By In his work Histories, Herodotus already described the practice of necrophilia and the fear that many Egyptian parents felt at the idea that their daughters’ graves would be raided for sexual purposes. Let us understand this paraphilia.
It is true that the history of criminology is full of names who included in their criminal practices actions such as having intimate relations with deceased people. The serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer or David Fuller, who had sex with 99 corpses and took the lives of 2 young people, are two famous examples of this. However, not all necrophilia involves carrying out a homicide.
The truth is that this condition hides behind it various triggers that are not entirely clear to the scientific community. One of them could be explained by the underlying pleasure of being with someone who does not show any resistance. We are faced with a behavior with important ethical, legal and psychological implications that need to be known.
Characteristics of necrophilia
Necrophilia is defined as a paraphilic disorder that involves experiencing sexual attraction to corpses. It should be noted that this is not just another type of paraphilia. The 2013 update of the DSM-V , up to the present, specifies the need to separate unconventional but harmless sexual behaviors from those with clear evidence of pathology.
In this case, necrophilia, necrolagnia, necrocoitus, necroclesis or thanatophilia delimit not only a serious psychological disorder, but also criminal behavior. On the other hand, although this behavior may seem as dysfunctional as it is punishable, the truth is that it is not an unusual phenomenon. So much so that most jurisdictions and nations have laws against this practice. Let’s find out how it manifests itself.
What is someone like who shows attraction to the dead?
Currently, there are not many studies on necrophilia. These practices are difficult to document and to investigate by the scientific community. Therefore, a key work for the understanding of this disorder was carried out by Rosman and Resnick in 1989. For the first time, the cases of 133 people were analyzed. What was observed was detailed below.
Usual profile
As is the case with many paraphilic disorders, the vast majority were men. 92% were male and 8% female. Almost 57% of the sample had an occupation that gave them free access to corpses. On average, the jobs they held were as follows:
- Morgue employees.
- Cemetery workers.
- People who worked in hospitals.
Motivations of a necrophile
There are various underlying mechanisms behind sexual arousal by the dead that motivate this behaviour. One of the first attempts to understand this criminal reality was found in Dr. Havelock Ellis, in his iconic work Studies In The Psychology Of Sex (1897). According to this expert, in necrophilia, fear and disgust combine to produce sexual arousal. Let’s look at more data.
- Avoid interpersonal relationships: There is an undeniable and disturbing fact about those who feel sexual attraction to the dead. It is easier to have intimacy with a corpse, because there is no need to carry out any interaction, social exchange or psycho-emotional work.
- Desire for control : One of the motivations of these individuals is to satisfy their sexual needs, without experiencing rejection or resistance. Having intimate relations with a body that “lets them do it” is exciting and, at the same time, reinforces their feeling of dominance.
- Seeking the taboo : For some individuals, the necrophilous is attractive due to its forbidden nature in our culture. Transgressing social and moral norms can provide additional excitement by turning the forbidden into a sexual stimulus.
- Exclusive paraphilia: In some cases, the attraction to corpses is a primary condition, that is, the main or only form of sexual arousal. At the same time, this drive could be an atypically integrated pattern during the person’s psychosexual development.
- Low self-esteem: Often, many of these individuals show fear or anxiety about poor sexual performance . The fear of being judged or not being able to measure up when it comes to satisfying a partner, makes them experience greater pleasure and security being with lifeless bodies.
- Connection with death: For some experts, this disorder is based on an idealization/fascination of death. Other works, such as those carried out by Dr. Havelock Ellis, describe cases of individuals who experienced a mixture of fear and disgust that led to sexual arousal.
Associated typologies
In the canonical research of Rosman and Resnick, a classification of necrophilia was established based on three dimensions. Today, there are already ten. As described in a study published in Current Issues in Criminal Justice , the reformulation made by Dr. Anil Aggrawal, a forensic pathologist, in 2009, is more in line with reality. It is as follows:
- Role-playing necrophile: They do not have a direct sexual interest in corpses, but enjoy playing a game or simulation with a living partner who pretends to be dead.
- Obsessive necrophile: this typology already includes those who actively seek out bodies in order to have sexual relations with them. For these individuals, corpses are their main object of sexual desire.
- Fetishistic necrophile: These are people who have no interest in the entire corpse, but are sexually aroused by parts of it or by objects associated with the lifeless body (such as clothing, hair, etc.).
- Romantic necrophile: They are emotionally attached to a deceased person, often a loved one or partner, and desire to have physical or sexual contact with that person in order to maintain that emotional bond/connection.
- Opportunistic necrophile: They do not directly or obsessively search for corpses, but if the opportunity arises (for example, they work in a morgue or hospital), they could take advantage of this circumstance to perform the sexual act.
- Tactile necrophiliacs: they are aroused by touching or caressing deceased persons, although they do not perform sexual acts with them. Their main motivation is the sensory stimulation they obtain from being in contact with an inert body.
- Necrophile murderer: these are the most dangerous, as they kill people to obtain pleasure from someone who has already lost their life. In these cases, murder is a means to achieve their sexual goal, which makes them criminals.
- Fantasizing Necrophile: They do not interact with real corpses, but have intense fantasies about doing so . These ideas may include thoughts like having sex with dead bodies or imagining during the act that their sexual partner is dead.
- Necromutilation: This complex term defines the terrible practice of becoming sexually aroused by mutilating corpses. They must carry out this act in order to obtain a source of excitement. A classic example of this is the figure of the Russian serial killer policeman Mikhail Popkov.
- Exclusive necrophile: They are only sexually attracted to corpses, and cannot obtain sexual satisfaction from living people. For them, the dead are the only object of sexual desire, which can lead them to extreme and dangerous behaviors to satisfy their paraphilic disorder.
Love for the dead: what could be the causes?
As pointed out in a paper in the International Journal of Indian Psychology , necrophilia is still not clearly defined anywhere. It is a behaviour that has always been practised and, as we can deduce, causes ethical and moral harm to our society. Clarifying the underlying causes is not so simple, but there are some clues.
Psychological
- Power and control fantasies: The disorder may be motivated by a desire for absolute power and control over a figure that cannot be resisted; in turn, it may be related to feelings of helplessness or insecurity.
- Childhood trauma: Some theories suggest that traumatic experiences in childhood, such as sexual abuse, the death of a loved one, or early exposure to death, could perhaps predispose a person to develop necrophilic behavior and alter psychosexual development (although this is unclear).
Biological
- Hormonal imbalances: It has been speculated that certain hormonal imbalances may contribute to the development of paraphilias such as necrophilia. However, again, there is no clear evidence for this.
- Neurological disorders: Although research, as we have already pointed out, is limited, certain theories suggest that this behavior is linked to alterations in the brain, especially in those areas related to the regulation of sexual behavior and the inhibition of inappropriate behavior. These could result from brain damage, neurological diseases or developmental abnormalities.
Sociocultural
- Exposure to death: In some cultures or contexts, constant exposure to death (for example, working in a morgue, funeral home, or on battlefields) may desensitize a person to the taboo of death and facilitate the manifestation of necrophilic tendencies.
- Social isolation: Extreme isolation or lack of healthy interpersonal relationships can lead some men and women to develop paraphilias like this, in an attempt to satisfy their sexual or emotional desires in a way that avoids interaction with other people.
Comorbidities with other disorders
- Schizophrenia and psychosis: In some cases, it may be linked to psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia . Hallucinations, delusions or dissociation from reality can lead to pathological and dysfunctional behavior.
- Personality disorders: Necrophilia often occurs alongside personality disorders, such as antisocial personality disorder or borderline personality disorder . These clinical conditions may predispose to dangerous or transgressive behaviors, including necrophilic acts.
Is there treatment for necrophiliacs?
Experiencing sexual arousal for the dead is neither legitimate nor healthy. Not only is it a disturbing and complex phenomenon on all levels, but it is also a condition that is difficult to treat. This is because those who exhibit this paraphilic disorder do not usually ask for specialized help, either out of shame or because they have committed a criminal act.
In prisons, it is also a challenge to deal professionally with those serving sentences for desecrating and having sex with a corpse. However, the following multidisciplinary approach is generally used:
- Clinical assessment: the first step will always be to individualize the case and to know the possible origin and trigger of this disorder. This must be done in a sensitive manner to understand all the reality associated with the patient.
- Pharmacological treatment: In some cases, medications may be used to treat other associated disorders such as psychotic episodes. Other times, if there is an uncontrolled sexual drive, antiandrogens such as medroxyprogesterone acetate may be administered.
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy : This is the most commonly used model for treating paraphilias, including necrophilia. This approach focuses on identifying and changing distorted thought patterns and dysfunctional behaviors. This approach typically involves everything from cognitive restructuring to systematic desensitization.
- Aversion therapy: This approach is somewhat controversial, but is used. It uses aversive conditioning techniques to create a negative association with necrophilic stimuli or thoughts. For example, the therapist may use unpleasant images or painful stimuli (such as a mild electric shock) when the patient is exposed to necrophilic fantasies, with the goal of reducing the attraction to these fantasies.
Attraction to the dead, a condition with great unknowns
Mental health professionals see a major challenge in this paraphilic disorder. When, in 2021, electrician David Fuller was convicted of raping a hundred corpses and killing two young people, the scientific community became aware of the huge gaps regarding this condition.
The truth is that it is difficult to advance in its understanding due to the great difficulty in obtaining empirical data. Added to this are the ethical implications.
Hopefully, as we understand the neuroscientific, biological and social psychological mysteries of paraphilias in general, the mechanisms of these disorders will become clearer, as well as understanding that this practice means breaking the law, which can have serious consequences.