Psychiatry, psychology, and homosexuality

E. Herman, M. Duberman

This book looks at how psychologists and psychiatrists have viewed and view homosexuality. The unifying thread throughout the book is the search for what is "normal." After a general opening chapter, Herman traces social science's views of and teachings about homosexuality from the late nineteenth century to today. She relates information about the historical evolution of social scientists and their view of homosexuals against a backdrop of the changing views of society at large. For example, discussions of Oscar Wilde and homosexuals in World War II cover both popular culture and social science at two very different historical points. Herman discusses the theories, views, and work of such leading scientists as Sigmund Freud, Evelyn Hooker, Alfred Kinsey, and Masters and Johnson, showing the relationship between their work and the evolution of the gay liberation movement.