Coprophilia (from Greek κόπρος, kópros—excrement and φιλία, filía—liking, fondness), also called scatophilia or scat (Greek: σκατά, skatá-shit),[1] is the paraphilia involving sexual pleasure from feces.[2][3] In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-IV-TR), it is classified under 302.9 Paraphilia Not Otherwise Specified and has no diagnostic criteria other than a general statement about paraphilias that says "the diagnosis is made if the behavior, sexual urges, or fantasies cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning". Furthermore, the DSM-IV-TR notes, "Fantasies, behaviors, or objects are paraphilic only when they lead to clinically significant distress or impairment (e.g. are obligatory, result in sexual dysfunction, require participation of nonconsenting individuals, lead to legal complications, interfere with social relationships)".
Although not all coprophiles would necessarily be sadomasochists, little data on the prevalence of this behavior is available except from studies of the SM community. A study of 164 male sadomasochists from Finland from two sadomasochism clubs[4] found that 18.2% had engaged in coprophilia; 3% as a sadist, 6.1% as a masochist, and 9.1% as both. 18% of heterosexuals and 17% of homosexuals in the study pool had tried coprophilia, showing no statistically significant difference between heterosexuals and homosexuals. In a separate article,[5] a subset of 12 men from that study who engaged in bestiality was analyzed and found that 54.5% of the 12 men had engaged in coprophilic behaviors, compared with only 8.3% of 12 of the men who did not engage in bestiality who matched up logically with each of the 12 who did.