The use of a self-administered noxious agent to suppress deviant sexual arousal is the focus of this paper. A recommended procedure for the use of olfactory aversion is described. Data from two publications by the author, wherein different noxious agents had been used, are presented and discussed. Several explanations for the mechanism of effect in olfactory aversion have been offered. Two of these, one using a nausea-producing agent and one using a pain-producing agent are described. The procedure using the pain-producing agent is the simplest to implement, the least ambiguous, and offers the least cumbersome explanation for the behavioral effect observed in olfactory aversion. However, a conditioning explanation is probably too simple. Several examples of cognitive mediation in conditioning procedures are presented and discussed.
Abel, G.G., Blanchard, E.B., Barlow, D.H., & Flanagan, B. (1975). A case report of the behavioral treatment of a sadistic rapist. Paper presented at the meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, San Francisco.
2.
Azrin, N.H., & Holz, W.C. (1966). Punishment. In W. K. Honig (Ed.), Operant behavior: Areas of research and application (pp. 380-447). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts .
3.
Bandura, A. (1969). Principles of behavior modification. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
4.
Colson, C.E. (1972). Olfactory aversion therapy for homosexual behavior . Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry , 3, 185-187.
5.
Dorland's illustrated medical dictionary (28th ed.). (1994). Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders.
6.
Earls, C.M., & Castonguay, L.G. (1989). The evaluation of olfactory aversion for a bisexual pedophile with a single-case multiple baseline design . Behavior Therapy, 20, 137-146.
7.
Foote, W.E., & Laws, D.R. (1981). A daily alternation procedure for orgasmic reconditioning with a pedophile. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 12, 267-273.
8.
Kennedy, W.A., & Foreyt, J.P. (1968). Control of eating behavior in a obese patient by avoidance conditioning. Psychological Reports, 22, 571-576.
9.
Kremsdorf, R.B., Holmen, M.L., & Laws, D.R. (1980). Orgasmic reconditioning without deviant imagery . Behaviour Research and Therapy, 18, 203-207.
10.
Laws, D.R. (1980). Treatment of a bisexual pedophile by a biofeedback-assisted self-control procedure. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 18, 207-211.
11.
Laws, D.R. (1985). Sexual fantasy alternation: Procedural considerations . Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry , 16, 39-44.
12.
Laws, D.R. (1994, November). Behavior therapy: Dead or alive?Plenary presented at the annual conference of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, San Francisco.
13.
Laws, D.R. (1995). Verbal satiation: Notes on procedure, with speculations on its mechanism of effect. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 7, 155-166.
14.
Laws, D.R. (2000, March). Behaviour therapy and new developments in relapse prevention. Workshop presented at Ashworth Hospital Authority, Maghull, Liverpool, UK.
15.
Laws, D.R., & Marshall, W.L. (1991). Masturbatory reconditioning with sexual deviates: An evaluative review. Advances in Behaviour Research and Therapy, 13, 13-25.
16.
Laws, D.R., Meyer, J., & Holmen, M.L. (1978). Reduction of sadistic sexual arousal by olfactory aversion. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 16, 281-285.
17.
Laws, D.R., & O'Neil, J.A. (1981). Variations on masturbatory conditioning. Behavioural Psychotherapy, 9, 111-136.
18.
Laws, D.R., & Osborn, C.A. (1983). How to build and operate a behavioral laboratory to evaluate and treat sexual deviance. In J. G. Greer & I. Stuart (Eds.), The sexual aggressor (pp. 293-335). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
19.
Laws, D.R., Osborn, C.A., & Delgado, L.H. (1988, September). A measure of compliance by outpatient sex offenders with the requirements of behavior therapy. Poster presented at the Behaviour Therapy World Congress, Edinburgh, Scotland.
20.
Laws, D.R., Osborn, C.A., & Avery-Clark, C. (1987). [Olfactory aversion to suppress deviant sexual arousal ] . Unpublished raw data.
21.
Levin, S.M., Barry, S.M., Gambaro, S., Wolfinsohn, L., & Smith, A. (1977). Variations of covert sensitization in the treatment of pedophilic behavior: A case study. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 45, 896-907.
Maletzky, B.M. (1974). Assisted covert sensitization in the treatment of exhibitionism. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 42, 34-40.
24.
Maletzky, B.M. (1980). Assisted covert sensitization. In D. J. Cox & R. J. Daitzman (Eds.), Exhibitionism: Description, assessment, and treatment (pp. 187-251). New York: Garland Press.
25.
Maletzky, B.M. (1991). Treating the sexual offenderNewbury Park: Sage.
26.
Maletzky, B.M. (1997). Exhibitionism: Assessment and treatment. In D. R. Laws & W. O'Donohue (Eds.), Sexual deviance: Theory, assessment, and Treatment (pp. 40-74). New York: Guilford .
27.
Maletzky, B.M., & George, F.S. (1973). The treatment of homosexuality by "assisted" covert sensitization. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 11, 655-657.
28.
Marshall, W.L., Anderson, D., & Fernandez, Y. (1999). Cognitive behavioural treatment of sexual offenders . Chichester, UK: Wiley.
29.
Marshall, W.L., & Fernandez, Y.M. (1997). Enfoques cognitivo-conductuales para las parafilias: El tratameinto de la delinquencia sexual. In V. E. Caballo (Ed.), Manual para el tratamiento cognitivoconductual de los trastornos psicologicos: Vol. 1. Trastornos por ansiedad, sexualas, afectivos y psicoticos (pp. 299-331). Madrid: Siglio Veintiuno e Espana Editores. (Cited in Marshall, Anderson, & Fernandez, 1999, p. 120).
30.
Osborn, C.A., & Murrin, M.R. (1990). Behavior laboratory manual. Unpublished manuscript, Louis de la ParteFlorida Mental Health Institute at Tampa.
31.
Quinsey, V.L., & Earls, C.M. (1990). The modification of sexual preferences. In W. L. Marshall, D. R. Laws, & H. E. Barbaree (Eds.), Handbook of sexual assault (pp. 279-295). New York: Plenum.
32.
Quinsey, V.L., & Marshall, W.L. (1983). Procedures for reducing inappropriate sexual arousal: An evaluation review. In J. G. Greer & I. Stuart (Eds.), The sexual aggressor (pp. 267-289). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
33.
Rachman, S., & Teasdale, J. (1969). Aversion therapy and behaviour disorders. Coral Gables, FL: University of Miami Press.
34.
Schwartz, B. (1984). Psychology of learning and behavior (2nd ed.). New York: Norton.
