Homosexuality in the Light of Psychology

The evolution of humanity's views on homosexuality has become invariably tied with the progress of psychology as a field of discipline. Since homosexuality has always been seen as a component of the person as a whole, psychology has become the perfect social science through which an understanding of homosexuality can be arrived at.

Before the dawn of modern psychological thought, homosexuality has been viewed since the 1100s as an aberration of nature. As a result, homosexuals were largely persecuted both by religion and law. The penalty for being a homosexual ranged from imprisonment to death. Even until the 1940s, at the height of the Second World War, homosexuals in Europe were equally persecuted as the Jews by the Nazis.

In the 1800s, the attitude towards homosexuality shifted. Instead of being viewed as an affliction that can be cured by legal and moral punishment, it came to be regarded as a problem that could be addressed by medical and psychological treatment. Despite the decided shift nonetheless, the stigma attached to homosexuality as an abnormality remained.

The predominant thought at this time was that psychology was a disease or disorder of the mind that could be cured by therapy or certain procedures. Sexologist Richard von Krafft-Ebing in 1886 was the first to suggest that homosexuality was an illness that was degenerative and caused by congenital inversion. Later theorists however, put forth more compassionate theories. Havelock Ellis for example suggested that homosexuality resulted from the interaction of biological and social factors and that homosexuality was not evil or destructive. For Ellis, homosexuality was simply just an innocuous behavioral deviance.

Along with Ellis came other theorists, foremost of which was Sigmund Freud the primary proponent of psychoanalysis. Although personally, Freud was more accepting of homosexuality and did not view it as something shameful, his theory of psychoanalysis basically heightened the notion of homosexuality as a curable disorder. Because of the rise of psychological theories on homosexuals, persecution resulting to imprisonment or death was eventually stopped but, the period of homosexual institutionalization began. Many homosexuals were taken to mental health facilities and were treated. Aside from using psychoanalysis for psychological therapy to cure homosexuals, other means were used too, including castration, electrocution and surgery.

It was only with the work of later theorists in the 1900s that greater acceptance for homosexuality grew. Alfred Kinsey for example, found out that homosexuality was more widespread than originally thought and that it could not have been a psychological disorder if so many were homosexuals. It was also determined by Ford and Beach that even among non-humans, some form of homosexuality was present.

It was however, Evelyn Hooker who eventually came to prove that there was no significant difference between the psychological adjustment of heterosexuals and homosexuals and that homosexuality therefore cannot be tied with psychopathology.

In the 1970's homosexuality was removed as a disorder from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), but even then, complete acceptance was slow to come. Still present in the revised DSM was a disorder called ego-dystonic homosexuality. It was only in 1986 that diagnostic criteria for any form of homosexuality were completely removed from DSM. It was only in 1992 however that he World Health Organization declassified homosexuality as a disorder.

Today, homosexuality has indeed become acceptable to some degree in the eyes of the law and society. It is supposed however, that complete acceptance is not yet in sight. Undeniably, even with the verdict of psychology, homophobia still exists.