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Treating "Deviance"
All of this
also applies to the treatment of sexual
deviance, although at first glance, it
now appears to be more sophisticated
than in the past. For example, in the
most recent "progressive" therapeutic
literature, the old-fashioned epithets
"perversion," "aberration,"
and
"deviation," whose
moralistic, indeed religious, origin was
fairly obvious, have been replaced with
the seemingly more objective term
"paraphilia" (gr. para:
beside and philia: love). Yet, upon
closer inspection, this term is no less
ideological than the others. It still
assumes the existence of a "naturally"
given norm - a correct "philia" which
can have less admirable relatives. In
fact, the relationship of this "philia"
to the "paraphilias" is the same as that
of the true professional or true
physician to the various
paraprofessionals or paramedics. The
latter definitely belong to the second
rank. They stand slightly below and
beside the former and do not command the
same respect.
However, there
are no sexual norms to be found in
nature, and whether one particular
sexual behavior is better than another,
is never a scientific finding, but
always a moral judgement.
This means, among other things, that the
current term "paraphilia" will also have
to be abandoned, because there is no
scientific way of determining a correct
"philia". Where sexual behaviors are
individually or socially unacceptable,
they will have to be defined and
classified on entirely different, openly
stated grounds. What all of this means,
in practice, is exemplified by an old
controversy: The question whether
homosexuality is or is not a disease.
(See
also:
Glossary of Inappropriate Scientific and
Professional Terms)
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