 |
|
|
|
October 4th, 2011
07:35 AM ET
Study supporting gay conversion challengedA study designed by professors from two religious universities says that some people can change their sexual orientation after undergoing years of a ministry program. “Evidence from the study suggested that change of homosexual orientation appears possible for some and that psychological distress did not increase on average as a result of the involvement in the change process,” wrote the authors of a study published in The Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy. The authors are both psychologists who work at religious universities. Stanton Jones is a psychology professor and provost at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, and Mark Yarhouse is a professor of mental health at Regent University, in Virginia Beach, which was founded by televangelist Pat Robertson. Their study findings have been challenged by other researchers who say that the bulk of the existing evidence indicates that sexual orientation does not change. Gay advocacy blogs have also disputed the findings. Jones and Yarhouse's study followed 65 participants over a course of six to seven years as they attended Exodus Ministries, a religious program for “individuals and families impacted by homosexuality.” The individuals who attend the program seek to achieve “freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ,” according to Exodus. “It’s a study for people who are highly religious who are distressed by the experience of attraction,” Yarhouse said. “They want to know, is it even possible? What might I experience if I go into religious-based ministry?” Initially, the study enrolled 98 individuals, but 35 dropped out of the program. Some who quit the study said they had been “healed of all homosexual inclinations,” and one person had re-embraced his gay identity, according to the study. The courses were offered in 16 locations around the United States and met in small groups, spending time in prayer and reading the Bible. The study authors followed "the change process" of the participants by conducting annual interviews, asking the same questions about sexual attraction, emotional or romantic infatuation and sexual fantasies. They used scales devised by sex researcher Alfred Kinsey and another measure called Shively-DeCecco scale. Jones and Yarhouse's hypothesis was that sexual orientation is changeable. After following the participants for six to seven years of the religious program, they concluded that 23% of the remaining people in the study were successful in changing their sexual orientation toward heterosexuality. And 30% turned toward chastity, which Yarhouse said was “a reduction from homosexual attraction.” Also, 23% did not respond to the ministry’s treatment, 20% embraced their gay sexual orientation and the remaining percent reported confusion. “The findings of this study appear to contradict the commonly expressed view that sexual orientation is not changeable,” the authors wrote. The American Psychological Association declared in 2005 that homosexuality was not changeable. The association had also stated that there was no evidence that conversion or reparative therapy aimed at changing sexual orientation was safe or effective. “The APA was making pretty strong statements that orientation really doesn’t change and that attempts to do so would be harmful,” said Yarhouse. “They were presenting absolutist claims about this immutability of orientation and great risk of harm. They were ideal questions for research. Can people change? Or is it truly an immutable characteristic?” Eli Coleman, professor and director of Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota Medical School was skeptical about the findings. “We’ve been through this over and over,” he said. “You can get behavioral changes, but that’s not orientation change. You can get short-term behavioral change. It’s not sustained.” Yarhouse emphasized that his findings followed the participants for several years. He acknowledged that there are many in the LGBT community who find religious conversion programs “deeply offensive.” But he said there are gay people who wish to change and do not embrace the gay identity or the gay community. “I’d like to see mental health organizations to show greater respect for diversity for how a person chooses to live their life and live this out,” Yarhouse said. The study could be confusing sexual identity and sexual orientation, which are distinctly different, said Dr. Jack Drescher, an associate professor of psychiatry at New York Medical College. Sexual orientation refers to whom a person is attracted to, and in most cases, does not change, he said. But sexual identity is how a person feels about his or her orientation and sexual feelings, Drescher said. For example, a man may feel strong attraction to males, but he may not self-identify as gay. He could change the way he identifies himself, whether it’s gay or straight throughout his life. But his sexual orientation does not usually change. "I don’t think we have anything really new here," said Coleman. "We have known for sometime that some people are able to shift their behavior and their perception of their sexual identity through these attempts at conversion." Drescher said the majority of the existing scientific evidence doesn’t support the latest study's findings. “I think the authors have a bias and I have a bias,” Drescher said. “Everybody has a bias. That’s why we have accumulation of data – and that doesn’t support their data.” “There are peer-reviewed studies in the literature and the sum of all the literature does not indicate these treatments are effective,” he said. “If one study comes out that seems to contradict the bulk of the scientific research that proves that people can change - that’s interesting, can they replicate it?” Drescher also said that the study doesn’t explore whether bisexuality played a role in the reported sexual orientation changes. He disagreed with the findings that religious therapies do not harm people, saying he had several patients who blamed themselves after failing programs and fell into depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. “They’re told it’s up to them if they don’t change,” Drescher said. “When it fails, as it fails in majority of cases, they feel like failures, after they’ve spent time and effort and money. “Some of these people, on the advice of therapists, get married, then they have kids. Gay people have been getting married. When they get married, they don’t change. What do they do, stay married? It’s a complicated issue.”
Next entry »Is there a wrong way to detox off Xanax?
« Previous entryHuman Factor: TLC's T-boz on sickle-cell anemia, brain tumor
|
  About this blog
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love.
 |
|
|
|
Well, then there's even more hope that we can convert straight people into gays; all it takes is years in a special program...and fabulous furnishings.
Thank you, after this insane artical, I needed a good laugh.
Years of ministry? They obviously do not wield the power of 24/7 Richard Simmons. It can be done in weeks.
The Catholic Church has been doing it for centuries.
Pedophile priests aren't born, they're made.
haha 😀
Brains (neural patterns) are, by virtue of evolution (something I'm not sure these researches understand fully), changeable. Subjecting someone to what appears to be a form of brain washing for a very extended period of time should have the potential to change the subject given that the subject accepts the process. Aside from the apparent bias in the researchers themselves, I would think it might be a better use of their time to do something perhaps, original.
Strictly for the sake of control measures, shouldn't the researchers have amassed a group of straight evangelicals and applied a similar but opposite program on them to see if they turned out g ay. These people believe a lot of things they are told. I'm guessing 90% conversion, yes?
this whole BS btw is just another part of their BS claim that gays choose to be gay. A version of the old blaming the victim for the crimes of the victimizers.
ADULT STEM CELLS CURE'S AIDS / HIV and A NUMBER OF OTHER THINGS BUT WHY????? IS AMERICA BEING HELD BACK FROM THE MAJOR LEAP IN MEDICINE DOES AMERICA WANT TOO KILL YOU ??????? OTHER COUNTRIES MAKING MAJOR LEAPS INTO MEDICINE BUT AMERICA IS STILL IN THE STONE AGE WHY????? WHO BENEFITS THE FDA BIG CORPORATIONS .......???
As an educator, if my career became so incredibly pitiful that I had to teach at a university founded by "Pat Robertson," I would do the very best I could to remain silent and hope no one pays any attention to me. How embarrassing!
Nice ad hominem. Do you even know anything about Regent University? It's actually not a bad school.
dude man. guys. look how many people can't type or can't spell when they try to argue. hahahahaha its pretty cool
That these "psychologists" actually believe that any thinking person will take this study seriously this late in the course of human awareness is laughable, sad and just a little scary.
james... man dude. boss. im an animated bottle of water. life is scary dude. i agree.
James...although I agree with your sentiment, I disagree with your statement. A scientist would look at these findings and think, "Let's see if this is replicable." Does this study prove secs ual orientation can be changed?...NO! Would a study yielding the opposite results prove the opposite conclusion...NO! Science is based on (supposedly) un biased research (from any side) that uses procedures (e.g. independent variables) that can be replicated by other researchers. The thinking man would know that there are no easy answers and that sciences consistently changes (affirms/negates) our basis for thought on truth.
Let the swans sort it out.
The way I look at it, If God gives us all free will who am I to try to take it away from anyone. Everyone has to learn from their own mistakes. Just because we as Christians don't agree with your lifestyle doesn't mean we hate you.
It's not a lifestyle, it's a life. Brainwashing people to deny who they are is an act of hate.
@ mario. dude... where is luigi in this situation? @ taylor. man i agree. you got free will and christianity and all. thing is people see everyone being so loud and mad and turning their oppinions into fact and call it hate and get all hyped up. @mario again. man. life is powerful dude. life is powerful. people cant change the world with anger and hate. compassion dude. @both of you. man dude man guys dude.... youre cool people and i hope you have a good day. with all due respect, Carbonated Water.
I wish someone would develop a program to turn "christians" into human beings that can actually think for themselves. A Pat Robertson founded university? Don't tell me it's on this planet!
Well I always thoghut circling someone was a way to folow him, not to allow him to comment on own's profile.If I place you in my cicrles, I can write to you. If you place me in your circles, you can write to me. If I don't place you in my circles, I cannot write to you. If you don't place me in your circles, you cannot write to me.So the one who put the other in his circles can write to him.And the exceptions are peoples who allow everybody (or enlarged circles or ) to comment on them.That's what I thoghut.
I think everyone agrees with the data but not the conclusion here.
Can't make it due to a gig in Victoria Sunday night (for Jewish women only) but I recommend this ftiseval if you can get there. The one time I made it I received excellent coaching from Syd Lieberman and found a sweet story coat that listeners continue to enjoy. Looking forward to returning some day. Tried applying to tell there but was told I was a niche teller not their type. C'est la vie.
Conversion therapy is insulting, what's next bleaching people of color so they're less offensive to racist white people?
mario dude... mario. man. dude. man. dude. man. dude man... there isn't race dude there are just people. bleaching people would be really weird. not everyone is racist, race is just not real man...
Or tanning white people so they're less offensive to racist people of color. And what's with the whole "people of color" thing? Why isn't white a color?
To think that this is possible without detrimental effects is pure stupidity. Gay people are born gay AND they die gay. No matter what happens in between. Just let people live their truth and stop trying to change others to conform to your twisted view of the world!
I agree entirely. There is no doubt in my mind that that is true.
There does seem to be a flaw in both sides regarding the whole issue of being hardwired. There is no doubt some hard wiring in some people that allows them to choose their course. The one item that the study does present is that it is not a one size fits all answer. Some people are open to relationships across genders. I am not refering to "bar bi" people, just people that are open to any type of relationship. You can't change someone's basic desires, but if there basic desires is simply to be with someone they like, regardless of gender, then they may like or even respond to this so called therapy..I do generally find the rationale kind of hideous, but it's for individuals to decide.
Religion is a fairytale, sin is part of religion. Therefore, your logic is flawed. P.S- how about one single piece of tangible evidence to support your outrageous claims?
The fact that people still so firmly believe this ancient B.S is beyond me. You probably also believe Obama to be the a-n-t-i-c-h-r-i-s-t, correct?
Ignorance doesn't change reality.
dude man. its true boss. its true. dude.... have a cool day man.
Exactly.
True! And, sadly reality too often does not change ignorance.
being a cowardly moron is a sin. please keep it to yourself.
dude. Realitylover. dude man. dude... people are just swapping ideas, nobody here is a cowardly moron man. people just get really worked up when they can't make everyone else believe what they believe. man... peace. have a cool day dude. your pal, Carbonated Water.
Truth? What import is truth? My indicator of truth without any sarcasm is the effect of my actions. I prayed once to know who Jesus was, I dreamed of him one night after that prayer and he told me "Dont be afraid, its me Jesus, just have faith". Three years later I saw Veronica's vale. The Jesus I saw was the Jesus in the artifact. My action caused me to have a divine experience.
He told me to "just have faith", I understand its the faith that is important and not the rest because we cannot understand in this life what the truth is.
Sorry wrong post
Faith is what christians use as an excuse for not knowing what the hell is going on.
LMAO@chefdugan...only funnier thing that I've read on one of these posts was to the effect of,"the same people who disbelieve scientifically proven fact will readily believe that a snake gave a nekkid chick an apple in a garden"!
truthtalker, be introduced to the reality that reality loves you, my friend, and that it did so much that it sent truth to you so that you can take responsibility for your own actions, and not expect Jesus to.
Yeah, Michelle Bachman's husband had a ministry where he tried to "Pray away" the gay. Maybe if she gets elected she can pray the deficit down.
Had, past tense? Pretty sure it's still active.
How could anyone possibly argue with such a solid study? I mean it was performed by Christian anti-gay "scientists" with a massive statistical sample of 65 whole people!
And with this type of research, you already know what the conclusion is going to be; objectivity, impartiality, all that is thrown out at the start. That is how experts are converted into quacks!
What an F..'ng bunch of nonsense
Just more evidence why the Bible condemns such practice and says at 1 Corinthians 6:9 that such would NOT inherit the kingdom of God. And why he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
He is a fair God and would not have done so if they could not help it.
Well, I hope you've been out protesting in front of IHop or Red Lobster for serving abonimations in the eyes of the Lord.
So he destroyed an entire city, little babies, the innocent, to get to the guilty? You call that fair? Hope I'm never accused of a crime, and you're my juror...
Yeah make sure you don't post the whole Sodom and Gomorrah story, like the part where Lot, the only righteous man to be found, the only one worth saving, was actually such a degenerate that he offers both his young virgin daughters to be r@ped by a r@pe gang of men. If that happened today, he'd be locked up, registered as a $ex offender, they'd be removed from his home for life...which probably would have been a good idea SEEING AS HOW HE GOT BOTH HIS YOUNG DAUGHTERS PREGNANT.
THAT'S THE RIGHTEOUS MAN WORTH SAVING?
YOU PEOPLE ARE SO FAACKING SICK. YOU USE THIS BOOK AS A MORAL GUIDE??? HOW FRIGHTENING. GEEZ.
Patrick, that's absolutely brilliant!
“This is the sin of Sodom; she and her suburbs had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not help or encourage the poor and needy. They were arrogant and this was abominable in God’s eyes.” Ezekiel 16:48-49
Why can't we as human beings just accept other human beings for what they are, not what we want them to be. The world would be a much better place and there would be no need for this debate.
Umm, i guess if they really want to, and it works, then good for them. But, this seems really unlikely that it would really work. Those saying they were "healed" after a short while, I believe are kidding themselves. If they really did want to change and it was a complete success for them, great! I'm just really skeptical.
@Carbonated Water – Hey man, you gotta quit taking LSD with that water.
It all comes down to the individual and God. Everyone has a choice to make. They can either repent of their sin and embrace Jesus Christ, or they can live the way they want to live. Each choice has eternal consequences. Heaven or hell.
Exodus 21:20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.
You're choosing he 11.
The self-righteous, shallow religious are the poster children for anti-intellectualism. They're sheep following a fantasy fairytale which enables them to cope with a world they are too afraid to really investigate. Anything they are unable to emotionally or intellectually process they simply hold up the bible to exonerate themselves of blatant stupidity. The self righteous religious zealots are the most dangerous people in the world whether they be Christian, Jew or Islam...they all judge, condemn and even kill those who are not like them. Narrow minded Christian evangelicals have literally hijacked Christianity to hide, like a circled wagon train, from the real world.
in the name of
This is one of the most horrifying statements I have read on this board. You, James, are an ignorant, intolerant bigot. And I mean every word.
you can say you have changed. You can get married to a woman and have children and kiss your wife when you get home but you will probably never feel attracted to her as you do to a man. people can pretend to change but it will always be the same. all that trying to change does is make people become scared of their attraction. It doesn't help, just makes people unhappy.
Most gay people will tell you that they were born that way. Some studies have even shown that some gay men's brain structure is similar to a woman's brain. There is a difference in brain structure between males and females. So if god created them that way, why would the church think they need to try and change them.
But when people blindly accept ancient mythology as reality, nothing surprises me.
Have been gay all of my life and I really don't think I would want to change if there was some magic pill. Thank God my family was supportive unlike many of my friends that endured the hate that most religions teach today. When you have to face the truth within yourself no matter what it is, you become a better person. My advice to any young person that might think they are gay is to consider yourself lucky, be truthful to yourself and others, and just enjoy this life that is precious in the eyes of your creator.
Well said and touching.
Awww...you're sweet. I'm glad your family is supportive. It makes me sick to think of children who are abandoned by their families because of being gay.
I hope you live in a state where you're free to be who you were born to be. If you don't, I hope you choose to stand and fight for the rights that you were born with as an American. God bless.
While I don't believe what those "studies" supposedly found, the bigger question for me is "why would you want to change?" I think we need to get away from the notion that being gay is wrong and somehow needs a remedy. I know it's a difficult request for many gay folks out there, but please just be yourself and life your lifestyle OPENLY! The more you do, the more it will be come part of the mainstream. Let's kill all the bigots with kindness and just show them that there is nothing to fear.
After study a few of the blog posts on your website now, and I truly like your way of blgoigng. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website list and will be checking back soon. Pls check out my web site as well and let me know what you think.
It is too bad these people can't get some kind of conversion that will teach them to love themselves first. Why would someone work so hard to change who they really are? That is really sad.
Cancer is genetic too....doesn't mean I want it or that it is beneficial or correct. "It's cancer and it's genetic, just accept it, embrace it, make it who you are." Um....no thanks. Just a thought to consider. "It's genetic" is a cop-out and a crappy excuse to accept something as okay.
Like hand dominance or eye color???
...says the person who thinks they've "overcome" their preferences.
Some Christian people just feel they have to meddle in other people's lives when they don't see what is wrong in their own lives. Maybe there is some kind of conversion therapy THEY can go through. Chances are, they were just born that way... and it won't really work.
Amen, brother, Amen! You have just hit the nail right on the head! Kudos to you!!
We've had the ab ility to accura tely and affordably test people's $exual ity in a lab setting since the 1950s. And in all that time, not one person has ever been able to show that their $exual ity changed during the course of their lifetime. Not from ga y to str aight, not from s traight to ga y, not even from g ay to bi$ exual. Not through theraputic means and not through religious means. Also, there have been tons of studies done on ho mo$exuality – if it was a choice there would be precursors to that choice leading someone to want to be attracted to the same gend er or leading them to actually having attraction for the same ge nder – yet not one study has ever found any precursor or cause.
Of course "strai ght" men who know they'll get an er3ctio n or at least a partial e r3ction when looking at pictures of h ot men, will claim such testing is inaccurate, lol.
And of course organizations like Exodus REFUSE to take part in scientific testing.
They should have used a penile plethysmograph instead of self-reported questionnaires.
Right on, right on. God is the father of everything. He is the father of all people, gay, straight, etc. and trying to "convert" anyone at all attempts to usurp God's power. It's ironical that so many religious people don't want to worship God, but rather want to be Him...
I don't think putting religious beliefs into someone's head is going to change the way they were born. We are born either gay/lesbian/striaght. ITS NOT A CHOICE!! YOU CAN'T CHANGE WHO THEY ARE. JUST AS YOU CAN'T CHANGE YOUR SKIN COLOR. I don't understand why people can be so ignorant to our feelings. We bleed and have feelings just like everyone else. we are NO DIFFERENT!!!!!
I do trust all of the concepts you have oeefrfd for your post. They're really convincing and can certainly work. Still, the posts are too short for starters. May just you please extend them a bit from subsequent time? Thanks for the post.
+ Also very annoying that the plus app sceren is not able to toggle between vertical to horizontal views. Apple built that ability into the devices for a reason, it's necessary! Such an intuitive ability and you don't think about it until the ability is suddenly not there.
ADULT STEM CELLS CURE'S AIDS / HIV and A NUMBER OF OTHER THINGS BUT WHY????? IS AMERICA BEING HELD BACK FROM THE MAJOR LEAP IN MEDICINE DOES AMERICA WANT TOO KILL YOU ??????? OTHER COUNTRIES MAKING MAJOR LEAPS INTO MEDICINE BUT AMERICA IS STILL IN THE STONE AGE WHY????? WHO BENEFITS THE FDA BIG CORPORATIONS .......??
Selecting the most appropriate catalytic converter on your vehicle is increasingly identified among the most critical choices you'll make while maintaining your auto. Whether or not ...
By far the most concise and up to date infotmarion I found on this topic. Sure glad that I navigated to your page by accident. I’ll be subscribing to your feed so that I can get the latest updates. Appreciate all the infotmarion here
Pretty great post. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say that I've really enjoyed surfing around your blog posts. After all I'll be subscribing to your feed and I am hoping you write again very soon!
The Mississippi Sex Offender Registry lists registered sex offenders in the state of ... Also, you may use the map application to search your neighborhood or ...
Qui casse les verres les paie. https://www.cialis20.fr Health Service, is being enlarged to.
guaranteed viagra alternative buying viagra online legal buy viagra 100mg online
prescription viagra indian generic viagra sildenafil prices in india
over the counter female viagra pills where to buy sildenafil usa price of sildenafil in canada
comprare viagra farmacia viagra nao faz efeito is viagra over the counter canada
sildenafil 100mg price online real viagra from canada chewable viagra soft tabs
order sildenafil 100mg how to buy viagra online safely in india sildenafil prescription uk
where to buy female viagra canada sildenafil 10 mg daily purchase female viagra online
female viagra price where do i get viagra sildenafil 110 mg
I jak tu nie byc optymista ?. Moi dotychczasowi wrogowie okazali sie — jak dotad — takimi swiniami, jak przewidzialem. S. Lec. Czy znasz podstawowe Techniki Manipulacji ? Thx & Regards... 🙂
http://www.xmc.pl
rx pharmacy viagra viagra purchase in india female viagra india online
long lasting effects of viagra interazione viagra pompelmo viagra australian customs