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An exploratory study of clinicians' perceptions and experiences of the phenomenon of 'sex addiction' in South Africa
The naming of compulsive sexuality as sex addiction is recent and is a relatively new and emerging field abroad. While research in this field has proliferated in the United States since the 1980s, South African studies are limited. This study explores how mental health practitioners perceive and tre...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Social Development
2024
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| _version_ | 1867614133375991808 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Abel_R |
| author2 | Lily Becker |
| author_browse | Abel_R Lily Becker |
| author_facet | Lily Becker Abel_R |
| author_sort | Abel_R |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | The naming of compulsive sexuality as sex addiction is recent and is a relatively new and emerging field abroad. While research in this field has proliferated in the United States since the 1980s, South African studies are limited. This study explores how mental health practitioners perceive and treat the phenomenon referred to popularly as sex addiction. Practitioners' perceptions and experiences in this field in Cape Town have not been explored and this thesis hopes to redress that. The research is empirical, qualitative and inductive in nature. Drawing primarily on psychodynamic theory, and to a lesser degree, applying a social constructionist perspective, it explores perceptions and experiences of practitioners working in this field. Practitioners were selected by a purposive and snowball sampling process and a semistructured interview schedule was administered to a sample of nine practitioners. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. Key conclusions drawn from the data include: as a concept, sex addiction remams contested and is utilised by only a small number of health professionals. The majority of mental health practitioners refutes its existence or prefers not to work with this phenomenon. Those working with the clinical problem insist that it has a circumscribed clinical picture with clearly identifiable criteria. It is seen to have an extremely complex aetiological base, requiring a variety of intervention models and techniques. Intervention is seen to be long-term, concerned with addressing fundamental developmental injuries, and is fraught with setbacks and resistance on the part of the clientele. At the same time, practitioners experience it as exciting and rewarding work. As part of the field of human sexuality, it is beset by society'S sexual taboos which makes for decreased disclosure and hampers effective intervention. While it is seen as primarily a male problem, it is acknowledged that sex taboos are more pronounced for women. Some respondents assume that women endure similar difficulties but have more prohibitions around disclosure than men do. Further research, skilled diagnostic procedures and increased knowledge among clinical professionals of the phenomenon and its impact on their clientele, are seen as important avenues through which practitioners can offer a more comprehensive service in this field. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/39899 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:47:11.958Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Department of Social Development |
| publisherStr | Department of Social Development |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/39899 An exploratory study of clinicians' perceptions and experiences of the phenomenon of 'sex addiction' in South Africa Abel_R Lily Becker Clinicians The naming of compulsive sexuality as sex addiction is recent and is a relatively new and emerging field abroad. While research in this field has proliferated in the United States since the 1980s, South African studies are limited. This study explores how mental health practitioners perceive and treat the phenomenon referred to popularly as sex addiction. Practitioners' perceptions and experiences in this field in Cape Town have not been explored and this thesis hopes to redress that. The research is empirical, qualitative and inductive in nature. Drawing primarily on psychodynamic theory, and to a lesser degree, applying a social constructionist perspective, it explores perceptions and experiences of practitioners working in this field. Practitioners were selected by a purposive and snowball sampling process and a semistructured interview schedule was administered to a sample of nine practitioners. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. Key conclusions drawn from the data include: as a concept, sex addiction remams contested and is utilised by only a small number of health professionals. The majority of mental health practitioners refutes its existence or prefers not to work with this phenomenon. Those working with the clinical problem insist that it has a circumscribed clinical picture with clearly identifiable criteria. It is seen to have an extremely complex aetiological base, requiring a variety of intervention models and techniques. Intervention is seen to be long-term, concerned with addressing fundamental developmental injuries, and is fraught with setbacks and resistance on the part of the clientele. At the same time, practitioners experience it as exciting and rewarding work. As part of the field of human sexuality, it is beset by society'S sexual taboos which makes for decreased disclosure and hampers effective intervention. While it is seen as primarily a male problem, it is acknowledged that sex taboos are more pronounced for women. Some respondents assume that women endure similar difficulties but have more prohibitions around disclosure than men do. Further research, skilled diagnostic procedures and increased knowledge among clinical professionals of the phenomenon and its impact on their clientele, are seen as important avenues through which practitioners can offer a more comprehensive service in this field. 2024-06-19T07:05:59Z 2024-06-19T07:05:59Z 2007 2024-06-18T13:33:55Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters Masters http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39899 eng application/pdf Department of Social Development Faculty of Humanities |
| spellingShingle | Clinicians Abel_R An exploratory study of clinicians' perceptions and experiences of the phenomenon of 'sex addiction' in South Africa |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | An exploratory study of clinicians' perceptions and experiences of the phenomenon of 'sex addiction' in South Africa |
| title_full | An exploratory study of clinicians' perceptions and experiences of the phenomenon of 'sex addiction' in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | An exploratory study of clinicians' perceptions and experiences of the phenomenon of 'sex addiction' in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | An exploratory study of clinicians' perceptions and experiences of the phenomenon of 'sex addiction' in South Africa |
| title_short | An exploratory study of clinicians' perceptions and experiences of the phenomenon of 'sex addiction' in South Africa |
| title_sort | exploratory study of clinicians perceptions and experiences of the phenomenon of sex addiction in south africa |
| topic | Clinicians |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39899 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT abelr anexploratorystudyofcliniciansperceptionsandexperiencesofthephenomenonofsexaddictioninsouthafrica AT abelr exploratorystudyofcliniciansperceptionsandexperiencesofthephenomenonofsexaddictioninsouthafrica |