Effects of gay conversion therapy in the 50s

In the days when 'conversion therapy' alluded specifically to same sex attraction, psychologists and psychiatrists played their biddable role (MacCulloch and Feldman, ). What now seems scandalous, the use of electric shocks or nausea-inducing drugs to alter sexuality, was normalised for a while. Conversion therapy was touted as a successful treatment over the course of the twentieth century, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Not only do these “treatments’‘ prove to be harmful and ineffective, there are numerous studies that show how such effects of gay conversion therapy in the 50s have created long term, negative psychological and physiological effects. It is dangerous to be different. The museum recently collected materials to document gay-conversion therapy—and these objects allow curators like myself to explore how real people experience these risks.

In the s, doctors began to use a painful and distressing ‘therapy’ to ‘cure’ people of being gay, at the time classified as a mental health disorder. With testimony from those who’ve experienced it, neurologist Jules Montague charts the history of conversion therapy, still legal today in many countries around the world. Despite the successes of LGBTQ+ activists, queer people still experience harmful reparative or conversion therapy.

The Counseling Psychologist, 27 5 Motivational, ethical, and epistemological foundations in the treatment of unwanted homoerotic attractions. Areas of ethical violations identified include: informed consent, confidentiality, coercion, pre-termination counseling, and provision of referrals after treatment failure. Loading Comments This Note proposes a state ban on Reparative Therapy, which would prohibit Reparative Therapy Practitioners from using psychological methodologies to attempt to alter the sexual orientation of minors.

This analysis suggests that several social conditions necessary for religious conversion are also necessary for reconstruction of sexual identity. Sociological Focus, 45 4 Sexual orientation change efforts among current or former LDS church members. Survivors of gay conversion overseas, meanwhile, are winning legal battles and there is an increasing number of lawsuits.

Ford, J. In Welch v. The article will focus on how this controversy poses challenges and risks for psychology as a method of scientific inquiry and as a profession. But mainstream psychologists say the therapy is ineffective, unethical and often harmful, exacerbating anxiety and self-hatred among those treated for what is not a mental disorder.

Though the concept of gay conversion still exists today, a growing tide has turned against the practice. The current trend promoting reparative therapy occurs through the conglomeration of the social, political, and religious dimensions of organizations that champion the cause of creating former homosexuals. Of the participants, of them reported that they had received conversion therapy from a professional therapist or a pastoral counselor.

Why do individuals seek conversion therapy? Many of these studies sample exclusively religious populations, and so their conclusions generally reflect more about religious self-identifications than any indication that sexual orientation can genuinely change. All Rights Reserved. Authors then consider the resulting ethical considerations in performing conversion therapy and propose alternative uses of affirmative therapy on the basis of ethical standards defined by APA.

Further discussion of nurse involvement in these treatments is needed.

‘Treatments’ as torture: gay conversion therapy’s deep roots in Australia

It can even include exorcism. However, these reactions do not capture the complexity of the sexual reorientation phenomenon. Some kind of change appears to occur for many who identify themselves as ex-gay. They have further argued that all therapists have an ethical responsibility to refer individuals with antihomosexual religious beliefs to reparative therapists in order to change their sexual identities.

This paper is an attempt to further the theoretical and methodological understanding of identity construction in general, and sexual identity construction in particular. The present discussion, through the use of case material, offers considerations for the practitioner who seeks to assist same-sex attracted male clients in the integration of their conflicting religious and sexual selves.