Reparative Therapy

Last night on Anderson Cooper AC360 on CNN they had a story about a boy who was subjected to reparative therapy (part 2 is tonight at 10:00pm). The boy was displaying feminine tendencies and his parents enrolled him in an experiment to correct the tendencies, the results affected him for the rest of his life. What is reparative therapy? It is where a child is forced into the gender of their birth, forced into a masculine roll. The child does not have to be transgender nor homosexual, but just display feminine tendencies, the therapy is based on “tough love” to make him more “macho”.

Therapy to change 'feminine' boy created a troubled man, family says
CNN
By Scott Bronstein and Jessi Joseph
June 7, 2011

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Kirk Andrew Murphy seemed to have everything to live for.

He put himself through school. He had a successful 12-year career in the Air Force. After the service, he landed a high profile position with an American finance company in India.

But in 2003 at age 38, Kirk Murphy took his own life.
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"Well, I [His mother] was becoming a little concerned, I guess, when he was playing with dolls and stuff," she said. "Playing with the girls' toys, and probably picking up little effeminate, well, like stroking the hair, the long hair and stuff. It just bothered me that maybe he was picking up maybe too many feminine traits." She said it bothered her because she wanted Kirk to grow up and have "a normal life."

Then Kaytee Murphy saw a psychologist on local television.

"He was naming all of these things; 'If your son is doing five of these 10 things, does he prefer to play with girls' toys instead of boys' toys?' Just things like this," she said.
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The therapy at UCLA involved a special room with two tables where "Kraig's" behavior was monitored, according to the study.

"There was a one-way mirror or one-way window -- and some days they would let him choose which table he would go to," said Maris, who has read about the experiments.

At one table Kirk could choose between what were considered masculine toys like plastic guns and handcuffs, and what were meant to be feminine toys like dolls and a play crib. At the other table, Kirk could choose between boys' clothing and a toy electric razor or items like dress-up jewelry and a wig.
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According to the case study, Kaytee Murphy was told to ignore her son when he played with feminine toys and compliment him when he played with masculine toys.
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At home, the punishment for feminine behavior would become more severe. The therapists instructed Kirk's parents to use poker chips as a system of rewards and punishments.

According to Rekers' case study, blue chips were given for masculine behavior and would bring rewards, such as candy. But the red chips, given for effeminate behavior, resulted in "physical punishment by spanking from the father."

They used a mother’s love as a weapon. The reward, a loving mother and candy. The punishment, a mother’s scorn and worst, the father beat him with a strap; they beat the woman out of him. They forced that part of him back into a little cornhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifer of his brain to fester.

Mark Murphy [His brother] vividly remembers a photo of a smiling young Kirk, age 4, taken a year before the therapy started.

"This is my brother, Kirk Andrew Murphy, right here," Mark said, pointing to the picture. "This is the way he's supposed to be right here," Mark said tearfully.

Mark said the photo shows the last time he remembers his brother as a happy child.
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"It left Kirk just totally stricken with the belief that he was broken, that he was different from everybody else," she [His sister] recalled. "He even ate his lunch in the boy's bathroom for three years of his high school career, if you want to call it that."

But his researchers called the experiment a success and published the results.

So what happened to the researchers?

He [George A. Rekers] became a founding member of the Family Research Council, a faith-based organization that lobbies against gay-rights issues. Rekers was also on the board of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, an organization of scientists that says its mission is to offer treatment to those who struggle with what they call "unwanted homosexuality."

He also co-authored, "Handbook of Therapy for Unwanted Homosexual Attractions”, but you may remember him more for what happened last year at the Miami International Airport where he was caught coming back from Europe with a male prostitute.

There are still many therapists who still believe in reparative therapy such as Dr. Zucker and there are a number of research studies to back them up. However, I think that the studies all reflect a major flaw that this article highlights; there are no longitudinal studies that follow the clients over 5, 10 and 15 years that study the quality of life after they have gone through reparative therapy. Are they better off? Are there more suicides? We just do not know. There is also no control group to compare with those who have had reparative therapy. They may be “cured” but they may have just learned to keep their feelings a secret and let it fester. However, what we do know is that a supportive family atmosphere can reduce suicides in LGBT youth.