15 Evelyn Hooker

General Biography 

Evelyn Gentry, more commonly known as Evelyn Hooker, was born in North Platte, Nebraska, on September 2nd, 1907. Evelyn wasn’t like the other girls that she’d grown up with, standing about six feet tall, towering over other girls and intimidating the boys (Marmor, 577). Hooker grew up in Northeast Colorado and was the sixth of nine children. Growing up, Hooker’s family was incredibly poor and both of her parents were only educated to a fourth-grade level (Milar, 2011). Nevertheless, Hooker herself excelled in school and completed her high school’s honor program before she would attend college. It was at the University of Colorado where she obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology. Hooker would further extend her education and attend John Hopkins University, where she received her Ph.D. in psychology. (Marmor, 577).

After juggling school and a job on the side doing household chores for other families, Hooker would then take a position at the University of California, Los Angeles, and from 1939 to 1970, worked as a professor of psychology (Marmor, 577). It was during her time at UCLA that she would meet her husband, Edward Hooker. This happened to be Evelyn’s second marriage, although little information about her first husband is known. Unfortunately, Edward Hooker would pass away in 1957, leaving behind a devastated Evelyn. This loss took a major toll on her, and for the remainder of her life, she would never remarry (Marmor, 577).

While this loss was a devastating one, Hooker would continue with her work and would go on to make significant contributions to psychology, as well as to the LGBTQ community. It was in her report, “The Adjustment of the Male Homosexual”, that Hooker addressed the stigma that homosexuality was a mental illness (Marmor, 577). Soon after this publication, Hooker would go on to secure a grant in which she would create the “President’s Task Force on Homosexuality”, which would be active from 1967 to 1969 (Marmor, 577).

Tragedy struck once again for Hooker when she developed a serious illness during this time and would have to step away from the task force. However, her organization was left in phenomenal hands and they continued on with her work, even in her absence. Due to Hooker’s tireless efforts and hard work, it was in 1973 that the American Psychiatric Association (APA)  pulled homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) and no longer considered it a mental illness (Marmor, 578). Hooker continued to flourish in her career and was nominated for the “Distinguished Contribution to Psychology in the Public Interest” award, as well as awarded the “Lifetime Achievement” award in 1992 by the APA themselves (Marmor, 578). Sadly, on November 8th, 1996, Hooker would pass away at the age of eighty-nine. Hooker’s contributions to the LGBTQ community surely do not go unnoticed and will remain a part of history.

Important Achievements 

Evelyn Hooker earned a variety of achievements throughout her lifetime, although some are definitely more recognized and celebrated than others. One of her most overlooked achievements was her success and ability to hold influence during a time in which women were not entirely accepted or given opportunities in general, let alone in the male-dominated field of science. Throughout her educational career, Hooker experienced discrimination and was even almost disregarded by one of her mentors because of her gender (Booker & Carrier, 1998). In addition to disadvantages stemming from the gender hierarchy, she also came from a poor family, which gave her another automatic disadvantage in achieving what she was ultimately able to. On top of that, Hooker fell ill with tuberculosis, which took her away from her teaching career for two years and caused some hindrance to her overall success (Booker & Carrier, 1998).

Along with her personal struggles, she also faced a great deal of loss; a former student, who inspired Hooker to begin studying sexuality in the first place, was killed in a car accident; and her husband, Edward Hooker, passed away from a heart attack (Booker & Carrier, 1998). Despite the misfortune and obstacles Hooker faced throughout her career in psychology, she continued to persevere and went on to achieve and impact so much, and so many.

While studying at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Hooker was recognized by the Psychology and Neuroscience program’s Chair, Karl Muenzinger (Scheidman, 1998). With Muenzinger as a mentor, Hooker earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Later on, at John Hopkins University, her impressive resume drew attention from the founder of the Journal of Psychology, Knight Dunlap. Despite his belief that women should not be in doctoral programs, Dunlap mentored Hooker until she earned her Doctorate in experimental psychology in 1932. She went on to teach psychology courses at a variety of colleges, but UCLA is where she met the aforementioned student, Sam From.

This is the point in Hooker’s life where her achievements began to gain ground in terms of how renowned they were. From had asked Hooker to research his “condition” of homosexuality (Scheidman, 1998). Through her testing and comparison of two groups—a study group consisting of 30 homosexual men and a control group of 30 heterosexual men— Hooker was able to determine that the groups could not be distinguished from one another in regards to “goodness of adjustment” (Scheidman, 1998).

Hooker, most impactfully, played a substantial role in removing homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) through the publication of her “The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual,” which was based on her research from the previously mentioned study (Molldrem, 2021). She also scientized homosexuality, providing adequate research that was “credible to both the scientific community and to common sense,” and brought the controversial argument of normality versus pathology in homosexuality to light in the scientific community (Scheidman, 1998).

Another of Hooker’s well-known accomplishments included her research regarding the causation of homosexuality. Her ideas paved the way for a few later popularized theories, including social constructivism and genetic determinism (Molldrem, 2021). Originally, she hypothesized in her paper, “What is a Criterion?” that the interplay of social and individual factors led to homosexuality, rather than solely personality dynamics. With this theory, she famously coined the saying: “There are a lot of ways to get to Pittsburgh, and there are also lots of ways to arrive at a homosexual orientation” (Molldrem, 2021). Later on, and ultimately, however, Hooker supported the idea that sexuality is simply genetic.

During her studies on sexuality, she also introduced ethnography-style research to the world of psychology and normalized boundary shifting. Rather than going with a laboratory research method to continue her research on the LGBTQ community, Hooker inserted herself into primarily gay settings and worked to gain the trust of the community (Molldrem, 2021). In doing so, she was able to gain information that never would have been possible through traditional scientific methods. In addition, she worked together with a plethora of researchers in both clinical and nonclinical disciplines. Through this, she earned the nickname of “boundary shifter,” becoming a person who crosses disciplinary boundaries to create change in various institutions (Molldrem, 2021). For instance, her cross-disciplinary interaction influenced the development of sex research not only in clinical fields but others as well.

Lastly, it is important to delve into the physical awards Hooker was given in honor of the previously mentioned achievements. Hooker was given the Award for Distinguished Contribution to Psychology in the Public Interest by the Division of Clinical Psychology, as well as a multitude of awards from different gay and lesbian groups (Scheidman, 1998). Her research also led to the creation of resources and research institutes dedicated to the LGBTQ community including the American Psychological Foundation fund that pushes for further research on homosexuality, and the Evelyn Hooker Center for Mental Health of Gays and Lesbians at the University of Chicago. Following her research for the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Hooker was also tapped to chair the interdisciplinary NIMH Task Force on Homosexuality (Molldrem, 2021).

Historical Context 

Psychology has an influence on social beliefs, regulations, laws, and conceptualizations about homosexuality. It had an impact on how homosexuality could be seen as the norm or considered deviant. Throughout the years, being part of the LGBTQ community has raised controversial questions about human nature. Some doctors believed it to be a sign of inherited physiological degeneration in the late 19th century (Greenberg, 1990).

In fact, in the 1950s and 1970s, views about homosexuality were very radical: being homosexual was a disease that needed to be treated (Marcus, 2022). The inclusion of homosexuality on the DSM list of mental diseases developed this idea of a disorder. According to the APA in 1952, homosexuality was considered a sociopathic personality disturbance (APA, 2023). There are several views as to why homosexuality was recognized as a disease, but the most prominent is as follows: homosexuality is caused by an internal defect or external event that occurred before or after birth (Drescher, 2015). Nearly everyone at the time—including the majority of LGBT people—thought that homosexuals had psychological problems as a result of those theories (Marcus, 2022).

Around the 1960s, aversion and conversion therapies gained enormous popularity and included procedures such as lobotomies, chemical castrations, and/or shock therapy (Bancroft & Marks, 1968). Some treatments were practiced against the patient’s will and could be compared to torture nowadays. Haldeman (1991) mentioned that these methods were not only unethical and extremely dangerous, but they also reflected poor and disputed science. Treatments had negative effects, and most patients experienced emotional distress following the therapies, not only because of social pressures but also because they thought something was wrong with them (Smith et al., 2004).

In addition to the clinical and psychological aspects of homosexuality, President Dwight Eisenhower banned “deviant” people from working for the federal government, private contractors, or the military in 1953. LGBTQ people were listed as security risks, along with alcoholics and neurotics. A wave of persecution happened by conducting interviews and dismissing people who were considered homosexual (Blumenfeld, 2006). These legal actions and so-called experimental evidence just served to reinforce the absurd ideas in the population that existed based only on the APA DSM checklist publication.

Nonetheless, with the help of scientific research, Hooker’s work in particular, it was later demonstrated that homosexuals were just as healthy as heterosexuals and should not be treated as having a mental illness needing medical attention.

Historical Impact 

Evelyn Hooker was an American psychologist who made a huge impact on the field of psychology through her research on homosexuality. In her work, she challenged prevailing beliefs about homosexuality as a mental illness and helped to change the way that homosexuality was viewed by the psychological community. During this time, many psychologists viewed homosexuality as a pathological condition because of how it was listed on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM), but Hooker challenged these assumptions by demonstrating that there was no evidence to suggest that homosexuality was inherently pathological (American Psychological Association, 2011). Her research had such a strong influence and convinced the American Psychological Association (APA) to publicly support it.

Hooker’s advocacy had a positive impact on millions of gay men and women and helped them gain acceptance into the mental health community. Although there is still prejudice in the world today, Hooker helped reduce the stigma associated with homosexuality, and her influence is still seen today through the research on LGBTQ issues in psychology (American Psychological Association, n.d.). This finding helped pave the way to remove homosexuality from the DSM in 1973, challenge the prevailing beliefs, and increase the acceptance of diverse gender and sexual identities in society.

References 

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Being gay is just as healthy as being straight. American Psychological Association. Retrieved February 21, 2023, from https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbtq/mental-health

Bancroft, J., & Marks, I. (1968). Treatment of sexual deviations: electric aversion therapy of sexual deviations. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, 61(1), 30-33

Blumenfeld, W. J. (2006). Book review: The lavender scare: The Cold War persecution of gays and lesbians in the federal government.

Boxer, A. M., & Carrier, J. M. (1998). Evelyn Hooker: A life remembered. Journal of Homosexuality, 36(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1300/J082v36n01_01

Drescher, J. (2015). Out of DSM: Depathologizing homosexuality. Behavioral Sciences, 5(4), 565-575.https://doi.org/10.3390/bs5040565

Greenberg, D. F. (1990). The construction of homosexuality. University of Chicago Press.

Haldeman, D. C. (1991). Sexual orientation conversion therapy for gay men and lesbians: A scientific examination. Sage Publications, 149–160. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483325422.n10

Marcus, E. (2022, June 22). Dr. Evelyn Hooker. Making Gay History. Retrieved February 8, 2023, from https://makinggayhistory.com/podcast/episode-1-4

Marmor. (1997). Evelyn Hooker–In Memoriam. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 26(5), 577–. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024568108358

Milar, K. S. (2011, February). The myth buster. Monitor on Psychology. Retrieved February 21, 2023, from https://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/02/myth-buster

Molldrem, S. (2021). Beyond the Depathologization of Homosexuality: Reframing Evelyn Hooker as a Boundary Shifter in Twentieth-Century US Sex Research. Journal of the History of Sexuality, 30(1), 48–91. https://doi.org/10.7560/JHS30103

Scheidman, E. S. (1998). Evelyn Hooker (1907-1996). The American Psychologist, 53(4), 480–481. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.53.4.480

Smith, G., Bartlett, A., & King, M. (2004). Treatments of homosexuality in Britain since the 1950s—an oral history: the experience of patients. BMJ, 328(7437), 427. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.328.427.37984.442419.EE