Abstract
Nurses and subordination: a historical study of mental nurses’ perceptions on administering aversion therapy for ‘sexual deviations’This study aimed to examine the meanings that nurses attached to the ‘treatments’ administered to cure ‘sexual deviation’ (SD) in the UK, 1935–1974. In the UK, homosexuality was considered a classifiable mental illness that could be ‘cured’ until 1992. Nurses were involved in administering painful and distressing treatments. The study is based on oral history interviews with fifteen nurses who had administered treatments to cure individuals of their SD. The interviews were transcribed for historical interpretation. Some nurses believed that their role was to passively follow any orders they had been given. Other nurses limited their culpability concerning administering these treatments by adopting dehumanising and objectifying language and by focussing on administrative tasks, rather than the human beings in need of their care. Meanwhile, some nurses genuinely believed that they were acting beneficently by administering these distinctly unpleasant treatments. It is envisaged that this study might act to reiterate the need for nurses to ensure their interventions have a sound evidence base and that they constantly reflect on the moral and value base of their practice and the influence that science and societal norms can have on changing views of what is considered ‘acceptable practice’.
Highlights
Male homosexuality was illegal in many countries until the mid to late 20th century (Eisenbach 2006)
This study aimed to examine the meanings that nurses attached to the ‘treatments’ administered to cure ‘sexual deviation’ (SD) in the United Kingdom (UK), 1935-1974
The majority of nurses in this study identified that their role was to carry out the orders of medical staff or their nursing superiors uncritically and without question: Our job to all intents and purposes was to follow the doctors’ order... [Pause]...I mean you have to understand the power the doctors, Nursing Officers and Matron had in those days
Summary
Male homosexuality was illegal in many countries until the mid to late 20th century (Eisenbach 2006). The most common treatment utilised in a bid to cure such individuals was aversion therapy with electrical shock or apomorphine to induce vomiting (Smith, King and Bartlett, 2004; Dickinson et al 2012). Patients who received this treatment reflected on it as, ‘barbaric’, some thought they were ‘going to die’, while others recalled ‘the excruciating pain’ of the electric shocks (Dickinson et al 2012, 1349). A spirit of optimism emerged within psychiatry, as new and often distinctly unpleasant somatic treatments were introduced, providing hope to psychiatrists – and nurses – who previously had few effective treatments to draw on
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