Evelyn Hooker

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Evelyn Hooker (born September 2, 1907 in North Platte / Nebraska , † November 18, 1996 in Santa Monica / California ) was an American psychologist .

Hooker was the first researcher in psychology to show that homosexual and straight men are no different in terms of mental health . In her first study in this regard, she showed as early as 1957 that clinical experts could not distinguish the two groups from one another using protocols of projective tests and other personality tests carried out on homosexual and heterosexual men. There were also no differences in their psychological adaptation between the two groups. A series of further empirical studies followed.

Hooker's empirical studies are believed to precede the American Psychiatric Association's decision in 1973 to remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM ) list.

Evelyn Hooker is considered one of the masterminds of gay affirmative psychotherapy .

biography

Hooker attended high school in Sterling (Colorado) and studied from 1924 at the University of Colorado . She received her PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 1932 and then received her first teaching position at a college near Baltimore . After a long recovery from tuberculosis, she taught at Whittier College in California . Supported by a research grant, she lived in 1937 and 1938 in Berlin, which was shaped by National Socialism , with a Jewish host family, where she dealt more closely with psychotherapy and clinical psychology. From 1939 to 1970, she finally taught at UCLA in Los Angeles and then opened a private practice.

1991 Evelyn Hooker was for her research on homosexuality from the American Psychological Association with the Award for Distinguished Contribution to Psychology in the Public Interest excellent.

In 1992, her life was portrayed by David Haugland in the Oscar-nominated documentary Changing Our Minds, The Story of Dr. Evelyn Hooker made a film.

swell

  1. ^ E. Hooker: The adjustment of the male overt homosexual. In: Journal of Projective Techniques. 21, 1957, pp. 18-31.

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