books
The Body and Consent in Psychology, Psychiatry and Medicine: A Therapeutic Rape Culture
Dr. Jem Tosh (2020)
This groundbreaking text interrogates the constructed boundary between therapy and violence, by examining therapeutic practice and discourse through the lens of a psychologist and a survivor of sexual abuse. It asks, what happens when those we approach cause further harm? Can we identify coercive practices and stop sexual abuse in psychology, psychiatry, and medicine? Tosh explores these questions and more to illustrate that many of the therapies considered fundamental to clinical practice are deeply problematic when issues of consent and sexual abuse are considered.
"[TOSH] OFFERS A LIBERATING WAY FORWARD TO THOSE WHO REFUSE TO BE PATHOLOGISED..."
- Dan Oudshoorn
Psychology and Gender Dysphoria: Feminist and Transgender Perspectives
Dr. Jem Tosh (2016)
Drawing on discursive psychology, this book traces the historical development of psychiatric constructions of 'normal' and 'abnormal' gender expression. It contextualises the recent reconstruction of gender through the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and its criteria for gender dysphoria. This latest diagnosis illustrates the continued disagreement and debate within the profession surrounding gender identity as 'disordered'. It also provides an opportunity to reflect on the conflicted history between feminist and transgender communities in the changing context of a more trans-positive feminism, and the potential implications of the diagnosis for these distinct but linked communities.
"TOSH'S SKILLFUL GENEALOGICAL ANALYSIS IS SIMPLY OUTSTANDING."
- Dr. Diana Kuhl, University of Western Ontario
"TOSH HAS MUCH TO OFFER THOSE NEW TO THE STUDY OF THE INTERSECTION OF TRANSGENDER STUDIES AND THE PSY DISCIPLINES."
- Damien W. Riggs, Flinders University
"THIS BOOK POSES VALUABLE THEORIES AND CRITIQUES FOR ANY COLLEGE COURSE ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF WOMEN, DISABILITY, OR TRANSGENDER STUDIES."
- Layla Zbinden et al., Psychology of Women Quarterly
Perverse Psychology: The Pathologization of Sexual Violence and [Transgenderism]
Dr. Jem Tosh (2014)
Perverse Psychology examines psychiatric constructions of sexual violence and gender nonconformity from the 19th century until the latest DSM-5 diagnoses. It uses discourse analysis to interrogate the discursive boundaries between 'normal' and 'abnormal' rape, as well as the pathologization of gender and sexual diversity. The book illuminates for the first time the parallels between psychiatry's construction of gender diversity and sexual violence, and leads us to question whether it is the violence that the profession finds so intriguing, or the gender nonconformity it represents.
"HIGHLY ORIGINAL, CLOSELY ARGUED, INGENIOUS ANALYSIS."
- Professor Erica Burman, University of Manchester
"A CAPTIVATING CRITIQUE OF THE DISCIPLINES OF PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY."
- Shari Fitzgerald, Intersectionalities
"AT LAST A BOOK THAT SPEAKS ABOUT THE UNSPOKEN. WELL WRITTEN, WELL REFERENCED - A HIGHLY STIMULATING READ."
- Kirsten Nokling, The Psychologist
"WELL WRITTEN, INSIGHTFUL, INTERESTING, INFORMATIVE, AND AN EXCELLENT RESOURCE."
- Joan Strutton, PsycCRITQUES
"INVIGORATING AND PROVOCATIVE"
- Pierre Brouard, University of Pretoria
"A VERY IMPORTANT BOOK ABOUT HOW MODERN PSYCHOLOGY HAS BEEN USED TO INVALIDATE AND SUPPRESS SEX AND GENDER DIVERSITY."
- Jack Molay, Crossdreamers
"SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH PSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY BOOK AWARDS"
- 2016
book chapters
Trans Bodies
In The Palgrave Handbook of Psychology, Gender, and Power
by Dr. Jem Tosh (forthcoming)
In some contexts, trans folks can experience an overemphasis on their physical embodiment. This can occur when there are reductionist descriptions that focus primarily on physical sex characteristics, which tend to assume a rigid genital and gender binary. While these descriptions draw on medical discourse that is often positioned as an authoritative 'truth' (Foucault, 2008), it contrasts with much biological theory and research (Bagemihl, 2000; Roughgarden, 2013), as well as the existence of those who cannot be neatly categorised into groups of either 'male' or 'female'...
Sexual Abuse and Surviving with(in) Psychology
In #MeToo: Counsellors and Psychotherapists Speak About Violence and Abuse
by Dr. Jem Tosh with Fionnuala Dempsey (2020)
In this chapter Tosh describes their experiences as a queer and genderfluid survivor growing up in Northern Ireland, and how those experiences influenced their career as a psychologist who specialises in sexual abuse and violence. Tosh outlines the complex intersections of gender, sexuality, race, place, and historical context and shows why these intersections should be central to therapeutic approaches that aim to help survivors heal from sexual trauma. The chapter also has a discussion section where the authors talk about abuse, psychology, intersectionality, and more.
A Critical Commentary on Follow-Up Studies and 'Desistance' Theories about Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Children
In Today's Transgender Youth: Health, Well-being and Opportunities for Resilience
by J. Temple Newhook et al. (2019)
The tethering of childhood gender diversity to the framework of 'desistance' or 'persistence' has stifled advancements in our understanding of children's gender in all its complexity. These follow-up studies fall short in helping us understand what children need. As work begins on the 8th version of the Standards of Care by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), we call for a more inclusive conceptual framework that takes children's voices seriously. Listening to children's experiences will enable a more comprehensive understanding of the needs of gender nonconforming children and provide guidance to scientific and lay communities.
Learning to Listen to Trans and Gender Diverse Children: A Response to Zucker (2018) and Steensma and Cohen-Kettenis (2018)
In Today's Transgender Youth: Health, Well-being and Opportunities for Resilience
by K. Winters et al. (2019)
The authors answer recent responses by Steensma & Cohen-Kettenis (2018) and Zucker (2018) to our critical commentary on 'desistance' stereotypes and their underlying research on trans and gender diverse children (Temple Newhook et al. 2018). We provide clarification in the following areas: (1) the scope of our paper; (2) our support of longitudinal studies; (3) consequences of harm to trans and gender diverse children; (4) clinical practice implications; (5) concerns about validity of research methodology; and (6) the importance of learning to listen to trans and gender diverse children.
Working Together for an Inclusive and Gender Creative Future: A Critical Lens on 'Gender Dysphoria'
In Supporting Transgender and Gender Creative Youth: Schools, Families, and Communities in Action
by Dr. Jem Tosh (2014/2018)
This chapter reflects on the conflicted history of the diagnosis of 'gender dysphoria', as well as describe a collaborative project challenging its implementation. This project addresses the DSM-5 Chair of the Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group and involved contributions and support from lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and feminist activists, academics, and clinicians. The acceptance of diverse differences in relation to philosophical or political issues was nurtured through the commitment to a common goal: the condemnation of psychiatric intervention with young gender creative children.
The Complex Impacts of Intensive Resource Extraction on Women, Children, and [Indigenous] Peoples: Towards Contextually-Informed Approaches to Climate Change and Health
In Climate Change and Gender in Rich Countries: Work, Policy, and Action
by M. Gislason et al. (2017)
It is now widely understood that human health and well-being is affected not only by the social and economic contexts and conditions within which people live, but also by ecological systems and services. Yet dramatic social and ecological challenges to people's health and well-being, and their impacts in particular on vulnerable populations, are not always carefully studied. In this chapter, we consider a range of ways that [Indigenous] and non-[Indigenous] women and children living in Northern British Columbia (BC) are impacted by intensive resource extraction (IRE), and how these complex, regional dynamics need to be taken into account when seeking to understand the dynamics of climate change and health...
'Paraphilias'
In 'Mad or Bad'? A Critical Approach to Counselling and Forensic Psychology
by Dr. Jem Tosh (2017)
There is a long and complex history regarding clinical/counselling and forensic psychology's roles in defining sexual 'abnormality'. From 19th century studies of 'perversion' to current understandings of 'paraphilic disorders', there has been a wealth of debate, disagreement, and controversy. This chapter outlines several key diagnoses in the field, describing their history and criticisms from the inside and outside of the profession. It encourages critical reflexivity on the context and ethics of categorising diverse sexualities as 'abnormal'. The chapter includes examples of pathologised sexualities in relation to sexual orientation, gender expression, and sexual consent...
Gender Nonconformity or Psychiatric Noncompliance? How Organised Noncompliance Can Offer a Future Without Psychiatry
In Critical Inquiries for Social Justice in Mental Health
by Dr. Jem Tosh (2017)
Gender nonconformity has been pathologised by psychiatry for well over a century, and critiques of this pathologisation are numerous. I add to this body of analysis by drawing on feminist, transgender, and critical psychology perspectives to critique current psychiatric diagnostic approaches to gender. I also foreground the role of power in psychiatry's defining of gender normality by interweaving poststructuralist and intersectionality theory (Crenshaw, 1991; Foucault, 1977), including a discursive analysis (Parker, 2003) of the criteria for 'gender dysphoria'. In conducting this analysis, I illustrate how the diagnosis of gender dysphoria represents a form of psychiatric noncompliance, which is considered problematic by psychiatry but offers a useful way of resisting psychiatric power when organised.
No Body, No Crime? (Representations of) Sexual Violence Online
In Talking Bodies: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Embodiment, Gender, and Identity
by Dr. Jem Tosh (2017)
Sexual violence is an ever-increasing feature of online culture, with rape the central aim of 'stalking simulators' as well as the infamous violence directed towards avatar sex workers in the Grand Theft Auto franchise (Martinez & Manolovitz, 2010). This is in addition to the word 'rape' being commandeered and redefined by online gaming communities to refer to murder, humiliation and destruction (Hernandez, 2012), while simultaneously being ridiculed in online rape 'jokes' (Kramer, 2011). Using discourse analysis (Parker, 1992; 2003), this chapter examines discussions from online forums about the use of the word rape to refer to instances of sexual violence in online spaces. It interrogates the debate around whether these occurrences are forms of sexual violence, or representations of sexual violence based on the presence/absence of an embodied material experience.
Kritische Feministische, Queer - & Trans-Psychologie: Zur Dekonstruktion von Gender und Sexualität
In Perspektiven Kritischer Psychologie und Qualitativer Forschung
by Dr. Jem Tosh (2017)
In den Hauptströmungen der Psychologie und Psychiatrie gibt es eine lange Tradition von Definitionen und Festlegungen, was bezüglich Gender und Sexualität als 'abnormal' gilt. Diese und die mit ihnen assoziierten Theorien haben meist minorisierte Gender und Sexualitäten äußerst negativ dargestellt. Diejenigen, die sich als Frauen/weiblich, schwul, lesbisch, bisexuell oder transsexuell identifizieren oder diejenigen, Degen die Legitimität ihrer Geschlechtsidentität abgesprochen wird (Ansara, 2012), sind oft als geistig minderwertig, pathologisch oder deviant dargestellt worden (Foucault, 1990; Lev, 2005; Ussher, 1991). Es gibt zahlreiche psychologische Theorien und Diagnosen die das verdeutlichen, z.B., 'Hysterie' (American Psychiatric Association, 1980; 2000). Diese werden als exemplarische Diagnosen in diesem Kapitel untersucht, das im Weiteren der Frage nachgeht, wie Queer-, Trans- und feministische Psychologien kritische Perspektiven und sozialen Aktivismus genutzt haben, um solche negativen Konstruktionen zu bekämpfen.
The Problem with 'Normal': Teaching and Learning About Gender and Trans Psychology
In Critical & Experiential: Dimensions in Gender & Sexual Diversity
by Dr. Jem Tosh (2016)
General training in psychology, whether undergraduate or postgraduate, can contain little content on the issues and complexities regarding the psychology of gender. The problems I go on to discuss here, regarding psychology, can be applied across the psy-professions of psychiatry and psychotherapy. It is not the case that discussions of 'essential sex differences' and comparisons of men and women do not feature in these trainings, but that critical examinations of the psychology of gender, and of psychological approaches to gender identity and gender-related distress, are often absent. This lack of explicit discussion can lead to students being surprised when they discover the role psychology has had in how we think about gender, and how important the topic has been to psychology.
The Caring Professions, Not So Caring? Bullying and Emotional Distress in the Academy
In Psychiatry Interrogated: An Institutional Ethnography Anthology
by Dr. Jem Tosh & Sarah Golightly (2016)
In this chapter we analyse two case studies of bullying in United Kingdom (UK) universities, one involving a student of social work and another of a faculty member in a psychology department. The initial disjuncture in one case study occurred when a victim of bullying was labeled as 'mentally ill' and the second was when someone was bullied because of a label of 'mental illness'. These two similar but opposing disjunctures offer an opportunity for comparative analysis. This includes an investigation of the process and discourses at play within the broader context of UK higher education and constructions of bullying and emotional distress.