of violence.

Journal Article↗