Transcript What is gender identity disorder?

Psychology 320:
Gender Psychology
Lecture 27
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Invitational Office Hour Invitations,
by Student Number for November 26th
11:30-12:30, 3:30-4:30 Kenny 2517
16254070
16948077
21883079
46066080
66228081
81664062
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Gender-Related Video Clips
1. Vintage and Contemporary Sexist TV Commercials
Available at:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/24397
07/Top-10-sexist-screen-ads.html
2. Dove Campaign:
Available at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U
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From last class ….
The Interactive Model of Gender-Related Behaviour:
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The Interactive Model of
Gender-Related Behaviour
(Deaux and Major, 1987)
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Gender Identity and Gender Identity Disorder:
1. What is gender identity disorder?
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By the end of today’s class, you should be able to:
1. define the term “gender identity.”
2. list the diagnostic criteria for gender identity disorder
(GID).
3. discuss the rates of GID among males and females.
4. describe current treatment options for GID.
5. identify contemporary controversies in the diagnosis
and treatment of GID.
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What is gender identity disorder?
• Gender identity: One’s subjective experience of the self
as female or male.
• Most individuals develop a gender identity that is
consistent with their biological sex.
• However, some individuals report experiences of gender
dysphoria: “A persistent aversion toward some or all of
those physical characteristics or social roles that connote
one’s own biological sex” (DSM-IV-TR, 2000).
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“I know I’m not a man—about that much I’m very
clear, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m
probably not a woman either, at least not according to
a lot of people’s rules on that sort of thing. The
trouble is, we’re living in a world that insists we be one
or the other—a world that doesn’t bother to tell us
exactly what one or the other is” (Kate Bornstein,
1994, p. 8).
“I have [n]ever understood what it is to be a man or a
woman …. I seem to be neither, or maybe both, yet
ultimately only myself” (Holly Boswell, 1997, p. 54).
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• According to the DSM-IV-TR, gender dysphoria
characterizes individuals with gender identity disorder
(GID).
• The diagnostic criteria for GID in the DSM-IV-TR are
as follows:
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A. A strong persistent cross-gender identification (not
merely a desire for any perceived cultural advantages of
being the other sex).
In adolescents and adults, the disturbance is manifested
by symptoms such as a stated desire to be the other
sex, frequent passing as the other sex, desire to live or
be treated as the other sex, or the conviction that he or
she has the typical feelings and reactions of the other
sex.
In children, the disturbance is manifested by four (or
more) of the following:
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(a) repeatedly stated desire to be, or insistence that
he or she is, the other sex.
(b) in boys, preference for cross-dressing or
simulating female attire; in girls, insistence on
wearing only stereotypical masculine clothing.
(c) strong and persistent preferences for cross-sex
roles in make-believe play or persistent fantasies
of being the other sex.
(d) intense desire to participate in the stereotypical
games and pastimes of the other sex.
(e) strong preference for playmates of the other sex.
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B. Persistent discomfort with his or her sex or sense of
inappropriateness in the gender role of that sex.
In adolescents and adults, the disturbance is manifested
by symptoms such as preoccupation with getting rid of
primary and secondary sex characteristics (e.g., request
for hormones, surgery, or other procedures to physically
alter sexual characteristics to simulate the other sex) or
belief that he or she was born the wrong sex.
In children, the disturbance is manifested by any of the
following:
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In boys, assertion that his penis or testes are disgusting
or will disappear or assertion that it would be better not
to have a penis, or aversion toward rough-and-tumble
play and rejection of male stereotypical toys, games,
and activities.
In girls, rejection of urinating in a sitting position,
assertion that she has or will grow a penis, or assertion
that she does not want to grow breasts or menstruate,
or marked aversion toward normative feminine clothing.
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C. The disturbance is not concurrent with physical intersex
condition.
D. The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or
impairment in social, occupational, or other important
areas of functioning.
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• There are no recent epidemiological studies on the
prevalence of GID.
• European data indicate that roughly 1/30,000 adult
males and 1/100,000 adult females seek sex
reassignment surgery.
• Clinical samples indicate that GID is more common
among biological males than females (5:1 in children,
3:1 in adults).
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• Treatment of GID in childhood may involve some
combination of behavioural therapy, psychoanalytic
therapy, parental counseling, and group therapy.
• Most children who are diagnosed with GID do not
exhibit symptoms of the disorder later in life.
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• Treatment of GID in adulthood may involve one, two,
or all three of the following elements: real-life
experience, hormone treatment, surgical sex
reassignment.
• Most adults who obtain sex reassignment indicate that
they are satisfied with the results at follow-up.
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Gender Identity and Gender Identity Disorder:
1. What is gender identity disorder?
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