Smear: Symptoms, Causes And Treatment Of This Paraphilia
We are riding a bus and suddenly we notice that someone is rubbing their genitals against us. We walk through the crowd and notice that they touch our buttocks. Although it may not seem like it, these are relatively common situations in our daily lives, which involve a crime.
Although the majority of those who carry out this type of behavior do so without suffering from any type of mental problem, in some of these cases the person who carries out said touching and rubbing is a smearer. In this article we will briefly see What is frotism and why does it occur?
Frotism or frotteurism is one of the disorders classified as paraphilia or disorders of sexual inclination, a group that includes those disorders in which sexual fantasies and impulses occur repeatedly and continuously involving a non-consensual relationship or in which one of the parties cannot consent, in which the only reason for excitement is the use of objects or in which humiliation or suffering of oneself or others is required to obtain sexual gratification. These desires, impulses or fantasies generate discomfort or deterioration in some vital area in the subject who suffers from them.
In the case of frotism, we are dealing with a paraphilia in which the subject presents intense fantasies for at least six months linked to the fact of rubbing, rubbing or touching someone against or without the victim’s will It is the idea of ​​maintaining physical contact and the surprise and reaction it generates in the victim that awakens the individual’s libido. For it to be considered as such, it is necessary that you have carried out the practice in real life or if these fantasies cause discomfort or limitation.
Generally, the memory of said event is used as material to masturbate later, although in some cases they seek to reach climax during the situation itself (through masturbation, it being rare for there to be a real attempt to maintain sexual relations with the affected person).. Rubbing is usually directed at the genital area or areas linked to sexuality. like breasts or buttocks. The subject who carries it out can use any part of his body to rub, and it is common for hands or genitals to be used in the rubbing.
It is necessary to keep in mind that excitement due to physical contact or friction with one’s own partner or even involuntary friction with strangers is not included in this paraphilia, and must be carried out actively and voluntarily by the partner. subject to friction with unknown people who have not given their consent to do so. The implementation of a frotteurist’s fantasies It is a crime against sexual freedom in many countries which could lead to prison sentences.
General characteristics of the smearer
The smearer is usually a male who begins his activity during adolescence, generally decreasing his behavior after the age of twenty-five. It is not uncommon for these to be individuals with a shy personality with a high level of frustration and a feeling of inferiority.
Although you can have a partner and have normative relationships with her, it is also not uncommon for the subject to only obtain sexual gratification and become excited through the practice of this paraphilia, being the only type of stimulation that offers sexual gratification.
Usually acts in crowded situations and places , in which it is easy to escape and go unnoticed. Typical examples are nightclubs, public transport, traffic lights and pedestrian crossings or shopping streets.
Possible causes
The cause of the existence of this and other paraphilias is not completely known, although different models are proposed that attempt to explain their origin.
It is common for frotteurists to be people with poor communication skills and feelings of inferiority , so in some cases they resort to this type of practices as an attempt to make up for their shortcomings by carrying out risky acts. This idea is reinforced due to the fact that although it is the physical contact itself that produces arousal, as is the case with exhibitionists, many frotteurists also enjoy the surprised or disgusted reactions of their victims.
One of the possible explanations offered is based on the effect of exposure to similar behavioral models during childhood, acquiring and learning the behavior that in some cases they themselves have suffered. Thus they could have been sexually abused being forced to touch an adult.
From a behaviorist perspective, the possibility arises that we are dealing with a conditioned behavior: at a given moment of great sexual excitement, friction occurred with a stranger, the subject attributing the excitement to the friction and subsequently consolidating said association through practice.
Another theory, which would account for the fact that in some of these subjects the performance of friction has a compulsive nature, is McConaghy’s theory of behavioral termination: the presence of stimuli associated with the practice of friction causes a high level of anxiety to appear that the subject needs to resolve through the practice of rubbing. So that this tension does not reappear, the subject begins to replicate the behavior.
As with other paraphilias, the treatment of frotteurism can be carried out using various tactics. It must be taken into account that except in those cases in which guilt or discomfort occurs, generally The paraphilic individual does not usually appear for consultation of his own volition , so it is expected that there will be resistance to treatment. It is necessary to make the patient see the need and advantages that their participation may entail.
It is first necessary to analyze the subject’s fantasies and what the subject attributes his behavior to, whether he gives it any meaning or what circumstances lead him to carry out these practices. Knowing the significance of the act is of great importance in order to be able to work on it by modifying beliefs and cognitive restructuring at the same time that the subject can express possible conflicts that have led him to do it.
Likewise, techniques such as the modification of the paraphilic sequence are usually used, in which the aim is to introduce alterations in the sequence of acts that the individual performs to carry out the touching so that the final result is incompatible with the touching.
