Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T19:24:28.527Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Homosexuality and Parental Guilt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Bernard Zuger
Bernard Zuger*
Affiliation:
New York University School of Medicine, 550 First Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016, U.S.A., and Psychiatrist to the Children's Psychiatric Clinic, Greenwich Hospital, Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S.A.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Homosexuality in the male is commonly held to be the product of a specific family constellation consisting of a dominant mother and an ineffectual or hostile father. Prospective studies however, on boys with early effeminate behaviour, the majority of whom subsequently become homosexual, show that their closeness to the mother and distance from the father spring from their own needs. The physician should feel free to relieve parents of guilt for this condition.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 137 , Issue 1 , June 1980 , pp. 55 - 57
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bakwin, H. (1968) Deviant gender role behaviour in children: relation to homosexuality. Pediatrics, 41, 620–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bene, E. (1965) On the genesis of male homosexuality: an attempt at clarifying the role of the parents. British Journal of Psychiatry, 111, 803–13.Google Scholar
Bieber, I., Dain, H. J., Dince, P. R., et al (1962) Homosexuality: A Psychoanalytic Study. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Evans, R. B. (1969) Childhood parental relationships of homosexual men. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 33, 129–35.Google Scholar
Freund, K., Langevin, R., Yaroslav, Z., et al (1974) Parent-child relations in transsexual and non-transsexual homosexual males. British Journal of Psychiatry, 124, 22–3.Google Scholar
Green, R. (1974) Sexual Identity Conflict in Children and Adults, p. 243. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Henry, G. W. (1941) Sex Variants. A Study of Homosexual Patterns. New York: Paul B. Hoeber.Google Scholar
Imperato-McGinley, J., Guerrero, L., Gautier, T. & Peterson, R. E. (1974) Steroid 5α-reductase deficiency in man: an inherited form of male pseudohermaphroditism. Science, 186, 1213–5.Google Scholar
Imperato-McGinley, J., Peterson, R. E., Gautier, T. & Sturla, E. (1979) Androgens and the evolution of male-gender identity among male pseudohermaphrodites with 5α-reductase deficiency. New England Journal of Medicine, 300, 1233–7.Google Scholar
Lebovitz, P. S. (1972) Feminine behaviour in boys: aspects of its outcome. American Journal of Psychiatry, 128, 103–9.Google Scholar
Robertson, G. (1972) Parent-child relationship and homosexuality. British Journal of Psychiatry, 121, 525–8.Google Scholar
Saghir, M. T. & Robins, E. (1973) Male and Female Homosexuality. A Comprehensive Investigation, pp. 18 and 193. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins.Google Scholar
Siegelman, M. (1974) Parental background of male homosexuals and heterosexuals. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 3, 3–18.Google Scholar
Zuger, B. (1966) Effeminate behavior present in boys from early childhood. 1. The clinical syndrome and follow-up studies. Journal of Pediatrics, 69, 1098–107.Google Scholar
Zuger, B. (1970a) The role of familial factors in persistent effeminate behaviour in boys. American Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 151–4.Google Scholar
Zuger, B. (1970b) Gender role determination. A critical review of the evidence from hermaphroditism. Psychosomatic Medicine, 32, 449–67.Google Scholar
Zuger, B. (1978a) Effeminate behaviour present in boys from childhood: Ten additional years of follow-up. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 19, 363–9.Google Scholar
Zuger, B. (1978b) A neglected source-book on homosexuality. British Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 87–8.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.