Homosexuality: A Psychoanalytic Study of Male Homosexuals
Cover of the first edition
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| Authors | Irving Bieber, Harvey J. Dain, Paul R. Dince, Marvin G. Drellich, Henry G. Grand, Ralph R. Gundlach, Malvina W. Kremer, Alfred H. Rifkin, Cornelia B. Wilbur, Toby B. Bieber |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Male homosexuality |
| Published | 1962 (Basic Books) |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 358 |
| ISBN | |
| LC Class | 62-11203 |
Homosexuality: A Psychoanalytic Study of Male Homosexuals is a 1962 book about the development of male homosexuality by the psychoanalyst Irving Bieber, writing with Harvey J. Dain, Paul R. Dince, Marvin G. Drellich, Henry G. Grand, Ralph R. Gundlach, Malvina W. Kremer, Alfred H. Rifkin, Cornelia B. Wilbur, and Toby B. Bieber. Though the work was influential and earned Bieber the status of psychoanalytic expert on homosexuality, it has been criticized on a variety of methodological grounds and several of its authors' claims were later repudiated by the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association.
Homosexuality was the product of a ten-year investigation that employed the services of eight psychoanalysts and one clinical psychologist. They compared the analytic treatment of 106 male homosexuals to an unmatched sample of 100 heterosexual male patients in analytic treatment. They gathered data from a 450-item questionnaire, which they developed and submitted to treating therapists. The questions, which were answered by the therapists, concerned the family constellations of patients as reported in therapy. Information was gathered regarding patients' feelings about their mothers, fathers, siblings, and peers, the perceived effect that such figures had on their aggressive, sexual and independent activity, and memories of activities and preferences during childhood and latency.
The study's findings concerned three broad areas: mother-son relationships, father-son relationships, and developmental patterns. A significantly greater proportion of homosexuals had "close-binding-intimate mothers" who were seductive to their sons and also overcontrolling and inhibiting. A significantly higher proportion of homosexuals also reported having detached, hostile, or rejecting fathers whom they hated or feared during their childhoods. Fathers who did not fit that description were sometimes seductive toward their sons, but in all cases profound interpersonal disturbance characterized relations between fathers and sons. None of the fathers of the 106 male homosexuals were warmly related to their sons. It was also found that boys who grew up to be homosexual "fit the stereotype of the sissy during latency and adolescence, fearing physical injury and avoiding aggressive activity."
From their findings, Bieber and his colleagues concluded that a family constellation that included a close-binding-intimate mother and a hostile, detached, and rejecting father strongly predisposed a child to become homosexual. They rejected the idea that constitutional factors play an important role in the development of homosexuality. They also rejected Sigmund Freud's insistence on the centrality of constitutional bisexuality, accepting Sándor Radó's arguments against Freud's theories about bisexuality. They denied that there is any homosexual phase in psychosexual development, having found that 41% of the heterosexual controls reported having had no homosexual "problem." They concluded that "latent homosexuality" does not exist and that homosexuality should be considered "latent heterosexuality." Lewes comments that their rejection of Alfred Kinsey's figures for the incidence of homosexuality seemed supported by their theoretical conclusions. Bieber claimed that 1% or 2% of people were homosexual.
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