Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia and necrolagnia, is the sexual attraction to corpses. It is classified as a paraphilia by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The word is artificially derived from Ancient Greek: νεκρός (nekros; "corpse," or "dead") and φιλία (philia; "friendship"). The term appears[1] to have originated from Krafft-Ebing's 1886 work Psychopathia Sexualis.[2]
Rosman and Resnick (1989) reviewed information from 34 cases of necrophilia describing the individuals'
motivations for their behaviors: these individuals reported the desire to possess an unresisting and unrejecting partner (68%),
reunions with a romantic partner (21%), sexual attraction to corpses (15%), comfort or overcoming feelings of isolation (15%),
or seeking self-esteem by expressing power over a homicide victim (12%).
Research
In 1958, Klaf and Brown[6] commented that, although rarely described, necrophilic fantasies may occur more often than is generally supposed.
Rosman and Resnick[8] (1989) theorized that either of the following situations could be antecedents to necrophilia (pp. 161):
- The necrophile develops poor self-esteem, perhaps due in part to a significant loss;
- (a) He/she is very fearful of rejection by women/men and he/she desires a sexual partner who is incapable
of rejecting him/her; and/or
- (b) He/she is fearful of the dead, and transforms his/her fear — by means of reaction formation — into a desire.
- He/she 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 percent were motivated
by a desire for an unresisting and unrejecting partner;
-21 percent by a want for reunion with a lost partner;
-15 percent
by sexual attraction to dead people;
-15 percent by a desire for comfort or to overcome feelings of isolation; and
-11
percent by a desire to remedy low self-esteem by expressing power over a corpse (pp. 159).
At the end of their own
report, Rosman and Resnick wrote that their study should only be used like a spring-board for further, more in depth, research.
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[citation needed].
Animals
-
Necrophilia is not unknown in animals, with a number of confirmed observations.[9] Kees Moeliker allegedly made one of these observations while he was sitting in his office at the Natuurmuseum Rotterdam, when he heard the distinctive thud of a bird hitting the glass facade of the building. Upon inspection,
he discovered a drake (male) mallard lying dead about two meters from the building. Next to the downed bird there was a second drake mallard
standing close by. As Moeliker observed the couple, the living drake picked at the corpse of the dead one for a few minutes
and then mounted the corpse and began copulating with it. The act of necrophilia lasted for about 75 minutes, in which time,
according to Moeliker, the living drake took two short breaks before resuming with copulating behavior. Moeliker surmised
that at the time of the collision with the window the two mallards were engaged in a common motif in duck behavior which is called rape flight. "When one died the other one just went for it and didn't get any negative feedback -- well, didn't get
any feedback," according to Moeliker.[10][11] This is the first recorded case of necrophilia in the mallard duck- though not the only recorded case of homosexuality within the bird family.[12]
In the case of a praying mantis, necrophilia could be said to be part of their methods of reproduction. The larger female will often decapitate or even eat her mate during copulation.[13] However, given that the sexual activity of a male mantis is controlled by a brain-like ganglionin his abdomen [14] it may not be appropriate to refer to him as a "corpse", even when he is decapitated.
Animals
-
Necrophilia is not unknown in animals, with a number of confirmed observations.[9] Kees Moeliker allegedly made one of these observations while he was sitting in his office at the Natuurmuseum Rotterdam, when he heard the distinctive thud of a bird hitting the glass facade of the building. Upon inspection,
he discovered a drake (male) mallard lying dead about two meters from the building. Next to the downed bird there was a second drake mallard
standing close by. As Moeliker observed the couple, the living drake picked at the corpse of the dead one for a few minutes
and then mounted the corpse and began copulating with it. The act of necrophilia lasted for about 75 minutes, in which time,
according to Moeliker, the living drake took two short breaks before resuming with copulating behavior. Moeliker surmised
that at the time of the collision with the window the two mallards were engaged in a common motif in duck behavior which is called rape flight. "When one died the other one just went for it and didn't get any negative feedback -- well, didn't get
any feedback," according to Moeliker.[10][11] This is the first recorded case of necrophilia in the mallard duck- though not the only recorded case of homosexuality within the bird family.[12]
In the case of a praying mantis, necrophilia could be said to be part of their methods of reproduction. The larger female will often decapitate or even eat her mate during copulation.[13] However, given that the sexual activity of a male mantis is controlled by a brain-like ganglionin his abdomen [14] it may not be appropriate to refer to him as a "corpse", even when he is decapitated.
