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General Considerations.
The Exhibitionist—a Clinical Picture.
Review of the Literature.
The Psychic Mechanism of Exhibitionism.
The Legal Aspects of Exhibitionism.
Summary and Conclusions.
DEFINITIONS.—In exhibitionism we are confronted with a rather remarkable psychic phenomenon which sends its ramifications into many other psychic and social reactions but whose true significance is as yet but little appreciated by psychopathologists. It is well, therefore, to inquire into the genesis and evolution of this phenomenon, its role and meaning in our life, and the relation it bears to other psychic reactions.
Exhibitionism is ordinarily defined as the exposure by an individual of his genital organs, or other parts of his body, with or without the performance of sexual acts; and most frequently in public places and wholly out of regard for public decency. The forensic conception of it includes the indecent exposure of the person to public view, whether intentional or even if due to negligence, but excludes from the meaning of the law exposure made in private.
The medical conception, however, regards it psychopathologically, and defines it as the pleasure of seeing oneself in an exposed, nude form which frequently expresses itself in habitual—like activity of unmasking that in all essentials has the nature of a compulsion; this, whether occurring in private or public. What is emphasized here is the compulsive character of the reaction which marks it as being distinctly pathologic. This definition, therefore, excludes