Sexual asphyxia: A neglected area of study
- 1 October 1982
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Deviant Behavior
- Vol. 4 (1) , 19-39
- https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.1982.9967601
Abstract
Sexual asphyxia, a solitary autoerotic activity practiced almost exclusively by males, is examined in this paper. The self‐induced asphyxia may be either chemical or mechanical, and its purpose it to heighten the sexual pleasure. The practice of sexual asphyxia can result in death; however, many such deaths may erroneously be viewed as suicides or homicides as a result of the lack of knowledge of the practice. Sixteen sexual asphyxiai deaths, reported in Dade County (Miami), Florida, are examined in detail. These data confirm that practitioners are overwhelmingly young, white, middle‐class, unmarried males. When the practice is fatal among older practitioners, the data show that some complicating factor, such as the use of alcohol or other drugs, may have contributed to the accident. The most frequent method of inducing the asphyxia was simple hanging by rope and in most cases there was no indication nor suspicion of suicidal intentKeywords
This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit:
- A case of female autoerotic deathAmerican Journal of Forensic Medicine & Pathology, 1980
- The Adolescent Sexual Asphyxia SyndromeJournal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 1979
- Bondage and SuicideArchives of General Psychiatry, 1972
- Erotized Repetitive Hangings: A Form of Self-Destructive BehaviorAmerican Journal of Psychotherapy, 1972