Homosexuality
in a Changing World: Are We Being Misinformed?
|
By
Dr. Nadia El-Awady
IslamOnline’s
Health & Science Editor
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17/02/2003
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Development
Of Sexual Orientation
Joseph
Nicolosi, Ph.D. states:
Recent
political pressure has resulted in a denial of the importance of
the factor most strongly implicated by decades of previous
clinical research: developmental factors, particularly the
influence of parents. A review of the literature on male
homosexuality reveals extensive reference to the prehomosexual
boy’s relational problems with both parents (West 1959,
Socarides 1978, Evans 1969); among some researchers, the
father-son relationship has been particularly implicated (Bieber
et al 1962, Moberly 1983). (http://www.narth.com/docs/fathers.html).
One
psychoanalytic hypothesis for the connection between poor early
father-son relationship and homosexuality is that during the
critical gender-identity phase of development, the boy perceives
the father as rejecting. As a result, he grows up failing to
fully identify with his father and the masculinity he
represents.
Non-masculine
or feminine behavior in boyhood has been repeatedly shown to be
correlated with later homosexuality (Green, 1987, Zuger, 1988);
taken together with related factors, particularly the
often-reported alienation from same-sex peers and a poor
relationship with the father, this suggests a failure to fully
gender-identify. In its more extreme form, this same syndrome
(usually resulting in homosexuality) is diagnosed as Childhood
Gender-Identity Deficit (Zucker and Bradley, 1996).
One
likely cause for “failure to identify” is a narcissistic
injury inflicted by the father onto the son (who is usually
temperamentally sensitive) during the preoedipal stage of the
boy’s development. This hurt appears to have been inflicted
during the critical gender-identity phase when the boy must
undertake the task of assuming a masculine identification. The
hurt manifests itself as a defensive detachment from masculinity
in the self, and in others. As an adult, the homosexual is often
characterized by this complex which takes the form of “the
hurt little boy” (Nicolosi, 1991). (http://www.narth.com/docs/fathers.html)
As
previously mentioned, the person’s own interpretations of his
childhood are a matter of importance in the development of his
sexual orientation.
Homosexuality
is almost certainly due to multiple factors and cannot be
reduced solely to a faulty father-son relationship. Fathers of
homosexual sons are usually also fathers of heterosexual sons-so
the personality of the father is clearly not the sole cause of
homosexuality….
Other
factors in the development of homosexuality include a hostile,
feared older brother; a mother who is a very warm and attractive
personality and proves more appealing to the boy than an
emotionally removed father; a mother who is actively disdainful
of masculinity; childhood seduction by another male; peer
labeling of the boy due to poor athletic ability or timidity; in
recent years, cultural factors encouraging a confused and
uncertain youngster into an embracing gay community; and in the
boy himself, a particularly sensitive, relatively fragile, often
passive disposition. (http://www.narth.com/docs/fathers.html)
A
recently completed doctoral dissertation by Gregory Dickson, Ph.D.
found statistically significant differences between the childhood
recollections of heterosexual and homosexual men. The dissertation
was entitled An Empirical
Study of the Mother-Son Dyad in Relation to the Development of Adult
Male Homosexuality: An Object Relations Perspective.
A
total of 135 men were surveyed-57 egodystonic homosexuals, 34
egosyntonic homosexuals, and 44 heterosexuals from various parts of
the U.S. Utilizing the Parent-Child Relations Questionnaire (PCR-II;
Siegelman & Roe, 1979), the study found that heterosexual males
recalled a much better relationship with their mothers. These men
reported a significantly more loving, less demanding, and less
rejecting mother than did homosexual males.
The
study further found that male homosexuals reported significantly
higher levels of current depression, as well as significantly higher
levels of childhood sexual abuse than their heterosexual peers.
Commenting
on the findings, Dr. Dickson stated:
A
cursory review of research to date suggests a lack of uniform
findings on the role of the mother-son relationship in the
development of male homosexuality. Some authors have found a close,
overly protective mother, while others have found the
opposite a less loving, more demanding, and more rejecting
mother. While these results are seemingly contradictory,
further investigation reveals an underlying consistency, in that
the homosexual male has repeatedly reported a significantly
different relationship with his mother than that reported by his
heterosexual peers. Whether he reported her as overly close or
distant, a negative relational pattern is apparent.
…It
is reasonable to assume that either type of relationship (overly
close or distant) may negatively impact the developing boy's
ability to complete the necessary steps leading toward the
accomplishment of the developmental tasks of individuation
and separation. The overly close and binding relationship
with the mother may prevent the young boy from
"abandoning" her in order to join his father and his
male peers. Likewise, the overly distant relationship may not
allow him to feel secure enough in the mother's love to leave it
in order to explore peer relationships with other boys.
Findings
of this study and of Dickson (1996) also support findings in the
literature, which suggest that the adult male homosexual has
experienced a greater dissimilarity of relationships between his
mother and father during his developmental years than did his
heterosexual peers. The current study drew upon previous literature
regarding the healthy early triangulation in which the boy is able
to develop both a sense of connectedness to, and distance from, both
parents. "A lack of this healthy triangulation," stated
Dr. Dickson, "may result in the developing boy finding himself
'stuck' between parents. He must choose one parent over the other.
It appears that this phenomenon is present and much more extreme in
homosexual development."
Furthermore,
the study sheds light on the potential relationship of a history of
sexual abuse and the development of adult male homosexuality. An
alarming 49% of homosexuals surveyed, compared to less than 2% of
heterosexuals, reported sexual abuse.
Results
of this study underscore the importance of a need for increased
understanding of the effects of sexual abuse in the development of
adult male homosexuality. Dr. Dickson's findings are congruent with
those of Finkelhor (1984) which found that boys victimized by older
men were four times more likely to be currently involved in
homosexuality than were non-victims. All of the respondents in Dr.
Dickson's study reported their molestation as having occurred by a
male perpetrator; none reported female abusers. This finding,
perhaps one of the most significant of Dr. Dickson's study, suggests
that sexual abuse should be considered in evaluating etiologic
factors contributing to the development of adult male homosexuality.
Dickson stated, "An experience of sexual abuse could possibly
contribute to the sexualizing of the unmet needs for male affection,
attention, and connection."
Commenting
on the abuse factor, Dr. Dickson stated:
It
is possible that the male child who experiences the negative
relational pattern with his mother along with the less present
and negatively perceived father becomes more susceptible to the
perpetrator's advances. Given the relational deficits
experienced by the male child, it is also possible that the
molestation, as devastating as it may have been emotionally,
simultaneously may be experienced by some of the boys as their
first form of adult male affection, as well as something
relational that is not shared in common with his mother. The
abuse could, theoretically, be perceived by the boy as a
facilitation of some form of separation-individuation between
himself and mother.
…It
is also reasonable to assume that the sense of shame, secrecy,
violation and anger which may result from childhood sexual abuse
contributes to the development of a distorted paradigm through
which the child views subsequent relationships with self and
others. The duty of the parent to protect the child from all
harm, as understood by the child, may be perceived as having
been forsaken. If the abuse is left unresolved, subsequent
parental behaviors may be experienced in a more negative way by
the child and later, the adult. Additionally, the established
negative relational pattern present in the family may impede the
child's ability to look to his parents for assistance in
resolving the pain resulting from the molestation.
The
multifaceted approach of Dr. Dickson's study helps to clarify some
of the previous literature's apparent contradictions about
potential contributing factors in the development of male
homosexuality. His study underscores the significance of the
influence of multiple environmental factors in the
development of adult male homosexuality. It further emphasizes the
complex, often subliminal, yet powerful forces of not only the
childhood mother-son and father-son relationships, but the childhood
experience of sexual abuse as all of these factors relate to the
development of the child's sense of self, including gender
identification and future relational choices.
Pop
culture and political rhetoric suggest that it is society's lack
of acceptance that is solely responsible for pathology
associated with homosexuality. Such a simplistic conclusion ignores
homosexuals' repeated reports in psychology literature of
conflicted parental relationships, as well as other important issues
such as sexual abuse.
Dr.
Dickson stated, "The current study, in concert with past
literature, suggests that the issues surrounding committed adult
homosexual identification may be more core structural and
relational, rather than sexual in nature."
He
concluded:
Recent
investigation of homosexuality has been hindered by the American
Psychological and Psychiatric Associations' philosophical shift,
which fails to consider the role of environmental factors in
the development of male homosexuality. The clearly complex
nature of the issue should not be oversimplified, nor should
scientific exploration be limited by politics. (http://www.narth.com/docs/mothersof.html)
Another
factor that may be involved in the development of a homosexual
personality might result from the ever-present argument in
homosexual-accepting cultures of “Be what you are, and don’t be
ashamed of it”. Many youths then start to experiment to
“discover” what they really are. This experimentation may lead
to an entrapment and cessation of normal sexual development. The
youth, who is at an age in which there exists a normal idealization
of same-sex peers, might develop an incapability to further progress
to a heterosexual relationship due to the fact that he has been
convinced that he is a homosexual. This indulging in homosexual
relationships, with time, will trap him in a sexual habit pattern.
Thus, the danger of sexual experimentation at a young age. Teenagers
must be made aware that homosexual
attractions do not necessarily make one a homosexual.
Psychiatrist
Jeffrey Satinover, M.D states:
Like
all complex behavioral and mental states, homosexuality
is…neither exclusively biological nor exclusively
psychological, but results from an
as-yet-difficult-to-quantitate mixture of genetic factors,
intrauterine influences…postnatal environment (such as parent,
sibling and cultural behavior), and a complex series of repeatedly
reinforced choices occurring at critical phases of
development. (Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth (1996)).
The
American Psychological Association says:
Various
theories have proposed differing sources for sexual
orientation.…However, many scientists share the view that
sexual orientation is shaped for most people at an early age
through complex interactions of biological, psychological and
social factors. (From the APA’s booklet, “Answers to Your
Questions About Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality”)
The
national organization PFLAG offers a booklet prepared with the
assistance of Dr. Clinton Anderson of the American Psychological
Association. Entitled, “Why Ask Why? Addressing the Research on
Homosexuality and Biology,” the pamphlet says:
To
date, no researcher has claimed that genes can determine sexual
orientation. At best, researchers believe that there may be a
genetic component. No human behavior, let alone sexual behavior,
has been connected to genetic markers to date.…Sexuality, like
every other behavior, is undoubtedly influenced by both
biological and societal factors.
