Research Project

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Read an academic journal article on any sexuality issue of your choice. Identify the steps taken by the researcher(s) of the study. Use the "Step-by-Step Process" discussed in Ch. 2 of the textbook as your guide: Below is a way to assess whether or not a research study is legitimate:

Steps of the Scientific Method in Sociology

1. Topic/Title of article (What is the topic and/or the title of this journal article?)
2. Definition of the problem/Thesis Statement (What problem/issue did the researchers wish to address in this study?)
3. Review of the literature (Did the researchers discuss the works of others on this topic?)
4. State the hypotheses (or the main hypothesis) (State at leasttwo hypothesesthe researcher wanted to investigate.)
5. Research methods (What research method(s) were used

SOME SEXUAL BEHAVIOR VIEWED AS AN ADDICTION

ByDaniel Goleman

· Oct. 16, 1984

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Credit...The New York Times Archives

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SOME types of excessive sexual activity have all the hallmarks of an addiction and can be treated in a fashion similar to other addictions, such as alcoholism and gambling, a growing number of sex therapists believe.

People with this problem, who are now being called ''sexual addicts,'' typically use sex as a psychological narcotic. They are driven to find relief through sex from feelings of agitation and worthlessness. But once the sexual high ends they are again overwhelmed by those same feelings, and once again feel driven to sex. And so the cycle starts over once more. That cycle, many experts are now saying, is identical to that seen in other addictions. Some sex therapists estimate that as many as 1 in 12 people may have this problem, while other experts say it is relatively rare. The issue, experts say, is not one's particular sexual preference. Nor are the therapists equating strong, healthy sexual desire with addiction. Rather they are focusing on the cases in which sex becomes the all-consuming focus of life, an overriding passion that is pursued at the cost of living a normal life, at the expense of career, family or marriage.

''For years sex therapy concentrated on those who had problems being sexual - impotent men and frigid women, for example - but we've largely ignored those people whose problem is controlling their sexuality,'' said Dr. Patrick Carnes, a psychologist in Minneapolis and a leading proponent of the viewpoint that some sexual behavior can be seen as an addiction.

''We've made great progress helping people who are inhibited about sex become better able to perform, but have done little for those with the opposite problem,'' he added in an interview. ''The exception has been with sexual tastes that get people in trouble with the law, or which they find abhorrent. But for many people the problem is simply that sex has taken over their lives.''

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While hypersexuality such as nymphomania, Don Juanism and the homosexual equivalent is familiar in clinical literature, the new approach sees it as sharing a common psychodynamic with a broad range of other addictions. Compulsive sexuality has from time to time been likened to an addiction, but the first detailed description of these sexual problems as a class of addictions appeared in The Journal of Addictons in 1978. That journal is seen by few professionals who treat sexual problems, however, and the idea is so new that many sex therapists and researchers are still unfamiliar with it. Nevertheless, the idea has spread among a number sex experts, some of whom seem to have reached it independently.

For example, Dr. Mark Schwartz, a former colleague of William Masters at the Masters and Johnson Institute in St. Louis, recalled in an interview: ''Dr. Masters and I were reading an article about treating drug addicts a year or so ago. At the time we were treating a group of men who had been arrested for incest. We sud denly realized that these incest offenders had all the signs of being addicts. They were addicted not to drugs but to sex.''

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Dr. Schwartz, who is now a professor in the psychiatry department at Tulane University in New Orleans, is one of many sex therapists who have begun groups for patients whose sexual problems share the addictive dynamic.

Addictive Characteristics

While the label of ''sexual addict'' is not a formal diagnostic category, some sex therapists have begun work to identify its core characteristics. Dr. Schwartz uses a list of 20 criteria for screening people in his treatment groups, including these:

- Having a sexual preoccupation that interferes with a normal sexual relationship with one's spouse or lover.

- Feeling compelled to have sexual relations again and again within a short period of time.

- A compulsion to engage in sexual behavior that leaves one feeling anxious and depressed or guilty and ashamed.

- Taking large amounts of time from family or work to engage in sex or look for sexual adventure.

- Being driven to sex as a means to hide from the troubles in one's life.

May Not Be Seen as Problem

Dr. John Money, director of the psychohormonal research unit at Johns Hopkins Medical School and a pioneering researcher in sexual behavior, said in an interview that he had had many patients with this kind of problem.

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''One woman, for example, came into the clinic telling us, 'I'm out of control,' '' Dr. Money said. ''She said, 'I sit at home all day saying to myself that I won't go out tonight to the hotel bar and come home with a strange man. But every night by 9 P.M. I'm in the hotel bar looking for a man to bring home. And every morning I wake up feeling disgusted with him and with myself.' ''

''There are no doubt many people with this pattern who don't see it as a problem,'' he continued. ''One couple happened to come into our clinic because of their child's hormonal defect, not because of their sex life. But when I interviewed them, it turned out they had sex four and five times a day. He felt he needed that much sex to handle any little tension during the day. She never had an orgasm. In fact, it hurt her. She put up with it to save the marriage.''

''These problems have the quality of a demand the person can't say no to,'' Dr. Money added. ''Their hypersexuality often exceeds normal capacities. For example, some male fetishists report having orgasms up to 10 times a day. We don't know why they have that capacity, but one day I'm certain we'll find out the underlying neurochemistry is unique.'' Masturbation is among the common problems, according to Dr. Carnes's research; for example, a man was compelled to masturbate several times a day at work, locking himself in his office or the men's room.

Although very new and still controversial, the notion that sex can be an addictive disorder is spreading. Dr. Carnes, whose book ''The Sexual Addiction'' describes the syndrome, is scheduled to give training seminars in its treatment to several hundred therapists and counselors this fall in several cities across the country. One large health-care corporation has begun a sex addiction program in one of its hospitals and plans to offer it at more than 250 hospitals across the country.

The current interest among mental health professionals was preceded by a separate grassroots movement, begun by former members of Alcoholics Anonymous who also suffered from this sexual problem. By 1978, even before any professionals had started to define the problem as one of addiction, some of them had founded groups for sex addicts modeled on the A.A. program. There are now three or four such organizations with names like ''Sexaholics Anonymous'' and ''Sexual Addicts Anonymous'' operating in different parts of the country. The organizations have hundreds of groups, with thousands of members.

''I treat all kinds of addictions, and these self-help groups are quite effective,'' said Martha Turner, a psychiatrist at the Outpatient Addiction Treatment Services at the Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. ''They offer support and compassion, and a recovering addict has a credibility that a therapist does not. But they don't have the psychodynamic insights that can give the person a deeper mending.''

Dr. Carnes is currently writing a manual for the treatment of the problem, basing his approach to a great extent on the programs for sex addicts modeled on Alcoholics Anonymous. He also incorporates elements from family therapy, because he believes it is essential to extend treatment to the people in the sex addict's life who reinforce his habit, even if they do so inadvertently.

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In this treatment program people with a sexual addiction meet in regular therapy groups with others who share the problem. Dr. Carnes said he believes this is especially important because addicts have a special understanding of what other addicts' experience in trying to give up their habit. He said additional sex therapy techniques - for example, for changing a person's preferred sex fantasies - dramatically improve the addict's chances of recovery.

No Agreement on Treatments

While Dr. Carnes's treatment program has attracted many followers, there is as yet no unanimity among sex therapists about how best to treat sexual addictions. Dr. Schwartz, for example, in an article on treating sex offenders, suggests using cognitive therapy to change the feelings of worthlessness that feed their addiction. And Dr. David Barlow, director of the Sexuality Research Program at the State University of New York at Albany, said he believes sexual addiction is akin to an obsessive-compulsive disorder, where the more a person tries to suppress an impulse the more compelling it becomes. The patient should be treated accordingly, he said.

Women are prone to sexual addiction far more than is generally realized, according to Dr. Carnes. He estimated the proportion of women in his sex addict therapy groups at about one in three.

Dr. Carnes, who has developed a test to identify people with sexual addictions, says his research shows the number of people with the problem is about 1 in 12. In discussions with others who treat the problem, he said, estimates have been as high as 1 in 8.

However, Dr. Helen Singer Kaplan, director of the Human Sexuality Program at Cornell Medical School, said in an interview that, in her clinical experience, the problem is very rare.

''There's no reliable data on the prevalence of this kind of sexual problem,'' said Dr. Robert Spitzer, chairman of the panel that developed the official psychiatric diagnostic manual. ''For one thing, as yet there is no diagnosis into which it falls; several might apply. Some of these people could be classified under 'paraphilias,' which include transvestites and pedophiles. But, for example, there's a separate category for the hypersexual male: Don Juanism.''

''The addictive pattern in general fits best under the category of impulse disorders, which includes kleptomania and pathological gambling,'' Dr. Spitzer said. There is a common cycle, he said, that includes ''a sense of relief and pleasure in committing the act, followed by guilt. Many would see the problem as a personality disorder, not a sexual one.''

''One might make a good argument for a separate diagnostic category under sexual disorders, but there are some problems,'' he added. ''For one, you first have to determine the limits of ordinary sexuality - that's not an easy matter. The boundaries are blurry. Where does normal lechery end and a sexual problem begin?''

A version of this article appears in print on

Oct. 16, 1984

, SectionC, Page1of the National editionwith the headline:SOME SEXUAL BEHAVIOR VIEWED AS AN ADDICTION.Order Reprints|Today’s Paper|Subscribe

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by the researchers?)
6. Analyze the data (How was the data analyzed in this article?)
7. Conclusions (What conclusions did the researchers draw?)
8. Discuss Future Research (Did the researcher (s) discuss future research?)
9. Share results (How did the researcher(s) share their results (i.e., via publications, conferences, teaching...?)

Note: Sometimes researchers do not follow every step and nor do they follow these steps in order within the journal article. That is fine, as long as the main proponents of the research exists.

Due: Friday, September 4, 2020 by 11:59pm ET