EXHIBITIONISTIC DISORDER
NAGIA ENNOLS
FOUNDATIONS OF ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
PSY341
FALL 2018
DR. ROBERT KUTNER
NOVEMBER 28, 2018
EXHIBITIONISTIC DISORDER
"I am very liberal and fairly exhibitionistic. I don't really have a problem with nudity or anything like that." (Stephanie Corneliussen) Some people are very open and like to show off to the random people in the population; but it is a different situation when that person is doing this in front of the unwilling. When is the pivotal moment of change where the exhibition of one's skin moves into more of a deviant place? That change occurs when it goes to a place of needing sexual satisfaction by committing this act and the behavior lasts for a certain length of time.
Definition
The diagnosis of exhibitionistic disorder is "recurrent and intense sexual arousal from the exposure of one's genitals to an unsuspecting person as manifested by fantasies, urges or behaviors. This behavior must last more than six months."- (DSM-5, 2013) In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, an exhibitionistic disorder is classified understand a paraphilic disorder. A paraphilic disorder is "persistent sexual behavior patterns in which unusual objects, rituals, or situations are required for full sexual satisfaction." (Abnormal Psychology, 2013 pg. 426) That would put this exhibitionistic disorder into the situation category. Depending on the situation and nature of the exhibitionist act can make it a disorder.
Exhibitionistic disorder is indistinguishable from voyeuristic disorder except that the voyeuristic disorder has more of a broad diagnosis. This means that there is a lot more information of voyeuristic disorder that is documented. Information of exhibitionistic disorder is still very limited today. There are a few ways to define exhibitionist behaviors. Even though they are taking part in exhibitionistic activities, these doings are not considered to be having an actual disorder. "Mooning" is one of them; where a person pulls down their pants to flash their backside to another. These mild behaviors are more of an impulse behavior and not coming from a place where a person is getting sexual arousal from the action. Exhibitionistic disorder is under the paraphilic disorder because of the sexual arousal intension behind the behavior.
History. Exhibitionistic acts have gone on throughout time. Exhibitionism has been a way for people to express themselves either thru entertainment purposes or showing defiance against something that they don't agree with. There has been a wide variety of art pieces displaying genitals since the time in ancient drawings craved in walls, of Ancient Greece in B.C. and then again in the Renaissance era. Most of these pieces of art showcased the male body and genitalia. These pieces of art were either being shown as a drawing, painting, or as a statue. The naked statue of a man was supposed to symbolize his strength.
In earlier times, and even still today, a woman showing her private areas was considered less of a person within society. There are some places like Amsterdam, where nude women and exhibitionist are showcased. People have lived life in the nude since the beginning of time. That has changed over time; wither it was due to climate change or religious beliefs. This was an open environment where everyone was taking part and not just people exposing themselves. Some modern societies in the world still practice the same ways that they have lived since the beginning of their time here on earth.
Exhibitionism takes a turn for the dark when it no longer is carefree or a part of a message. It becomes dangerous to those around when it comes without warning or wanting. It changes the meaning when that person is doing it for sexual deviance and could potentially harm another. "Exhibitionism is associated with greater psychological problems, lower life satisfaction, greater use of pornography, and more frequent masturbation." (Abnormal Psychology, 2013)
Prevalence. It is a subject matter that isn't spoken about much. In order for it to be more prevalent, people have to be open to admitting the behavior. This is a behavior that most people are not open to admitting to others. It's known prevalence comes from that person being caught in the act. The behavior of exhibitionistic disorder is more prevalent in men. "The DSM-5 states that this activity usually begins in their adolescence." The information is unclear as to how to distinguish the difference between sexual curiosity and a person becoming an exhibitionist when they are grown. Since the information is so limited, it is not known as to what age this behavior actually begins. This is not a subject that is considered to have a usual conversation to have with a minor. At a later point in that person's life, they would be able to give insight as to what age their exhibitionism actually began.
Freud and Blanchard developed an abstract model of exhibitionism. They saw exhibitionism as an initial part of a relationship. It was seen that way and also as a complete outcome. "In clinical settings, it is not uncommon for exhibitionists to describe their behavior not as a prelude to an interaction, but rather as a complete sexual act in and of itself (Morin & Levenson, 2008)." The people that have been questioned about their behaviors admit them to be "compulsive and habitual, and many exhibitionists have engaged in the act hundreds or thousands of times." The behavior provides a type of excitement or thrill that they repeat to regain that feeling.
There is not a lot of easily found information on this subject. It only comes from those caught in the act and those whom openly admit to doing so during therapy. As of now, it is considered to be about one third of the known cases of sexual offenses. "Exhibitionism is the most common sexual offense reported to the police in the United States, Canada and Europe." (Abnormal Psychology, 2013). So even though there isn't a lot of information on it, it is documented to be more prevalent in certain countries more than others. This could be that these places keep track of specific offenses and other countries could be lumping the annoyances together along with similar offences.
The exhibitionistic disorder is more of an addiction. The people who take part are addicted to the feeling that they receive from participating in the act of exhibitionism. The actual act of exhibitionism does not come from any type of physical interaction with another person. Since there is little documented data on the subject, there is not much prevalent information to go by. There are the arrests or complaints from the police department but not any intensive studies done on the subject itself. One known survey was done in Sweden; it had 2,400 participants. The men accounted for 4.1% and the women 2.1% of whom had partaken in a minimum of one time in exhibitionistic actions.
The exhibitionistic disorder is a strange behavior but I don't think that it needs to be considered a disorder in the DSM-5. It doesn't seem to be a harmful behavior that hurts others; it only seems to be something that creates shock. The disorder is not talked about that much medically. It seems to be a shameful behavior that most people don't partake in or admit to. I think that it should be mentioned but not classified as an actual disorder in the DSM-5. It is an odd behavior that people have impulses about doing. It doesn't seem to be an action that is well thought out but something that one participates in on a whelm. There shouldn't be acceptable exhibitionism and unacceptable exhibitionism. It contradicts each other. People do not seem to think that it is that serious when someone is doing it as a joke or for fun; but when someone gets a specific feeling by doing the act of exhibitionism they are considered wrong. If it is unacceptable in certain situations, exhibitionism should be unacceptable as a whole.
References
Levenson, J.S. (2013) Exhibitionism. A Case Study. Pages 149-167
Hooley, J.M.; Butcher, J.N.; Nock, M.; Mineka, S. (2017) Abnormal Psychology. Pearson Education.
Balon, R. (2016) Practical Guide to Paraphilia and Paraphilic Disorders. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition: DSM-5. Arlington, VA: Author