Prejudice Exposed On Stephen Mitchell's Pioneering Investigations of the Psychoanalytic Treatment and Mistreatment of Homosexuality

Stephen Mitchell's two early papers on the psychoanalytic theory and treatment of homosexuality show characteristic Mitchell qualities—an astounding intelligence, a theoretical syncretism, an unusual ability to fine tune his sense of clinical case examples to particular theories. Surprisingly, they also show a serious commitment to some of the principles of ego psychology. In these papers, Mitchell is perhaps the first analyst to challenge the distinctly unpsychoanalytic pathologizing of all homosexual orientation based on developmental origins characteristic of all sexualities, as well as the distinctly unpsychoanalytic clinical practice of trying to change sexual orientation and behavior in patients rather than helping them to achieve self-understanding and the diminution of conflict.     

Black heterosexuals’ attitudes toward lesbians and gay men in the United States

Although the direction and intensity of Black heterosexuals’ attitudes toward homosexuality have been topics for considerable speculation, empirical data from representative samples previously have not been available. In the current article we report findings from a two‐wave telephone survey with a national probability sample of 391 Black heterosexual adults. Results indicated that negative attitudes toward homosexuality are widespread but do not appear to be more prevalent among Blacks than among Whites. Gender differences in Black heterosexuals’ attitudes (men's attitudes toward gay men were more negative than their attitudes toward lesbians or women's attitudes toward gay men) appeared to result primarily from men's greater tendency to regard male homosexuality as unnatural. The single most important predictor of attitudes was the attribution of choice to sexual orientation: Respondents who believed that homosexuality is beyond an individual's control expressed significantly more favorable attitudes toward gay men and lesbians than did respondents who regarded homosexuality as a choice. Consistent with previous research in predominantly White samples, respondents were more likely to express favorable attitudes if they were highly educated, unmarried, politically liberal, registered to vote and not religious, and if they included Blacks in their concept of gay men. In addition, respondents reported more favorable attitudes if they had experienced personal contact with gay men or lesbians, but this was not a significant predictor of attitudes when other variables were statistically controlled. Possible differences between Blacks’ and Whites’ social constructions of sexual orientation are discussed.     

Attitude Change among College Students toward Homosexuality

Abstract

Although audio-visual materials are commonly used on college and university campuses, frequently those materials are not evaluated to determine what impact they may have on students' attitudes. The present research compared the effect of three audio-visual programs on attitudes of college students toward homosexuality. The three programs included a film that dealt with prejudice towards numerous groups but not towards homosexuals; a video-tape of a homosexual clergyman who discussed sexual variance with particular emphasis on homosexuality; and two films in which couples were explicitly engaging in homosexual behavior. A control group was used. All groups received a lecture about homosexuality.

Using a two-way analysis of covariance, significant differences were found among the groups. Subjects that watched the film on prejudice and the video-tape of a discussion of homosexuality, as well as the control group, were all significantly more tolerant toward homosexuality than subjects who watched the explicit films. The difference among groups was immediate only. Five weeks after exposure to audio-visual programs, there were no significant differences. There was no significant difference between males and females, either immediately after seeing the programs or five weeks later. Thus, attitudes of college students toward homosexuality can be altered and were not gender specific.     

The sexual in Chinese sociology: homosexuality studies in contemporary China

Through a meta‐literature review, this paper examines the changing contours of Chinese sociology of homosexuality in contemporary China. It unfolds the different theoretical orientations and methodologies that construct the modern male homosexual subject under major socio‐economic and political changes. Chinese sociology of homosexuality started in the reform era and has been dominated by Western knowledge production and the political ideology of the communist party‐state. Fused with the bio‐medical model and the state's modernization project in the 1980s–1990s, the sociological study adopted a functionalist and positivistic approach with survey‐based methodology in the main which focused on the etiology of homosexuality. A new transnational knowledge production of sociology of homosexuality has formed since the 2000s which has shifted towards a constructivist/ post‐structuralist approach and reflexive qualitative methodology. The new sociological study examines the rise of male (as well as female) homosexual identity in China, questions the hetero/homosexual binary and discusses how an individual makes sense of homosexual identity to form same‐sex intimate relationships. By tracing the epistemology of homosexuality in contemporary China, this paper rethinks the dominance of the Western construction and the role of the state in shaping the knowledge of homosexuality and proposes alternative spaces for theorizing Chinese sexual identities, desires and practices.     

The Influence of Family Environment Factors on Self-Acceptance and Emotional Adjustment Among Gay,Lesbian, and Bisexual Adolescents

Abstract

The quality of an adolescent's family environment has been shown to contribute to their self-acceptance and emotional adjustment. Studies suggest that sexual minority adolescents face unique challenges while negotiating family relationships but few studies have specifically examined the relationships between these family environments and the adolescent's psychological adjustment. This study examined general aspects of family functioning (family cohesion, family expressiveness, family conflict, parental support) and parental attitudes toward homosexuality as predictors of self-acceptance of sexual orientation identity and emotional adjustment among 102 gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents ages 15 to 19 years. Family variables did not predict a significant amount of variance in self-acceptance of sexual orientation identity. However, measures of general family functioning and parental attitudes toward homosexuality accounted for significant amounts of variance in emotional adjustment.     

Tolerance of Homosexuality in South American Countries: A Multilevel Analysis of Related Individual and Sociocultural Factors

Abstract

Objectives: This study examines the effect of some factors at individual and aggregated level on tolerance of homosexuality (TOH) in some South American countries. Method: The study performs a multilevel analysis of individual and sociocultural factors related to TOH. Results: Belonging to a religion and the importance it acquires are negative predictors of higher TOH. In addition, people living in more postmaterialistic countries show stronger TOH. However, people who give more importance to religion in more postmaterialistic countries reject homosexuality even more intensively. Conclusions: Socioeconomic development is closely related to religious people's tolerance of homosexuality in South American countries.     

Re-Examining Evelyn Hooker: Setting the Record Straight with Comments on Schumm's (2012) Reanalysis

Evelyn Hooker's research comparing the mental health of 30 male homosexuals to 30 male heterosexuals may be the most influential study in the history of social science. The American Psychological Association (APA) claims her work was the major reason it began advocating for acceptance of homosexuality. It led the American Psychiatric Association in 1973 to eliminate homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. And it impacted the U.S. Supreme Court's 2003 legalization of sodomy in Lawrence v Texas.

Hooker reportedly believed experts would be unable to distinguish homosexuals from heterosexuals on psychological tests. Re-examination of her work indicates that Hooker's study was neither rigorous nor reliable. Among other problems, homosexual subjects were easily identified on test protocols; her reports of how she obtained her samples were incomplete and contradictory; and her study generated results supportive of obsession/compulsivity in homosexuals.

Thus Hooker's study was seriously flawed. Moreover, because it was marketed by the APA as central in transforming homosexual activity from an illness/crime into acceptable behavior—yet Hooker did not correct those who mischaracterized her work—APA misrepresentations of Hooker over the past 40 years appear to be more in line with ideology than science.     

Increasingly Gay Self-Representations of Male-Male Sexual Experiences in Thailand

Abstract

With Thailand's economic development, urbanization (especially the rapid growth of Bangkok), growing contact between Thais and non-Thais, an increased availability of representations of ho-mogender homosexuality (i.e., masculine men being sexually penetrated), and international AIDS discourse, male homosexuality not structured by differences in age, gender or class has become more apparent. Three sets of stories and letters sent by Thai men to Thai gay magazines show a decline in a gender-stratified conception and enactment of homosexuality in Thailand, paralleling the heterogender-to-gay transformation of homosexuality elsewhere in the world. The highly developed commercial venues for males who have sex with males in Bangkok are little mentioned in these texts and suggest the need for the development of other kinds of community infrastructure such as telephone advice lines (providing information about the basic mechanics of safe sex and other aspects of male-male relationships). Males who have sex with males in Bangkok, in particular, need a community center in which to discuss issues of power, gender, and sexuality.     

‘Who is in Your Family?’ Italian Children with Non‐heterosexual Parents Talk about Growing Up in a Non‐conventional Household

The paper presents findings from explorative research conducted in Italy with seven 9‐ to 12‐year‐old children with non‐heterosexual parents. The aim was to find out how children describe their family structure, how they talk about their family with peers, and how they experience peers' attitudes towards non‐heterosexual families. Findings show that children have a flexible and inclusive representation of family and they disclose selectively with their peers who don't always consider homosexuality normal and homoparental families ‘real families’. The paper concludes by suggesting that institutional recognition for same‐sex parenting would support children in the everyday work of negotiating diversity.     

The Prison Lesbian Revisited

Abstract

One aspect of women's imprisonment that has received consistent scholarly and public interest is homosexuality. These experiences are generally seen as a subcultural adaptation to the stresses and deprivations of the environment, that is, as situational, and little attention has been given to the implications they might have for the sexual identity of the women involved or to the possibility that some women may continue involvement in same-sex relationships after prison. In-depth interviews with 40 incarcerated women were conducted to explore their experiences with same-sex relationships in prison. Some condemned same-sex relationships but others became involved in them for companionship and other reasons. While some women saw their involvements as limited to prison, others were questioning their sexual identity and thought they might continue the same or other same-sex relationships on the outside.     

Dangerous Liaisons: Introduction

This introduction is to a panel of papers on the analyst's experience of extreme states of danger and self-destructiveness in analysands. The provocations and clinical opportunities afforded by sexual practices, passivity, self-mutilation are considered. The demands on the analyst to enter, contain, and examine the enactments in treatment and outside it are also considered. Tensions between attunement to pathologizing theory, self-care, and self-control (in analyst and analysand) are explored.     

IMPLICATIONS OF INTERNET TECHNOLOGY FOR MEDICAL SOCIOLOGY IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM

This research examines how parental heterosexism—negative attitudes toward homosexuals and homosexuality—and other family characteristics relate to the development of children's attitudes toward people with HIV/AIDS (PWA). Attention is directed to the overall relationship between parents’ and children's attitudes and to the potential mechanisms through which these linkages are manifested. Based on social learning theories of childhood socialization, a range of mechanisms is considered, focusing on heterosexist attitudes in parents and communication with children about AIDS. Findings indicate that parental attitudes concerning homosexuals influence children's attitudes toward PWA, implying that there can be negative as well as positive consequences of parents’ beliefs on children's attitudes. The possibility of negative parental effects on children's prejudices toward PWA suggests that in-school HIV/AIDS education at younger ages is more important than previously thought.     

Gay guys using gay language: friendship,shared values and the intent‐context‐effect matrix

This article draws on in‐depth interviews with 35 openly gay male undergraduates from four universities in England to develop an understanding of the changing nature of language related to homosexuality. In addition to finding a diminution in the prevalence of homophobic language, we demonstrate that participants maintain complex and nuanced understandings of phrases that do not use homophobic pejoratives, such as ‘that's so gay’. The majority of participants rejected the notion that these phrases are inherently homophobic, instead arguing that the intent with which they are said and the context in which they are used are vital in understanding their meaning and effect. We conceptualize an intent‐context‐effect matrix to understand the interdependency of these variables. Highlighting the situated nature of this matrix, we also demonstrate the importance of the existence of shared norms between those saying and hearing the phrase when interpreting such language.     

Reading and Writing,Talking and Listening Introducing Studies in Gender and Sexuality

This essay offers a brief history of how the stereotype “the female homosexual” was created through three installments of psychoanalytic theorizing, starting with Freud's (1920) case study. A second, brief history presents the various strands of critical theorizing that have identified “the female homosexual” as a stereotype. The essay then makes a contribution to current discussion of female homosexuality by suggesting an instinct theory that features ego instincts and sexual instincts interacting (as Freud' theory did before 1920). Reference is made to Takeo Doi's concept of amae (expectation of affection) and to amae as an ego instinct. This theory then is the framework for a clinical v ignette focused on a female homosexual's ego-instinctual needs.     

Growing Up with a “Spoiled Identity”

Abstract

Being a lesbian, gay or bisexual youth means having the stigma of homosexuality or bisexuality. A stigma is anything that discredits an individual and leads to one being assigned a “spoiled identity.” With reference to lesbian, gay and bisexual youth, the stigma is considered a blemish on one's character that often leads to stereotyping and stigmatisation. This homophobia puts many lesbian, gay and bisexual youth at risk for suicide, chemical abuse, dropping out of school, verbal and physical abuse, homelessness, prostitution, HIV infection, and psychosocial developmental delays. Approaches and strategies for working with lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are suggested and trends and issues about homosexuality in the United States, with a potential impact on lesbian, gay and bisexual youth, are discussed.     

Mexican and Mexican American male sexual behavior & spread of AIDS in California∗

Data generated by the authors' field research on the bisexual and homosexual behaviors of men of Mexican origin living in southern California are presented and compared with the same behaviors of Anglo men in California and Mexican men in Mexico. Preferences for playing either the anal receptive or insertive sexual role and a focus on anal intercourse by unacculturated and less acculturated men of Mexican origin who have sex with men are the sexual behaviors judged to be most significantly different from Anglo men who have sex with men in California. Sexual socialization and acculturation were found to be the most important determinants of whether an individual's adult patterns of homosexual behavior will be more or less influenced by Mexican or Anglo homosexuality in spite of the length of time they may have lived in California. Evidence is presented about the effects that acculturation, preference for a sexual role in anal intercourse, and endogamy have on the spread of the AIDS virus in the Mexican origin population in California.     

The nightmares of the heteronormative

Abstract

Race and sexuality have always intersected in African‐American racial formation. In this article, I argue that this intersection has inspired certain epistemological, political, economic and cultural formations. In terms of epistemology, American sociology and African‐American literature have historically addressed the connections between race and sexuality. Both were interested in the ways that African‐American racial formation transgressed ideal heterosexual and patriarchal boundaries. As far as cultural formations were concerned, such transgressions materially and symbolically aligned African‐American racial formation with homosexuality. Attending to the political and economic effect of this alignment, I maintain that it helped to articulate African‐American racial difference and worked to exclude African‐Americans from the privileges of state and capital. Thus, the article argues that African‐American racial subordination can best be understood as it converges with heteronormative and patriarchal modes of regulation and exclusion. After showing how the most prominent sociology during the 1940s (Gunnar Myrdal's American Dilemma: The Negro and American Democracy) marked African‐Americans as pathologically heterosexual, I go on to read James Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain to determine how the alignment between blackness and homosexuality suggests alternative and oppositional epistemological, cultural and political practices.     

Health Care Professionals' Experience,Knowledge, and Attitudes Concerning Homosexuality

The purpose of this study was to examine the experience with attitudes towards, and knowledge about homosexuality of three groups of health care professionals. Subjects were 97 registeres nurses, social workers, and psychologists who responded to a six-page mailed questionnaire. Professional discipline of the subject, gender of the client, and gender of the client's lover in a fictitious scenario did not significantly affect ratings or suggested diagnoses of the client. Most subjects felt that they needed moer training in working with homosexual clients, which was consistent with their high but not perfect scores on a knowledge test. Subject's mean scores of the Attitudes Toward Lesbians (ATL) and Gay Men (ATGM) scales of Herek (1998) reflected significantly less prejudice than his college samples. More knowledgeable respondents were less prejudiced and had more positive attitudes about working with gay and lesbian clients; those with more positive attitudes toward clients also showed less prejudice on the ATL and ATGM scales. The authors argue that training health care professionals to be more knowledgeable about gay and lesbian issues would lead to more positive attitudes and better services for gay and lesbian clients.     

The Impact of Service-Learning on Student Development

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the personal, professional, interpersonal, social, and academic development of students who complete a 15-hour service-learning assignment as part of the requirements for a family diversity course. A content analysis of 36 students' reflection papers revealed that service-learning was extremely beneficial, even when the experience was brief. Numerous valuable lessons were learned by the students about themselves and their future careers. Specifically, they became more accepting of others, and they realized the importance of service to one's community. In addition, they were able to process and synthesize the information they learned in the classroom by experiencing the course content in a real-world setting.