The myth of sexual compulsivity

Abstract

This paper analyzes critically the newly discovered “conditions” of sexual addiction and sexual compulsion from the sociological perspective of symbolic interactionism. We begin by describing the concepts of sexual addiction and sexual compulsion and by providing case studies of each “condition.” We then discuss the cultural relativity of sexual conduct, and identify features of the late 1970s' and 1980s' sociosexual landscape that encouraged a perception of nonrelational sex as pathological. We conclude by critically analyzing the concepts of sexual addiction and sexual compulsion. We demonstrate that the definitions are conceptually flawed and that the criteria for these “conditions” are subjective and value laden. There is nothing inherently pathological in the conduct that is labeled sexually compulsive or addictive. Rather than referring to actual clinical entities, sexual addiction and compulsion refer to learned patterns of behavior that are stigmatized by dominant institutions.