On Sun, Nov 7, 2010 at 4:39 AM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote:
> (SNIP) CNN seems to be the most highly > criticized, allowing a psychologist to appear and state that, "It is > the worst nightmare of heterosexual and gay couples to have to fathom > that their child might be gay," as if having their child abducted or > molested or murdered take a back seat to whether Little Johnny is gay. > > http://www.afterelton.com/people/2010/10/cnn-daphne > > http://nerdyapplebottom.com/2010/11/02/my-son-is-gay/ > > (SNIP) To me, this is one of those stories that nobody should have given a > sh*t about, but now that people have chosen to make a big deal out of > it, people need to come down on the right side of it. The debate > shouldn't be about whether it is good or bad for a boy to dress as a > girl for Halloween. The debate should be about why people feel > compelled to butt in where they clearly don't belong. Nothing about > the story made it a mental health issue, but CNN chose to bring in a > shrink anyway, and the shrink was of the dimestore variety. The CNN > anchor, who was also interviewing the boy's mother by phone, should > have immediately said, "Whoa, hold on doc" as soon as he opened his > fat-f*ck face, but she didn't do that or react to it in any way. The > doctor went on to say the mother "outed" her son on her blog, when > anyone who read beyond the title of the blog post knows that isn't > true. (SNIP) > I read the blog post in question earlier this week, but had not heard about the flap over the CNN psychologist until I read Kevin's post. I guess this is my week to post about pop and media psychology <sigh>. This is the reason that many (many), ethical and competent psychologists have argued so long and loud that the APA should have, and enforce, stronger guidelines about how psychologists present themselves in the media. It only takes a highly visible minority of psychologists to undermine the credibility of the profession (with the result that lots of folks who really need mental health services don't go because they don't have any confidence in it). I have never before heard of Dr. Jeff Gardere, but It only took me a few minutes of surfing to get a handle on him. He is a real psychologist, with a Ph.D. in psychology from George Washington University. His web site reports that he worked as a senior psychologist at the federal bureau of prisons. I worked for several years in something like the state version of that position - I would say you can not draw too many conclusions from that item on his resume. If that really was his job, it does verify that he really did have the minimum qualifications (accredited degree, appropriately licensed, no major ethical complaints). But there are hundreds of psychologists who work in similar positions - some very competent and ethical, others less so. But the rest of his vita, published on his own web site, pretty much tells me everything I need to know about him (see pasted material below). He calls himself "America's Psychologist", brags about being the "in-house doctor" on the Sally Jessy Raphael, Ricki Lake and Star Jones shows. He wrote a book called "Love Prescription" in which he makes up, and uses the diagnosis of "post traumatic slavery disorder" to explain relationship differences between black men and women. He also brags about also being a real estate agent, and apparently has a show on FBN called the "Real Estate Doctor". He also describes himself as a "motivational speaker" (which in my book is always a bad sign, even if he does not live in a van down by the river). I have not been able to verify that he is a member of the American Psychological Association. That in itself is not a big deal, lots of psychologists are not (I temporarily resigned for a few years myself from APA over their support of the use of psychologists in President Bush's torture program. But then they backed off - a little - and I returned). But if you are not a member of the APA, you are not subject to its code of ethics, or discipline for breaking those ethics. I think at least one minimum rule for news outlets using psychologists is that they should not put anyone on their air that is not a member of the APA - which at least offers the public the minimal protection that such a person could be expelled from the APA if they behave in an unethical manner. A lot of people like Gardere purpose resign from the APA when they start doing media work so that they don't have to worry about the public shame of being kicked out. That fact that Gardere does not advertise his membership in APA is something of a red flag to me. His remark that it is the worst nightmare of straight and gay parents to think about their kids being gay is abhorrent, as his his observation that the homophobic response of parents to the blog post was "normal". His criticism of the mother for "outing" her 5 year old son was just ignorant and incompetent. The only real question here is how long will CNN, and other supposedly credible news organization, continue to put hacks like this on their air and pass them off as "experts". It is easy for me to get on my moral high horse, nobody has ever offered me lots of money and national media exposure (which, for a professional, translates into even more money) to pontificate on mental health issues. I like to think I would not do it, or if I did, I would only do it in an ethical and responsible (which inevitably means complicated and boring) way. But I have 2 kids in expensive college and lots of financial stress, and I can not guarantee that if offered a bag of money I wouldn't spread my legs and take it. We have to cut this off at the source. As Kevin points out, the first problem here is that CNN is asking the psychologist to comment on a non-issue, or at least, the wrong issue. If the question is: "Doctor, is there any evidence that allowing a 5 year old boy to dress up as a female cartoon character is likely to have any negative consequence?", the answer is "no" (but that's not a very long segment). If the question is: "should parents pander to the small minded and mean spirited prejudice of her community and not allow her child to dress up in costumes that might elicit negative reactions?" then the answer is: "That is an important question that all parents have to wrestle with in a number of different ways, but that is not a question a psychologist can answer with any more authority than anyone else." If the question is: "Doctor, are there likely negative consequences when adults express prejudiced and hateful attitudes toward preschool children who they think might be gay or lesbian?" Now we may have something worth a segment on a news show with a psychologist, and we do have some evidence that suggests the answer is yes, and that might be information that might help some people make better decisions. For what it's worth, dressing up in clothing traditionally associated with the "other" gender is part of what psychologists call "gender nonconformity" (also includes engaging in play and pursuing interests traditionally associated with the "other" gender). We do know some things about the relationship of gender nonconformity in childhood to sexual orientation in adulthood. 1) Most children who display gender nonconformity identify as heterosexuals when they grow up 2) a majority of homosexuals (especially gay men) report gender non-conformity in childhood, and the rate of adult homosexuality is much higher among children who displayed significant gender nonconformity. As the mother wrote in the opening to her blog post (and it is really a great opening): "My son is gay. Or he’s not. I don’t care. He is still my son. And he is 5. And I am his mother. And if you have a problem with anything mentioned above, I don’t want to know you." If I were a CNN producer putting a story together on this topic, I would have had the mother read just those lines, then say "thank you very much" and go to commercial. There really is nothing more to say. ************ http://www.drjeffgardere.com/biography.htm “Dr. Jeff Gardere, better known as America’s Psychologist, is one of the most widely sought-after experts in the field of mental health. In addition to having a private practice in Manhattan, he has garnered a reputation as being a top motivational and keynote speaker, empowerment and media coach. Dr. Jeff is also one of most popular personalities in the media. He is a regular guest on [long list of programs, including Today Show, CNN, Maury Povich, Fox News, Nancy Grace, Tru-TV Reality Specials and Court Shows]. He has served as the official "in house doctor" on the Sally Jessy Raphael Show, the Ricki Lake Show and appeared on The Star Jones Show. Dr. Jeff has authored several books, including his controversial book, “Love Prescription.” (SNIP) Dr. Jeff is a true renaissance man. In addition to his many professions, Dr. Jeff has melded psychology with real estate and has carved out a successful career as a real estate broker and developer. He was awarded the distinction of being in the Corcoran Group “ Multimillion Dollar Club,” by selling 18 million dollars of properties in 2007. You can watch Dr. Jeff dispense his real estate prescriptions as “The Real Estate Doctor,” every Friday at 4:00pm, EST, on the FOX Business Network. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
