 |
|
APA resolves to play leading role in improving treatment for gender-variant people
August 18, 2008Gender identity task force calls for nondiscriminatory guidelines, better research and training
BOSTON - The American Psychological Association urged psychologists today to take a leading role in ending discrimination based on gender identity, calling upon the profession to provide "appropriate, nondiscriminatory treatment to all transgender and gender-variant individuals" and encouraging more research into all aspects of gender identity and expression.
The action came at APA's Annual Convention when the association's governing Council of Representatives adopted a resolution supporting full equality for transgender and gender-variant people. The resolution also calls on APA to:
* support legal and social recognition of transgender individuals consistent with their gender identity and expression;
* support the provision of adequate and medically necessary treatment for transgender and gender-variant people;
* recognize the benefit and necessity of gender transition treatments for appropriately evaluated individuals;
* call on public and private insurers to cover these treatments.
In addition to adopting the wide-ranging resolution, the Council of Representatives received a report by APA's Task Force on Gender Identity and Gender Variance. The six-member task force spent more than two years reviewing the scientific literature, as well as APA policies regarding transgender issues. It was also charged with developing recommendations for education, professional training and further research into transgenderism, and proposing how APA can best meet the needs of psychologists and students who identify as transgender or gender-variant.
Noting that transgender people, their families, friends and employers are increasingly turning to psychologists for help, "this trend underscores the need for psychologists to acquire greater knowledge and competence in addressing transgender issues," the report states.
Among the report's recommendations:
* APA should encourage training programs and graduate internships to welcome and support transgender and gender-variant people;
* APA should develop separate practice guidelines for transgender clients;
* APA should encourage more research into gender identity and expression, including the reliability and validity of diagnostic criteria for gender identity disorders;
* APA should advocate for antidiscrimination protection for transgender people in jurisdictions that lack such laws.
With regard to research, the task force listed a series of recommended areas of focus, including social stigma and public attitudes toward gender identity; identity development, including prospective studies of children and adolescents; the process and outcome of transgender-specific health care; and the variables associated with the efficacy of sex reassignment.
As a direct result of the task force's work, APA added gender identity to its nondiscrimination policy earlier this year. This builds upon prior adoption of gender identity nondiscrimination language in APA's bylaws, Code of Ethics and its Guidelines and Principles for Accreditation of Professional Programs in Psychology.
In addition, the task force developed a brochure, Answers to Your Questions about Transgender Individuals and Gender Identity (http://www.apa.org/topics/transgender.html), which APA published in 2006 and has made available on its Web site.
The task force recommended that APA take no position with respect to the diagnosis of gender identity disorder, which is sometimes required for transgender clients to obtain needed care. "Psychologists who work with clients with gender identity issues are not of one mind on this issue," task force members wrote. They noted that the psychiatric profession publishes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, which contains GID, "and thus revision is their responsibility."
The report noted that APA has previously adopted resolutions discouraging psychologists from using diagnoses that are potentially harmful or discriminatory. "Accordingly, if there were evidence showing the GID diagnosis to be similarly harmful and discriminatory against gender-variant, transgender or transsexual people, there would be a precedent for a resolution discouraging psychologists from using this diagnosis," the task force wrote. "However - there is a great deal of disagreement about the GID diagnosis and whether it is helpful or harmful; therefore, the Task Force does not recommend that APA take a position on GID at this time."
American Psychological Association
* support legal and social recognition of transgender individuals consistent with their gender identity and expression;
* support the provision of adequate and medically necessary treatment for transgender and gender-variant people;
* recognize the benefit and necessity of gender transition treatments for appropriately evaluated individuals;
* call on public and private insurers to cover these treatments.
In addition to adopting the wide-ranging resolution, the Council of Representatives received a report by APA's Task Force on Gender Identity and Gender Variance. The six-member task force spent more than two years reviewing the scientific literature, as well as APA policies regarding transgender issues. It was also charged with developing recommendations for education, professional training and further research into transgenderism, and proposing how APA can best meet the needs of psychologists and students who identify as transgender or gender-variant.
Noting that transgender people, their families, friends and employers are increasingly turning to psychologists for help, "this trend underscores the need for psychologists to acquire greater knowledge and competence in addressing transgender issues," the report states.
Among the report's recommendations:
* APA should encourage training programs and graduate internships to welcome and support transgender and gender-variant people;
* APA should develop separate practice guidelines for transgender clients;
* APA should encourage more research into gender identity and expression, including the reliability and validity of diagnostic criteria for gender identity disorders;
* APA should advocate for antidiscrimination protection for transgender people in jurisdictions that lack such laws.
With regard to research, the task force listed a series of recommended areas of focus, including social stigma and public attitudes toward gender identity; identity development, including prospective studies of children and adolescents; the process and outcome of transgender-specific health care; and the variables associated with the efficacy of sex reassignment.
As a direct result of the task force's work, APA added gender identity to its nondiscrimination policy earlier this year. This builds upon prior adoption of gender identity nondiscrimination language in APA's bylaws, Code of Ethics and its Guidelines and Principles for Accreditation of Professional Programs in Psychology.
In addition, the task force developed a brochure, Answers to Your Questions about Transgender Individuals and Gender Identity (http://www.apa.org/topics/transgender.html), which APA published in 2006 and has made available on its Web site.
The task force recommended that APA take no position with respect to the diagnosis of gender identity disorder, which is sometimes required for transgender clients to obtain needed care. "Psychologists who work with clients with gender identity issues are not of one mind on this issue," task force members wrote. They noted that the psychiatric profession publishes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, which contains GID, "and thus revision is their responsibility."
The report noted that APA has previously adopted resolutions discouraging psychologists from using diagnoses that are potentially harmful or discriminatory. "Accordingly, if there were evidence showing the GID diagnosis to be similarly harmful and discriminatory against gender-variant, transgender or transsexual people, there would be a precedent for a resolution discouraging psychologists from using this diagnosis," the task force wrote. "However - there is a great deal of disagreement about the GID diagnosis and whether it is helpful or harmful; therefore, the Task Force does not recommend that APA take a position on GID at this time."
American Psychological Association
Counselors should target discrimination and be advocates for transgender clients
Two University of Oregon doctoral students dove into issues of transgender identities -- in the workplace and professional counseling -- and surfaced with a call for psychologists and vocational counselors to not only treat but to act as advocates for their clients -- and to help end discrimination in the workplace.
Bisexuality not a transitional phase among women, according to new research
Bisexuality in women appears to be a distinctive sexual orientation and not an experimental or transitional stage that some women adopt "on their way" to lesbianism, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.
Vaginal reconstruction not needed for most inter-sex females, Hopkins study shows
Dispelling a common myth, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center say vaginal reconstruction should be a matter of preference for most teens or adult women born with a type of inter-sex condition marked by the presence of both female and male genitals.
Sex hormone signature indicates gender rather than just chromosomes
Help with assigning gender could one day be at hand for intersex individuals whose genital phenotypes and sex chromosomes don't match, thanks to the discovery of a stable sex hormone signature in our cells.
New research reveals men estimate men's risks of common disorders higher than women do, and vice versa
New research from University of Glasgow on lay perceptions about gender differences in health reveals that both men and women believe health risks are higher for their own sex than for the opposite sex. But, it also shows that males think that men are fitter and females think women are more athletic.
More Gender Identity Current Events and Gender Identity News Articles
| Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction by David Gauntlett Popular media present a vast array of stories about women and men. What impact do these images and ideas have on people's identities? The new edition of "Media, Gender and Identity" is a highly readable introduction to the relationship between media and gender identities today. Fully revised and updated, including new case studies and a new chapter, it considers a wide range of research and... | |
 | Handbook of Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders by David L. Rowland, Luca Incrocci Complete coverage of The Handbook of Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders provides authoritative coverage of the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of three major DSM-IV-TR classifications of sexual disorders and gender identity disorders: sexual dysfunctions, gender identity disorders, and paraphilias/atypical sexual behaviors. The first internationally contributed handbook of its kind,... |
 | Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (Routledge Classics) by Judith Butler Since its publication in 1990, Gender Trouble has become one of the key works of contemporary feminist theory, and an essential work for anyone interested in the study of gender, queer theory, or the politics of sexuality in culture. This is the text where Judith Butler began to advance the ideas that would go on to take life as "performativity theory," as well as some of the first articulations... |
 | The Evangelical Church in Boston's Chinatown: A Discourse of Language, Gender, and Identity (Studies in Asian Americans: Reconceptualizing Culture, History, Politics) by Erika A. Muse The purpose of this book is to provide valuable anthropological data on the identity construction of a rapidly growing Chinese Christian population in the United States. As more and more Chinese of different generations and varying cultural backgrounds practice evangelical Christianity, the meaning of Chinese American will change accordingly. The book provides significant linguistic data for a... |
 | Identities: Race, Class, Gender, and Nationality This anthology provides the definitive theoretical sources of contemporary thinking about identity, including explorations of race, class, gender, and nationality.Explores the long and rich tradition of philosophical analysis and debate over the genesis, contours, and political effects of identity categories. Provides the definitive theoretical sources and contemporary debates by leading... |
 | Masquerade and Gender: Disguise and Female Identity in Eighteenth-Century Fictions by Women by Catherine Craft-Fairchild This work presents a study of the way in which 18th-century fiction constructed perceptions of women of the time. It examines the guises in which womanhood appears, analysing how women writers both construct and deconstruct 18th-century cultural conceptions of... |
 | Gender and Identity in Central and Eastern Europe (Journal of Communist Studies & Transition Politics) by Chris Corrin This collection highlights elements of the decade of changes in Central and Eastern Europe since 1989 from the perspectives of gender and identity. Resistance to the negative consequences of certain changes for various groups in society demonstrate that women's activities have played a large part in securing democratic developments in various countries. From participation in politics in Slovenia... |
 | Identity and the Case for Gay Rights: Race, Gender, Religion as Analogies by David A. J. Richards How should we chart a course toward legal recognition of gay rights as basic human rights? In this enlightening study, legal scholar David Richards explores the connections between gay rights and three successful civil rights movements—black civil rights, feminism, and religious toleration—to determine how these might serve as analogies for the gay rights movement.Richards argues that racial... |
 | Fashion and Its Social Agendas: Class, Gender, and Identity in Clothing by Diana Crane It has long been said that clothes make the man (or woman), but is it still true today? If so, how has the information clothes convey changed over the years? Using a wide range of historical and contemporary materials, Diana Crane demonstrates how the social significance of clothing has been transformed. Crane compares nineteenth-century societiesFrance and the United Stateswhere social class was... |
 | Gender, Identity and Place: Understanding Feminist Geographies by McDowell Linda, Linda McDowell |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |