2013-05-20T02:24:34-04:00 Helinä Häkkänen-Nyholm http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=helin Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Helinä Häkkänen-Nyholm Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.3290994 2013-05-17T19:00:00-04:00 2013-05-17T12:11:42-04:00

Helinä Häkkänen-Nyholm http://www.huffingtonpost.com/helin/
To the first question, both males and females assented 50% of the time. To the second, 69% of males and 6% of females responded affirmatively. To the third question, 75% of males, and 0% of females said yes, and the men who declined often apologized and cited a conflict due to previous plans.

Another study found males wanting an average of 18 sex partners in their lifetime, compared to women, who reported desiring four to five partners.

Kevin Zimmerman from Iowa State University, cites these studies in an intriguing academic guide to sexually open relationships, which has recently been published.

He marshals a host of scientific research which questions whether everyone was really meant to be monogamous, and whether a great deal of couples' unhappiness arises out of pre-supposing monogamy is the only option.

Zimmerman raises the question of whether we could be socialized to believe that to be devoted to a second person is to love the first less, even though this standard does not apply when discussing adoring more than one child, for example.

Zimmerman explains that open relationships are different from infidelity or cheating because partners agree on the sexual boundaries of the relationship, and there is no deception about sex. Successful open relationships typically involve those who privilege authenticity over conformity in their relationships. 'Open' relationships can be characterised by more honesty and better observation of boundaries.

Zimmerman's paper is published in the 'Journal of Feminist Family Therapy' - 'open' relationships are sometimes seen as raising the status of women, releasing them to be with whom they want, bestowing greater power over their own bodies. Some heterosexual feminist women prefer 'open' relationships, he points out, to avoid appearing dependent on men, or out of contempt for being 'submerged' into a couple.

Surveys indicate that 79% of Americans believe that it's always wrong for the married to conduct sexual relationships outside of marriage, yet the most up to date research Zimmerman quotes indicates estimates of infidelity are closer to 60% for men and 40% for women.

Monogamy is also the exception to relationships throughout the animal kingdom. Zimmerman cites work contending that of 4,000 mammal species, only about 3%, have been found to be monogamous, plus of the world's roughly 400 species of primates, monogamy has been reported for only nine.

Zimmerman argues even the shape of the male penis, together with male thrusting, apparently facilitates removal of other males' semen from the vagina, according to previous research. In monogamous species, males and females are similar in body size and the males sport smaller testicles compared to non-monogamous males - testicle and body size of men in homo sapiens is what would be expected for a polygamous species. Our body shape reveals we are not biologically designed to be faithful.

Zimmerman's paper entitled, 'Clients in Sexually Open Relationships: Considerations for Therapists', explains that optimal evolutionary strategy is to appear monogamous while being polygamous covertly. It might be in the best interest of both men and women to present (or misrepresent) themselves to potential mates as loyal. A particular advantage might accrue to females who present (misrepresent) themselves as having a low sex drive, linked to uncertainty of paternity.

Of the 185 human societies investigated in one study, only 29 restricted their members to monogamy, in addition, 154 of the 185 societies allowed men to have multiple partners if they could afford them.

Zimmerman explains that 'Partnered non-monogamy' refers to a committed couple that allows for sex outside the central relationship. Swinging is non-monogamy in a social context, also referred to as "the lifestyle", 'Polyamory' allows for partners to have more than one relationship that is sexual, loving, and emotional. 'Polyfidelity' refers to three or more people who have made a commitment to be in a primary relationship together. A monogamous/non-monogamous partnership is one in which one person is monogamous and the other is not.

Bisexual women appear numerous in polyamorous communities; the standing joke being that they can "have their Jake and Edith too". According to Zimmerman, research confirms homosexual couples are much more likely to allow extra-dyadic sex. Two thirds of male couples of all durations are in sexually open relationships. All 156 homosexual couples in one sample who had been together for over five years, described their relationships as being open, indicating that having an open relationship may be related to couple longevity. Zimmerman also cites surveys which confirm that heterosexual couples in open relationships can be happy, intimate, and well-adjusted.

In a society in which monogamy is the only acceptable way to be in a committed relationship, Zimmerman contends individuals who experience attraction for anyone else besides their primary partner, often experience guilt shame, and deceit. Being too invested in the idea of monogamy and marriage paradoxically makes it more likely that many find the only way to accommodate our non-monogamous biology, is to cheat.

Many choose to carry on a secret sex life rather than openly discuss and resolve conflicts with their partners, because of the social taboos that exist about extra-relational sex and sex generally.

These arguments and evidence suggest the stigma over open relationships could be changing, and in the future, this lifestyle might even become the norm. Zimmerman compares co-habitation before or instead of marriage, around which there was a similar strong taboo just a generation ago.

Zimmerman's paper contends that couples therapists might need to confront their implicit 'hetero-centrism' - that heterosexuality and heterosexual relationships are the norm against which all other sexualities and sexual relationships should be judged.

One of the co-authors of this article (HH-N) experiences of working in sexual therapy has been that the "I" generation (those born in 1980-99) seem less empathic towards partners' feelings and values and seem less committed to life-long relationships. Many from all generations live in "intimate" relationships that do not fulfil sexual needs. Partners may be chosen because they are supportive or would make good parents, but these qualities do not necessary match with being a great lover.

Given the new opportunities provided by the internet, it is inevitable, sex outside marriages is therefore probably increasing.

Yet whether this is indeed a good thing, or not, remains open to question.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.3020204 2013-04-05T19:00:00-04:00 2013-04-05T17:04:17-04:00

Helinä Häkkänen-Nyholm http://www.huffingtonpost.com/helin/
George Osborne waded into the controversy by linking Philpott's chronic unemployment with the crime, arguing that the welfare state is subsidising inappropriate lifestyles.

But what do psychologists and psychiatrists who have actually studied these rare crimes - termed filicides - make of the motives of these killers?

Research establishes that the global rate of child homicide is 1.92 for girl victims and 2.93 for boy victims in the age group 0-17 years, per 100,000 inhabitants. Although considered rare, researchers believe it's possibly the most underreported form of homicide. A recent comprehensive Austrian and Finnish study uncovered a rate of 5 per 100,000 inhabitants, substantially larger than official statistics, emphasizing the covert nature of filicide.

Mick and Mairead Philpott had convened a tearful news conference after the house fire, as part of their attempts to disguise the true nature of how the children died. Psychologists raise the question of whether this pattern is repeated elsewhere. Are some child deaths attributed to accidents or illness, actually hidden homicides?

In one of the most recent studies, entitled, 'Gender differences in filicide offense characteristics--A comprehensive register-based study of child murder in two European countries', gender differences immediately post-offense emerged; mothers cleaned up and tried to hide the body more often than fathers. Forensic psychologists argue covering the body is a gesture of shame, implying that the killing doesn't fit the offender's self-image.

Hanna Putkonen, Sabine Amon, Markku Eronen, Claudia Klier, Maria Almiron, Jenny Cederwall and Ghitta Weizmann-Henelius, who conducted the research, found fathers killed their children most often during the morning or night, while mothers offended evenly throughout the course of the day. This could be explained by the fact fathers in this research were more often employed, and mothers more often homemakers.

The authors, based at institutions such as Vanha Vaasa Hospital, Finland and the Medical University of Vienna, point out that one of the distinguishing features of men who kill their own children is that they are more likely to be employed in comparison with men who commit other kinds of homicides. This suggests that George Osborne should be better briefed about the psychological dynamics of parents who kill their children, before politically exploiting the controversy.

Family disintegration has been found to be a key precipitating factor for fathers who kill their children. It seems there are two main psychological patterns - a father who becomes depressed, and in a very negative frame of mind, believes that he must kill himself and also his whole family, particularly his children to protect them from future suffering. The second type is more angry and kills his children in a fit of rage - the act declares - 'if I can't have them then you can't and no one can'. Divorce and separation are often risk periods for filicide.

It would appear that Philpott's actions fall into the second category.

It's the controlling aspect of Philpott's personality which appears most relevant. The welfare benefits aspect of the tragedy has preoccupied the media, but Philpott's behaviour was not that psychologically unique in terms of what the research on filicide reveals. These studies raises the much more important question currently neglected by the media and government - were there enough warning signs that social services should have been more alert?

Philpott apparently used his conviction for attempted murder of a girlfriend in 1978 to terrify and intimidate the other women in his life, by threatening what he would do to them if they did not bend to his will.

The judge in the trial explained that Philpott regularly beat his first wife, with whom he had three children, before abandoning her in his 40s for a 16-year-old. He then repeated the pattern by controlling his new partner with physical and sexual violence, threats and emotional abuse. Philpott then met and married Mairead, who not only allowed Philpott to have a relationship with Lisa Willis, but allowed her to live in the house.

Philpott's level of control over the women even extended to not permitting them front door keys. A father of so many children - 17 - some psychologists would argue this alone should have alerted local social services of the possibility of abusive and neglecting relationships in the household. They should have been more vigilant, particularly once Willis had the temerity to flee.

With this history of violence and control any woman abandoning him and taking children away was likely to precipitate a dangerous reaction. Lisa Willis left and took her children, and this was indeed this incident that appears to have provoked his arson attack.

His use of a violent method and the age of the children Philpott killed, also fits the patterns uncovered by this most recent study published in the academic journal 'Child Abuse & Neglect'. Filicidal mothers used different methods than fathers; neglect, drowning, and poisoning were employed by more mothers while violence, for example, shooting was used by fathers. Mothers killed younger children than fathers, and older children have been found more likely to be killed with weapons.

Sara West, Susan Friedman and Phillip Resnick in their study entitled 'Fathers Who Kill Their Children: An Analysis of the Literature' found fathers were far more likely than mothers to kill their spouses during the commission of filicide - was there possibly an unconscious wish to kill the mother, as well as the children, in the Philpott case?

The authors based at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, explain that in ancient times, fathers practiced filicide regularly; according to Roman law, the father had absolute dominion over his children (patria potens) and was even encouraged to destroy the deformed. It was a Greek custom to have infants examined by the elder men of the community, who ordered the death of the deformed or weak. Both Aristotle and Plato, the authors contend, believed this practice was a form of preserving the integrity and size of the population

In modern times, Familicide, where the whole family is killed, is a crime almost always committed by men, report West, Friedman and Resnick.

This is based on the father's proprietary view, the authors explain, in their paper published in 'The Journal of Forensic Sciences', that he is the head of the family and has control over their destiny.

According to this research, the annihilation of the entire family, at some subconscious level is what could have been driving Mick Philpott, and he has indeed, in many senses, achieved this.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1950749 2012-10-09T19:00:00-04:00 2012-12-09T05:12:02-05:00

Helinä Häkkänen-Nyholm http://www.huffingtonpost.com/helin/
But despite its rarity, enigmatic patterns are emerging from the latest research, which can help track down perpetrators, and assist parents in protecting their families.

Forensic experts begin building a profile of the killer, just from the age of the victim. If a child of five or older goes missing and is feared dead, it is highly likely the perpetrator is someone outside the family.

A recent survey of a decade of consecutive child homicides in England, by Colin Pritchard and Tony Sayer from Bournemouth University, published in the 'British Journal of Social Work', established homicidal assailants of children younger than 5, are much more likely to come from within the same family.

The contrasting profiles of intra-familial as opposed to that of extra-familial killers are vital clues deployed by the police during a search.

For example, in the Pritchard and Sayer study entitled 'Exploring Potential 'Extra-Familial' Child Homicide Assailants in the UK and Estimating their Homicide Rate: Perception of Risk--The Need for Debate', none of the 'Extra-familial' assailants killed a child under five.

In contrast to this picture for 'extra-familial' killers, previous research confirms the majority of assailants in child murder, particularly those below 5, are in fact the victim's parents. Most are mothers, often suffering mental illnesses such as forms of post-natal psychosis, whilst all the natural fathers who killed their children, then committed suicide.

Of the five extra-familial killers investigated in Pritchard and Sayer's research, all were males aged nineteen to forty-two and had multiple past convictions. One was termed a Multi-Criminal-Child-Sex-Abuser while the remaining four were Violent-Multi-Criminal-Child-Sex-Abusers. Pritchard and Sayer argue this high level of previous criminality reflects chaotic backgrounds. Of the five 'Extra-familial' killers, four had some known previous contact with their victim, but were not in any type of 'familial' relationship.

Pritchard and Sayer emphasise 'Extra-familial' doesn't mean totally unknown to the victim - an absolute stranger, as in the completely random killing of Sarah Payne. Often, the child is familiar with their assailant. In the case of Ian Huntley who killed Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells, his partner being a teaching assistant at the school where he was a caretaker, meant he was trusted by children.

A study entitled 'Sexually Motivated Child Abduction Murders: Synthesis of the Literature and Case Illustration' by Kathleen Heide, Eric Beauregard and Wade Myers from the University of South Florida, and Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, confirms two main subsets of offenders. One group who have sexually sadistic urges are aroused and gratified by the suffering and the killing of young victims. But these are different from sex murderers who kill primarily to avoid apprehension, and not specifically for sadistic gratification.

Published in the academic journal 'Victims and Offenders' this US review also confirms the police can infer a lot about who committed the crime just from the age of the victim. When a child is younger than 5, the suspect (equally likely male or female) is most probably from within the same family, not motivated by molesting, and tends to kill using their hands. When the child is between the ages of 5 and 12, the suspect is most often male, a close friend or a stranger, sexually compulsive, killing using means such as strangling. Finally, if the child victim is between 13 and 17, the suspect is most likely to be a close friend or a stranger, sexually driven, killing with weapons.

Heide and colleagues also report on the most complete previous study of sexually motivated child abduction murders. Analysis of 621 cases representing 44 states across the USA showed that in 44% of the cases the victim was deceased within one hour post abduction. Within three hours, 74% of victims were dead. Fast action in missing children cases becomes vital because US data suggests there is typically a two hour delay with the initial missing child report.

Heide, Beauregard and Myers also report location patterns now play a crucial rule in the way forensic science is used to apprehend culprits. They report studies which conclude in the majority of cases (72%), the radius from body recovery site to murder scene is less than 200 feet. The distribution was different when it came to journey from the initial contact setting to the murder site: 31% travelled 0-199 feet, whereas 43% trekked 1.5-12 miles.

Christine Gregoire an Attorney General from the State of Washington in the USA reports the killers are usually at the initial contact site for legitimate reasons. They either lived in the area or were engaging in some routine. She also reports most child abduction murders are opportunistic. Only in 14 percent of cases was the victim picked out because of some physical characteristic. The initial contact site is within 1/4 mile of the victim's last known location in 80% of cases.

Gregoire explains in her paper entitled 'Case Management for Missing Children Homicide Investigation' that in only 9% of cases is the body openly placed to facilitate discovery. She therefore wants searchers placed at intervals approximately equal to the height of the victim.


In our clinical experience, these geographical patterns contribute enormously to the emotional distress for police involved in these cases. They always know time is fast running out, yet they may have extensive areas to search. But eventually, most frequently, the child is still discovered close to home.

Gregoire argues parents need to be most aware children are not immune from abduction simply because they are playing near where they live. In fact, US data suggests well over half of abductions that led to murder took place within three city blocks of the victim's home and approximately one-third within one-half block.

Also, given how common child battering is, according to the authors of the most recent and definitive study on the subject - entitled 'Who Kills Children? Re-Examining the Evidence' just published in the 'British Journal of Social Work', it remains an enigma just how rare child homicide remains.

The authors of the research, Colin Pritchard, Jill Davey and Richard Williams from Bournemouth University, point out it's estimated eleven children per day are seen in hospital casualty departments up and down this country with suspected physical child abuse. So there is only one death to 188 possible abuse-related A&E admissions, of under four-year-olds each year. Pritchard and colleagues argue these statistics indicate the exceptional nature of those who actually kill children.

Heide, Beauregard and Myers describe a personality profile of a typical extra-familial perpetrator - shy, anxious, reserved, feeling inferior; taking refuge in fantasy, where they become omnipotent and powerful. But the more they take flight into the imagination, the more real it becomes. This imaginary world gets so familiar, it's inevitably enacted.

As a result of this secret inner world, family, neighbours, and friends never guess who is capable of such a crime.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1937597 2012-10-03T19:06:22-04:00 2012-12-03T05:12:02-05:00

Helinä Häkkänen-Nyholm http://www.huffingtonpost.com/helin/
The media is buzzing with rumour as to whether certain household names had been guilty of sexually abusing the young. Some predators seek fame precisely because it creates opportunities to sexually exploit the vulnerable.

Superstars may be protected from detection for many reasons. But the cases being speculated about appear to have got away with the abuse (if the allegations are true) over decades. Is it possible to detect the sexually exploitative earlier? Various TV documentaries may broadcast accusations and confessions, but if there is a mass of evidence available now - why were signs not picked up before?

Psychological theory predicts that sexually exploitative men may actually be very different than commonly imagined. Also the sort of scheming uncovered by recent research suggests these psychologically astute predators will gravitate towards vulnerable populations, such as the young, isolated, immature, naive and intellectually unsophisticated. Under this kind of cover, perpetrators remain undetected for years.

New psychological research just published in the academic journal 'Personality and Individual Differences' has investigated those aspects of male personality which might predict sexually exploitative strategies towards women.

Professor David Buss, David Lewis and colleagues from the University of Texas, who conducted the investigation, argue evolutionary selection pressure over generations means this type could appear on the outside agreeable and charming. If their personality immediately signalled danger to potential victims, no one would place themselves at risk with these perpetrators, and their strategy would be doomed to fail. Given early detection of sexual abuse or exploitation leads to ostracism and other penalties, successful sexual exploiters might be those who put up a clever and believable front.

In another study, also involving Professor Buss, aspects of bodily appearance indicating physical weakness in a woman, were predicted to indicate to men sexual exploitability, but in the end, the study found men were more vigilant for psychological characteristics in women which betrayed vulnerability to sexual misuse. Physical strength proved irrelevant in the male assessment, suggesting those possibly prone to sexual exploitation may be more interested in psychology and manipulation, than sheer physical force.

The University of Texas psychologists, David Lewis, Judith Easton, Cari Goetz and David Buss asked over seventy men aged between 18-47 years old, to examine pictures of different women in a variety of social contexts, displaying an array of emotions, and dressed in varying attire in contrasting situations and poses. Questions posed to the men included, ''How easy would it be for a man to seduce this woman into engaging in sexual intercourse?'' The next two questions used the same wording, but ''seduce'' was replaced in the second and third questions, respectively, with ''pressure'' and ''deceive''. The fourth question asked, ''How easy would it be for a man to sexually assault this woman?''

Previous research has found that women find it more difficult to detect 'worth' in a male mate because for them 'high quality' has more to do with inner characteristics such as intelligence, ambition, honesty and kindness. Because these are more on the 'inside' and not on display on the 'outside', then women struggle for external markers of 'value' and often therefore seize on whether the man is actually in a relationship. Married men are often found more attractive because some other woman, in choosing that man, gives him the feminine stamp of quality approval. Another way of putting this is; women will often ask suspiciously, 'if he's so great, how come he's single?'

What the study entitled 'Exploitative male mating strategies: Personality, mating orientation, and relationship status' reveals, is that women may have been making an error in assuming a man already in a relationship, makes him less likely to be sexually exploitative. In this study being in a relationship was not by itself strongly and purely associated with a less sexually exploitative outlook.

Men who were in relationships and who were more sexually exploitative, scored lower in agreeableness and therefore empathy. Lower empathy contributes to pursuit of sex despite a women's desires. Low agreeableness is also associated with higher 'hostile masculinity' which is basically an individual's predilection for sexual aggression.

Psychologists Cari Goetz, Judith Easton, David Lewis and David Buss have examined what these sexually exploitative men are looking for in women, that will encourage them to attempt sexual exploitation, in a separate study.

The investigation entitled 'Sexual exploitability: observable cues and their link to sexual attraction', found men were alert to certain psychological characteristics in potential female victims. Shyness was one, and previous research has found low self-esteem and low assertiveness are linked in women to suffering sexual coercion.

The study has just recently been published in the academic journal 'Evolution and Human Behaviour', and demonstrated how calculating and psychologically sophisticated, sexually exploitative men may be.

For example, one category of female psychological characteristics these men took as signals that sexual exploitation might be more possible, are cues indicating recklessness or risk taking. Impulsivity, attention seeking, being prone to take risks, are all part of this cluster of traits, and do not in themselves indicate a woman is currently exploitable. However they do signal a greater likelihood she will eventually land in more dangerous predicaments, such as being alone or intoxicated.

Cues suggesting incapacitation in the form of intoxication, fatigue, or other forms of cognitive impairment render a woman less able to resist tactics of sexual exploitation and are signals sexually exploitative men seem to be looking for.

Generally speaking, women are more fussy than men when it comes to finding a partner, and that is partly because they tend to embrace longer term relationships, but this means that if a man comes along with those difficult to find qualities, she is more likely to be lured in, relaxing her usual vigilance.

This is precisely when she is at her most vulnerable.

So, unfortunately the take home message from the latest psychological research appears to be more careful, not less, with the man who boasts external badges of trustworthiness.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1845750 2012-08-31T19:00:00-04:00 2012-10-31T05:12:02-04:00

Helinä Häkkänen-Nyholm http://www.huffingtonpost.com/helin/
The 'hypersexual' have more sexual partners than the rest of the population, fantasise more about others than their current partner, and tend to favour more sex without love. They take greater pleasure in casual sex with different partners, and don't need attachment to enjoy lovemaking.

Hypersexuality was found strongly linked with a particular aspect of personality.

Another especially intriguing aspect of this research, conducted on 482 people aged 17-56 years old, was that this personality feature applied equally to both men and women, in predicting hypersexuality.

Psychologists are beginning to concur that it's this unique element of character which most powerfully predicts higher numbers of different sexual partners, as well as impulsive one night stands, and a gamut of risky sexual behaviours.

This character trait is - Psychopathy.

Psychopaths are linked in the popular imagination with criminals and sex offenders, but psychologists Rebecca Kastner and Martin Sellbom from the University of Alabama, who conducted this study, entitled, 'Hypersexuality in college students: The role of psychopathy', emphasise they were studying features of psychopathy which are more common in the general population than may be realised.

Psychologists believe everyone falls somewhere along the spectrum of psychopathy, and have more or less of these traits. It would seem the more aspects of psychopathy are reflected in a person's character, the more they embrace 'hypersexuality'.

The psychopathic personality is characterised by a callous and manipulative approach to others, lack of remorse, plus deceit all covered up by superficial charm. Not a particularly alluring package at first glance, so psychologists have been probing deeper inside the psychopath's mind, unlocking the secret of their success in the bedroom.

Rebecca Kastner and Martin Sellbom found from their study, just published in the academic journal 'Personality and Individual Differences', that it's the 'Fearless-Dominance' aspect of psychopathy, combined with the 'Impulsive-Antisocial' element, which actually explains why psychopaths dominate the medal tables in the sexual Olympics.

Fearlessness and dominance means psychopaths appear charming, grandiose, risk-taking with little regard for consequences, combined with absence of anxiety. They don't anticipate and aren't bothered by performance failure - which is a consideration that appears to put the rest of us off being too hypersexual. These factors can also be positively associated with a hard work ethic, even heroism, confidence and achievement; all characteristics that women value in a male partner.

Kastner and Sellbom also contend it's the relative immunity from stress and fearlessness of psychopaths, which explains why they are less inhibited than the rest of us. As a result, they seek thrilling, dangerous, and otherwise anxiety provoking sexual situations.

Psychologists argue its the 'impulsive-antisocial' element of their character which ensures they use others ruthlessly for their own gain. This exploitative social style helps generate the higher number of sex partners and short-term mating. Impulsivity means as well they act on possible reward (i.e., sex) without considering the consequences. They also disregard social norms and standards (e.g., one shall not be promiscuous, break the law, etc.).

One theory is that male and female psychopaths end up hypersexual through different routes via contrasts in personality - it's the antisocial aspect in men, but instead the impulsive thrill seeking in women.

Psychologist David Kosson and colleagues from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, found in their research that of more psychopathic individuals, 58% report using flattery, 40% argument and 40% exploitation of an intoxicated person, to achieve sex. These figures from this study, entitled 'Psychopathy-Related Traits Predict Self-Reported Sexual Aggression Among College Men', and published in the 'Journal of Interpersonal Violence', were about twice higher than in the non-psychopathic.

Luna Muñoz and colleagues from the University of Central Lancashire researched sexually coercive tactics after being turned down by a partner, including sexual arousal and touching; emotional manipulation; exploiting by intoxication; and physical force. The study entitled, 'Sexually Coercive Tactics Used by University Students: A Clear Role for Primary Psychopathy', and published in the 'Journal of Personality Disorders', found men and women rated high on psychopathy were more likely to be sexually coercive.

Based on our clinical experience, we find psychopathic women are more likely than others to engage in sexual coercion, when they encounter conflict in their relationship. Clashes, in their minds, are solved by sex. Perhaps psychopathic women view sex as a tool for manipulating others and achieving what they want, whilst psychopathic men favour deceitful emotional engagement.

One of Dr Helinä Häkkänen-Nyholm's clients described (she reports this with his permission) an attempt to leave the marital home after announcing his intention to divorce, following years of mistreatment, betrayal and abuse. While standing in the corridor, he witnessed his wife undressing and suggesting sex.

Research has found psychopaths are also more interested in violent, coercive, and sadistic sex, so this insight might unlock one of the secrets to the success of the best-selling novel '50 Shades of Grey', where sado-masochistic coupling appears to be part of the appeal of this publishing phenomenon.

But this latest study reveals that any medal winning sexual athlete has to be more psychopathic than we had realised before.

So does the best-selling novel Fifty Shades of Grey, with its sado-masochistic themes, expose that deep in the recesses of all our personalities, is a sneaking admiration for psychopathic success in the bedroom?]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1679696 2012-07-18T19:00:00-04:00 2012-09-17T05:12:07-04:00

Helinä Häkkänen-Nyholm http://www.huffingtonpost.com/helin/
As the situation in Syria deteriorates, are the psychological factors which predict war crimes, such as massacres, rapidly escalating there? This appears to be the implication of a psychological study into the most terrible examples of mass violence entitled 'Extreme mass homicide: From military massacre to genocide', published in the prestigious academic journal Aggression and Violent Behaviour.

Donald Dutton, Ehor Boyanowsky and Michael Harris Bond from the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University, Canada, and Chinese University of Hong Kong, published findings, which if extrapolated to Syria today, would suggest that escalating atrocities of historic proportions are imminent.

This study argues war crimes have been occurring with increasing frequency in the modern epoch across the world, so it's likely the conditions for such atrocities to occur are much closer to hand than we are comfortable acknowledging.

They list examples such as in 1914, about one million Armenians were massacred by the Turks. 20 million Eastern Europeans, six million Jews, five million Slavs, Gypsies, and others were destroyed by Nazis between 1933 and 1945. Stalin terminated up to 30 million dissenters in the Soviet Union while Mao Zhe Dung supervised the murder of up to 20 million bourgeoisie in China. The Pol Pot led Khmer Rouge targeted 2.5 million educated people in Cambodia for slaughter between 1974 and 1978. In Rwanda in 1994, over just three months, Hutus slayed around 800,000 Tutsi.

But it's not just numbers killed which creates a psychological and moral conundrum, but the manner of the killing in many cases which appears utterly baffling, given these atrocities are being committed by what would be considered large numbers of otherwise psychologically normal individuals. Yet they go on to perform gross 'overkill'.

The authors cite as an example the infamous 'Rape of Nanking' which occurred during the Sino-Japanese war in 1937. Until Rwanda, this was the largest short-term mass extermination in history, with 250,000 estimated killed. Chinese men and soldiers were bayoneted routinely, after being sodomised or forced to perform sexual acts with members of their own family, women were gang raped, sodomised, vaginas crammed with foreign objects (also a feature of the Rwandan massacre). Men and women were disembowelled while babies were thrown into the air and impaled on bayonets, then chopped up. This also happened during the civil war in El Salvador, notably the massacre at El Mozote in 1991.

In an intriguing echo of what may be happening right now in Syria, given how difficult it is for the press to report from inside, the U.S. government knew what was transpiring in Nanking but kept it from the public. Pearl Harbor was yet to happen in 1941 and the North American government feared public outrage, propelling the authorities into a war they didn't want at the time.

While claims of a civilian massacre in the Syrian town of Tremseh remain disputed, with UN observers now reporting that most of the dead were combatants, and not civilians, a number of the victims seem to have been shot at close range. Such 'execution-style' killings, apparently carried out by pro-Assad militia, are disturbing clues that all the psychological antecedents to war crimes are falling into place in Syria.

Local activists had initially claimed a slaughter of 220 civilians, but whatever actually happened, Tremseh shares the same religious outlook as two other Sunni villages whose inhabitants were allegedly recently massacred by the surrounding Alawite communities. In both previous cases, numerous women and children were found among the corpses.

The focus on who actually died is missing the psychological warning signs of the kind of mentality associated with war crimes, which is more about the manner of the killing.

Dutton, Boyanowsky and Bond argue in their paper that in a rationalization reminiscent of the Armenian genocide, one captain leading the El Mozote massacre in El Salvador, persuaded soldiers balking at the killing the children by declaring, "If we don't kill them now, they'll just grow up to be guerillas. We have to take care of the job now", he then threw a child into the air and impaled him on a bayonet, then most of the children were killed either by bayoneting or hanging.

The authors find certain factors seem to recur in massacres all across the world - the group who commit the war crime are frustrated and search for a scapegoat. In a book entitled Psychopathy and the Law Helinä Häkkänen-Nyholm and Jan-Olof Nyholm highlight how leaders suffering from 'malignant narcissism' then exploit what Dutton and colleagues refer to as our essential tribalism.

This is an echo from our evolutionary past, which leads to blaming anyone who can be reliably labelled as different from us, in the form of a target 'out-group' for the difficulties of the 'in-group'. The out-group becomes demonised and dehumanised, so legitimising extreme action against them, but also serving the goal of heightening in-group solidarity, which fulfils powerful psychological needs.

Psychologically we actually benefit from an enemy, as nothing promotes cohesiveness and solidarity amongst us, as an identifiable threat. It's no accident Dutton, Boyanowsky and Bond contend, that in Orwell's classic novel Nineteen-Eighty-Four a vague enemy was fought by the totalitarian regime in televised battles broadcast in all public spaces, on an incessant 24-hour anticipation of our modern 'rolling news'.

Dutton, Boyanowsky and Bond quote a famous psychoanalyst Erich Fromm (1900-1980) who referred to sadism as "the conversion of impotence into the experience of omnipotence". Fromm contended that sadism produces an emotional high, because absolute control over another, exemplified by inflicting pain or humiliation, provides a unique sense of power. Total dominion over another creates an illusion of transcending the limitations of human existence. It becomes particularly addictive for anyone whose reality is 'deprived of productivity and joy'.

So no one is probably immune to committing war crimes if the conditions are right. Therefore we need to be constantly vigilant to psychological processes such as 'groupthink', which Dutton, Boyanowsky and Bond highlight, with the emergence of self-appointed 'mind guards' whose job is to protect the group from adverse information.

Herman Goering, Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe, at the Nuremberg Trials, declared that it didn't matter what kind of society you referred to - democratic, capatilist, socialist or whatever; 'people can always be bought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.'

As it's working right now in Syria, why do we have to wait until the inevitable post-mortems to wring our hands over what can be prevented - especially when it can be predicted?

Raj Persaud interviews Professor Jeremy Coid, Forensic Psychiatrist, on the psychology of mass killers, part of a series of videos exploring these issues.



A free public debate, part of the long-running series 'The Maudsley Debates', is to be held at Guys Hospital Thursday 19 July 2012, where eminent psychiatrists, psychologists, experts and academics will debate Anders Breivik's mental state; what this case reveals about the link between fanaticism and psychological disturbance.

The title of the debate: 'Cases such as Anders Breivik demonstrate that fanaticism is a form of madness' is proposed by Dr Raj Persaud, a Consultant Psychiatrist. Co-proposing the motion is Dr Max Taylor, Professor of International Relations at The Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at St Andrew's University.

Opposing the motion is Dr Simon Wesseley, Professor of Psychological Medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London. Co-opposing the motion if Maajid Nawaz, Chairman of the Quilliam Foundation.

The free public debate is to be held at Guys Hospital Thursday 19th July 2012 6pm in the New Hunts House Lecture theatre, Guy's Campus, London.

Weblinks: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-raj-persaud/anders-breivik-psychology-inside-the-mind-of-anders_b_1419343.html

For further information on the debate, http://www.iop.kcl.ac.uk/events/?id=1612]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1577919 2012-06-08T19:00:00-04:00 2012-08-08T05:12:10-04:00

Helinä Häkkänen-Nyholm http://www.huffingtonpost.com/helin/ Warning: this article contains explicit and disturbing content.

German police earlier this week were reported to have arrested Luka Rocco Magnotta, a former porn actor suspected of mailing severed body parts to Canadian political party offices, but in the meantime yet another series of grisly twists have emerged in this harrowing tale.

Two of the victim's missing body parts - a right hand and a right foot - have now been recovered after they were posted to schools in Vancouver from Montreal, the city in which it is suspected a missing 33-year-old Mr Jun Lin, was allegedly murdered by Magnotta.

On Tuesday last week Canadian police found a human torso in a suitcase behind Magnotta's Montreal apartment. He is suspected of killing Mr Jun Lin and filming the act. Posted online, the video is apparently graphic and disturbing, portraying a man stabbing a naked and bound victim with an ice pick. The man apparently later boasts he has slashed the victim's throat, then he dismembers the corpse and seems to perform sexual acts with it. A severed foot was also found in a package mailed to the Conservative Party headquarters in Ottawa while a hand was discovered in a separate package addressed to the Liberal Party of Canada.

Forensic Psychologist Helinä Häkkänen-Nyholm, a former criminal profiler with the Finnish police and Adjunct professor at the University of Eastern Finland and University of Helsinki, comments that what seems to be unique in the Magnotta case is the fact that the body parts are sent to others. She sees this as a reflection of attention and sensation seeking, grandiosity and narcissism. It is likely, she contends, that he has fantasised many times the reactions that opening the mail will provoke.

She has also found from her experience that lack of empathy and inability to properly experience emotions are characteristic of this kind of killer. Dr Häkkänen-Nyholm argues that you cannot presume that the offender would have felt anxiety, horror or guilt when performing these acts. She was once involved in an interview with an offender who had eaten some of his victim's body parts. He told his interrogators that he ate them precisely because he was aiming to feel something. When he was asked "so how did it feel?" he said that he didn't know, because it felt no different to anything else in his life.

Dr Häkkänen-Nyholm, the author of numerous scientific publications on violent behaviour, contends that the allegations over the filming of various aspects of the recent crimes could serve the same purpose as sending the body parts to someone does: it supports the grandiose thoughts the killer has of himself. She says similar behaviour occurs in school shooting cases where the shooter has made a video of himself playing with the gun and rehearsing. This happened in both of the recent school shooting cases in Finland.

Dr Häkkänen-Nyholm suggests that usually in this type of case, the fantasies serve the purpose of feeling superior to others, hence fantasised images of creating horror and gaining attention through the criminal behaviour are likely. In reality the offender's self-image is often disturbed and negative, although they may appear to some as self-confident.

Helinä Häkkänen-Nyholm, Eila Repo-Tiihonen and other Finnish academic colleagues have published one of the definitive pieces of research on this kind of gruesome killing in a paper entitled 'Homicides with Mutilation of the Victim's Body' and published in the prestigious 'Journal of Forensic Sciences'.

Being an extremely rare crime - around 2% of homicides in their part of Europe involve mutilation or dismemberment, while in other parts it's down to one in 500 murders, it's very difficult to perform definitive research, but the authors of this review did report some worrying evidence that this particular kind of murder could be increasing in some parts of the world, such as Germany and Japan.

Researchers suggest there are five main different kinds of homicidal mutilation; possibly the most common is referred to by Forensic Specialists as 'defensive' because the motive is to assist in hiding or moving the body, or getting rid of evidence, or making identification of the victim more difficult.

In a case reported by Tomasz Konopka, Jerzy Kunz and colleagues from the Department of Forensic Medicine, Collegium Medicum Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland, human skin dissected free from a torso and other body parts were recovered from a local river. The remains were established to be those of a female student, who had been pronounced missing two months previously, but perhaps because of the delay in identification, the perpetrator is described in the paper as unknown.

The second most likely motive or category for this sort of mutilation murder is frequently found to be 'aggressive' - where the killing and mutilation is brought about by the same aggressive strong emotions, they are part of the same emotional motivation. A sub set of this type might be where dismemberment is in fact the cause of death, for example dismemberment as means of torture.

In their series of cases collected in order to spot patterns 'Corpse dismemberment in the material collected by the Department of Forensic Medicine, Cracow, Poland' and published in the journal Legal Medicine, Tomasz Konopka, Jerzy Kunz and colleagues draw attention to a case when several perpetrators, both male and female, from the Middle East, executed an alleged traitor, severing parts of his face, genitals and inflicting more than 100 incised and stab wounds while the victim was still alive.

The third most common category is usually referred to as an 'offensive' mutilation where the dismemberment is in fact the real purpose of the murder all along, and these include lust and necro-sadistic murders. Those driven by primarily sexual motives mutilate the corpse in characteristic ways, Konopka, Kunz and colleagues report, for example severing genital organs or breasts. Some perpetrators pull out abdominal organs through the disfigured genital tract. Death by strangling is apparently very common in this kind of homicide.

In the fourth category are 'psychotic' murders where the perpetrator has lost touch with reasoning and perceptual reality in the conventional sense, so that they may be hearing voices or they suffer from bizarre delusions. Kamil Hakan Dogan, Zerrin Erkol and colleagues report just such a case in their paper entitled, 'Decapitation and Dismemberment of the Corpse: A Matricide Case' published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences. A 57-year-old woman was decapitated and her right arm and both hands were dismembered by her 33-year-old daughter, who had been receiving treatment for schizophrenia for 15 years.

This case in no way suggests that schizophrenia in itself is a particularly dangerous psychiatric condition.

In the fifth type of dismemberment, are the kinds of killings associated in the modern world with organised crime such as the Mafia, whereby mutilation or dismemberment is a way of sending a message to others - in this case the murder isn't just about getting rid of someone - it's also a form of communication - a warning or threat.

In a clue as the kind of person the Canadian police might be looking for, the Finnish academics found mutilation and dismemberment murders was significantly associated with childhood sexual victimization, particularly compared to other kinds of murderer. Surprisingly, given some specialists in the area had suggested that abattoir workers, mortuary attendants or butchers may be more represented in this group of killers, as occupational access to corpses or anatomical knowledge might be required, yet in the Finnish study, none of the perpetrators had an occupation which required anatomical knowledge or handling corpses.

What Helinä Häkkänen-Nyholm, Eila Repo-Tiihonen and colleagues did find is that these killers were almost twice as likely to have been violent at school as other kinds of murderer, and there was a much higher likelihood of past contact with mental health services compared to other homicide offenders. Only one perpetrator of mutilation homicide had never been in contact with psychiatry yet ten out of 14 offenders in the Finnish study had been in-patients.

The authors of this study report the key clue from their research which they believe will assist in tracking down these killers in the future is that unlike other kinds of homicide, the offender is always known to the victim, in nearly half of the cases being a family member or a partner.

Most psychiatric illness is not associated with violence, indeed many psychiatric patients are often more vulnerable to being attacked, than the other way round. What this recent research might suggest is that much better access to higher quality educational, social and psychiatric services from an early age, for the whole community, could possibly contribute to improving prevention of this rare crime.

Dr Raj Persaud, Consultant Psychiatrist based in London, and Dr Helinä Häkkänen-Nyholm, former criminal profiler and academic based in Finland. She currently runs the psychology and law firm PsyJuridica Ltd.]]>