Voyeurism: What is it?

Diagnosis Criteria

When it comes to diagnosing Voyeurism it seems as though there is a lack of clarity regarding the diagnosis. “Some of the new boilerplate languagelanguages in the DSM-5 criteria of voyeuristic disorder seemsseem to lack clarity. Criterion B of this disorder states, “The individual has acted on these sexual urges with a nonconsenting person, or the sexual urges or fantasies cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning” (APA, 2013, p.

686). I believe that the part stating that the perpetrator “has acted on these sexual urges with a nonconsenting person” (APA, 2013, p. 686) is a bit unclear and open to various interpretations. In the prevailing view of the experts and even the public, a sexual voyeur is perceived or described as a peeping Tom who masturbates while watching someone disrobing or having sex, or does so later when fantasizing about what he or she watched. But what does it mean to say that a person has acted on his or her urges with a nonconsenting person? Does this refer to masturbation while watching an unsuspecting person, or having sex with a nonconsenting person? The latter would mean rape.

” (Balon, 2016, p.391). As one may see from this quote from Richard Balon it is difficult to pinpoint the diagnosis for Voyeuristic Disorder. There are a lot of different components that come together when diagnosing this type of disorder. This leads to people having a lot of questions about what truly defines Voyeurism and Voyeuristic Disorder. People know that people diagnosed with the disorder gain sexual pleasure from a victim that is unaware.

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But, other than that there is a foggy grey area when breaking down the symptoms and actions that make someone mentally diagnosed with Voyeuristic Disorder. Also, there is a grey area about whether watching pornography counts as having Voyeuristic tendencies “Interestingly, the DSM-5 also dropped important language discussing whether watching pornography is or is not voyeurism.” (Balon, 2016, 392) Balon makes it clear that at one point pornography was not as available as it is today. Pornography was marked as a Voyeuristic tendency because the people were unaware that someone was watching them. That is how it was listed in the DSM-III. But in the DSM-V the American Psychiatric Association removed Pornography as one of the tendencies associated with Voyeurism even though it is more widely available than it has ever been. The fact that this is the case adds fuel to the fire when it comes to the lack of clarity regarding the diagnosis of Voyeurism and Voyeuristic Disorder.

History/Background

The first mention of Voyeurism in Psychology was made by Sigmund Freud in 1910. Freud wanted to build on the idea that there are sexual aberrations. “The aberrations according to the sexual goal were again divided into two categories: The first group consisted of what Freud called ‘‘anatomical transgressions.’’ These included fetishism and anal and oral sexuality. The second group contained the ‘‘fixations of precursory sexual aims,’’ and a subgroup that included frotteurism, sadism, masochism, exhibitionism, and voyeurism” (De Block & Adriaens, 2013, p. 282). As one can see from this quote, Voyeurism was at one point apart of a subgroup with other paraphilic disorders. Later down the road, the DSM- II changed history for Voyeurism. “As to the perversions, one of the minor novelties of DSM-II was the introduction of an explicit list of eight

sexual deviations: homosexuality, fetishism, pedophilia, transvestism, exhibitionism, voyeurism, sadism, and masochism” (De Block & Adriaens, 2013, p. 286). Voyeurism was finally introduced as a sexual deviation in the DSM-II in 1968. At one point when Homosexuality became more acceptable people started protesting for all sexual deviations to be removed from the DSM. “Because many homosexuals were not in any way distressed by their orientation, and since most of them appeared to function very well, both socially and professionally, it was clear that homosexuality per se should be excluded from the DSM. What about the other sexual deviations, however, such as voyeurism or sexual sadism? What evidence was there to believe that these conditions, unlike homosexuality, did cause significant distress or disability? Some members of the gay activist committee involved in the debate about homosexuality were in favor of removing all sexual deviations from the DSM.” (De Block & Adriaens, 2013, p. 282). A language part of this was a big deal when it came to the disorder as a whole because it was very close to being removed from the DSM. If that were the case and Voyeurism was removed from the DSM, The author of this essay would not be able to write about Voyeurism as a disorder. Voyeurism stayed and is included in the DSM V.

Epidemiology

When it comes to the Epidemiology of Voyeurism, Males are more likely to have acknowledged interest in this disorder. “Very little information about paraphilic desire or behaviors has been obtained from nonclinical samples. In a sample drawn from male young adults and college students, approximately half (52%) acknowledged interest in voyeurism” (Joyal & Carpentier, 2017, p. 162) One may expect this because males are often looked at as having a higher sexual drive than females. Now when it comes to couples the rates of interest in Voyeurism increase. “Two-thirds of another sample of college students (men and women) admitted they would engage in voyeurism if they were certain there would be no consequences (Rye & Meaney, 2007)” (Joyal & Carpentier, 2017, p. 162). This is a helpful statistic. Because they are admitting that they would participate in Voyeuristic behaviors if Voyeurism was not looked at negatively. Also, the fact that the percentage of couples was as high as 66 percent is astonishing. Although, the writer of the article does not make it clear how many people were tested in this sample. Voyeurism is also prevalent in certain countries. “ In Sweden, for instance, lifetime prevalence rates for experience with sadomasochism, transvestism, exhibitionism, and voyeurism were 2.5%,2.8%, 4.1%, and 11.5%, respectively, among men.”(Joyal & Carpentier, 2017, p. 162). This was the case in Sweden. “More recently, Makanjuola, Adegunloye, and Adelekan (2008) found a prevalence rate of 22% for experience with paraphilic behaviors among 408 male and female high school teachers in Nigeria. Voyeurism, again, was the most popular at 10%” (Joyal & Carpentier, 2017, p. 163). From seeing the perspective of prevalence from these two countries one may notice that they are both close percentage-wise. Sweden has a percentage of 11.5. Whereas, Nigeria has a percentage of 10. Now Joyal and Carpentier included a bunch of tables at the bottom of their paper that offer some statistics about Men and Women When it comes to Voyeurism. The first survey conducted had 475 male participants and 565 female participants. The study was conducted on a general population. The men and women were asked whether or not they desired to experience Voyeuristic behaviors. 60.0 percent of men and 34.7 percent of women said they had the desire to experience Voyeuristic behaviors. Culminating in an average of 46.3 percent wanting to indulge in Voyeuristic behaviors. Men were more likely to want to participate in these behaviors. Now when it comes to at least one instance in which the person did participate in Voyeuristic behaviors. Joyal and Carpentier surveyed the same people and the results concluded that 50.1 percent of men have had a one-lifetime act of Voyeuristic behavior. Whereas, 21.2 percent of women have had a one-lifetime act of Voyeuristic behavior. As expected more men have gone through Voyeuristic behaviors.

Etiology

Here is one perspective of an Etiological theory of why Voyeuristic behavior is caused. “Most experts attribute the behavior to an initially random or accidental observation of an unsuspecting person who is naked, in the process of disrobing, or engaging in sexual activity.” (Fallon, 2018, p. 6) From this perspective, one may say this is the most believable cause of Voyeuristic Disorder. A person accidentally observes an unexpecting person naked and finds pleasure from them not knowing and it starts there. There is also another perspective that takes a different approach to why Voyeuristic behaviors come to fruition. “Many believe voyeurism is caused in part by sexual trauma during childhood.” (“Voyeurism”, n.d. p.3) This article claims that Voyeurism is caused by a traumatic experience during childhood. This is a good point considering most traumatic experiences during childhood later affect one’s life. Especially with the case of Ted Bundy as an example. Ted saw his grandfather’s morbid porn at a young age which could have contributed to Ted becoming a peeping tom and eventually murdering all these girls.

Treatment

Treatment for Voyeuristic Disorder can be handled in a multitude of ways. For example, this article states “Early treatment may also include teaching the voyeur socially appropriate behaviors, such as respecting others’ privacy, and training them to avoid locations where they will be more tempted to engage in voyeurism.” (“Voyeuristic Disorder”, n.d. p.5). It is a good idea to teach the voyeur that this is not the right behavior if one is caught in the act early. To prevent the voyeur from making the problem worse. If this does not work there are other methods of treatment that may work. “Cognitive-behavioral therapy can help the individual learn to control the impulse to spy on others and learn new and healthier ways to become sexually aroused. Antidepressants that balance brain chemicals and reduce impulsive behavior or anti-androgenic drugs that suppress sex drive may be used to treat sexual sadism disorder.” (“Voyeuristic Disorder”, n.d. p.6) From this perspective of treatment, one would get more intense treatment of medication and therapy.

Conclusion

One can conclude from the research provided that the title of this essay fits perfectly. The objective was to determine what Voyeurism is. But that’s the thing. There are so many different components to this disorder that it makes sense to ask that question. It seems as though it is hard to determine whether Voyeuristic Disorder should be in the DSM. It has been debated heavily over the years. People have so many different conflicting viewpoints about their stance on the disorder. All one knows is that it is a disorder and if one is an adult participating in the behavioral tendencies of the disorder it is illegal. It is a disorder primarily found in men. It is an interesting disorder leaving more questions than answers.