Society’s Request for Conversion Therapy: Is It Effective and Ethical to be Done?

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.210531.086How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Conversion Therapy, Ethical Issue, Homosexual, LGBT

Abstract

As a conservative country, Indonesia is one of the countries that is still struggling to accept homosexuality. General view of sexual identity and sexual orientation is fixated on binary concept, where sexual identity is considered same as gender. Despite homosexuality being no longer categorized as mental disorder in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM), society still pressures the non-conforming sexual groups to change their identity and sexual orientation using conversion therapy. Conversion therapy includes any kind of therapy that intends to alter one’s sexual orientation, from homosexuality to heterosexuality. This research aims to examine the effectiveness and ethical issues of conversion therapy. Based on narrative literature study, it can be concluded that conversion therapy is not effective in changing one’s sexual orientation, especially when the request for conversion comes from others. Conversion therapy can lead to self-hatred, shame, depression, and sexual dysfunction, especially in those who are forced to undergo the therapy by others. However, if the urge for therapy comes from one’s personal desire, the therapist is obliged to have further discussion with the client and provide a better understanding about conversion therapy. This research also discusses other alternatives which can be given to those who seek ‘recovery.

Copyright

© 2021, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Stefany Valentia
AU  - Elizabeth Kristi Poerwandari
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/05/31
TI  - Society’s Request for Conversion Therapy: Is It Effective and Ethical to be Done?
BT  - Proceedings of the Asia-Pacific Research in Social Sciences and Humanities Universitas Indonesia Conference (APRISH 2019)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 685
EP  - 695
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210531.086
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.210531.086
ID  - Valentia2021
ER  -