Redefining Deviance

[Michie]

Recent controversy at Franciscan University highlights how definitions of homosexuality and deviant behavior have changed over the years.

The success that the gay community has achieved in shedding the “deviant” label has relied upon convincing the heterosexual world that homosexual behavior is perfectly normal. The recent uproar over a social work course titled “Deviant Behavior” at Franciscan University of Steubenville—which lists homosexuality as a form of deviant behavior—demonstrates just how vigilant the gay community remains in confronting anyone who might suggest that homosexual behavior could be anything but normal. It also shows how difficult it is for faithful Catholic institutions to teach students what the Church says about the nature of homosexual acts.

The dispute at the Steubenville, Ohio university emerged when two graduates —both members of the Franciscan Gay Alumni and Allies Facebook group—issued a press release complaining about the course description, which lists homosexuality as a form of deviant behavior. The group has demanded that the university revise its course descriptions “to stop contributing to the culture of hate and ignorance.” According to press reports, the alumni also encouraged other Facebook group members to contact the social work accrediting agency to investigate the matter and to contact the university. In an interview with National Public Radio, Stephen Holloway, the director of the office of accreditation at the Council on Social Work Education, said the course description was a matter of concern. “The fact that homosexuality was identified in the course description as deviant behavior raises a flag,” said Holloway.

“Understanding diversity and difference and their dynamics in society [are] critical for social workers to be effective in working with diverse populations.” The Council’s Commission for Diversity and Social and Economic Justice houses a council on sexual orientation and gender identity which works for the “full participation of individuals who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or two-spirit in social work education.” Further, the Council requires that social work education “advance human rights and social and economic justice.”

Continued- http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/1617/Redefining_Deviance.aspx

 

[FearlessFreep]

Who would have thought that it would only take one presidential term of gay activism to take away freedom of speech and freedom of religion for America? If Obama can change America this much, I'm scared to think what he will do with another four years when he pulls out all the stops since he won't be worried about getting reelected. Maybe they might change the constitution to make his presidency indefinite. At this point, nothing will surprise me.

 

[Genersis]

Who would have thought that it would only take one presidential term of gay activism to take away freedom of speech and freedom of religion for America? If Obama can change America this much, I'm scared to think what he will do with another four years when he pulls out all the stops since he won't be worried about getting reelected. Maybe they might change the constitution to make his presidency indefinite. At this point, nothing will surprise me.

I guess he has three-fourths of the state legislatures in his pocket or something.
Who am i kidding, i guess he'll use the military instead or something.

I wonder how you come to the conclusion: that this is Obama's fault, that this has anything to do with the government, and that this is a new idea that has appeared only in the last four years?

Meh.

Perhaps it should be noted what the Catholic Church considers deviant is not the same as what sociology consider deviant, nor does it carry the same connotations.
Nor is it synonymous with "disordered" like the article makes out.

 

[Chrystal-J]

Who would have thought that it would only take one presidential term of gay activism to take away freedom of speech and freedom of religion for America? If Obama can change America this much, I'm scared to think what he will do with another four years when he pulls out all the stops since he won't be worried about getting reelected. Maybe they might change the constitution to make his presidency indefinite. At this point, nothing will surprise me.

Ditto. I'm thinking the same thing myself.

 

[Fish and Bread]

Hey, you know what a great way to follow in the footsteps of a man-god who's chief command was "Love your neighbor as yourself" would be? Creating a list of people to label "deviant" and ostracize!

Then when people say "You know, maybe we shouldn't label people deviant", add them to the list of deviants and randomly, following no line of reasoning that even distantly resembles logic, blame their objections on our nation's first black President, because, hey, he's not white, and clearly the source of all the world's problems. And, hey, maybe someone can post some strange conspiracy theory that has nothing to do with the topic but manages to cast this mostly moderate diplomatic President who likes to reach across party lines and spend time with his family as if he were the reincarnation of Stalin, because, you know, it's a thread on a Christian message forum and therefore has to have some sort of far right-wing political spin tossed in there to be complete.

Yeah, I'd like to redefine deviance. Redefine it as "anachronistic"- i.e. a word no longer used. Because it doesn't contribute to anything except division and bad feelings.

Do you have any idea how high the suicide rate is among gays? Well, neither do I, but I'm sure stuff like this doesn't help their self-image.

Just to pre-empt a likely response- I'm not saying a Catholic school can't teach that homosexual acts are wrong. I'm just saying this is an extremely poor choice of words on their part. They ought to rethink it. I went to Catholic school for 10 years and I don't remember ever being told anyone was "deviant"- maybe because I didn't go to school in the 1950s. I thought we'd moved beyond that kind of language.

 

[Rhamiel]

Hey, you know what a great way to follow in the footsteps of a man-god who's chief command was "Love your neighbor as yourself" would be? Creating a list of people to label "deviant" and ostracize!

Then when people say "You know, maybe we shouldn't label people deviant", add them to the list of deviants and randomly, following no line of reasoning that even distantly resembles logic, blame their objections on our nation's first black President, because, hey, he's not white, and clearly the source of all the world's problems. And, hey, maybe someone can post some strange conspiracy theory that has nothing to do with the topic but manages to cast this mostly moderate diplomatic President who likes to reach across party lines and spend time with his family as if he were the reincarnation of Stalin, because, you know, it's a thread on a Christian message forum and therefore has to have some sort of far right-wing political spin tossed in there to be complete.

Yeah, I'd like to redefine deviance. Redefine it as "anachronistic"- i.e. a word no longer used. Because it doesn't contribute to anything except division and bad feelings.

Do you have any idea how high the suicide rate is among gays? Well, neither do I, but I'm sure stuff like this doesn't help their self-image.

Just to pre-empt a likely response- I'm not saying a Catholic school can't teach that homosexual acts are wrong. I'm just saying this is an extremely poor choice of words on their part. They ought to rethink it. I went to Catholic school for 10 years and I don't remember ever being told anyone was "deviant"- maybe because I didn't go to school in the 1950s. I thought we'd moved beyond that kind of language.

so you think that there is no such thing as "deviant behavior"?
that this term should not be used at all in modern psychology or sociology classes?

it is not loving to ignore problems
to just stick our heads in the sand because it is the PC thing to do

though I have to admit that blaming this stuff on Obama is kind of dumb
lol it is not like the gay rights movement just came fully formed three years ago
this stuff has been going on for a while

 

[Elysium]

what the heck does any of this have to do with obama
he didnt write the DSM series
he didnt revise it
he has no power whatsoever over the APA
homosexuality was listed as a deviant behavior in the 70s
it was revised in the 80s or 90s and now its not listed as a deviant behavior anymore

i have no idea why you brought up obama because it has nothing to dow ith him

the only thing he did lately is a) say he has no problem with gay civil unions and b) repealed DADT

none of that is related to the DSM series or the APA

 

[Rhamiel]

what the heck does any of this have to do with obama
he didnt write the DSM series
he didnt revise it
he has no power whatsoever over the APA
homosexuality was listed as a deviant behavior in the 70s
it was revised in the 80s or 90s and now its not listed as a deviant behavior anymore

i have no idea why you brought up obama because it has nothing to dow ith him

the only thing he did lately is a) say he has no problem with gay civil unions and b) repealed DADT

none of that is related to the DSM series or the APA

exactly
Obama has nothing to do with this

one thing to look into though
why was Homosexual behavior removed as deviant behavior in the 1980's?

 

[paul becke]

Maybe the Franciscans should say, 'Well, when you stop calling heterosexual people 'straight', it might make a little more sense for you to require us to avoid calling homosexuality "deviant". By calling heterosexual people "straight", you are as good as calling yourselves, "bent".

Where is the consistency? Customary usage is of that technical term, but still the mainstream get pilloried for it by the militant homosexuals. They don't like the authority of the technical term 'normal' applied heterosexuality, nor the technical term, 'deviant', applied to homosexuality. Yet the vernacular, 'bent', the antonym of 'straight' is, understandably, even more abhorrent to them. What gaiety and rainbows have has to do with homosexuality is something of a conundrum, and are certainly not technical words.

'Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.' - Isiah 5:20

 

[Genersis]

what the heck does any of this have to do with obama
he didnt write the DSM series
he didnt revise it
he has no power whatsoever over the APA
homosexuality was listed as a deviant behavior in the 70s
it was revised in the 80s or 90s and now its not listed as a deviant behavior anymore

i have no idea why you brought up obama because it has nothing to dow ith him

the only thing he did lately is a) say he has no problem with gay civil unions and b) repealed DADT

none of that is related to the DSM series or the APA

The DSM lists mental disorders.
Not deviant behaviours.

Again; "disorder" and "deviant" aren't synonymous.

 

[Genersis]

exactly
Obama has nothing to do with this

one thing to look into though
why was Homosexual behavior removed as deviant behavior in the 1980's?

If by deviant, you mean mental disorder, see:
Sexual orientation, homosexuality and bisexuality

 

[Elysium]

oh sorry about that
the dsm did list homosexuality as a psychological disorder at one point
theres a thread on obob about it but its an old thread
people went crazy over it

my parents have abnormal psych texts from the late 70s and homosexuality is listed there
but when my bro took psych 5 years ago it wasnt listed in his abnormal psych

so within 30yrs something changed

and it wasnt obama

 

[Rhamiel]

The DSM lists mental disorders.
Not deviant behaviours.

Again; "disorder" and "deviant" aren't synonymous.

you link does not really say why homosexual desires are no longer listed as a mental disorder, it just points out that calling something a mental disorder can be hurtful and be used to discriminate agianst others

 

[Rhamiel]

oh sorry about that
the dsm did list homosexuality as a psychological disorder at one point
theres a thread on obob about it but its an old thread
people went crazy over it

my parents have abnormal psych texts from the late 70s and homosexuality is listed there
but when my bro took psych 5 years ago it wasnt listed in his abnormal psych

so within 30yrs something changed

and it wasnt obama

I heard an interview with a psychatrist about a year or two ago
this was on NPR and he was talking about how they got Homosexuality removed as a disorder
he did not talk about science at all
but that he and the "young turks", a nickname for the young liberal psychiatrists he worked with, just felt it was time for sociatiy to move past the religious morality that held them back and infringed upon science.
he did not talk about any tests or research he had done to prove that homosexuality was not a mental disorder
just that he wanted to dictate a new morality

 

[Rhamiel]

i believe this was the group he was with?
Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Genersis]

you link does not really say why homosexual desires are no longer listed as a mental disorder, it just points out that calling something a mental disorder can be hurtful and be used to discriminate agianst others

Sorry, my mistake:

...
Is Homosexuality A Mental Disorder?
No. All major professional mental health organizations have gone on record to affirm that homosexuality is not a mental disorder. In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association’s Board of Trustees removed homosexuality from its official diagnostic manual, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Second Edition (DSM II). The action was taken following a review of the scientific literature and consultation with experts in the field. The experts found that homosexuality does not meet the criteria to be considered a mental illness.
...

Sexual Orientation
From the American Psychiatry Association; the organisation who actually publish the DSM. Not the American Psychological Association.

I blame tiredness...

 

[Fish and Bread]

so you think that there is no such thing as "deviant behavior"?

I don't think the use of the term "deviant" to refer to minority behaviors that harm no one is humane or prudent. The word has such a negative connotation that it can be hurtful to those it targets, reinforces discriminatory attitudes among those who are prone to them, and is just generally unhelpful to anyone involved. The course could have easily been titled in such a way that the language was less inflammatory- such as "Catholic Sexuality", "An Examination of Sexual Immorality from a Catholic Perspective", or some such.

Maybe the Franciscans should say, 'Well, when you stop calling heterosexual people 'straight', it might make a little more sense for you to require us to avoid calling homosexuality 'deviant'. By calling heterosexual people 'straight', you are as good as calling yourselves, 'bent'. Where is the consistency?

One would think that the Franciscans, given their long venerable history and the religious nature of what they do, would aim for more than some sort of moral linguistic parity with secular groups, and not get into a tit for tat like "Well, you guys call heterosexuals straight, and we don't like that or think it implies something negative about homosexuals, so we'll call homosexuals something you won't like and use that as an excuse.". Isn't religion supposed to be encouraging people to turn the other cheek? You'd think the Franciscans would want to set a good example irrespective of what everyone else was doing.

 

[Wolseley]

Every day, I get closer and closer to moving into a cave......

 

[Rhamiel]

I don't think the use of the term "deviant" to refer to minority behaviors that harm no one is humane or prudent

you are sadly mistaken
homosexual actions harm the soul

 

[Chany]

Every day, I get closer and closer to moving into a cave......

What kind of cave? It might be cozy with the right touches.