Homosexuality and psychology
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Homosexuality and psychology have a closely intertwined history. Since its inception, psychology has dealt with the issue of homosexuality and sexual orientation. This article seeks to give a broad description of this history and covers some of the current issues.
History
The history of psychology and homosexuality begins with the advent of psychology itself. The diagnosis of homosexuality as a psychological disorder or perversion, and thus as a predisposition, ironically contributed to its final classification as a separate sexual orientation. From then on, until its declassification as a psychological disorder in the 1970s, the psychology of homosexuality was frequently used to criminalize homosexuality itself. The emphasis shifted: instead of punishing the homosexual act, homosexuals were to be forcibly 'cured' under the law.The first attempts to classify homosexuality as a disease were made by the fledgling European sexologist movement in the late nineteenth century. In 1886 noted sexologist Richard von Krafft-Ebing listed homosexuality along with 200 other case studies of deviant sexual practices in his definitive work, 'Psychopathia Sexualis'. Krafft-Ebing, however, proposed that homosexuality was caused by either congenital (during birth) inversion or acquired inversion. With each revision of his book, he wrote more and more about congenital inversion although maintaining the possibility of acquired inversion; thought to be caused by sexual excess, more specifically masturbation. Many of Krafft-Ebing's ideas did not become popular in mainstream thought, particularly due to Freud's emerging theories that explained homosexuality as a psychological disorder. In his work Sexual Inversion Havelock Ellis first theorised on the origins of homosexuality, proposing that homosexuals, or 'inverts', were the product of a combination of upbringing and biological factors and that those not predisposed to homosexuality could become so if they had 'weak characters' and were so influenced. However, he also critiqued much of Freud's theories and argued that psychic mechanisms would only be found in a small number of inverts.Ellis was a pioneer in the modern sexual revolution and his work has been cited by many writers, including Paul Robinson, as the foundation of modern sexual theory. Ellis's work, 'Sexual Inversion' represented homosexuality as a harmless deviation from the norm and referred to many of its positive values for society (including many famous homosexual artists, scientists and theorists).Various other theories were exposed by sexologists along the lines that homosexuality was a physical disease, a 'third sex' or a psychological aberration. Most concluded that homosexuality was a curable condition. Various 'cures' were proposed including castration, hypnosis and aversion therapy.Early to mid 1900s
In 1896 Sigmund Freud published his ideas on psychoanalysis. Dealing as it did with sexual urges, psychoanalysis was frequently used in the treatment of homosexuality, and much discussion of psychoanalysis was devoted to the issue of homosexuality as a paraphilia, or sexual disorder. For example, psychoanalysts theorised that castration anxiety was the basis for male homosexuality. Prominent psychoanalyst Dr. Joseph Merlino, Senior Editor of the book, Freud at 150: 21st Century Essays on a Man of Genius stated in an interview:Despite Freud's personal thoughts on homosexuality, homosexuals were prohibited from taking psychoanalytic training due to its classification as a mental disorder. This had the effect of preventing homosexuals from having a voice in the later formation of psychoanalytical theory.The rise of psychoanalysis popularised the idea of homosexuality as a disease. This increased the number of homosexuals placed in mental hospitals and prisons. Researchers attempted to use a variety of therapies to "cure" homosexuality, including aversion therapy, nausea producing drugs, castration, electric shock, brain surgery, and breast amputations. (Rudledge, 2003)(deto)Post-war years
The post-war era was seen as the start of the process to the eventual declassification of homosexuality as a psychological disorder. Evelyn Hooker carried out the first studies on non-patient groups of homosexuals and revealed many potential misconceptions regarding homosexuality on the part of the psychological community. Previous studies had been carried out purely on patient and prison groups of homosexuals. Hooker, drawing on a broader group of self-identified homosexual subjects, tentatively suggested the hypothesis that there is no single or specific psychopathology necessarily linked to homosexualityHooker speaks of "the hypothesis that homosexuality is not necessarily a symptom of pathology" ("The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual" Journal of Projective Techniques vol. 21 (1957), p. 30.) (although the data she examined did reconfirm that it was often found in combination with various forms of maladjustment)."In "some of the records homosexuals can be easily distinguished . . . the Rorschach judges agreed in their identification of twelve pairs . . . these were records of homosexual individuals with strong emphasis on 'femininity' and/or anality . . these . . . constitute about a third of the group, the remaining two-thirds cannot be easily distinguished." Evelyn Hooker, "The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual" Journal of Projective Techniques vol. 21 (1957), p. 24. Furthermore, she noted that there was as much psychological diversity in "the homosexual's" psyche as in "the heterosexual's". These findings came as a surprise to many in the mental health professions at the time, as the unitary model of unhealthy parental relations (e.g. a domineering mother coupled with an aloof father) had served until then as the prevailing explanatory basis of homosexuality. While suggesting that the unitary model could not account for the wide variety of homosexual phenomena she had documented, Hooker's studies nontheless remained far from definitive. She herself acknowledged the problems posed by her small sample size and the subjective nature of a methodology based on the interpretation of projective tests.Henry L. Minton, Departing From Deviance (Chicago, 2002), p. 228. Nor did she pursue the hypothesis that the varieties of homosexual phenomena might spring from various different psychopathologies.Nor did Hooker demonstrate that homosexuality was in itself non-pathological. She tacitly draws attention to this when she notes that it is possible some homosexuals may be "devoid of pathology (unless one insists that homosexuality itself is a sign of pathology)". Evelyn Hooker, "The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual" Journal of Projective Techniques vol. 21 (1957), p. 29. However, she had gathered evidence that homosexuality was not a monolithic entity -- and that, for many in the psychiatric profession, was revolutionary enough.Similarly, the controversial Kinsey Reports by U.S. biologist Alfred Kinsey are also credited for revolutionizing the study of sexuality, and homosexuality in particular. They found that homosexual thoughts and actions were much more widespread than commonly believed. They also found that many who considered themselves primarily homosexual were once primarily heterosexual. Many had two or more such orientation-changes.Declassification
In 1992, the World Health Organization replaced its categorization of homosexuality as a mental illness with the diagnosis of ego-dystonic homosexuality, which is either the lack of arousal in wanted heterosexual relationships, or distress from unwanted homosexual arousal.[http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_mental_health.html] The UK Government followed suit in 1994, followed by the Ministry of Health in Russian Federation in 1999 and the Chinese Society of Psychiatry in 2001.CBS News: "China More Tolerant Toward Gays", BEIJING, March 7, 2001 The trustees of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) had previously voted unanimously to remove homosexuality as a disorder from the Sexual Deviancy section of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the DSM-II in 1973.Time Magazine: "An Instant Cure", Monday, Apr. 01, 1974 This decision was officially confirmed by a small majority (58%) of the general APA membership in 1974, who voted to replace the diagnosis with a milder category of "sexual orientation disturbance", which was then replaced in the DSM-III with "ego-dystonic homosexuality" which, in 1986, was deleted from the DSM-III-R. The APA now classifies persistent and marked distress about one's sexual orientation under Sexual Disorders Not Otherwise Specified.Facts About Homosexuality and Mental HealthThere was much controversy regarding the reason for the change. Critics assert this declassification was brought about solely as a result of political pressure applied by activist gay groups, not as the product of scientific research. They cite a series of incidents, the first taking place in 1970 when members of the Gay Liberation Front disrupted a San Francisco APA conference, shouting down speakers and jeering psychiatrists who viewed homosexuality as a disorder. These activists drew on the works of Alfred Kinsey and Evelyn Hooker as well as other empirical studies. These studies, however, did not demonstrate that homosexuality is not, in and of itself, pathological. Rather, they provided support that the psychiatric profession had accepted untested assumptions about the necessary connection of homosexuality to certain forms of psychological maladjustment; or, that homosexuality was necessarily a symptom of mental pathology.Henry L. Minton, Departing From Deviance (Chicago, 2002), pp. 228-229. Evelyn Hooker's studies demonstrated that there was no inherent difference in mental functioning between homosexually oriented and heterosexually oriented individuals. Also, prior to the declassification some research on homosexuality was done on homosexuals that were either already mentally ill with some other illness or in prison, or even in some cases on people who were not even truly homosexual, which biased the results in ways that made it appear that homosexuality was pathological.Zvi Klopott, M.D., 2006 Dr. Joseph Merlino, co-editor of the book American Psychiatry & Homosexuality, and psychiatry adviser to the New York Daily News, said in an interview: Some psychiatrists today feel that, ultimately, the change was the result of both science and activism, with neither one being the "sole" cause for the shift. While other American and international medical and psychiatric organizations, such as the American Medical Association, the American Counseling Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Association of School Psychologists, the American Academy of Physician Assistants, the World Health Organization, the Chinese Society of Psychiatryhttp://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/03/07/world/main277027.shtml, etc. have also ceased to consider homosexuality a disorder, they have largely followed the lead of the APA's controversial precedent in 1973. Dr. Many organizations (of which the Catholic Church and the U.S. military are perhaps the most prominent) do not accept the position that is currently dominant among psychiatrists and regard homosexuality as a disorder or mental illness. A minority of psychologists also hold this view. Some of them are affiliated with the ex-gay movement and advocate a form of conversion therapy. Psychology of homophobia
Several psychological studies have been carried out on the psychology of heterosexism and fear or hatred of, or antipathy toward homosexuals (or homophobia). For example, one study found "lower degrees of anti-homosexual bias in people who know openly homosexual people on a personal basis."[http://web.archive.org/web/20030704111036/http://www.affirmation.org/jeff.htm National Affirmation Annual Conference: "Homosexuality: A Psychiatrist's Response to LDS Social Services", September 5, 1999]At the same time, it is important to note that an "anti-homosexual" stance or disposition cannot simply be equated with so-called "homophobia". As psychologist Gregory M. Herek has noted, to be "antigay . . . is not truly a phobia; it is not necessarily based on fear; nor is it inevitably irrational or dysfunctional for individuals who manifest it."Gregory M. Herek, "Psychological Heterosexism in the United States", in D'Augelli and Patterson, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identities Over the Lifespan (Oxford, 1995), p. 321, n.1.
Next Page
This article is based on an article from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and is available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
In the Wikipedia there is a list with all authors of this article available.