Exhibitionism - the Enigmatic Crime
I am in the process of conducting a survey to find out what women's reactions are toward exhibitionists and exhibitionism. While it is still early days, one thing has emerged: women want to know why men do it.
Unfortunately not even the men can tell them that, because exhibitionism appears to be an enigmatic offence.
Enigmatic is defined by the dictionary as perplexing, obscure, mysterious, unexplained, baffling, like a riddle and so on, and that definition fits exhibitionism like a glove.
One of the most perplexing features of flashers is that they are not, for the most part, the degenerates and "creeps" they are often thought to be.
They are in fact above average in intelligence (Brit. J. Psychiat. 1960, 115, p339), approximately two thirds are married (J. Behav. Ther. & Exp. Psychiat., Vol 17, No3, p200), many of them have children, and they work, with the majority of them having good work records (Symptoms of Psychopathology, Charles G. Costello, ed., John Wiley & Sons, 1970, p563). In other words, apart from their habit of self-exposure, they are like every one else, perhaps even more so.
Indeed, says James Witzig, MS (American J. of Psychiat., 125:2, August 1968, p78) "The group we are talking about (exhibitionists) are men of average intelligence and strength who are physically capable and intellectually able to plan...a seduction...if this is what they wanted."
In other words, here we have a group (a fairly large group, actually) of men who can court women, marry them, raise a family, hold down good jobs and so on and yet they still have this urge to expose themselves to strangers. It doesn't add up.
Another baffling aspect to the problem is, why do many exhibitionists take few, if any, precautions against capture? They'll do it from their cars, where people can read their number plates; they'll do it from their homes, so people know their address; they'll do it at the same time, same place, regularly, thus making capture extraordinarily easy. One report tells of an exhibitionist who exposed himself outside a police station (Symptoms of Psychopathology, Charles G. Costello, ed., John Wiley & Sons, 1970, p561), thereby thoughtfully saving police the time and trouble of picking him up at his home.
It is commonly thought that the reason for this is that the exhibitionists know that they are doing wrong and subconsciously want to be caught. But that does not square with the facts. The facts are that other sorts of criminals (robbers, muggers, murderers and so on) take every precaution to avoid capture, but not so the exhibitionists. Once again it doesn't add up.
And that's not all. The mysteriousness of the act compounds when you consider that many exhibitionists do not obtain genital gratification by exposing themselves (Amer. J. Psychiat., 125:2, August 1968, p181).
Perhaps even more perplexing is the fact that the act of exposure is not used to initiate social or sexual contact (Brit. J. of Medical Psychology, 1979, 52, p65). Indeed, if the woman responded with a sexual overture of her own, the exhibitionist would run away (Symptoms of Psychopathology, Charles G. Costello, ed., John Wiley & Sons, 1970, p562).
Confusing indeed. Exhibitionism appears to be a sex offence without the sex, a quirk of human nature, but nonetheless worth studying because, as Ismond Rosen, editor of Sexual Deviation (Oxford University Press, 1979, p145), states, "The phenomenology of the exhibitionistic act is a complex and fascinating one, the full understanding of which would give the clue to many processes hitherto unexplained."
Unfortunately not even the men can tell them that, because exhibitionism appears to be an enigmatic offence.
Enigmatic is defined by the dictionary as perplexing, obscure, mysterious, unexplained, baffling, like a riddle and so on, and that definition fits exhibitionism like a glove.
One of the most perplexing features of flashers is that they are not, for the most part, the degenerates and "creeps" they are often thought to be.
They are in fact above average in intelligence (Brit. J. Psychiat. 1960, 115, p339), approximately two thirds are married (J. Behav. Ther. & Exp. Psychiat., Vol 17, No3, p200), many of them have children, and they work, with the majority of them having good work records (Symptoms of Psychopathology, Charles G. Costello, ed., John Wiley & Sons, 1970, p563). In other words, apart from their habit of self-exposure, they are like every one else, perhaps even more so.
Indeed, says James Witzig, MS (American J. of Psychiat., 125:2, August 1968, p78) "The group we are talking about (exhibitionists) are men of average intelligence and strength who are physically capable and intellectually able to plan...a seduction...if this is what they wanted."
In other words, here we have a group (a fairly large group, actually) of men who can court women, marry them, raise a family, hold down good jobs and so on and yet they still have this urge to expose themselves to strangers. It doesn't add up.
Another baffling aspect to the problem is, why do many exhibitionists take few, if any, precautions against capture? They'll do it from their cars, where people can read their number plates; they'll do it from their homes, so people know their address; they'll do it at the same time, same place, regularly, thus making capture extraordinarily easy. One report tells of an exhibitionist who exposed himself outside a police station (Symptoms of Psychopathology, Charles G. Costello, ed., John Wiley & Sons, 1970, p561), thereby thoughtfully saving police the time and trouble of picking him up at his home.
It is commonly thought that the reason for this is that the exhibitionists know that they are doing wrong and subconsciously want to be caught. But that does not square with the facts. The facts are that other sorts of criminals (robbers, muggers, murderers and so on) take every precaution to avoid capture, but not so the exhibitionists. Once again it doesn't add up.
And that's not all. The mysteriousness of the act compounds when you consider that many exhibitionists do not obtain genital gratification by exposing themselves (Amer. J. Psychiat., 125:2, August 1968, p181).
Perhaps even more perplexing is the fact that the act of exposure is not used to initiate social or sexual contact (Brit. J. of Medical Psychology, 1979, 52, p65). Indeed, if the woman responded with a sexual overture of her own, the exhibitionist would run away (Symptoms of Psychopathology, Charles G. Costello, ed., John Wiley & Sons, 1970, p562).
Confusing indeed. Exhibitionism appears to be a sex offence without the sex, a quirk of human nature, but nonetheless worth studying because, as Ismond Rosen, editor of Sexual Deviation (Oxford University Press, 1979, p145), states, "The phenomenology of the exhibitionistic act is a complex and fascinating one, the full understanding of which would give the clue to many processes hitherto unexplained."
Source...