Ethical Medical Experiments: The Aversion Project

Because these feelings of self-hatred and the attitudes from others toward the LGBT community are so strong, many people are put into “reparative” therapies in order to “cure” them from their condition of homosexuality. The majority of therapies that people go through are extremely unpleasant and the American Psychological Association states, “there have been no scientifically adequate research to show that therapy aimed at changing sexual orientation is safe or effective.” (Sutton 11). However, many institutions still partake in these controversial therapies. The means by which certain people are treated is inhumane, and can worsen the ideology of inferiority and self-devaluation. While some therapies seem pleasant, such as prayer and meditation, some of the most controversial means of therapy include Prostitution, Hypnosis, Exorcism, Fetal Intervention, Electroconvulsive Therapy, and Genital Mutilation. None of the aforementioned therapy methods are without harm. These

Prior to the twenty-first century, homosexuality was viewed as a mental disorder that required treatment. Both counseling and aversion therapy were exercised in attempts to “cure” individuals of their sexuality. The brutal process consisted of shock therapies, lobotomies, castrations, and drugs (Scot, 2013). A device that was commonly used was the Farrall Instrument, which functioned by showing an individual of the same sex and delivering a shock until a button was pressed to deliver another slide. The slides of the opposite sex did not deliver a shock; therefore, an association with those of the same sex would become negative and the patient receiving the treatment would become heterosexual. These practices were enacted until 1973 when the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder (Scot, 2013). From that point on, homosexuality increasingly grew in acceptance and still continues to do so in modern society. A variety of places that celebrate members of the LGBT community have been established to help welcome them into society, along with an improvement of the attitudes of others and their treatments towards the communities’ members. However, homophobia and the segregation of LGBT individuals still persists in modern society to prevent their integration into civilization.

One theory that many psychologist and scientist are trying to prove is that homosexuality has a fundamental biological basis. Similar to most mammalian species, humans at conception are females (McKnight 22). Toward the end of the first trimester is when the babies with a “male genetic message” begin to have small doses of two hormones, chorionic gonadotropin and luteinizing hormone, which start the altering process of the gonads into testes (McKnight 22). The hormones two jobs are to control the sexual development and control their function (McKnight 22). When the brain starts to develop masculine characteristics and lose the feminine characteristics, the processes are separate and occur at different

Sexuality and gender identity issues have had a long history in the fields of mental health and public policy. There has been much debate surrounding the inclusion of issues related to gender and sexual identity in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual since its initial stages of development (Drescher, 2010). Debates in this field of interest have been fragmented between several stakeholders (Ehrbar, 2010). This fragmentation has created complications in the process of developing United States policies that are inclusive of individuals with gender identities that do not match the gender to which they were assigned at birth. Specifically, policies surrounding gender reassignment surgeries have been difficult to develop and

Many experiments done in today’s society are questionable according to the standards set today by ourselves, and others. A large example, without a doubt, is the experimentation of chemicals and other drugs on animals.

During the 1900’s, homosexuals were sent to mental institutions to “cure” them of what was thought to be a disease. There they underwent shock therapy, one of the many methods used in conversion therapy. In 1920 Sigmund Freud began the practice of changing a person 's sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. In the beginning homosexuality was also deemed as “ a negative human characteristic caused by immaturity, pathology and family dynamic” (Scoolaid.net). Soon its popularity had scientists such as Eugen Steinach, Sandor Ferenczi as well as his daughter Anna Freud partake in the practice. If they were not sent to mental

Most medical and mental health practitioners agree that efforts to change sexual orientation are ineffective and harmful. The APA stated that "no recent research (1999-2007) meets methodological standards that permit conclusions regarding efficiency or safety of conversion therapy"(...). Douglas C. Haldeman presented an odd case that presented both the ineffectiveness and also the indirect benefits of conversion therapy, where a gay man realized there was nothing he could do to change and finally accepted himself for who he was (p. 120, ). However, not all patients have the same results. There are critical health risks that have been associated with conversion therapy. Many patients have suffered from depression, anxiety, lowered self esteem, and sexual dysfunction. In extreme cases, some patients have even attempted suicide. Haldeman described another case of a man who had high hopes of being "cured" and being able to live a happy heterosexual life. After the therapy had failed him, he became depressed Aside from the therapy being harmful and ineffective, ethicists discourage conversion therapy on the basis that implies that there is cure for a

In the not-so-distant past, psychological experiments were performed in order to accomplish different objectives, or test various hypothesis, often with dangerous or fatal consequences for the participants. A lack of ethical constraints and guidelines led to many horrendous experiments, performed in the name of science that left devastating repercussions to the often-unwilling participants. Many of these unethical experiments provided legitimate insights. Seventy years ago, there were no ethical guidelines, no code of conduct in place, and at the time the zeitgeist was that experiments should be conducted with minorities, the disabled, and prisoners because they were morally inequivalent to the rest of society (Collins, 2003).

al., 2013, p. 253). With treatments such as “professional therapy and paraprofessional/religious ministry contexts”, Sanders and his colleagues report that thirty percent of those who participated in this form of therapy achieved “positive outcomes” (2013, p. 255). Although critics to changing one’s sexual orientation claim that there are many factors that limit the support of the research proving the success of this treatment option, Sanders states that there is data supporting successful conversions (2013, p. 255).

Between the Sexes is a compelling narrative. Through several anecdotes, it illustrates the devastating psychological implications of early surgical intervention on intersexuals. According to the article, the surgery robs individuals of their sexual gratification, their gender identity, and their innocence. It's argument is noble, yet flawed. Authors Christine Gorman and Wendy Cole spin several sad yarns of intersexed people who are upset with handling of their gender assignment. They tell horror stories of people kept in the dark about their intersex, about a child forced to stop acting like a boy and become a girl, a teen who was raised to be a girl, but developed into a male. Gorman and Cole stumble into the fallacy of hasty

Conversion therapy is affecting the LGBTQ+ community greatly. Conversion therapy can be defined as “psychological interventions, from behavioral methods to psychoanalytic approaches” to change a person’s sexuality or gender identity (Hadelman, pg. 202, 2002). This treatment has been proven to not work as well as having harmful implications to LGBTQ+ people.

Many instances that were described above leave me to wonder whether or not the so-called doctors performing these procedures actually had hopes of accomplishing anything, or if their main goal was simply to torture the homosexuals that had been assigned to them. Nevertheless, there were many other opportunities and assignments dished out to these individuals that hoped to accomplish that same task. Medical experiments were only part of the often deadly assignments handed out to the inmates at concentration camps. Other assignments included more physically demanding work details that were often considered death sentences to anyone who received

Sexual orientation is something that people hear about daily in the news, media, and daily lives of others, especially when it comes to the field of psychology and the nature versus nurture debate. For being as commonly debated and discussed as it is, there are many questions that come along with it: what is sexual orientation, how do people know their sexual orientation, what causes homosexuality, is it normal, is it possible to change, and can wanting LGBT, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, youth to change lead to suicide?

Although Gender Identity Disorder (GID) and homosexuality has been in the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) for many years, I was personally unaware of the controversy that surrounded it. I realized that I needed to educate myself in the issues and changes that have occurred in the DSM regarding GID and homosexuality over the years.

The sexual orientation identity development is a theoretical model that conceptualized the resolution of internal conflict related to the formation of individual sexual identity. For sexual minority people, it is commonly known as the coming-out process (Bilodeau & Renn 2005). There have been many different models elaborated to explain such process. All of them share similar stages: awareness, crisis, and acceptance (Loiacano 1989). When individuals become aware of their queer feelings and attraction, they try to block these homosexual feelings by constantly denying and minimizing them. This mechanism of defense leaves negative sequelae in their overall psychosocial well-being (Bilodeau & Renn 2005). Individuals tend to pass by a