Queer Theory and Its Future in Psychology: Exploring Issues of Race Privilege

Queer theory is increasingly making an impact on the discipline of psychology in the UK and elsewhere, both in the form of those who explicitly use queer theory, and those who exhibit a queer sensibility. Yet, it has been suggested, queer theorising more broadly has largely neglected to account for its racial politics, an issue that holds ongoing relevance for its application across disciplines. In this paper, I outline six key areas requiring further attention in regards to the growing use of queer theory within psychology: (i) a greater recognition of the histories on which queer theory builds, (ii) an understanding of how racial hierarchies shape accounts of individualism and universalism, (iii) a continued focus on the operations of a racialised queer desire, (iv) an investigation of the implication of critiques of essentialism, (v) ongoing explorations of language use within queer theorising, and (vi) greater acknowledgement of tensions within queer community building. These six points provide new avenues of consideration for those already in the field, and will encourage those new to the field to explore its unnamed assumptions.     

‘If they didn’t support me,I most likely wouldn’t be here’: Transgender young people and their parents negotiating medical treatment in Australia

Abstract

Background: It is increasingly recognized that transgender young people require affirming medical care, however the provision of such care may be mitigated by the availability of services and the views of parents.

Aims: This study aimed to explore the views of Australian transgender young people (aged 11–17) and their parents with regards to medical treatment.

Methods: Ten qualitative interviews were conducted with parent-child dyads in two Australian states. Thematic analysis was undertaken on responses to interview questions related to family relationships, views about medical treatment (specifically hormone blockers and hormones), and the relationship between medical treatment and sense of self.

Results: Themes developed focused on the importance of strong supportive parent-child relationships, the meaning of and access to hormone blockers, and the meaning of and access to hormones.

Discussion: The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the findings for clinical services, particularly in relation to supporting parents to be affirming of a transgender child, the need to prepare transgender young people and their parents for the passage of time in regards to medical treatment, and the need to focus on expectations in regards to sense of self in relation to medical treatment.     

The Dr. John Hall story: a case study in putative “Haunted People Syndrome”

ABSTRACT

Research suggests a “Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S)” defined by recurrent and systematic perceptions of anomalous subjective and objective anomalies. Such signs or symptoms are traditionally attributed to “spirits and the supernatural,” but these themes are hypothesised to morph to “surveillance and stalking” in reports of “group-(or gang) stalking,” We tested this premise with a quali-quantitative exercise that mapped group-stalking experiences from a published first-hand account to a Rasch measure of haunt-type anomalies. This comparison found significant agreement in the specific “signs or symptoms” of both phenomena. Meta-patterns likewise showed clear conceptual similarities between the phenomenology of haunts and group-stalking. Findings are consistent with the idea that both anomalous episodes involve the same, or similar, attentional or perceptual processes and thereby support the viability of the HP-S construct.