sexuality and pcp

raskin@maple.circa.ufl.edu
Fri, 01 Apr 1994 14:24:00 EDT

This is in response to Uriel Meshoulam's message, which read:
"Does anyone have good references that relate to the topic of the construction
of sexual identity? This may relate to issues such as the development of
sexual identity in the adolescence, the concept of homosexuality (as construed
by homosexuals and heterosexuals), the construction of masculinity &
femininity,
etc. If you know any litrature which deals with therapy as related to these
issues, or has interesting implications to therapy - all the better."

I don't know if this is of interest to you, but currently Franz Epting, Tim
Burke, and myself are working on a paper that critiques the
homosexual-heterosexual dimension. We argue that "homosexual vs. heterosexual"
is a preemptive construct that prevents us from seeing people as fully human
because it encourages us to infer about their personalities based on their
sexual behavior. The paper is currently in development, but we hope to have it
in shape to present it in Indianapolis at the NAPCN conference this July.
There is more to the paper than just what I've mentioned above, but that is the
core idea of it anyhow. A very useful book on sexuality you might find useful
is by Jeffrey Weeks (1986), and is simply titled SEXUALITY. It is published by
Tavistock. Also, Vivien Burr and Trevor Butt's (1992) INTRODUCTION TO
PERSONAL CONSTRUCT PSYCHOLOGY has an excellent chapter entitled "Am I a
Homosexual." It offers a clear, concise pcp approach to homosexuality as a
construct. I highly recommend it.

If you have any thoughts on this topic, please bring them up. I would love to
hear what you are working on in this area. It might help Franz, Tim, and me to
further elaborate the ideas we are developing in our paper.

Regards,

JONATHAN RASKIN
U of Florida
Dept. of Psychology
Gainesville, FL 32611