TELEPHONE SCATOLOGIA: AN AURAL ASSAULT

TELEPHONE SCATOLOGIA: AN AURAL ASSAULT Dr. Anterpreet Kaur Arora, Professor, Department of Anatomy, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Vallah, Sri Amritsar. Dr. Pankaj Gupta, Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Vallah, Sri Amritsar. Dr. Shashi Mahajan, Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Vallah, Sri Amritsar. Abstract The present paper explores the telephone scatologia which is a sexual paraphilia. Making obscene telephone calls for sexual pleasure is known as telephone scatalogia. An obscene phone call (OPC) is an unsolicited telephone call where the caller receives sexual pleasure by delivering sexual or foul language to an unknown party. In this article, the etiological theories, current incidence, characteristics and classification of the caller is being focused. The psychotherapy, treatment, medico legal aspects and the laws against the caller are also discussed here. The main objective of this paper is to offer a rarely addressed material that could be useful in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, sexology, criminology and interpersonal violence. Keywords: Paraphilia; scatologia; akophilia; fantasy; psychotherapy. 2009 JPAFMAT. All rights reserved Introduction A psychosexual disorder characterized by a recurrent, intense urge or fantasy to make obscene telephone calls to derive sexual arousal and gratification is called telephone scatology. It is also called Telephonicophilia- A paraphilic condition in which sexuoerotic arousal and gratification are dependant upon talking about sexual or obscene matters over the telephone to an unknown listener. The etymology of Telephonicophilia comes from the words telephone, Greek words; skatos- dung or filth, scat- scare and philia- Attraction [1] Telephone scatologia is only one of the forms of audio scatologia (akophilia). (Corresponding address) Dr. Anterpreet Kaur Arora Phone: 0183-2570301; 09814975545 Email: - doctor_neeru_preet@yahoo.com Making obscene telephone calls is a Class 1 Misdemeanor [2]. Although from the viewpoint of the recipient of the calls, and of the law, it is generally considered to be a form of sexual harassment [3]. Warner describes it as aural assault. Hott characterizes it as telephone rape or aural rape [4, 5]. Purpose Served by an Obscene Call Sexual arousal by expressing a girl or woman his sexual thoughts is his goal. A teen prankster shows off to his friends while he makes an obscene call to a girl. When the caller becomes aroused, he masturbates, and attains orgasm. The recipient s reaction of surprise, fear, upset, and anger may provide the caller with a sense of power and masculinity. 87

Characteristics of the scatologist The caller may be a teenager, a braindamaged or mentally retarded person. He may be a juvenile or a married father; someone with manic depression or schizophrenia; he may be intoxicated with alcohol or drugs; or an anxious, shy, lonely man afraid of rejection and unable to make a close personal relationship. The callers are mostly attention seekers [6]. Associated paraphilias in a scatologist Obscene calls may not be the caller s primary mode of sexual gratification. The likelihood of occurrence of a multiplicity of behaviors in an affected person is sure. Obscene telephone callers according to Sadoff (1976), has aggressive deviations such as rape, pedophilia, sadomasochism and has anonymous deviations such as frotteurism, exhibitionism, voyeurism, obscene telephone calling, and fetishism etc. He may have Internet addiction disorder also. Prevalence of scatologist Even with modern technology, it is not always simple to locate the perpetrator of such calls because such callers are not willing patients. [7] The information, therefore of the obscene phone caller is insufficient. 1t is based on too small a sample of cases - those who were somehow apprehended or discovered. Etiology and contributory factors Obscene phone caller has several difficulties in self esteem and is likely to have had a dominating overprotective and bossy mother. So the victims should be weaker and more vulnerable than the aggressors [8]. Saunders assessed that cases came from multiple- problem families. Some more factors were antisocial traits, sexual deviance in the family, homosexual conflicts, and repressed sexuality. Targets of the caller The caller targets are likely to be women who are least able to defend themselves or who have one of the following attributes; low education, low income, young age, or minority status. Nadler proposes that anger towards women spurs most offenders to make obscene calls [9] Pedophilic telephone scatologists are the offenders who target children. The victimized children suffer serious consequences. The caller enjoys frightened response of the victim if the latter doesn t show, he may not call again. Classification of scatologist According to Bullough it is of three types. The commonest caller is a seducer and is in masturbatory action e.g. may breath heavily or describes sexual activities. He is a shock caller. He enjoys panic of victim. According to Mead, he keeps calling if this reaction continues. He is a trickster. He sounds friendly, gains trust by saying that he is a gynecologist conducting a survey, asks and coaxes the victim to touch the genitalia by removing clothes and reveal some information. Alternatively the caller may present himself as a policeman or representative of a manufacturer of feminine products (vaginal douche, menstrual pads, etc.) Difference bet the above two is, the seducer s victim discovers the type of call but the trickster s victim doesn t even after the call is over. Behavior of the Scatologist while calling The behavior patterns of the callers vary greatly. Sometimes they masturbate during the telephone encounter. Others, stimulated by the 88

telephone experience may masturbate afterwards. Some obscene phone callers do not speak. Instead, they emit sounds of sexual pleasure into the phone, or breathe heavily. Others reveal their masturbatory activity to the victim. Sometimes it is clear to the victim that the man on the phone may be intoxicated because of slurred speech, mild incoherence etc. Other callers are simply crude and utter profanities and obscenities. Some callers bluntly ask for sex [10]. Law against scatologist in India In India, a country of strong traditions, no law targets telephone scatologia. However, under Section 507 of an anonymous communication and Section 506 of punishment for criminal intimidation, whoever commits the offence of an anonymous communication and makes sexual remarks on phone may account to criminal intimidation hence violating the provision of the above mentioned sections. As a consequence, he shall be punished with imprisonment of four years. In other countries In other countries, under Section 189 in Australia of unlawful stalking, telephoning, sending electronic messages or contacting the victim with intention of physical and mental harm or arousing apprehension or fear in the victim for his own safety, is a crime and carries punishment of 5 years. In United kingdom, Section 43(1)a of the telecommunications act 2003 states that, a person is guilty of an offence if he uses abusive language and does an improper use of public electronic communications network. Under section (1)b, any harassing communication which is likely to harass or cause alarm is class C misdemeanor and the person who does it, is considered to commit a crime. Management and therapy Unfortunately, many paraphilic individuals are poorly motivated to undergo treatment. Treatment can be broadly grouped into psychological and pharmacological (medications) approaches. As in other psychiatric disorders, a combination of the two is usually more effective than either alone [11]. Psychotherapy: The goal of this type of therapy is to lead the patient to a "healthy remorse [12]." Cognitive-behavioral therapy: This therapy applies behavioral therapy techniques to modify the patient's sexual deviations by altering distorted thinking patterns and making patients cognizant of the irrational justifications that lead to their sexual variations. This therapy also incorporates relapse prevention techniques, helping the patient to control the undesirable behaviors by avoiding situations that may generate initial desires. Orgasmic reconditioning- In this approach, a patient is reconditioned to a more appropriate stimulus by masturbating to his or her typical less socially acceptable stimulus. Then, just before orgasm, the patient is told to concentrate on a more acceptable fantasy. This is repeated at earlier times before orgasm until, soon, the patient begins his masturbation fantasies with an appropriate stimulus. Social skills training- Because many believe that paraphilias develop in patients who lack the ability to develop relationships, many therapists and physicians use social skills training to treat patients with these types of disorders. They may work on such issues as developing intimacy, carrying on conversations with others, and assertive skills training. Many social 89

skills training groups also teach basic sex education which is very helpful to this patient population. Group therapy: This mode of therapy involves breaking through the denial so commonly found in people with paraphilias by surrounding them with other patients who interact with each other and share their illness. This may overcome the shame factor in such patients. Pharmacotherapy: The goals of pharmacotherapy are to reduce morbidity and prevent complications. This treatment is also used in other paraphilias and paraphilia-related disorders. Antiandrogens Testosterone, the principal androgen (sex hormone) produced by the testes, is considered the most important androgen affecting male sexual behavior. The role of testosterone is as a primary etiological factor in physical and sexual aggression in men. The effect of antiandrogens thus is on sexual desire, associated fantasies, erections and urges. The antiandrogens, cyproterone acetate (CPA) and medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) are the most commonly prescribed agents for the control of repetitive deviant sexual behaviors. MPA, an analogue of progesterone, lowers serum testosterone. CPA inhibits testosterone directly at androgen receptor sites and also exhibits antigonadotrophic effects. Serotonergic antidepressants Anxious and depressive symptoms and disorders have been identified in such cases as in the other paraphilic sex offenders. Of the serotonergic agents reported, fluoxetine (Prozac) has received the most attention. Antidepressant pharmacotherapy may diminish the vulnerability to "negative affective states" (e.g., irritability, depressed mood) commonly reported to precede sexual offending behaviors. How to handle obscene calls The key to handling the calls is not to react to them. Reacting could encourage the caller so the victim must hang up immediately. Keeping track of the date and time of the calls can help identify possible suspects. To tell the caller that his calls are being traced is an effective technique to discourage the calls. Properly documenting such calls is an important way of eliminating the problem. This information allows Telecom department to begin tracing procedures. The call log sheet allows to record specific characteristics of each unwanted call received. After tracing the caller, public Safety and the police must be timely informed. Summary and conclusions Telephone scatophilia is a paraphilia of the solicitational/allurative type. It is usually classed as a paraphilia from a medical viewpoint, although from the viewpoint of the recipient of the calls, and of the law, it is generally considered to be a form of sexual harassment. Such calls are made by sufferers of broken relationships, an unhappy employee or co-worker or attention seekers etc. Treatment of such cases is a combination of the psychological and pharmacological (medications) approaches which are usually more effective than either alone. Receiving unwanted calls can be frustrating and frightening. However, in most cases, using some simple but effective techniques can stop the calls. The recipients of obscene phone calls must report to the police immediately. 90

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