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Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology pp 1–3Cite as

Paraphilic Disorders

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Synonyms

Aberrant sexual practice; Abnormal sexual activity; Algolagnia; Exhibitionism; Fetishism; Pedophilia; Voyeurism; Zoophilia

Definition

The term paraphilia refers to any sexual interest greater than or equal to normophilic sexual interests. Paraphilias primarily concern an individual’s sexual activities (e.g., sadomasochistic practices or nonconsensual sexual activity) or an individual’s sexual targets (e.g., interest in nonhuman animals, phenotypically abnormal or physically immature humans, or inanimate objects). Paraphilias and paraphilic disorders are not synonymous. To rise to the level of a paraphilic disorder, the paraphilic interest must be associated with distress or impaired functioning for the individual, or the act of satisfying the paraphilia must result in harm to self or others.

Categorization

Paraphilic Disorders encompass a group of mental illnesses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association 2013...

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References and Readings

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5®). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

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  • Balon, R. (Ed.). (2016). Practical guide to paraphilia and paraphilic disorders. Cham: Springer International Publishing.

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  • Khan, C. T., Collins, T. C., & Roberts, L. W. (2016). Ethics and the therapeutic relationship in the care of people living with paraphilic disorders. In Practical guide to paraphilia and paraphilic disorders (pp. 223–242). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.

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  • McManus, M., Hargreaves, P., Rainbow, L., & Alison, L. (2013). Paraphilias: Definition, diagnosis and treatment. F1000Prime Reports, 5, 36. doi:10.12703/P5-36.

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  • Moser, C. (2016). DSM-5 and the paraphilic disorders: Conceptual issues. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 45(8), 2181–2186.

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  • Turner, D., Schöttle, D., Bradford, J., & Briken, P. (2014). Assessment methods and management of hypersexuality and paraphilic disorders. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 27(6), 413–422.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, 1200 E. Broad St, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA

    Amma A. Agyemang

Authors
  1. Amma A. Agyemang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amma A. Agyemang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Richmond, Virgin Islands, USA

    Jeffrey Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation , West Orange, New Jersey, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Suite 200 , Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

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Agyemang, A.A. (2017). Paraphilic Disorders. In: Kreutzer, J., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_9207-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_9207-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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