Abstract
The modification of inappropriate sexual preferences is of central concern in many treatment programs for sex offenders (Abel, Becker, Cunningham-Rathner, Rouleau, Kaplan, & Reich, 1984; Borzecki, & Wormith, 1987; Griffiths, Quinsey, & Hingsburger, 1989; Marshall, Earls, Segal, & Darke, 1983; Quinsey, Chaplin, Maguire, & Upfold, 1987). This focus on inappropriate sexual interest follows from repeated observations that sex offenders, such as child molesters, rapists, and sadists, frequently report ruminating over sexual fantasies involving the types of behaviors in which they engage; moreover, the relative amount of sexual arousal elicited by deviant and nondeviant cues in phallometric assessment more consistently differentiates sex offenders from other males than any other measure yet tried (see Earls & Quinsey, 1985; Quinsey, 1984a, 1986, for reviews). The clinical importance of inappropriate sexual preferences is reflected in the definition of sexual deviations or paraphilias in DSM-III-R as disorders characterized by intense sexual urges or sexually arousing fantasies involving inappropriate objects or coercive sexual activities (American Psychiatric Association, 1987).
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Quinsey, V.L., Earls, C.M. (1990). The Modification of Sexual Preferences. In: Marshall, W.L., Laws, D.R., Barbaree, H.E. (eds) Handbook of Sexual Assault. Applied Clinical Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0915-2_16
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