Introduction
Atypical sexual behaviors are sexual activities that do not commonly occur in society. There are many types of atypical sexual behaviors Atypical sexual behaviors are motivated by paraphilias, which are recurrent sexual fantasies and urges to do unusual sexual activities. These fantasies and urges are divided into two general types: non-coercive paraphilias and coercive paraphilias. Non-coercive paraphilias are ones in which the individuals seek partners who are willing participants. Coercive paraphilias are ones in which individuals are sexually aroused by fantasies or urges to inflict pain, either physical or emotional, on other people (Bradford, 1991).
Coercive paraphilias are obviously dangerous—if a person acts out a violent fantasy on someone who does not wish to participate in the activity. For the most part, non-coercive paraphilias are harmful only when they motivate activities that are bothersome to the person’s partner, serve as a substitute for human contact, or keep an individual from becoming aroused (or reaching orgasm) without performing in the atypical sexual behavior (Gagne, 1981).
Paraphilias
Paraphilia is the modern day psychiatric term for sexual perversion. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Paraphilias refer to intense, repetitive sexual urges, fantasies or behaviors where the sexual goal is an unusual situation, activity or object. They differ from what some people might consider "novel" sexual activity in that these behaviors cause significant distress or impairment in areas of life functioning. This impairment can occur in any important aspect of an individual's life such as social, occupational, recreational or family (Bradford, 1995).
The Frotteur who is fired from his job for getting "too close" to the secretary at the coffee machine is obviously experiencing work problems....
