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I recognize that I did over-generalize about the two camps. There is definitely more overlap between the groups than my post indicates. I'm also in the ego-syntonic but pro-research and pro-mental health camp. Regarding some here being against psychology, I feel I did briefly touch on that. They see most researchers as complicit with our societal oppression, much as the mental health community was complicit with the oppression of homosexuals until the 1970s. Much as the psychiatric community had elements hostile to homosexuals decades ago, many parts of the psychiatric community are actively hostile towards MAPs. This is especially true in forensic treatment programs. The client in such programs is the state, not the "offender", so they are not working in the interests of the people they're actually talking to. It's all about completing their "treatment program" whether that's desired or not. People that have had experience with such programs would definitely be more likely to be skeptical of psychology as a whole. The "civil commitment" of pedophiles who offend is definitely another black mark on the profession, too (though given staff shortages at places like Coalinga it does seem that most psychiatrists and psychologists agree that such places are not properly addressing the mental health needs they purport to). I think that dismissing the entire field is not helpful, though. There are people within the field that are more open-minded. We need them as allies and we need to help boost them and their voices within the field as much as possible. MAP affirming research is important because it sets the new "standard" for how to approach MAPs in the future. Citations and established terminology are so important in research, much like precedent is in law. Anyway, although you said you disagree with me, I'm not sure that we actually have such different opinions. It's more likely that my post didn't adequately detail in enough detail my thoughts. As I said at the end it is a very broad brush summary of the two main "camps" as I see them. At the end of the day we are all individuals with our own quirks and we may not slot nicely into either "camp". |