Paraphilia

Definition of Terms

Sexually aberrant behaviors, otherwise known as paraphilias, are commonly associated with crimes that are sexual and violent in nature. There are hundreds of paraphilia or sexual deviations, and some are more common than are others.

Paraphilia literally means “abnormal love.” Para is a Greek terms for “beyond,” or outside the usual, and philia is a Greek term for “love.” Common exclusively in males, paraphilia is a group of persistent sexual behavior patterns in which unusual objects, fetishes, rituals, or situations are required for sexual arousal and ultimate sexual satisfaction. From a clinical perspective, paraphilia is defined as sexual arousal through objects or situations that are not part of normative arousal. The essential feature of all paraphilia is recurrent, intense, sexually arousing fantasies—sexual urges or ...