Journal of Punjab Academy of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology 9 (2009)

TELEPHONE SCATOLOGIA: AN AURAL ASSAULT

Dr. Anterpreet Kaur Arora, Professor, Department of Anatomy, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical
Sciences and Research, Vallah, Sri Amritsar.
Dr. Pankaj Gupta, Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of
Medical Sciences and Research, Vallah, Sri Amritsar.
Dr. Shashi Mahajan, Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of
Medical Sciences and Research, Vallah, Sri Amritsar.

Abstract
The present paper explores the telephone scatologia which is a sexual paraphilia. Making obscene
telephone calls for sexual pleasure is known as telephone scatalogia. An obscene phone call (OPC) is an
unsolicited telephone call where the caller receives sexual pleasure by delivering sexual or foul language
to an unknown party. In this article, the etiological theories, current incidence, characteristics and
classification of the caller is being focused. The psychotherapy, treatment, medico legal aspects and the
laws against the caller are also discussed here. The main objective of this paper is to offer a rarely
addressed material that could be useful in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, sexology, criminology and
interpersonal violence.
Keywords: Paraphilia; scatologia; akophilia; fantasy; psychotherapy.
2009 JPAFMAT. All rights reserved
Making obscene telephone calls is a Class 1
Misdemeanor
[2]. Although from the
viewpoint of the recipient of the calls, and of
the law, it is generally considered to be a form
of sexual harassment [3]. Warner describes it as
aural assault. Hott characterizes it as telephone
rape or aural rape [4, 5].

Introduction
A psychosexual disorder characterized by
a recurrent, intense urge or fantasy to make
obscene telephone calls to derive sexual arousal
and gratification is called telephone scatology.
It is also called Telephonicophilia- A paraphilic
condition in which sexuoerotic arousal and
gratification are dependant upon talking about
sexual or obscene matters over the telephone
to an unknown listener.
The etymology of Telephonicophilia
comes from the words telephone, Greek words;
skatos- dung or filth, scat- scare and philiaAttraction [1] Telephone scatologia is only one
of the forms of audio scatologia (akophilia).

Purpose Served by an Obscene Call

Sexual arousal by expressing a girl or
woman his sexual thoughts is his goal. A teen
prankster shows off to his friends while he
makes an obscene call to a girl. When the caller
becomes aroused, he masturbates, and attains
orgasm. The recipients reaction of surprise,
fear, upset, and anger may provide the caller
with a sense of power and masculinity.

(Corresponding address)
Dr. Anterpreet Kaur Arora
Phone: 0183-2570301; 09814975545
Email: - doctor_neeru_preet@yahoo.com
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Journal of Punjab Academy of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology 9 (2009)

Characteristics of the scatologist

Targets of the caller

The caller may be a teenager, a braindamaged or mentally retarded person. He may

be a juvenile or a married father; someone with
manic depression or schizophrenia; he may be
intoxicated with alcohol or drugs; or an anxious,
shy, lonely man afraid of rejection and unable
to make a close personal relationship. The
callers are mostly attention seekers [6].

The caller targets are likely to be women

who are least able to defend themselves or who
have one of the following attributes; low
education, low income, young age, or minority
status. Nadler proposes that anger towards
women spurs most offenders to make obscene
calls [9] Pedophilic telephone scatologists are
the offenders who target children. The
victimized children suffer serious consequences.
The caller enjoys frightened response of the
victim if the latter doesnt show, he may not call
again.

Associated paraphilias in a scatologist

Obscene calls may not be the callers
primary mode of sexual gratification. The
likelihood of occurrence of a multiplicity of
behaviors in an affected person is sure.
Obscene telephone callers according to Sadoff
(1976), has aggressive deviations such as rape,
pedophilia, sadomasochism and has anonymous
deviations such as frotteurism, exhibitionism,
voyeurism, obscene telephone calling, and
fetishism etc. He may have Internet addiction
disorder also.

Classification of scatologist
According to Bullough it is of three types.

Prevalence of scatologist

Even with modern technology, it is not

always simple to locate the perpetrator of such
calls because such callers are not willing
patients. [7]The information, therefore of the
obscene phone caller is insufficient. 1t is based
on too small a sample of cases - those who
were somehow apprehended or discovered.
Etiology and contributory factors
Obscene phone caller has several
difficulties in self esteem and is likely to have
had a dominating overprotective and bossy
mother. So the victims should be weaker and
more vulnerable than the aggressors [8].
Saunders assessed that cases came from
multiple- problem families. Some more factors
were antisocial traits, sexual deviance in the
family, homosexual conflicts, and repressed
sexuality.

The commonest caller is a seducer and

is in masturbatory action e.g. may
breath heavily or describes sexual
activities.
He is a shock caller. He enjoys panic of
victim. According to Mead, he keeps
calling if this reaction continues.
He is a trickster. He sounds friendly,
gains trust by saying that he is a
gynecologist conducting a survey, asks
and coaxes the victim to touch the
genitalia by removing clothes and
reveal some information. Alternatively
the caller may present himself as a
policeman or representative of a
manufacturer of feminine products
(vaginal douche, menstrual pads, etc.)

Difference bet the above two is, the

seducers victim discovers the type of call but
the tricksters victim doesnt even after the call
is over.
Behavior of the Scatologist while calling
The behavior patterns of the callers vary
greatly. Sometimes they masturbate during the
telephone encounter. Others, stimulated by the
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Journal of Punjab Academy of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology 9 (2009)

telephone
experience
may
masturbate
afterwards. Some obscene phone callers do not
speak. Instead, they emit sounds of sexual
pleasure into the phone, or breathe heavily.
Others reveal their masturbatory activity to the
victim. Sometimes it is clear to the victim that
the man on the phone may be intoxicated
because of slurred speech, mild incoherence
etc. Other callers are simply crude and utter
profanities and obscenities. Some callers bluntly
ask for sex [10].

Management and therapy

Unfortunately, many paraphilic individuals
are poorly motivated to undergo treatment.
Treatment can be broadly grouped into
psychological
and
pharmacological
(medications) approaches. As in other
psychiatric disorders, a combination of the two
is usually more effective than either alone [11].
Psychotherapy: The goal of this type of therapy
is to lead the patient to a "healthy remorse
[12]."

Law against scatologist in India

In India, a country of strong traditions, no
law targets telephone scatologia. However,
under Section 507 of an anonymous
communication and Section 506 of punishment
for criminal intimidation, whoever commits the
offence of an anonymous communication and
makes sexual remarks on phone may account to
criminal intimidation hence violating the
provision of the above mentioned sections. As a
consequence, he shall be punished with
imprisonment of four years.

In other countries

In other countries, under Section 189 in

Australia of unlawful stalking, telephoning,
sending electronic messages or contacting the
victim with intention of physical and mental
harm or arousing apprehension or fear in the
victim for his own safety, is a crime and carries
punishment of 5 years. In United kingdom,
Section 43(1)a of the telecommunications act
2003 states that, a person is guilty of an offence
if he uses abusive language and does an
improper
use
of
public
electronic
communications network. Under section (1)b,
any harassing communication which is likely to
harass or cause alarm is class C misdemeanor
and the person who does it, is considered to
commit a crime.

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Cognitive-behavioral therapy: This

therapy applies behavioral therapy
techniques to modify the patient's
sexual deviations by altering distorted
thinking patterns and making patients
cognizant of the irrational justifications
that lead to their sexual variations. This
therapy also incorporates relapse
prevention techniques, helping the
patient to control the undesirable
behaviors by avoiding situations that
may generate initial desires.
Orgasmic reconditioning- In this
approach, a patient is reconditioned to
a more appropriate stimulus by
masturbating to his or her typical less
socially acceptable stimulus. Then, just
before orgasm, the patient is told to
concentrate on a more acceptable
fantasy. This is repeated at earlier times
before orgasm until, soon, the patient
begins his masturbation fantasies with
an appropriate stimulus.
Social skills training- Because many
believe that paraphilias develop in
patients who lack the ability to develop
relationships, many therapists and
physicians use social skills training to
treat patients with these types of
disorders. They may work on such
issues as developing intimacy, carrying
on conversations with others, and
assertive skills training. Many social

Journal of Punjab Academy of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology 9 (2009)

(e.g., irritability, depressed mood) commonly

reported to precede sexual offending behaviors.

skills training groups also teach basic

sex education which is very helpful to
this patient population.
Group therapy: This mode of therapy
involves breaking through the denial so
commonly found in people with
paraphilias by surrounding them with
other patients who interact with each
other and share their illness. This may
overcome the shame factor in such
patients.

How to handle obscene calls

Pharmacotherapy:
The
goals
of
pharmacotherapy are to reduce morbidity and
prevent complications. This treatment is also
used in other paraphilias and paraphilia-related
disorders.

Antiandrogens
Testosterone, the principal androgen (sex
hormone) produced by the testes, is considered
the most important androgen affecting male
sexual behavior. The role of testosterone is as a
primary etiological factor in physical and sexual
aggression in men.
The effect of antiandrogens thus is on sexual
desire, associated fantasies, erections and
urges.
The antiandrogens, cyproterone acetate
(CPA) and medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA)
are the most commonly prescribed agents for
the control of repetitive deviant sexual
behaviors. MPA, an analogue of progesterone,
lowers serum testosterone. CPA inhibits
testosterone directly at androgen receptor sites
and also exhibits antigonadotrophic effects.

The key to handling the calls is not to

react to them. Reacting could
encourage the caller so the victim must
hang up immediately.
Keeping track of the date and time of
the
calls
can
help
identify
possible suspects.
To tell the caller that his calls are being
traced is an effective technique to
discourage the calls.
Properly documenting such calls is an
important way of eliminating the
problem. This information allows
Telecom department to begin tracing
procedures. The call log sheet allows to
record specific characteristics of each
unwanted call received.
After tracing the caller, public Safety
and the police must be timely informed.

Summary and conclusions

Telephone scatophilia is a paraphilia of
the solicitational/allurative type. It is usually
classed as a paraphilia from a medical
viewpoint, although from the viewpoint of the
recipient of the calls, and of the law, it is
generally considered to be a form of sexual
harassment. Such calls are made by sufferers of
broken relationships, an unhappy employee or
co-worker or attention seekers etc.
Treatment of such cases is a combination
of the psychological and pharmacological
(medications) approaches which are usually
more effective than either alone. Receiving
unwanted calls can be frustrating and
frightening. However, in most cases, using some
simple but effective techniques can stop the
calls. The recipients of obscene phone calls
must report to the police immediately.

Serotonergic antidepressants

Anxious and depressive symptoms and

disorders have been identified in such cases as
in the other paraphilic sex offenders. Of the
serotonergic agents reported, fluoxetine
(Prozac) has received the most attention.
Antidepressant pharmacotherapy may diminish
the vulnerability to "negative affective states"
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Journal of Punjab Academy of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology 9 (2009)

6. Psychiatric Times
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7. Aggrawal A. Forensic and medico-Legal
aspects of sexual crimes and unusual
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8. The Sexually Unusual - Guide to
Understanding and Helping Dennis M.
Dailey; editor. (accessed on 14.10.09).
9. Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Forensic
Medicine and Toxicology; Book Reviews:
Technical Books Section 2007; 8 (2): 3.
10. Aggarwal A .
<http://www.geradts.com/anil/ij/vol_008_
no_002/reviews/tb/page003.html>;
(accessed on 14.10.09).
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lia/overview.htm>; (accessed on 14.10.09).
12. <http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/2
91419-treatment>; (accessed on 14.10.09).

Conflict of Interest
None declared.
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