Citation

Money J. Am. J. Psychother. 1990; 44(1): 26-36.

Affiliation

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1990, Association for the Advancement of Psychotherapy)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2327516

Abstract

Forensic sexology is not synonymous with either forensic psychiatry or forensic psychology. It is a specialty in its own right, and is needed in the courtroom. Paraphilic sex offenders on trial are misrepresented as being, by their own choice, psychopathic or sociopathic deviates. They are unable to explain their paraphilic criminality to either themselves or society. In a case of serial rape and serial lust murder here presented, the contributory causes are examined and differentiated as hereditary predisposition, hormonal functioning; pathological relationships, sexual abuse; and syndrome overlap with bipolar disorder, schizoid disorder, antisocial personality disorder, epilepsy, and multiple personality. The precipitating causes were differentiated as childhood head injuries, and adult head injury at age 20. Left impact trauma and sexological trauma were sequelae of the adult injury. The full range of diagnostic resources was not available for a prisoner on death row. Capital punishment has not prevented the reemergence in each new generation of serial rape and serial lust murder as an epidemiological, public health problem. Punishment is an ineffectual substitute for epidemiological research into cause, effect, and prevention.

Language: en