Psychology Losing
Scientific Credibility Due To Irrational Promotion of Homosexual Lifestyles Per NARTH
http://www.narth.com/docs/worldnet.html
March
27, 2006 - On
March 25, 2006, WorldNetDaily published an article on
the Evan B. Donald Adoption Institute report recommending gay adoption. The
article notes that media accounts of this report failed to reveal that the author
of the study was Jeanne Howard, a gay advocate who works with Parents,
Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. The study was funded by the pro-gay
Gill Foundation and the gay organization Human Rights Campaign (HRC).
The WorldNetDaily
story also pointed out that in 2004, NARTH was involved in exposing the
questionable backgrounds of an American Psychological Association task force
that issued an endorsement of gay marriage. The APA simply listed the task
force members as "a combination of both scientific expertise in family and
couple relations and professional expertise with lesbian, gay, and bisexual
populations."
NARTH, however, pointed
out that each member of the APA's Working Group on
Same-Sex Families and Relationships is a gay advocate, not an impartial social
scientist. WorldNetDaily observed:
What
sort of "expertise"? According to the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality,
or NARTH, the psychologist association's "Working Group on Same-Sex
Families and Relationships" is made up of "gay activists."
For instance, reported
NARTH:
·
"Dr. Armand Cerbone, who was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian
Hall of Fame in 2003 and was awarded an award for distinguished service to the
gay movement by the Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, and
Bisexual Issues, which is Division 44 of the APA.
·
"Dr. Beverly
Green, who served as editor of Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay
Issues, published by Sage Publications in 2000.
·
"Dr. Kristin
Hancock, who developed the APA's 'Guidelines for
Psychotherapy with Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Clients,' and is a founding member
of APA's Division 44, a group focusing on gay issues.
· "Dr. Lawrence A. Kurdek, who serves on the editorial board of Contemporary
Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Psychology."
Possibly
most controversial of all is the presence on the APA's
working group of Dr. Candace A. McCullough, a lesbian who attempted in 2002 to
produce, for the second time, a deaf child by artificial insemination, using
sperm from a deaf donor. Both McCullough and her lesbian partner, Sharon Duchesneau, are deaf. Their attempt to create a second deaf
baby was profiled by the Washington Post on March 31, 2002. "It would be
nice to have a deaf child who is the same as us," Duchesneau,
who carried the baby to term, told the Post two months before the baby boy,
named Gauvin, was born. "I think that would be a
wonderful experience. You know, if we can have that
chance, why not take it?"
They succeeded,
according to the Advocate ("The National Gay & Lesbian
Newsmagazine"), which disclosed in 2002 that Duchesneau
and McCullough had earlier sought a deaf sperm donor to father their daughter, Jehanne, as well as later for their son, Gauvin, focus of the Post article.
"As a
result," says the Advocate report, "Jehanne
is deaf, and Gauvin is deaf in one ear and has severe
hearing loss in the other. And that's what both mothers - who consider their
deafness an identity, not a disability - intended."
***
Explaining the APA's resolution blessing same-sex marriage, NARTH
president Dr. Joseph Nicolosi said the psychologist
organization has "let political activists take over the APA in this
particular area, and these activists are giving us their own, values-laden
'take' on the issues."
Narth, an organization of psychiatrists,
psychologists, certified social workers and others focused on therapeutically
helping homosexuals become heterosexual, was founded in 1992.
Because
the APA starts out "with the foundational belief that there's no real
difference between the genders, then mothers and fathers start to look
interchangeable," said Nicolosi. "With such a worldview, gay
and straight relationships look the same; then gay marriage starts to look as
if it were no different from the natural, biological family. And, when the
research comes in - as indeed it has - showing gays and lesbians to be less
psychologically healthy than straights, then the APA simply dismisses it,
saying that the psychological problems are due solely to society's
homophobia."
At NARTH Conference, APA
Past-President
Charges His Association with Stifling Discourse and Distorting Research
By Linda Ames Nicolosi
In a harsh critique of his
own profession, a former American Psychological Association president told
fellow clinicians at the NARTH Conference that social science is in a state of
alarming decline.
Speaking to a rapt
audience of about 100 fellow professionals at the Marina Del Rey Marriott Hotel on November 12, 2005, psychologists
Nicholas Cummings, Ph.D. and Rogers Wright, Ph.D. had much to say about the
profession they had served throughout their long and distinguished careers --
charging "intellectual arrogance and zealotry" within a profession
that they say is now dominated by social-activist groups.
Dr. Cummings said he has
had a career-long commitment to promoting diversity. Therefore has been
dismayed to see activists exploit the stature of the parent body to further
their own social aims -- pushing the APA to take positions in areas where they
have no conclusive evidence.
When APA does conduct
research, Dr. Cummings said, they only do so "when they know what the
outcome is going to be...only research with predictably favorable outcomes
is permissible."
When writing their newly
released book Destructive Trends in Mental Health, Wright and Cummings
invited the participation of a number of fellow psychologists who flatly turned
them down--fearing loss of tenure, loss of promotion, and other forms of
professional retaliation. "We were bombarded by horror stories," Dr.
Cummings said. "Their greatest fear was of the gay lobby, which is very
strong in the APA."
"'Homophobia as
intimidation' is one of the most pervasive techniques used to silence anyone
who would disagree with the gay activist agenda," said Cummings.
"Sadly, I have seen militant gay men and lesbians-- who I am certain do
not represent all homosexuals, and who themselves have been the object of
derision and oppression-- once gaining freedom and power, then becoming
oppressors themselves."
He described his own
experience of oppression and reverse bias: "This was aptly
demonstrated," he said, "during an interchange that took place in a
large meeting assembled by the then-current president to address the future of
the APA. I was just about to agree with one of the participants, when she
stopped me before I could speak: 'I don't know what you are going to say, but
there is nothing you and I can agree on, because you are a straight white male
and I am a lesbian.' Such blatant reverse discrimination was overlooked by
everyone else in the room, but I was dumbfounded. This woman is prominent in
APA affairs, is extensively published, and has received most of the APA's highest awards. The APA continues to laud her, even
though recently she had her license suspended for an improper dual relationship
with a female patient! What would be the response had it been a straight white
male in an improper dual relationship with a female patient?"
Regarding treatment for
unwanted homosexuality, the American Psychological Association has come very
close to ratifying a statement which would declare therapy to modify sexual
orientation "unethical." But "why does free choice go only one
way?" Dr. Cummings asks.
Cummings then discussed a
2004 resolution by the APA in favor of gay marriage, which APA recommended
because it "promotes mental health." What was the evidence APA
offered? (Such a bold statement from APA, of course, would be used in the
courts to decide key social issues.) The references APA cited,
it turned out, actually proved only one claim-- that as a general matter,
"loving relationships are healthy." "That was one of the worst
resolutions," Cummings said.
"When we speak in the
name of psychology we are to speak only from facts and clinical
expertise," he explained. If psychology speaks out on every social issue,
"very soon the public will see us as a discredited organization--just another
opinionated voice shouting and shouting."
Cummings' co-author Dr.
Rogers Wright (who like Cummings, describes himself as a lifelong liberal)
notes that "psychology has been ultra-liberal" and not particularly
welcoming to the views of people of religious faith.
Wright described the
difficulties he has encountered with the American Psychological Association
since the Association instituted a "strategic decision not to
respond" to their book in an effort to avoid attracting attention to it.
Initially, the APA prohibited its member-publications from reviewing Destructive
Trends. "So much for diversity and open-mindedness," Wright added
wryly.
Judicial Malfeasance by Activists
Joining them in yet
another stinging critique of the mental-health profession was psychiatrist
Jeffrey Satinover, M.D. In his talk entitled
"Judicial Abuse of Scientific Literature on Homosexuality by the American
Mental Health Professional Organizations," Satinover
offered a long, elaborately referenced description of ethics breaches in the
recent legal cases that have set the stage for groundbreaking changes in
family-law policy.
Satinover said the mental-health
associations had allowed themselves to be used by gay activists who distorted
the research findings to serve their own socio-political aims. This distortion
of the science, he said, has been so great that it is "appalling beyond
imagination."
Dr. Satinover
recently taught constitutional law at
Given carte blanche, the activists wrote briefs that were
"sophisticated, nuanced" but in many cases, almost entirely untrue.
To Dr. Satinover's dismay, the brief-writers'
testimony rarely matched the references they footnoted--but almost never
directly cited--as corroborating evidence.
Called as an expert
witness in court cases and asked to assess briefs being submitted to state and
the U.S. Supreme Courts, Satinover had the
opportunity to pore over hundreds of research papers offered as evidence by the
gay activists who had been invited to represent the views of the major
mental-health associations.
He quoted Susan Cochran,
Ph.D., a lesbian activist advising the Lawrence v. Texas brief, which
claimed that "Research has...found no inherent association between
homosexuality and psychopathology." The references she provided were
largely self-references -- referring not to corroborating sources, but
directly back to her own published work. Paradoxically, in those same studies,
Cochran had consistently found more mental-health problems in lesbians and gay
men -- and she did not find that "social homophobia" was a sufficient
cause for these problems. In fact, Cochran had concluded in one of her own
referenced papers that "further research is needed to explore the causal
mechanisms underlying this association." In a follow-up paper, she herself
showed that the effects of social homophobia couldn't account entirely
for the association.
Satinover also offered evidence from the Romer v. Evans brief that evidently came from
gay-activist psychologist Gregory Herek, Ph.D., who
wrote the brief on behalf of the APA. Herek, he says,
distorted the findings of the authors of the research he cited; omitted
available contrary evidence; and failed to mention the evidence for spontaneous
changes of sexual identity. Herek also defined the
term "homosexual" in an arguable manner that worked most effectively
to meet the aims of his brief--a definition that was the outcome solely of his
own work, and that deviated from widely-used, neutral scientific standards. In
support of the argument that same-sex attracted people are as well-adjusted as
straights, Satinover said, Herek
also referenced the "notoriously flawed and out-of-date Hooker study, its
claims long-since and multiple times overturned."
Pedophile Supporters
Offering Family-Law Testimony?
In the Romer
v. Evans case, psychologist John Money, Ph.D. was referenced (also by Herek, evidently) as an expert in sexual identity. In an
interview published in the Dutch journal of pedophilia (PAIDIKA), Money once
said, "If it [man-boy sexual contact] is consensual, it can be constructive."
Another expert offered by Herek was John de Cecco, Ph.D.,
who has also written affirmatively of man-boy "intergenerational
intimacy" in the Journal of Homosexuality, and is an editor of
PAIDIKA.
Yet one other frequent
contributor to legal testimony, the Lawrence brief included, is lesbian
activist-researcher Charlotte Patterson, Ph.D., who in a landmark case of
same-sex adoption was cited for refusing to turn over her research notes,
contributing to her side's defeat. "Her conduct was a clear violation of a
court order," said Satinover, "yet she is
still writing briefs in current court cases."
In discussing the overall
"scope and type of malfeasance," Satinover
concluded the following:
1. "Briefs appear to be authored
by a small circle of individuals who are called on repeatedly, with footnoted
references that almost never properly substantiate their case."
2. A common tactic is to reference
studies "that are trivial or out-of-date, while ignoring more important,
recent, larger, better, and superceding
research."
3. "A substantial portion of the
authorities cited [through footnotes] will be themselves."
4. "The most common pattern is by
far the simplest: the overwhelming mountain of contrary evidence is simply
never mentioned."
"The
malfeasance is relentless," Satinover concluded.
"It is appalling beyond imagination."
Other Speakers
During the luncheon, Dr.
Dean Byrd offered a rousing address.
"As I reviewed the
brief history of NARTH," he said, "it is nothing short of amazing
what has been accomplished." To continue this forward momentum, he said,
NARTH members should get more involved in the public sphere; work within the
national associations, and remember to continually remind those who would
silence them, that "diversity includes me."
Dr. Byrd then read from a
letter he wrote to the American Psychological Association:
"In your addresses
and written messages, you have repeatedly focused on the importance of
diversity. Even in the recent Monitor, you noted that APA has demonstrated 'a
lack of sensitivity or downright rudeness' toward marginalized groups. While it
is not my intent to be offensive, it seems that your response to APA members
who are members of NARTH reflects that insensitivity of which you are so critical.
"Client autonomy is
central to NARTH's mission. NARTH's
official position is that homosexuality is an adaptation For
some men and women, this adaptation is distressful and unsatisfying. NARTH
supports an individual's right to either claim a homosexual identity or to
pursue change in their adaptation in accordance with the ethical principle of
client self-determination.
"Though not all of
the patients that NARTH members treat are religious, many are. Is it not a
blatant disregard for their religious values and an affront to real diversity
to marginalize these individuals by failing to acknowledge their right to
choose how they will adapt sexually?
"The focus of NARTH's attention is a 'marginalized group within a
marginalized group'--those who feel that homosexual attractions are not who
they are and seek help in reconciling their unwanted sexual attractions with
their value systems. Would you or APA not find a place at the table for such
individuals or would you add to their distress by refusing to acknowledge that
they exist? Would you deny the importance of client autonomy and client
self-determination?"
"APA's
continuous messages of respect for diversity rings hollow if it does not
represent different worldviews....either you support client autonomy or you do
not; either you support client self-determination or you do not; either your
actions reflect diversity, or they do not.
"NARTH members and
supporters have impressive publication records in respected journals such as Professional
Psychology, Archives of Sexual Behavior, Psychological Reports, Journal of
Marriage and Family Therapy and the Journal of Law and Family Studies.
"Listen to one NARTH
supporter," he concluded, "and tell me who
you think he is. He said: 'I am here as the champion of one's right to
choose...It is my fervent belief that freedom of choice should govern one's
sexual orientation...If homosexuals choose to transform their sexuality into
heterosexuality, that resolve and decision is theirs and theirs alone, and
should not be tampered with by any special interest group.' This statement
was made by Dr. Robert Perloff -- a former APA
President."
Also during the luncheon,
attorney Scott Lively noted that NARTH's critics are
supported by tens of millions of dollars from foundations on the left, which
effectively permits them to "steer the culture through grants." In an
effort to begin reversing that trend, he recently created the Pro-Family
Endowment, with one of its initial grants being made to NARTH.
On Sunday, Dr. Norman Goldwasser offered an address describing the use of EMDR
(Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) therapy to help clients overcome
the effects of trauma and to actualize their heterosexual potential. Dr. Goldwasser says he had had considerable success using the
technique with same-sex attracted clients.
Also offering an address
was Nancy Heche, Ph.D., the mother of actress Anne Heche, a former lesbian. In a warm, inspirational and
emotionally stirring speech, Dr. Heche offered
support for families who have suffered from the discovery of a loved one's
same-sex attractions.
On Friday, Dr. Joseph Nicolosi offers a Men's Track workshop for in-depth
training of psychotherapists, while a Women's Track training workshop was
offered by Mary Beth Patton, M.A., L.P.C., Janelle Hallman, M.A., L.P.C., and
Cynthia Winn, M.A., M.F.T.
Other speeches and
roundtable discussions were offered by Alan Chambers of Exodus, Dr. Julie Harren, Dr. Jerry Harris, Konstantin Mascher
(from
http://www.narth.com/docs/cochran.html
by James E. Phelan, LCSW, CADAC, Psy.D
March 27, 2006 - Previous studies looking at
correlations between sexual orientation and substance abuse had been criticized
largely because of sampling issues. The samples in earlier studies were mainly
drawn in places where lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)
individuals congregated socially (namely, gay bars).
The criticisms, therefore,
were that these samples overestimated the prevalence of substance abuse
problems and pathology within the LGBT community. However, the present study,
supported in part by a grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse,
gathered its sample outside of social arenas. The researchers compared
substance abuse problems, psychopathology, and medial service utilization of
both heterosexuals and non-heterosexuals in a sample size of over 17,000. Both
groups were studied on matched criteria, that being that they had to be over 18
year of age and entered into a state-approved chemical treatment program.
Therefore, the researchers claim that their study provides a more
representative sample of both groups when investigating their substance abuse
characteristics.
The findings of the study
showed that openly LGBT individuals enter treatment with more severe substance
abuse problems, greater psychopathology, and greater medical service
utilization when compared to heterosexual clients.
As it related to substance
abuse issues, the findings showed that while heterosexuals are more likely to
endorse alcohol as a primary drug of abuse, LGBT steered toward harder
substances such as methamphetamines and crack. LGBT clients used drugs of abuse
more frequently than their heterosexual counterparts.
In terms of
psychopathology, LGBT clients took psychotropic medications in twice the
proportion of heterosexual clients. As far as domestic violence, openly LGBT
were significantly more likely to be victims of domestic violence than the
heterosexual population. In terms of overall health care utilization, LGBT
individuals more frequently sought services than heterosexual individuals. When
it came to interfacing with the legal system, however, heterosexuals were more
likely to have legal involvements than LGBTS clients.
In conclusion, the
researchers state "Although theses findings cannot resolve the question of
why LGBT individuals might abuse substances, the results point to a pattern of
more severe problems among openly LGBT clients than among heterosexual
clients." (p. 144).
This study adds weight to
the many other discussions citing greater pathologies within the LGBT
population. The authors, however, want to use the findings to justify more
"LGBT-specific substance abuse treatment programs." In spite of this,
the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment should be congratulated for
publishing the findings.
http://www.narth.com/docs/TheTrojanCouchSatinover.pdf
The
Trojan Couch: How the Mental Health Guilds Allow
Subverted
in Lockstep with the Political Aims of their Gay Sub Components
March
24, 2006 - A South African court convicted two lesbian lovers for the beating
death of Jandre Botha, four-year-old boy in 2003.
According to court
testimony, the boy was beaten to death by the lesbian lover of his mother
because he refused to address her as "Daddy." Engeline
de Nysschen and the boy's birth mother, Hanelie Botha, were both convicted of murder in the case.
Botha was held responsible for the death of her child because she failed to
intervene to save his life and lied to protect her lover.
Both women had claimed
that the boy had died after slipping and falling in a bathtub. However, a
medical examiner found that his injuries occurred after being in the tub. He
had a skull fracture, brain damage, two broken legs, collar bone, hands, and
pelvis.
Additional
http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=128&fArticleId=3171828
|
Slain because he refused
to call his mother's lesbian lover `Daddy' |
|
March 23, 2006 |
Four-year-old Jandre Botha
disobeyed an order to call his mother's lesbian lover "Daddy''.
So the lover, Engeline de Nysschen
(33), viciously assaulted Jandre while demanding that
he must call her "Daddy".
Jandre died from his injuries, which trauma expert
Professor Mohammed Dada said were similar to those of a person who had fallen
from a double-storey building.
Yesterday
Jandre's father, Jan Botha, sat in court holding the
hands of his fiancée, Yolanda Deysel, and listened
attentively to Willemse, who, in her judgment,
accepted evidence that among the reasons that led to Jandre's
brutal ordeal was his refusal to call De Nysschen
"Daddy".
The court had heard evidence from Lydia Nkomo and her
daughter Aletta Lesiba, who
worked for the couple in their tuckshop, that De Nysschen had viciously assaulted Jandre
while demanding that he must call her "Daddy".
Both testified that while Jandre was assaulted, his
mother failed to intervene or protect him. Evidence showed he had sustained
horrific injuries, including a fractured skull and brain damage, as well as
broken legs, collarbone, hands and pelvis.
Delivering judgment, Willemse acknowledged there was
no substantial evidence linking Hanelie Botha to the
assaults, but said she was equally guilty of murder for failing in her legal
duty to protect her child against abuse and violation.
The court found she had lied to Dr Elna Gibson, one of the medical doctors who treated Jandre, by saying the boy got his injuries after he had
slipped in the bath.
The court ruled that she had lied to protect De Nysschen.
The doctors who had examined Jandre dismissed the
pair's version that he had slipped in the bath. They said excessive force was
required to inflict the kind of fatal injuries sustained by Jandre.
Convicting the two, Willemse
dismissed their version and said there was substantial medical evidence before
her about the nature of the injuries suffered by Jandre.
"I accept the evidence of the medical personnel who are experts in their
fields. There were substantial documents placed before me. Most of them have
medical experience which spans over a period of 15 years.
"All of them have dismissed the version of the accused and were unanimous that
the deceased's injuries were inflicted over a period of time.
"It is unthinkable that the mother of the child could not have known about
these fatal injuries. The deceased also had broken legs, and his mother should
have been aware of this."
The magistrate criticised Botha for failing to report
Jandre's abuse at the hands of her lover to the
social workers monitoring Jandre's progress, after
she had gained custody of him during a lengthy court battle with her
ex-husband. She also failed to report the abuse to her ex-husband.
The boy's father became aware of Jandre's abuse only
on the day of his death, June 12 2003. De Nysschen
contacted him and said Jandre had fallen earlier in
the day and had died.
Willemse criticised Botha's
fitness to be a mother, saying her parents later approached her ex-husband and
gave him financial help to fight for the custody of his child.
Rebuking Botha, Willemse said: "Hanelie was not helpless. She was well aware of Engeline's violent outburst.
"She could have called the child's father for help but she failed to do
so. She did nothing to protect her own child."
The magistrate labelled Engeline
a liar and a hopeless witness who had contradicted herself in testimony.
Botha and De Nysschen were further convicted of assault
with intent to do grievous bodily harm and child neglect for failing to provide
or seek treatment for Jandre's limb fractures. The
case was postponed until June 26 for a pre-sentencing report.