Lesbian and bisexual women's experiences of aversion therapy in England - PubMed (original) (raw)

Lesbian and bisexual women's experiences of aversion therapy in England

Helen Spandler et al. Hist Human Sci. 2022.

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a study about the history of aversion therapy as a treatment technique in the English mental health system to convert lesbians and bisexual women into heterosexual women. We explored published psychiatric and psychological literature, as well as lesbian, gay, and bisexual archives and anthologies. We identified 10 examples of young women receiving aversion therapy in England in the 1960s and 1970s. We situate our discussion within the context of post-war British and transnational medical history. As a contribution to a significantly under-researched area, this article adds to a broader transnational history of the psychological treatment of marginalised sexualities and genders. As a consequence, it also contributes to LGBTQIA+ history, the history of medicine, and psychiatric survivor history. We also reflect on the ethical implications of the research for current mental health practice.

Keywords: behaviour therapy; female; homosexuality; psychiatry; psychology.

© The Author(s) 2022.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Alencar Albuquerque G., de Lima Garcia C., da Silva Quirino G., Alves M. J. H., Belém J. M., dos Santos Figueiredo F. W., da Silva Paiva L., do Nascimento V. B., da Silva Maciel É., Valenti V. E., de Abreu L. C., Adami F. (2016) ‘Access to Health Services by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons: Systematic Literature Review’, BMC International Health and Human Rights 16: 2, available at: 10.1186/s12914-015-0072-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Allen C. (1940) Sexual Perversions and Abnormalities. London: Oxford University Press.
    1. Allen C. (1958) Homosexuality: Its Nature, Causation and Treatment. London: Staples Press.
    1. Bancroft J. (1969) ‘Aversion Therapy of Homosexuality’, British Journal of Psychiatry 115(529): 1417–31. - PubMed
    1. Barlow D. H. (1972) [Review of the book Homosexual Behaviour: Therapy and Assessment by M. P. Feldman and M. J. MacCulloch], Behavior Therapy 3(3): 479–81.

LinkOut - more resources