PSY 265

1
Frotteurism

• PSY 265
• Kristin Frakes, Denise Fournier, Erin Flynn,
  Matthew Garner

2
The Acts of Frottage

• Recurrent fantasies, actual rubbing or touching
  of
• breasts
• legs
• arms
• buttocks
• Frotteur uses his hands or genitals
• Victims generally female

(PsychNet-UK, 2003.)
3

• The incidents occur in crowded, conspicuous
  places
• Subways
• Trains
• Elevators, escalators
• Buses
• Busy crowds
• Easy escape from detection

4
Profile of a Frotteur
-The typical frotteur is between the ages of 15
and 25, typically begin at puberty and decrease
after the age of 25 -Studies have also found
that older men with shy and reserved
personalities or who withdraw socially are also
typical frotteurs -Frotteurism is considered a
criminal offense, as it is a form of
non-consensual sex. However, most frotteurs
disappear quickly into the crowd and do not
remain near their victims after the offense, also
making it difficult to assess any prevalence
rates -For the majority of cases, frotteurs are
male and the victims are female. Though any
parts of the victims body may be touched by the
frotteur, most often the offender will rub his
hands or genitals on womens breasts, legs, or
buttocks
(PsychNet-UK, 1998)
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Comorbidity

• Persons diagnosed with frotteurism are often also
  diagnosed with another paraphilia
• The most common paraphilias comorbid with
  frotteurism are voyeurism and exhibitionism,
  presumably because these paraphilias involve a
  private sexual experience occuring in a public
  setting

(Hucker, 2001)
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Frotteurism and Courtship Disorder

• Research done by Doctor Kurt Freund found
  frotteurism to be a mode of an underlying
  courtship disorder
• Freund placed normal male-female erotic
  interaction in four phases
• -Frotteurism is seen to be a disorder of tactile
  interaction
• Studies have also been done to show links to the
  similarity of frotteurs actions to tribadism,
  which is often practiced in homosexual sex.
  These studies have not received much support

• NORMAL MALE-FEMALE INTERACTION
• Searching for a Partner
• Pre-tactile Interaction
• Tactile Interaction
• Genital Union

(Langevin, 1979) (Hucker, 2001)
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Co-occurences of Frotteurism Behavior When
Voyeurism and Exhibitionism Occured
Voyeurism Exhibitionism Frotteurism
Voyeurism ______ 39.9 42.0
Exhibitionism 82.4 ______ 73.1
Frotteurism 40.0 33.7 ______
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Is Frotteurism a Crime?

• Charles is a 45 year old man who was referred
  for psychiatric consultation after his second
  arrest for rubbing up against strangers in the
  subway. He would choose his victim while they
  were still in the station, then follow the women
  onto the train where he would proceed to press up
  against them from behind.

9

• Most women have experienced public groping, but
  few feel threatened enough to report it to the
  police

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Crime Cont

• There are cases of arrest among frotteurs,
  however it is uncommon
• Most of the time the victim is unaware that
  anything is happening.
• Because the acts are committed in crowded public
  spaces, it is easy for the frotteur to blend in
  with the crowd.

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• In this day of sexual liberty, it is hard to
  distinguish the line between ordinary sexual
  behavior and sexual deviance. However,
  Frotteurism can be considered a crime because it
  involves an unwilling partner.

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Symptoms and Diagnosis

• -The symptoms of frotteurism have been found to
  be very similar to those of mental retardation,
  substance intoxication, manic episode, and
  schizophrenia
• -Therefore, patients believed to have frotteurism
  are typically asked questions such as the
  following in order to form a complete and
  accurate diagnosis

• For how many years have the symptoms been
  present?
• Has the patient had sexually arousing fantasies
  involving touching and rubbing against a
  nonconsenting person?
•  Yes No
• Has the patient had sexually arousing urges
  involving touching and rubbing against a
  nonconsenting person? 
• Yes No
• Has the patient engaged in sexually arousing
  behaviors involving touching and rubbing against
  a nonconsenting person? 
• Yes No
• Has the patient had sexually arousing fantasies,
  urges, or behaviors involving touching and
  rubbing against a nonconsenting person?
• Yes   No  

(Harper, 2002)
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Diagnostic Criteria

• Over a period of at least 6 months, recurrent,
  intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual
  urges, or behaviors involving touching and
  rubbing against a non-consenting person.
• The person has acted on these urges, or the
  sexual urges or fantasies cause marked distress
  or interpersonal difficulty

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Treatments

• insight-oriented psychotherapy
• aimed at uncovering and working through the
  underlying cause of the behavior
• behavioral therapy
• group therapy
• medications
• Prozac
• Medroxyprogesterone
• used to decrease sexual desire.

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Treatments Cont

• There is very little in the way of controlled
  outcome data, so it's difficult to say which of
  these approaches works best. However, initial
  data indicates that an integrated approach is
  most effective.
• Teaching the individual more effective means of
  self-regulation
• dealing with unpleasant emotions
• Helping them develop meaningful interpersonal
  relationships are the most basic ways of dealing
  with the disorder.

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Works Cited

• Bowen, Jon. Home Page. lthttp//http//www.visitwar
  e.com/cgi/ayashi/969750734.htmlgt
• Disorder Information Sheet. 19 July 2003.
  PsychNet-UK. 04 Apr. 2004 lthttp//www.psychnet-uk
  .com/dsm_iv/frotteurism.htmgt.
• Disorder Information-Paraphilias. 2 Feb. 1998.
  PsychNet-UK. 4 Apr. 2004 lthttp//www.psychnet-uk.
  com/dsm_iv/frotteurism.htmgt.
• Freund, Kurt, and Rpnom Watson. "Mapping the
  Boundaries of Courtship Disorder." Journal of
  Sex Research 27 (1990) 589-606.
• Frotteurism in Paraphilias and Sexual Disorders.
  ALLPSYCH Online. 04 Apr. 2004 lthttp//www.allpsyc
  h.com/disorders/paraphilias/fortteurism.htmlgt. 
• Frotteurism-Online Diagnosis. Comp. Judith
  Harper. 2 Mar. 2002. The National Medical
  Society. 4 Apr. 2004 lthttp//www.medical-library.
  org/journals/mddx/frotteurism/1_touching.htmgt.
•  
• Hucker, Stephen. PsychDirect. 2002. FRCPsych. 04
  Apr. 2004 lthttp//www.psychdirect.com/forensic/Cr
  iminology/para/frotteurism.htmgt.
•   Hucker, Stephen. Assessment and Management of
  Violence Risk . 4 Mar. 2001. FRC Psych. 4 Apr.
  2004 lthttp//www.violence-risk.com/paraphilia/exhi
  bition.htmgt.
•  
•  Langevin, R. "Etiology of Genital
  Exhibitionism." Archives of Sexual Behavior 8
  (1979) 121-146.