photo found here
Paraphilic Coercive Disorder is said to appear in the new DSM. This is newspeak for people who get off on rape; in thought and in practice. First of all, for those of you who do not follow the psychologist's bible - the DSM, or the Diagnostic Statistical Manual, let me explain. The purpose of the DSM is to provide psychiatrists and even those without ability to diagnose, like family doctors with a specific criteria for specific mental disorders. This manual is obviously useful for various illnesses, such as diagnosing schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder and so forth. However, it can be dangerous as every few years the manual is "revised" and new disorders are established, many of them grasping at straws. People are becoming more and more medication and medicated as BigPharma becomes evermore imposing.Allegedly, one of these new disorders to appear in the DSM is shyness. Shyness would be medicalized, it would become a disorder.
However, I must digress.
There is another, more troubling diagnosis in this new edition that could help rapists plead "insanity" in court - yes, you read correctly, rapists or those who generally get off on non consensual sex now have a distressing and unbearable medical disorder. This is not a cruel joke or a tall tale, this is an unfortunate reality. This is also an attempt to make rape a "mental disorder." This is a purely constructed and created "disorder" with highly dangerous and possibly destructive consequences for women, who already carry the burden of blame on an institutional level for violence committed against them.
According to a American Psychiatric Association on the DSM-V website (you can read about it in full on the site) this is the basic definition of this new rapist "disorder"
Updated October-14-2010Paraphilic Coercive Disorder
A. Over a period of at least six months, recurrent, and intense sexual arousal from sexual coercion, as manifested by fantasies, urges, or behaviors. [23]B. The person has clinnically significant distress or impairment in important areas of functioning, or has sought sexual stimulation from forcing sex on three or more nonconsenting persons on separate occasions. [24]C. The diagnosis of Paraphilic Coercive Disorder is not made if the patient meets criteria for a diagnosis of Sexual Sadism Disorder.[25]Specify if:In Remission (No Distress, Impairment, or Recurring Behavior and in an Uncontrolled Environment): State duration of remission in months:____In a Controlled Environment
All of this psychological classification really translates into rapists possibly being seen as "victims" and less blamable for their behavior. Institutionally speaking, this may mean that rapists could be considered less responsible under the law since they are considered to have a "disorder" that causes them to rape or enjoy rape and violence. This alleviation of responsibility would likely turn a horrible event like rape into an even more mortifying experience for the victim. Moreover, the victims of rape (predominantly women and children) will endure more stigma, more trauma and more oppression on a global scale.
This "revision" is another manifestation of rape culture. This "revision" normalizes the rape epidemic and further forces women as a class to find their place at the bottom of the social hierarchy once again, not that we ever moved up very far to begin with. This "diagnostic criteria" which is used by thousands of psychologists and psychiatrists to socially brand people will be horribly influential on society. It will lead to even more victim blaming and even less rapist responsibility and less stigma attached to rape itself.
I barely could believe this - it's so messed up because it's going to have horrible consequences. I am so glad I am done with psychology, messed up shit.
ReplyDeleteI strongly believe that PCD should not appear in DSM-5, but the arguments that you give (which are the standard ones of many feminists) demonstrate a woeful ignorance of the social and political forces at work here (and generally not doing your homework before writing about the matter.)
ReplyDeleteIn the US, 20 states and the federal government have so-called "sexually violent predator" (SVP) commitment programs in which they lock up certain sex offenders in "treatment facilities" after completing their sentences. In practice, this is often for life. To get around the fact that the constitution prohibits double jeopardy, they have to pretend that this isn't punishment, and so they rely on "civil commitment" to lock people up--which is traditionally used for people with psychosis, and also for people found not guilty by reason of insanity (typically, rather than being sent to prison, they're sent to secure psychiatric hospitals.)
To pretend that this is "civil commitment" (rather than preventative detention, which is what it really is), they need to diagnose people with a mental disorder. The two main groups of people they incarcerate are those convicted of rape and those convicted of child molesting. For the latter, the diagnosis "pedophilia" is used. For the former, there is no rape-based diagnosis in the DSM, so they started using Paraphilia NOS: nonconsent instead (which the APA has explicitely rejected multiple times.) The proposed introduction of PCD in DSM-5 is to permit the unconstitutional extended incarceration of some offenders after they have already been punished for their crimes.
In a very real way, this is part of society's refusal to deal with rape in any rational/effective way. We're pumping tons of money into these SVP money-pits--which do extremely little to prevent sexual violence--instead of spending money on approaches that would actually be effective. It's all part of the myth that rape is only committed by super-evil people hiding in the bushes, and so the way to stop it is to simply lock up all of these super-evil people.
p.s. The DSM is published by the American Psychiatric Association, not the American Psychological Association.
Unbelievable! Oh wait, sure, with our rape culture being what it is this is totally believable.
ReplyDeleteoh, how absolutely revolting.
ReplyDeleteI am a counselor and I use the DSM occasionally but for the most part it's completely useless to me (so thank goodness I don't take insurance or prescribe meds--there is no legal requirement for me to use it). The most it can be useful for is naming certain problems, especially if the naming of that problem lends itself toward effective methods of coping and/or healing. I am afraid that in this case, what you described is exactly the effect this is going to have. Yet one more rapist apology/excuse (I'm sick! my mental illness made me do it!).
That's not even to mention turning social problems into mental illnesses, which is my main issue with the DSM. Sure, there are some mental illnesses that people are born with, but a HUGE portion of the DSM diagnoses are really just evidence of systemic problems. So we turn a normal reaction to a systemic problem (e.g. suicidality in gay teens, depression in racial minorities, "fear of pregnancy" in women) into a "mental illness" that pathologizes the individual and completely lets the system off the hook. This new "diagnosis" is a perfect example of that. Disgusting.
I would like to just say that I like your blog, it is good to know that there are feminists still out there who realise that our struggle to end racism, sexism, homophobia etc is still far from over.
ReplyDeleteAs long as we are living in a male dominated society we will always have a rape culture and more ways will continue to be found to justify rape or prevent the rapist from having to take responsibility for his actions.
Not only do we need to destroy male domination but re write many laws to make them more pro female, which is something I have highlighted on my blog which I have just started.
I just found your blog after googling paraphilia because I recently discovered it is a diagnosis that can be used as a psychiatric disability for application to a vocational rehabilitation program. I have come across several arguments that it shouldn't even be included in the DSM V as a psychiatric disorder, and I agree that this diagnosis poses a grave social and political danger to women.
ReplyDeleteWhen asked to account for their actions, offenders I have interviewed do not respond with any self-insight or remorse. They have served shortened sentences for coercive acts in which victims "sort of" consented. Having sex with an underage girl has been referred to as a benign incident that, in another state, would have been legal. How do you "sort of" consent? A child under age 13? (In what state is 13 the age of consent?)
Give me a break. I am being asked to determine eligibility for disability services under a psychiatric diagnosis that condones criminal activity for which offenders have NOT yet taken any responsibility. I consider this an insult to the intent of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.
I do understand the argument by ACH above about the social and constitutional violations of "civil commitment." But what would be the alternative? Do you have any ideas about rehabilitation of these offenders? If locking them up, like these applicants, has not elicited empathy for their victims, should we continue to "treat" their "mental illness"? Addressing the problem on a social and/or political level sounds high and idealistic, because it may reduce the conditions that lead to or exacerbate incidents of rape and pedophilia, but when have those methods ever actually eliminated problems like these? The problem must be addressed on all levels, and continued incarceration is one of the tools we have that can, at least, avoid many potential assaults.
As human beings, we tend to have a universal abhorrence to certain acts that, even with perspective, education, compassion, and understanding, remain unacceptable to a majority of well-informed, intelligent, and objective thinkers. Perhaps we need to listen to those voices within us that alert us to danger and strive to keep the innocent from harm.