suzeonline,
“The A.P.A. at that time had adopted a new set of criteria for defining psychological disorder. To be disordered, a condition must:
1. regularly cause distress, or
2. interfere with social effectiveness.
The Psychiatric Association pointed to the excellent occupational performance and good social adjustment of many homosexuals as evidence of the normalcy of homosexuality. But such factors do not...exclude the presence of psychopathology. Psychopathology is not always accompanied by adjustment problems; therefore, the criteria are in reality, inadequate to identify a psychological disorder.
....psychopathology can be ego-syntonic and not cause distress; that social effectiveness--that is, the ability to maintain positive social relations and perform work effectively--may in fact coexist with psychopathology.
A task force was set up to study homosexuality, but the members chosen included not a single psychiatrist who held the view that homosexuality was not a normal adaptation. There followed riots at scientific meetings by gay activists who increased the pressure on the Psychiatric Association.
………is it the proper domain of psychiatry to remove diagnoses to eliminate prejudice?
Dr. Bieber pointed out that there were several other conditions in the DSM-II that did not fulfill the "distress and social disability" criteria: voyeurism, fetishism, sexual sadism, and masochism. A.P.A.'s Dr. Spitzer replied that these conditions should perhaps also be removed from the DSM-II -- and that if the sadists and fetishists were to organize as did the gay activists, they, too, might find their conditions normalized.
Summary
The factors that determined the decision of the APA to delete homosexuality from DSM-II were summarized as follows:
1. Gay activists had a profound influence on psychiatric thinking.
2. A sincere belief was held by liberal-minded and compassionate psychiatrists that listing homosexuality as a psychiatric disorder supported and reinforced prejudice against homosexuals. Removal of the term from the diagnostic manual was viewed as a humane, progressive act.
3. There was an acceptance of new criteria to define psychiatric conditions. Only those disorders that caused a patient to suffer or that resulted in adjustment problems were thought to be appropriate for inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual."

cont...
Interestingly, and consistent with the above:
"In DSM-IV, the APA changed its criteria in a way that made room for the psychologically normal type of pedophile. A person who molested children was considered to have a psychiatric disorder only if his actions "caused clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning." In other words, a man who molested children without remorse, and without experiencing significant impairment in his social and work relationships, could be diagnosed--at least theoretically--as a "psychologically normal" type of pedophile."
I guess that's progress!
however..
"Public outrage from the (American) (P)sychological (A)ssociation's (publication of a controversial study by Rind, et al. which concluded that man-boy, "consensual" sexual relationships were not necessarily harmful and might even be positive.) must have touched the American Psychiatric Association as well, because psychiatry ... instituted a change in its most recent diagnostic manual--the Text Revision of the DSM-IV--regarding the definition of pedophilia. Now, as before, merely acting upon one's pedophilic urges is sufficient for a diagnosis of disorder."

Proxy, I am not really sure what you are getting at?

I guess we could pretend that there were enough homosexuals in the world who could sway the thoughts of psychiatrists, but I very much doubt it. Homosexuality is not that prevalent.

However, at the end of the day, any civilised society still lists paedophilia as a criminal act, while homosexuality is not.

The latest twaddle from the Catholic Church hierarchy suggesting it is not celibacy that has caused priests to commit child sex abuse, but homosexuality, made me laugh out loud!

Suddenly, the Catholic Church are saying they had many homosexual priests in their ranks over the years, because that is far more preferable to saying they were just the same dirty little run-of-the-mill paedophiles that are present in the wider community, only they were preaching goodness to the faithful on Sundays!

Well said Suzie.

The Church (and others) trying to pin the blame on homosexuals didn't make me laugh though; it made me sad. The persecution of homosexuals is a red herring and something where the Church may have the notion that it can bond again with the wider community, sad to say.

I want to add a comment that I read elsewhere, saying that it doesn't make any difference to a child victim what the offender's sexual orientation or preference is - the child suffers anyway.

*Boazy* U are to be commended for doing a sterling job.
Please do keep up the good work at digging all this claptrap up.

..

Now, I would say that catholic psychiatry is exemplified by the Exorcism room.

"What a wonderful day for an Exorcism."

..

So, let us consider the basis for one of the more Hellish psychiatric conditions like "Paranoid Schizophrenia." As a matter of medical fact, we know if we treat the D2 strand of the dopamine transporter, we can largely eradicate the positive symptoms of hallucinations. And if we treat the 5HT2A strand of the Serotonin transporter, we can largely eradicate that altered state of consciousness commonly referred to as psychosis.

..

"Do not despise my command because you know me to be a sinner!"

..

Thus, I ask you, what is the underlying medical basis for homosexuality in "catholic" psychiatry? Hmmm? Let me help you out here, there is no basis in medical fact and that is why the bigoted idiocy has been removed in modern understanding and teaching.

..

"The Blood of the Martyrs compels you!"

..

I guess for all your complaints about the Muslims in Malaysia you at least share their views when it comes to Homosexuality.

..

"And Christ HimSelf compels you!"

..

Not only did the Nazis attempt to exterminate all Gays, but also all Schizophrenics as well.

..

Activists is not the way I would refer to "our" Gay friends. I rather see them as acting out of necessity due to a state of being unnecessarily aggrieved by others.

And the propensity of catholics to inflict themselves on others is clearly demonstrated in those cases where they abuse children, both young, innocent, immature girls and boys, and no doubt in principal accounts for something of the horrific history of your Church of Lies, what with the witch hunts and all of the rest of it.

Hi Foxy,

You always approach topics with a very responsible and caring attitude...I fail in that area sometimes...(often)...(always)...lol but I am trying to learn.

I was going to get to Dershowitz's conclusion but I thought I only had two entries in 24 hours of 350 words each. I must remember to read the rules occasionally.....OOps.

I agree with the basic conclusion even though it is somewhat lacking, and as this topic heading mentions the Catholic Church I have tried to stay on topic. The Catholic Church has been singled out often, possibly enabling other organisations and Churches to silently make similar mistakes.

I hope Dershowitz means the prompt reporting to external authorities including the Police and not a continuance of the internal reporting system that still prevails in many countries. The Police have many well trained people with expertise in this area to properly investigate all allegations.

Further to your approach on this topic I did a small amount of investigation into the current Pope. He has detractors and fans so it is difficult to find a balanced view.

I found this article (yes critics may say it is Catholic) but it seems to be balanced in it's approach. It at least gives several perspectives.

http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/will-ratzingers-past-trump-benedicts-present

The 2001 letter in Latin which may or may not have been misinterpreted or selectively interpreted I think is this one...Not sure how well you read Latin but I failed the test. If anyone can translate it I'm sure we would be most appreciative.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20010518_epistula_graviora%20delicta_lt.html

Here is an opposing view but be warned there is certainly a strong current of anti-ratzinger feeling on the blogspot link.

http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2010/03/benedict-xvi-then-cardinal-ratzinger-in.html

The bottom article alleges that Ratzinger ordered all Bishops to keep absolute silence on matters of priest pedophilia within the Church.

If we step back a little from the Church and suppose this was a large company, it would probably act the same way, keeping the evidence close to their chests. This would at least, in the short term, allow for a full analysis of what might or might not have been occurring.

Continued....