About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

4 Crim. Behav. & Mental Health 3 (1994)

handle is hein.journals/cbmh4 and id is 1 raw text is: Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 4, 3-9, 1994 0 Whurr Publishers Editorial: Sexual sadism Sadism has been well studied by novelists and, in their own way, by the psy- choanalysts, but there has been little of what might be called research into the topic, at least from a forensic perspective. Two academic papers, however, have had a significant influence on the way in which we think about the rela- tionship between sexual sadism and dangerousness. Their conclusions have entered the psychiatric folklore. The first of these papers, by Robert Brittain (1970), put together what has perhaps become the classic description of the sadistic murderer. Brittain described an introverted, overcontrolled, timid, and socially isolated man, sex- ually prudish, reserved, and inexperienced, but sexually deviant, with a rich and sadistic fantasy life and an interest in violent activities. Brittain also said that the sadistic killer, though vain and egocentric, had extremely low self- esteem, and that he offended most commonly after his self-esteem was further challenged. It is of interest, however, that this account was not based on research of any formal kind, but was instead the result of clinical anecdote and experience. In spite of this, it tends to be accepted at face value. Perhaps this is because the description sounds good, fitting many of our preconceived ideas of what a sadistic killer should be like. But its accuracy remains to be shown, and caution must be used before one accepts that Brittain's portrait does in fact resemble the sadistic killer any more than it does a non-sadistic sex offender, a non-sexual killer, a thief, or a university student. This is not to say that Brittain's account should be dismissed out of hand, only that, at present, it is perhaps best tegarded as literature rather than science. The other influential paper referred to above was based on a sample of 13 sadistic offenders in a British special hospital (MacCulloch, Snowden, Wood & Mills, 1983). It described a pattern of sadistic sexual fantasies leading to behavioural tryouts related to those fantasies, the tryouts in turn feeding the fantasies, each propelling the other in a spiral of increasing severity. It was suggested that offending in these individuals typically occurred in the absence of external stimuli, contrary to Brittain's claim that offending took place after a blow to the offender's self-esteem. Fantasy was identified as the key compo- nent in the cycle, with the sadistic offender seeking out or creating situations in which he could gain control over his victim in a way that reflected his fan- tasy life. The importance of fantasy in the motivation of sadistic crime has been emphasised by the FBI Behavioral Sciences Unit in studies of a small but extreme group of sadistic offenders (Burgess, Hartman, Ressler, Douglas & 3

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most