Bibliography: Aversion therapy and sex-drive reducing drugs

Clicking on the title will take you to more details from the article or book.

Fog, A., "Paraphilias and Therapy," Nordisk Sexologi, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 236-242, 1992.

Based on studies of behavior therapy and his own experience working with patients who have experienced it, sociologist Agner Fog addresses three ethical problems: the use of psychiatry to enforce social conformity, the potential for psychological trauma, and the attempt to control the patient’s mind.

Halleck, S.L., "Editorial: The ethics of anti-androgen therapy," American Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 138, no. 5 (May 1981), pp. 642-643.

Halleck addresses the issue of informed consent, and discusses the risks and benefits that anti-androgen treatment presents to society and to sex offenders.

Langevin, R., Sexual strands: Understanding and treating sexual anomalies in men, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1983.

Ron Langevin of the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto briefly discusses the criticism that aversion therapy is inhumane and has no demonstrated effectiveness. He also notes difficulties of providing worthwhile treatment in the coercive environment of the criminal justice system.

Leinwand, S.N., "Aversion therapy: Punishment as treatment and treatment as cruel and unusual punishment," Southern California Law Review, vol. 49, no. 4 (May), 1976, pp. 880-983.

Leinwand briefly discusses the ethics of using aversion therapy in the criminal justice system.

Matson, J.L. & DiLorenzo, T.M., Punishment and its alternatives, New York: Springer, 1984.

This book presents a 1977 statement from the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy intended to insure ethical use of behavior therapy techniques such as aversion therapy and covert sensitization. Matson & DiLorenzo elaborate on the issues related to treatment goals, informed voluntary consent, and situations where a person or agency is empowered to place a subordinate client in therapy.

Tsang, D.C., "Policing ‘perversion,’" Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 28, no. 3/4, 1995, pp. 397-426.

Daniel C. Tsang of the University of California discusses ethical issues surrounding the use of medroxyprogesterone acetate (Depo-Provera) in the treatment of sex-offenders, particularly regarding its dangerous side-effects, the lack of FDA approval, and the absence of informed consent.