Rethinking homosexuality: what it teaches us about psychoanalysis. 2002

Ralph E Roughton
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Psychoanalytic Institute, USA. Ralphroughton@aol.com

This presentation, written ten years after the American Psychoanalytic Association adopted a nondiscrimination policy with regard to sexual orientation, discusses the evolving relationship between psychoanalysis and homosexuality. The paper is in three sections: (1) the process of policy change and the overturning of injustice; (2) the excursion after Freud's death into analytic bias and extreme pathologizing of homosexuality, the struggle to overcome those distortions, and the lessons to be learned from this history; and (3) the search, in the coming decade, for new understanding of homosexuality and all aspects of sexuality.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D011287 Prejudice A preconceived judgment made without factual basis. Anti-Semitism,Islamophobia,Anti Semitism,Anti-Semitisms,Islamophobias,Prejudices
D011572 Psychoanalysis The separation or resolution of the psyche into its constituent elements. The term has two separate meanings: 1. a procedure devised by Sigmund Freud, for investigating mental processes by means of free association, dream interpretation and interpretation of resistance and transference manifestations; and 2. a theory of psychology developed by Freud from his clinical experience with hysterical patients. (From Campbell, Psychiatric Dictionary, 1996). Psychodynamic Analysis,Analyses, Psychodynamic,Analysis, Psychodynamic,Psychodynamic Analyses
D011574 Psychoanalytic Theory Conceptual system developed by Freud and his followers in which unconscious motivations are considered to shape normal and abnormal personality development and behavior. Oral Character,Psychoanalytical Theory,Theory, Psychoanalytic,Character, Oral,Characters, Oral,Oral Characters,Psychoanalytic Theories,Psychoanalytical Theories,Theories, Psychoanalytic,Theories, Psychoanalytical,Theory, Psychoanalytical
D011606 Psychosexual Development The stages of development of the psychological aspects of sexuality from birth to adulthood; i.e., oral, anal, genital, and latent periods. Anal Stage,Phallic Stage,Anal Stages,Development, Psychosexual,Developments, Psychosexual,Phallic Stages,Psychosexual Developments,Stage, Anal,Stage, Phallic,Stages, Anal,Stages, Phallic
D011640 Public Policy A course or method of action selected, usually by a government, from among alternatives to guide and determine present and future decisions. Social Policy,Affirmative Action,Migration Policy,Population Policy,Social Protection,Action, Affirmative,Migration Policies,Policies, Migration,Policies, Population,Policies, Public,Policies, Social,Policy, Migration,Policy, Population,Policy, Public,Policy, Social,Population Policies,Protection, Social,Public Policies,Social Policies
D005260 Female Females
D005619 Freudian Theory Philosophic formulations which are basic to psychoanalysis. Some of the conceptual theories developed were of the libido, repression, regression, transference, id, ego, superego, Oedipus Complex, etc. Theory, Freudian
D006716 Homosexuality The sexual attraction or relationship between members of the same SEX. Homosexuality, Ego-Dystonic,Ego-Dystonic Homosexuality,Homosexuality, Ego Dystonic
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man

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