Aversion therapy for sexual deviations: A critical review.

Abstract

Psychotherapeutic and psychoanalytic methods have a poor record in the treatment of sexual deviations, so that attempts to apply aversion therapy techniques are justified and are becoming increasingly frequent. Aversion therapy techniques used to date in the treatment of homosexuality and other sexual deviations are described and critically assessed from the point of view of the experimental psychology of learning. Many deficiencies are pointed out and suggestions for improvements are made. There is good evidence to support the use of instrumental rather than classical conditioning, and of electrical rather than chemical aversion. While results to date are encouraging, they are by no means conclusive. It is strongly emphasized that future progress lies in maintaining close links with general experimental psychology and with clinical psychiatry.

Generalization of Punishment Effects—a Case Study

“…) How to maintain improvements and to achieve generalized suppression is a practical problem of formidable dimensions. (Feldman, 1966;Feldman and MacCulloch, 1965) and "office treatment" of behavior assumes transfer to the patient's natural environment, an assumption which hardly conforms to the available data.The subject used in the present study presented an opportunity to study generalization effects because the nature of the problem behavior required an indirect approach. The target behavior, biting other children, did not occur in the presence of observers and occurred very infrequently (eight times in the 125 days preceding this study).…”

“…Aversion therapies provide a second model but to date the results have been mixed or indeterminate (Feldman, 1966;Feldman and MacCulloch, 1965) and "office treatment" of behavior assumes transfer to the patient's natural environment, an assumption which hardly conforms to the available data.…”

Kaçindirma Tedavi̇si̇

“…Rachman (1965) ve Barker (1965) elektriksel kaçınmanın avantaj larına değinerek, kimyasal kaçınmanın hasta ve terapist için olan hoş nutsuzluklarını belirtmişlerdir (Feldman, 1966). Elektriksel kaçınmanın üstünlüğünü kabul edenler çoktur.…”

Personality and the Treatment of Homosexuality

“…Several authors, e. g. Max (1935), Freund (1960), yumes (1962) (1964) have reported treatment of homosexuality by various forms of aversion therapy, which have been reviewed by Feldman (1966). None discussed the personality structure of their patients in clinical terms, or the relationship of personality structure to the outcome of treatment.…”