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from Parenting & Family
Former Head Of APA's Division 44 Speaks On Psychology Of Lesbian And Gay Family Life
Researcher Charlotte Patterson suggests that Lesbian Family Life May Serve as a Cultural Standard-Bearer
December 20, 2006 - A speech by Charlotte Patterson, Ph.D., the former head of the APA's Division 44 gay sub-group, was published in the Fall 2006 issue of the division's newsletter. "Our Families: Building A Psychology Of Lesbian And Gay Family Life," was delivered by Dr. Patterson on August 12, 2006.
Patterson asked her associates if gay and lesbian families were just like heterosexual families, "or do we need a specific psychology of lesbian and gay family life that is custom-tailored for us?"
She asserted that "like heterosexual people, most of us who identify as lesbian or gay want to participate in a romantic/sexual relationship with a single partner." She pointed to a survey of gay adolescents in 2006 (D'Augelli et all) that 82% of boys and 92% of girls indicated they wanted a monogamous relationship and to marry in the future.
Patterson says her research has discovered that adolescents reared in same-sex households had no more problems than adolescents reared in heterosexual households. "Like other youth, the adjustment of adolescents with same-sex parents was related to the overall quality of their relationships with parents."
Gay households are different, however, from heterosexual-headed homes in the division of labor between parents. "Lesbian couples were more likely to share both paid and unpaid labor evenly."
Patterson asked the question, "... are the lesbian couples we studied actually part of a cultural and ideological vanguard, living today in new ways that will spread more widely throughout the population over time? And what are the implications both for adults and for children?
Dr. Patterson suggests that there are two different views of gay families. One is the separatist viewpoint and the other is the assimilationist view. "Our families are both similar to and different from those of heterosexual Americans."
She concludes: "... we must acknowledge all of the many real facets of our communities and of our family lives. We must embrace both similarity and difference, both assimilation and separatism. The unified psychology of lesbian and gay family life that we are seeking must somehow manage to encompass all of these possibilities."
Additional Reading:
'Science' Games Activists Play;
When Activism Masquerades as Science: Potential Consequences of Recent APA Resolutions;
Retired Pediatric Anesthesiologist Questions Accuracy Of AAP Article On Gay Marriage And Children;
The Trojan Couch.
Updated: 8 February 2008
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