Ex-Gay Research: Analyzing the Spitzer Study and Its Relation to Science, Religion, Politics, and Culture
Ex-Gay Research: Analyzing the Spitzer Study and Its Relation to Science, Religion, Politics, and Culture
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前同性恋研究：分析斯皮策研究及其与科学、宗教、政治和文化的关系
DOI：
10.1080/15538600802125670
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发表时间：
2008
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Jerry Saltzman
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Jerry Saltzman
罗伯特·斯皮策在2001年的美国精神病学协会会议上发表了一篇论文，题为“男同性恋和女同性恋能改变他们的性取向吗？”这篇论文的发表和随后2003年在《性行为档案》上的发表在专业人士和激进分子的圈子里引起了相当大的争议。正在审查的这本书通过复制斯皮策的原始文章，26篇发表在《档案》和《同性恋心理治疗杂志》上的评论，以及对斯皮策博士的采访，记录了那次争议。这些评论既有对斯皮策博士研究的具体批评和辩护，也有对帮助性少数群体改变性取向的治疗和宗教尝试的有效性和伦理性的更广泛的辩论。与斯皮策研究有关的问题可以分为方法论、概念和伦理问题。首先，关于这项研究所确立的内容，有一系列问题：它是否表明性取向是可塑的？它是否为进一步研究这些疗法的疗效提供了初步的理由？这些问题的答案在一定程度上取决于一些概念性问题的答案，比如，性取向的定义特征是什么，以及如何将性取向的改变概念化？其次，许多评论者对这项研究的方法提出了质疑。这些问题包括关于使用潜在的
Robert Spitzer delivered a paper at the American Psychiatric Association meeting in 2001 entitled, “Can Gay Men and Lesbians Change Their Sexual Orientation?” The delivery of this paper and its subsequent 2003 publication in the it Archives of Sexual Behavior generated considerable controversy in professional and activist circles. The volume under review documents that controversy by reproducing the original Spitzer article, twenty-six commentaries that appeared in Archives and the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy along with an interview with Dr. Spitzer. The commentaries range from specific critiques and defenses of Dr. Spitzer’s study to a more general debate over the efficacy and ethicality of therapeutic and religious attempts to assist sexual minorities to change their sexual orientation. Questions that are addressed with respect to the Spitzer study can be divided into methodological, conceptual and ethical ones. First, there are a set of questions regarding what the study establishes: Does it show that sexual orientations are malleable? Does it offer a prima facie justification for further research into the efficacy of such therapies? The answer to these questions depend to some extent on the answers to some conceptual questions such as, What are the defining characteristics of sexual orientation, and how does one conceptualize a change in orientation? Second, questions regarding the study’s methodology are raised by many commentators. These include questions regarding the use of a potentially