Sadism is derivation of pleasure through cruelty and inflicting pain, humiliation, and other forms of suffering on individuals (American Psychological Association). Sadism can be physical and/or sexual, but it can also be inflicted verbally and via emotional manipulation and humiliation. The satisfaction of the sadist may result not from inflicting actual physical pain but rather from the mental suffering of the victim. The term generally denotes sexual sadism.
Sadism is not a psychiatric disorder at present. In 1987, Sadistic Personality Disorder was added to the DSM-III. Just seven years later, it was removed from the updated DSM-IV, as the American Psychological Association believed it overlapped with enough other conditions, like antisocial personality disorder, that it no longer warranted its own diagnostic condition. Michael H. Stone, American psychiatrist and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City considered that decision a huge mistake. Dr. Stone gradated ‘’evil’’, actually evil acts. The highest place on his scale of evil is reserved for those who commit a murder by using prolong torture. It is not the same to shot at someone and murder someone instantly and to torture someone to death. Sexual sadism disorder was always a separate disorder in the DSM editions, albeit under different names. In the current DSM-5 version, it is part of the algolagnic disorders – a class of paraphilic disorders wherein sexual arousal is dependent on pain and suffering.
According to the DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria Sadistic personality disorder is defined by a pervasive pattern of sadistic and cruel behavior that begins in early adulthood. It was defined by four of the following:
- Has used physical cruelty or violence for the purpose of establishing dominance in a relationship (not merely to achieve some interpersonal goal, such as striking someone in order to rob him/her).
- Humiliates or demeans people in the presence of others.
- Has treated or disciplined someone under his/her control unusually harshly.
- Is amused by, or takes pleasure in, the psychological or physical suffering of others (including animals).
- Has lied for the purpose of harming or inflicting pain on others (not merely to achieve some other goal).
- Gets other people to do what he/she wants by frightening them (through intimidation or even terror).
- Restricts the autonomy of people with whom he or she has a close relationship, e.g., will not let spouse leave the house unaccompanied or permit teenage daughter to attend social functions.
- Is fascinated by violence, weapons, injury, or torture.
This behavior must not be better explained by sexual sadism disorder and it must be directed towards more than one person. One place that sadism does show up in the DSM-5 is sexual sadism disorder, which involves taking pleasure from inflicting pain on another, non-consenting person in a sexual context. It’s classified as a paraphilic disorder – a category of disorders that involve having sexual desires or engaging in sexual behaviors that are atypical and that upset you, or that involve another person’s non-consent, distress, injury, or death. “To be diagnosed with this clinical disorder, the sexual interests must cause severe distress to oneself or others. The causes of sadistic tendencies are unclear, but it is likely a combination of genetic and environmental factors,” Buckels says. When talking about sexual sadism disorder, it’s important not to include consensual sexual behaviors that involve some form of harm, like those engaged in by the BDSM community.
The term was coined by the late 19th-century German psychologist Richard von Krafft-Ebing in reference to the Marquis de Sade, an 18th-century French nobleman whose stories of degradation and graphic sexual acts, along with his own sexual crimes, landed him in prison.
It is said that Sigmund Freud after witnessing cruelty and horror during WWI or The First World War, started thinking about destruction of human nature. In the classical psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud, sadism is attributed to the working of the ‘’death instinct’’ and is manifested in innate aggressive tendencies expressed from the earliest stages of development.
Sadism is considered a “dark” personality trait. Psychologists have recently coined the term “Dark Tetrad” to describe a personality that includes sadism, psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. Researchers have found these four traits appear together in individuals more often than would be expected were they unrelated constructs. A lack of guilt and difficulty empathizing with others is a hallmark of sadism and other dark tetrad traits.
Dr. Bradford studies convicted violent sex offenders. If he can prove that violence, separated from sex, is actually arousing for some subjects, he’ll be closer to showing that sadism is reflected in neurobiological measures.
He uses a phallometric test to measure sexual response. A gauge goes around the penis at anatomically the consistent place and the computer is actually measuring any change in the circumference of the penis.
The subject is then played a series of audio tapes, stories of sex, stories of sexual violence, and stories of just violence.
You’re knocking on her door, she opens the door, she’s very attractive. You’re going to rape her, you just force your way into the phallometric response is measured.
Finally, Dr. Bradford asked the subject to try to control his response to the stories, which provides for him an alarming observation.
Some violent sex offenders can control their response to hearing about sexual encounters. But they cannot control their sexual response to accounts of just violence.
For some, violence separated from sex is what arouses them.
What the phallometric test shows us is that there’s a group of individuals who clit or arouse by violence. The torture, the cruelty, the blood, the bruising, the actual violence itself has become eroticized.
“People go to an extreme place when they think of sadism, like imagining a serial killer. That’s certainly sadism, but sadism is also anytime you feel a twinge of pleasure at the harm you’ve done. Sadism is one of many antagonistic personality traits. A lot of studies have tried to isolate the variables of why people are violent or aggressive, and sadism tends to win out. There’s no research targeting how to lessen sadistic tendencies,’’ says David Chester, PhD, an associate professor of psychology who studies sadism at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. In 2019, Chester and his colleagues conducted a series of studies on sadism. They found a correlation between sadism and aggression; namely, that those with higher scores for sadism (typically measured with a questionnaire) were more likely to also behave aggressively.
The level and extent of sadistic violence may vary considerably, from infliction of mild pain in otherwise harmless love play to extreme brutality, sometimes leading to serious injury or death. Some research has shown that individuals with lower levels of sadistic personality traits, sometimes called everyday sadists, do feel some degree of guilt when sadistic acts are committed.
American psychologist Theodore Millon argues that there are four subtypes of sadism in his 2011 book Disorders of Personality.
- Spineless sadism: Spineless sadists lack courage and are insecure. They exploit those who are weaker than they are, which bolsters their self-esteem.
- Tyrannical sadism: Tyrannical sadists seek and deploy power, which they use to abuse others. They are destructive and unmerciful to those they abuse.
- Enforcing sadism: Enforcing sadists enjoy punishing those they believe deserve it, whether because they have broken the law or a social code. Enforcing sadists may look for roles of authority in society through which they can inflict such punishment.
- Explosive sadism: Explosive sadists are highly reactive. When their temper boils over, they may blow up and seek to inflict pain as a source of vengeance.
Because sadism exists on a spectrum, examples of the trait range from petty to downright criminal.
https://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/everyday-sadists-walk-among-us-study-says.aspx, By Christine Byrne, MPH, RD, LDN Medically Reviewed by Seth Gillihan, PhD Updated on December 22, 2023