Abstract
The purpose of this article is to review behavior-analytic publications to understand the field’s history of including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer (LGBTQ+) individuals in research publications. Twelve articles met the inclusionary criteria for review. The results of the review suggested that the representation of LGBTQ+ individuals is lacking in behavior-analytic literature. Of the 12 articles identified, two were categorized as experimental, three as commentaries, three as survey research, two as conceptual, and two as calls to action. The most prominent period for related publications was between 1973 and 1977, with long periods between other articles that were published in 1990, 1996, 2018, and 2019. Experiments published in the 1970s were associated with conversion therapy, to attempt to change an individual’s sexual or gender identity. However, other behavior analysts in the 1970s opposed these experiments. Since these early experiments, there have been no other interventions targeted at affecting the lives of gender and sexual minorities. Behavior analysts must address issues of significance faced by LGBTQ+ individuals through increasing affirming practices, reducing health disparities, increasing safety in schools, and more.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The review of Perspectives on Behavior Science included its previous title, The Behavior Analyst.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2018). Position statement on conversion therapy and LGBTQ patients. https://www.psychiatry.org/File%20Library/About-APA/Organization-Documents-Policies/Policies/Position-Conversion-Therapy.pdf
American Psychological Association. (2009). Report of the American Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation. https://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/therapeutic-response.pdf
Baer, D. M., Wolf, M. M., & Risley, T. R. (1968). Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1, 91–97. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1968.1-91.
Barlow, D. H., & Agras, W. S. (1973). Fading to increase heterosexual responsiveness in homosexuals. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 6, 355–366. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1973.6-355.
Barnett, B. S., Nesbit, A. E., & Sorrentino, R. M. (2018). The transgender bathroom debate at the intersection of politics, law, ethics, and science. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 46, 232–241. https://doi.org/10.29158/JAAPL.003761-18.
Brady, J. P., & Levitt, E. (1965a). The scalability of sexual experiences. The Psychological Record, 5, 275–270. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393595.
Brady, J. P., & Levitt, E. (1965b). The relation of sexual preferences to sexual experiences. The Psychological Record, 15, 377–384. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393603.
Brewster, M. E., Velez, B. L., Mennicke, A., & Tebbe, E. (2014). Voices from beyond: A thematic content analysis of transgender employees’ workplace experiences. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 1, 159–169. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000030.
Callahan, E. J., & Leitenberg, H. (1973). Aversion therapy for sexual deviation: Contingent shock and covert sensitization. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 81, 60–73. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0034025.
Conron, K. J., Landers, S. J., Reisner, S. L., & Sell, R. L. (2014). Sex and gender in the US health surveillance system: A call to action. American Journal of Public Health, 104, 970–976. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2013.301831.
Critchfield, T. S., Doepke, K. J., & Campbell, R. L. (2015). Origins of clinical innovations: Why practice needs science and how science reaches practice. In F. D. DiGennaro Reed & D. D. Reed (Eds.), Autism service delivery (pp. 1–23). Springer.
Dancey, C. P. (1990). The influence of familial and personality variables on sexual orientation in women. The Psychological Record, 40, 437–449. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03399552.
DeFelice, K. A., & Diller, J. A. (2019). Intersectional feminism and behavior analysis. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 12, 831–838. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-019-00341-w.
Formby, E. (2015). Limitations of focusing on homophobic, biphobic and transphobic “bullying” to understand and address LGBT young people’s experiences within and beyond school. Sex Education, 15, 626–640. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2015.1054024.
Fredriksen-Goldsen, K. I., Kim, H. J., Barkan, S. E., Muraco, A., & Hoy-Ellis, C. P. (2013). Health disparities among lesbian, gay, and bisexual older adults: Results from a population-based study. American Journal of Public Health, 103, 1802–1809. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2012.301110.
Graham, T. C. (2018). Conversion therapy: A brief reflection on the history of the practice and contemporary regulatory efforts. Creighton Law Review, 52, 419–426.
Haldeman, D. C. (1994). The practice and ethics of sexual orientation conversion therapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 221–227. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.62.2.221.
Haldeman, D. C. (2002). Gay rights, patient rights: The implications of sexual orientation conversion therapy. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 33, 260–264. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7028.33.3.260.
Kirkham, P. (2017). The line between intervention and abuse—Autism and applied behaviour analysis. History of the Human Services, 30(2), 107–126.
Leland, W., & Stockwell, A. (2019). A self-assessment tool for cultivating affirming practices with transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) clients, supervisees, students, and colleagues. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 12, 816–825. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-019-00375-0.
Malott, R. W. (1996). A behavior-analytic view of sexuality, transsexuality, homosexuality, and heterosexuality. Behavior and Social Issues, 6, 127–140. https://doi.org/10.5210/bsi.v6i2.286.
Matthews, P., Poyner, C., & Kjellgren, R. (2019). Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer experiences of homelessness and identity: Insecurity and home(o)normativity. International Journal of Housing Policy, 19, 232–253. https://doi.org/10.1080/19491247.2018.1519341.
Mayer, K. H., Bradford, J. B., Makadon, H. J., Stall, R., Goldhammer, H., & Landers, S. (2008). Sexual and gender minority health: What we know and what needs to be done. American Journal of Public Health, 98, 989–995. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2007.127811.
McGuire, R. J., & Vallance, M. (1964). Aversion therapy by electric shock: A simple technique. In L. Alexander (Ed.), Conditioning techniques in clinical practice and research (pp. 178–185). Springer.
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & Prisma Group. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. PLOS Medicine, 6, Article e1000097. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000097.
Morris, E. K., Altus, D. E., & Smith, N. G. (2013). A study in the founding of applied behavior analysis through its publications. The Behavior Analyst, 36, 73–107. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf03392293.
National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. (2011). Injustice at every turn. https://www.transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/NTDS_Report.pdf
Nordyke, N. S., Baer, D. M., Etzel, B. E., & LeBlanc, J. M. (1977). Implications of stereotyping and modification of sex role. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 10, 553–557. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1977.10-553.
Rekers, G. A. (1977). Atypical gender development and psychosocial adjustment. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 10, 559–571. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1977.10-559.
Rekers, G. A., & Lovaas, O. I. (1974). Behavioral treatment of deviant sex-role behavior in a male child. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 7, 173–190. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1974.7-173.
Russell, S. T., Horn, S., Kosciw, J., & Saewyc, E. (2010). Safe schools policy for LGBTQ students and commentaries. Social Policy Report, 24, 1–25.
Saville, B. K., Beal, S. A., & Buskist, W. (2002). Essential readings for graduate students in behavior analysis: A survey of the JEAB and JABA boards of editors. The Behavior Analyst, 25, 29–35. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392042.
Seelman, K. L. (2014). Recommendations of transgender students, staff, and faculty in the USA for improving college campuses. Gender and Education, 26, 618–635. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2014.935300.
Serovich, J. M., Craft, S. M., Toviessi, P., Gangamma, R., McDowell, T., & Grafsky, E. L. (2008). A systematic review of the research base on sexual reorientation therapies. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 34, 227–238. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2008.00065.x.
Shidlo, A., & Schroeder, M. (2002). Changing sexual orientation: A consumers’ report. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 33, 249–259. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7028.33.3.249.
Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. Simon and Schuster.
Smith, G., Bartlett, A., & King, M. (2004). Treatments of homosexuality in Britain since the 1950s—An oral history: The experience of patients. BMJ, 328, 427. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.37984.442419.EE.
Snycerski, S., Laraway, S., Gregg, J., Capriotti, M., & Callaghan, G. M. (2018). Implications of behavioral narratology for psychotherapy, help-seeking behavior, and substance use. Perspectives on Behavior Science, 41, 517–540. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-018-00182-y.
Tozer, E. E., & McClanahan, M. K. (1999). Treating the purple menace: Ethical considerations of conversion therapy and affirmative alternatives. The Counseling Psychologist, 27, 722–742. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000099275006.
Winkler, R. C. (1977). What types of sex-role behavior should behavior modifiers promote? Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 10, 549–552. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1977.10-549.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Morgan Salpietro, Sara Holt, and Keanna Bousquet for their assistance in completing the project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Morris, C., Goetz, D.B. & Gabriele-Black, K. The Treatment of LGBTQ+ Individuals in Behavior-Analytic Publications: A Historical Review. Behav Analysis Practice 14, 1179–1190 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00546-4
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00546-4