Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia and necrolagnia, is a paraphilia characterized by a sexual attraction to corpses. The word is artificially derived from Ancient Greek: νεκÏός (nekros; "corpse," or "dead") and φιλία (philia; "love"). The term appears[1] to have originated from Krafft-Ebing's 1886 work Psychopathia Sexualis.[2]
Figuratively, the term "necrophilia" describes an inordinate desire to control another person, usually in the interpersonally controlling as to be better-suited to relationships with nonresponsive people
Virtually no research has been conducted regarding the prevalence of necrophilic attraction among humans. Klaf and Brown[4] (1958) commented that, although rarely described, necrophilic fantasies may occur more often than is generally supposed.
Rosman and Resnick[5] (1989) theorized that either of the following situations could be antecedents to necrophilia (pp. 161):
1. The necrophile develops poor self-esteem, perhaps due in part to a significant loss;
(a) He (usually male) is very fearful of rejection by women and he desires a sexual object who is incapable of rejecting him; and/or
(
http://images.thetechguide.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif\' class=\'bbc_emoticon\' alt=\'B)\' /> He is fearful of the dead, and transforms his fear of the dead—by means of reaction formation—into a desire for the dead.
2. He develops an exciting fantasy of sex with a corpse, sometimes after exposure to a corpse.
The authors also reported that, of their sample of 'necrophiliacs,' 68% were motivated by a desire for an unresisting and unrejecting partner; 21% by a want for reunion with a lost partner; 15% by sexual attraction to corpses; 15% by a desire for comfort or to overcome feelings of isolation; and 12% by a desire to remedy low self-esteem by expressing power over a corpse (pp. 159).
Minor modern researches conducted in England have shown that some necrophiles tend to choose a dead mate after failing to create romantic attachments with the living.
Consensuality issue
Although obtaining consent is not usually considered a prerequisite for activity with non-living material, sexual activity with a human corpse is taboo[1] and frequently labelled 'abuse,' based on the presumption that the person would not have consented to the act while alive, and that it would thus constitute a profound and disturbing disrespect for their remains to be treated in a way other than their wishes.
Although virtually all human societies condemn sexual activity with the dead as a form of symbolic disrespect, several groups, individuals, and publications have pushed for the legalization of necrophilic acts. "The NecroErotic," for example, argues that "necrophiliacs have as much right to engage in their orgasmic release of choice as do 'normal' couples," and that "all 'rights' cease the moment a person draws their last breath."[6]
[edit] Necrophilia in psychoanalysis-Erich Fromm
For psychologist/philosopher Erich Fromm, necrophilia is a character orientation which is not necessarily sexual. It is expressed in an attraction to that which is dead or totally controlled. At the extreme, it results in hatred of life and destructiveness.
For Fromm, necrophilia is the opposite of biophilia. Unlike Freud's death instinct, it is not biologically determined but results from upbringing. Fromm believed that the lack of love in the western society and the attraction to mechanistic control leads to necrophilia. Expressions of necrophilia are modern weapon systems, idolotry of technology, and the treatment of people as things in bureaucracy.
For further information, see Fromm's, The Heart of Man (Harper and Row, 1964) and The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970)
Necrophilia in history
The practice of necrophilia has a long and rich history, perhaps as old as civilization itself. Necrophilia was practiced in some ancient cultures as a spiritual means of communicating with the dead, while others employed it as an attempt to revive the recently departed. The evidence of necrophilia practices can be found in the artifacts of the Moche civilization of South America, where pottery depicting skeletal figures engaged in coitus with living humans are among the ruins. Even in ancient Egypt, there is record of the treatment of the bodies of young women that were set out to rot for a few days before being delivered to embalmers. This practice was born from the need to discourage the men performing the funerary customs from having sexual interest in their charges. Herodotus writes[7] in The Histories that, to discourage intercourse with a corpse, Ancient Egyptians left deceased beautiful women to decay for "three or four days" before giving them to the embalmers.[8][4]
Since Herodotus there are many variants of his tale, commonly one in which a lecherous monk has intercourse with the body of a young woman to whom it has been entrusted for a prayer vigil. Such tales often end with the deceased coming to life (or not being actually dead) and
