Etiologic Factors in a Case of Female Homosexuality

The reliance upon constitutional factors to account for all of the manifestations and psychopathology involved in homosexuality is unwarranted. Freud emphasized both experiential and constitutional determinants. Freud believed that the child comes to recognize his genitals and then identifies psychosexually with the parent whose genitals are similar. For such an identification not to occur, either the child's constitution is excessively deviant or his experiences are of such a nature as to mitigate against psychosexual identification with the parent of the same sex. The following material is taken from a case in which the eventual homosexual adaptation resulted from highly pathogenic parent-child interactions spanning three generations.

During the course of a psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy, mother and daughter were seen in treatment. The mother, Mrs. C., initially sought consultation for her daughter after she discovered in her daughter's bureau a love letter written by a female admirer. The daughter, away at college, was contacted and returned home to explain. The scene that followed was extremely painful. The father seemed especially hurt and outraged. Mrs. C. had to physically interpose herself between husband and daughter in order to prevent them from coming to blows. The daughter, in order to appease the father and stem her mother's grief, agreed to see a psychiatrist. The mother, however, wanted to see the doctor first in order to “prepare the way.”

Mrs. C. was a large woman whose severe demeanor and meticulous dress were noteworthy. She launched into the details of her recent experiences with vigor, but quickly lost direction. She was embarrassed and surprised by her confusion and loss of direction and wept apologetically. As her narrative took shape, a mixture of shame, guilt, and outrage emerged. She stated that after her initial shock she had begun to examine her daughter's past relationships with family and friends. She concluded that her manneri