aversion therapy - Aversion therapy and homosexuality, Aversion therapy and "sexually deviant" youth

A process in which an unpleasant experience is induced (eg by pharmacological, physical, or electrical means) in association with an undesirable behaviour, in an attempt to inhibit or eliminate by this conditioning the undesirable behaviour. The technique has been used in a wide range of conditions, including smoking and alcohol dependence; some have tried to use it in changing sexual orientation.

Aversion therapy is a form of psychiatric treatment in which the patient is exposed to a stimulus while simultaneously being subjected to some form of discomfort.

Aversion therapies can take many forms, from relatively mild (simply scolding a child for mischief, or placing unpleasant-tasting substances on the fingernails to discourage nail-chewing), to other behaviours, such as giving disulfiram to an alcoholic to discourage drinking, or even application of electric shocks.

Aversion therapy and homosexuality

Aversion therapy has been used in attempts to convert homosexual individuals to heterosexuality. Seligman reports that while aversion therapy to "treat" homosexuality is controversial, it can be safely reported that, in some instances, the process "worked surprisingly well," with up to 50% of men subjected to such therapy not acting on their homosexual urges. 156) However, Seligman notes that the findings were later demonstrated to be "flawed": most of the men treated with aversion therapy who did in fact stop homosexual behaviour were actually bisexual. Among men with an exclusive or near-exclusive homosexual orientation, aversion therapy was far less successful. (Seligman, p157)

A notorious case of aversion therapy occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, when suspected homosexuals (both male and female) in the South African Defense Force underwent aversion therapy and chemical castration. Aversion therapy sometimes involved applying electric current, via electrodes, to men while they were shown pictures of naked men.

Injections of apomorphine were also reportedly used as part of aversion therapy for homosexuality, resulting in violent illness. From the available data, four studies reported a "success" rate during conversion therapy of 0.4%, 0.0%, 0.5% and 0.04%. That is, conversion therapy has a failure rate in excess of 99.5% during each study. Considering the anecdotal data which indicates a large percentage of extremely depressed and suicidal clients emerging from conversion therapy, it would appear that this form of therapy is worthless.

Since as early as 1994, the American Psychological Association has declared aversion therapy as a dangerous practice that doesn't work. As of 2006, aversion therapy, when used to treat homosexuality, is in violation of the codes of conduct and professional guidelines of the American Psychological Association and American Psychiatric Association. Aversion therapy as for "treatment" of homosexuality is reportedly illegal in some countries.

Aversion therapy and "sexually deviant" youth

Forced aversion therapy is still sometimes used on children and teenagers who violate sex laws, and especially used on individuals believed to have deviant sexual feelings. Since then, policies have usually discouraged the use of forced aversion therapy on children under 14. A radio commercial in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas refers to the practice of aversion therapy. The movie Latter Days shows aversion therapy being used in an attempt to cure a young man's homosexuality.