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Unresolved Issues in Scientific Sexology

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Abstract

A number of unresolved issues in sexologyresearch and practice are reviewed. Penile volumeassessment of sexual arousal has consistently provedmore sensitive than penile circumference assessment andrequires much shorter exposure to the erotic stimulieliciting the arousal, reducing the subjects' ability tomodify their responses. Failure to acknowledge this hasallowed acceptance of evidence based on penile circumference assessment that behavioraltreatments such as directed masturbation can increasethe ability of sex offenders to be heterosexuallyaroused and aversive therapy can reduce their devianturges whereas penile volume assessment indicatesthese procedures are ineffective. A randomizedcontrolled trial of relapse prevention versus notreatment for sex offenders found more treated thanuntreated subjects reoffended after a mean follow-up period of 4years. Researchers and therapists accepted that a posthoc statistical manipulation of the results providedevidence of a treatment effect. Subsequently it has been recommended that randomized controlledevaluations of treatments of sex offenders be abandoned.Meta-analysis of outcome studies has been useduncritically. The majority of men and women who report homosexual feelings and/or behavior reportpredominant heterosexual feelings and behavior and donot identify as homosexual. These consistent findingsremain ignored. Studies of the etiology and development of homosexuality and heterosexuality treat themas distributed categorically rather than dimensionallyand investigate only self-identified homosexuals andheterosexuals. With this methodology the predominantly heterosexual majority are excluded ormisclassified. The belief that the European concept ofthe homosexual is a late 19th-century invention is basedon an inadequate reading of literature. Limitations of the DSM classification of sexual and genderidentity disorders are pointed out. The validity ofself-report of sexual behavior has been questioned onthe basis that men report a markedly higher average number of sexual partners than women. Possiblesex differences in reporting the number of partners whoare of the same sex, casual, or perpetrators or victimsof sexual coercion and child abuse have not been taken into account. Failure of sexology toprogress due to lack of resolution of conflicting issuesmay contribute to the low impact factor of itsjournals.

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  1. School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, High Street, Kensington, Australia, 2033

    Nathaniel McConaghy D.Sc., M.D.

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McConaghy, N. Unresolved Issues in Scientific Sexology. Arch Sex Behav 28, 285–318 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018744628161

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