Getting retro and peering ahead: the history of psychoanalysis and homosexuality around the world.

The Mental Health Professions and Homosexuality: International Perspectives. Edited by Vittorio Lingiardi and Jack Drescher. New York: The Haworth Medical Press, 2003, 223 pages. Softcover, $25.00.

Students or scholars interested in psychoanalytic thought, homosexuality, and history will enjoy The Mental Health Professions and Homosexuality. This book was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy. The title is somewhat misleading in that it suggests a focus on several mental health professions (e.g., psychology, social work), but the text focuses almost exclusively upon psychoanalytic thought and its historical stance toward homosexuality in several countries. Psychoanalysis is, however, a major foundation in the history of mental health professions.

Although this volume attempts to capture international perspectives, the editors acknowledge that the cross-cultural viewpoints in the book are not comprehensive. In particular, there is a noticeable lack of Latino, African, and Russian perspectives on homosexuality. These deficits may reflect geographical biases in the spread of psychoanalytic thought.

Some chapters provide unique and interesting information regarding the history of psychoanalysis and homosexuality. Influences on psychiatry in Norway and Finland are reviewed and linked to subsequent laws, social movements, and professional ideology related to homosexuality. A chapter on the history of homosexuality and psychiatry in China is particularly well-organized and well-written. The examination of homosexuality in India is also a welcome contribution. On the other hand, other sections of the book are weak. For example, a chapter that could have been an interesting study of homosexuality in Switzerland is brief and includes two paragraphs that merely list titles of lectures or unpublished studies and their authors.

When a topic like psychoanalysis and homosexuality is examined from several cultural perspectives, there is always the danger that the information across chapters will not be integrated. In some respects the book lacks coherence. Still, some common themes emerged across chapters. For example, several authors discussed the experience of gay and lesbian clients and gay and lesbian mental health professionals in their respective countries. Even so, any true differences between countries regarding the experience of gay and lesbian clients or professionals was lost. The typical messages seem to be that there is not a lot of information, there remains some degree of homophobia, and some inroads have been made. Sounds much like the United States, doesn't it?

In a related vein, the historical focus of the book means that citations of recent research on psychoanalysis and homosexuality are scant. Suggested directions for future research or social activism within the psychoanalytic, gay and lesbian, or other communities are minimal. A chapter that examines the international lesbian, gay, and bisexual psychiatric movement helped in this regard, and drew together some of the underlying themes. This refreshing section describes professional organizations (e.g., Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists) and their activities, such as efforts to depathologize homosexuality in Japan's and China's psychiatric communities.

The Mental Health Professions and Homosexuality is not a book with earth-shattering ideas, but it does bring together some unique historical and international perspectives on psychoanalysis and homosexuality. The text gives readers an understanding of the past, providing a context and foundation for what work needs to be done now and in the future regarding the treatment of sexual minorities by health professionals. Historians, pundits of psychoanalysis, and advocates for sexual minorities will find this volume particularly informative.

Brian D. Zamboni, Ph.D., Program in Human Sexuality, University of Minnesota Medical School, 1300 South 2nd Street, Suite 180, Minneapolis, MN 55454: e-mail: [e-mail].