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This is a large subject, but it would be helpful for now to examine how the American Psychiatric Association (APA) arrived at certain position statements and modes or recommended methods of treatment.  Psychiatry does not exist in a vacuum, and some of its standard diagnoses are interwoven with America’s sociological development.  We shall examine three areas where changes have occurred in the attitude and outlook of these professionals since roughly the 1940s and 50s.

This is a large subject, but it would be helpful for now to examine how the American Psychiatric Association (APA) arrived at certain position statements and modes or recommended methods of treatment.  Psychiatry does not exist in a vacuum, and some of its standard diagnoses are interwoven with America’s sociological development.  We shall examine three areas where changes have occurred in the attitude and outlook of these professionals since roughly the 1940s and 50s.

==Juvenile delinquency==

==Juvenile delinquency==

Juvenile delinquency gives us our first insight how the field has evolved.  In the 1940s, shortly after WWII ended, a great faith was placed in the field of behavioral sciences to resolve the problems of criminal behavior, beginning with youth who had not reached the stage of incorrigibility yet.  Juvenile courts had existed for some decades, routinely a Juvenile Judge would adjudicate a minor law breaker as “delinquent”, and the offender remanded to state-run Reform Schools.  It was a brutal and harsh thing to endure for a young person.  By the 1950s Juvenile Judges sought outside expertise before rendering their judgment—they first referred the juvenile offender to a psychiatrist for observation and treatment.  If the doctor recommended some alternative mode of treatment – perhaps sending an unwanted or unloved minor to live with an aunt or foster home – the judicial label of “juvenile delinquent” could be avoided, hence not stigmatizing the offender for life.  IOW, the Psychiatric profession began passing the judgment upon the child as a “juvenile delinquent”, and the Courts just rubber stamped it.  While juvenile delinquency was not a recognized “mental condition” by the APA, nonetheless, they were called upon by the Courts to render a diagnosis “yea or nay” for “delinquency”.

Juvenile delinquency gives us our first insight how the field has evolved.  In the 1940s, shortly after [[WWII]] ended, a great faith was placed in the field of behavioral sciences to resolve the problems of criminal behavior, beginning with youth who had not reached the stage of incorrigibility yet.  Juvenile courts had existed for some decades, routinely a Juvenile Judge would adjudicate a minor law breaker as “delinquent”, and the offender remanded to state-run Reform Schools.  It was a brutal and harsh thing to endure for a young person.  By the 1950s Juvenile Judges sought outside expertise before rendering their judgment—they first referred the juvenile offender to a psychiatrist for observation and treatment.  If the doctor recommended some alternative mode of treatment – perhaps sending an unwanted or unloved minor to live with an aunt or foster home – the judicial label of “juvenile delinquent” could be avoided, hence not stigmatizing the offender for life.  IOW, the Psychiatric profession began passing the judgment upon the child as a “juvenile delinquent”, and the Courts just rubber stamped it.  While juvenile delinquency was not a recognized “mental condition” by the APA, nonetheless, they were called upon by the Courts to render a diagnosis “yea or nay” for “delinquency”.

This system worked throughout the 1950s and 60s.  By the early 1970s, psychiatrists began to review the fruit of their efforts.  “Delinquents”, beginning adult life with a criminal record, soon ended up in adult prisons.  Having spent most of their lives institutionalize, and being graduates of crime schools, they soon became incorrigibles.  The APA felt they were only contributing to the problem.

This system worked throughout the 1950s and 60s.  By the early 1970s, psychiatrists began to review the fruit of their efforts.  “Delinquents”, beginning adult life with a criminal record, soon ended up in adult prisons.  Having spent most of their lives institutionalize, and being graduates of crime schools, they soon became incorrigibles.  The APA felt they were only contributing to the problem.

==Homosexuality==

==Homosexuality==

While the prisons were consistently being fed with the fresh fodder of youth shoplifters and thieves from Reform Schools in the 1930s and 40s, only to graduate as full fledged, well schooled criminals and incorrigibles, by the 1950s and 60s adult prisons were the place homosexual activity was regarded as normal.  Homosexuality was still a crime in virtually 48 or 49 states as late as 1980.  Vice Squads routinely picked up gay “cruisers” much as the do prostitutes still today.  In the early 1970s, homosexuals suffered the “double whammy”, homosexuality was considered not only a diagnosable mental condition, it was also a crime.

While the prisons were consistently being fed with the fresh fodder of youth shoplifters and thieves from Reform Schools in the 1930s and 40s, only to graduate as full fledged, well schooled criminals and incorrigibles, by the 1950s and 60s adult prisons were the place homosexual activity was regarded as normal.  Homosexuality was still a crime in virtually 48 or 49 states as late as 1980.  Vice Squads routinely picked up gay “cruisers” much as they do prostitutes today.  In the early 1970s, homosexuals suffered the “double whammy”, homosexuality was considered not only a diagnosable mental condition, it was also a crime.

Having established that a diagnosis of "delinquency” set a troubled youth on a path of an incorrigible criminal career and life in prison as an open homosexual, the APA began to reconsider its role in the Criminal Justice System.    To their credit, they gave up all that income from a captive audience in the prisons, where virtually the whole population was being referred to them for having mental and behavior disorders – virtually all with the same diagnosis – homosexuality, the Doctors finally admitted they did not have a clue how to treat it.  What was apparent, in their eyes, was their diagnosis caused the stigmatization.  (As a digression, the prostitute falls into the same trap: she’s a prostitute because nobody loves her, nobody loves her because she’s a prostitute.  It’s a vicious circle.)  

Having established that a diagnosis of "delinquency” set a troubled youth on a path of an incorrigible criminal career and life in prison as an open homosexual, the APA began to reconsider its role in the Criminal Justice System.    To their credit, they gave up all that income from a captive audience in the prisons, where virtually the whole population was being referred to them for having mental and behavior disorders – virtually all with the same diagnosis – homosexuality, the Doctors finally admitted they did not have a clue how to treat it.  What was apparent, in their eyes, was their diagnosis caused the stigmatization.  (As a digression, the prostitute falls into the same trap: she’s a prostitute because nobody loves her, nobody loves her because she’s a prostitute.  It’s a vicious circle.)  

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