Ray Blanchard
Encyclopedia
Ray Milton Blanchard is an American-Canadian
sexologist, best known for his research studies on pedophilia
, gender dysphoria, and sexual orientation
. He has also published research studies on phallometry and several paraphilia
s, including transvestism
and autoerotic asphyxia.
. He received his A.B. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania
in 1967 and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1973. He conducted postdoctoral research at Dalhousie University
until 1976, when he accepted a position as a clinical psychologist at the Ontario Correctional Institute in Brampton, Ontario, Canada
(a suburb of Toronto
). There, Blanchard met Kurt Freund
, who became his mentor. Freund was conducting research in chemical castration
for sex offenders. In 1980, he joined the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry
(now part of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
). In 1995 Blanchard was named Head of Clinical Sexology Services in the Law and Mental Health Programme of the CAMH, and he serves as a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto
. He served on the American Psychiatric Association
DSM-IV Subcommittee on Gender Identity Disorders and was named to the DSM-5 committee. According to the Web of Science
, Blanchard's scientific articles have been cited more than 1800 times, with an h-index
of 27.
, including biological
factors. He has proposed a theory known as a fraternal birth order effect or "older brother effect". This theory is that the more older brothers a man has, the greater the probability is that he will have a homosexual sexual orientation
. The number of older sisters has no effect, however. The same is not true for lesbians—neither the number of older brothers nor the number of older sisters appears to be related to the sexual orientation of women. The fraternal birth order effect is the strongest known predictor of sexual orientation, with each older brother increasing a man's odds of being gay by about 33%. Blanchard goes on to state that "A man's chance of being gay is pretty low to begin with --perhaps as low as 2%..." So having one older brother ups the chance to only about 2.6%."
Blanchard hypothesizes that the older brother effect is caused by interactions between a male fetus and the immune system of the mother: Because certain proteins (called H-y antigens) are produced by male and not by female fetuses, the mother's immune system reacts only to male fetuses and is more likely to produce a reaction with each successive exposure to a male fetus.
“γυνη” actually has a stem “γυναικ-”) to describe men with an erotic desire to be women and provided evidence that the previously described types of gender dysphoria in biological males were actually all variants of only two types: homosexual gender dysphoria and non-homosexual gender dysphoria.
Within the transsexual community, there has been much controversy surrounding Blanchard's ideas.
Blanchard supports sex reassignment surgery
as an appropriate treatment for transsexual people whom he considers to have a mental disorder. For example, in 1998, the Ontario Health Insurance Plan ceased funding all sex reassignment surgeries in the province. Blanchard strongly supported Michelle Josef
's lawsuit to get funding restored as being medically necessary.
(sexual interest in prepubescent children) and hebephilia
(sexual interest in pubescent children), teleiophilia is not considered a paraphilia. The term was formalized in order to forestall neologisms, such as "adultophilia" or "normophilia," that were occasionally used, but had no precise definition. The term is used primarily by professional sexologists in the scientific literature.
. Some activists protested the latter appointment. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
issued a statement questioning the APA's decision to appoint Blanchard.
in the DSM-5. The paper, coauthored mostly with colleagues from CAMH and the University of Toronto, triggered a number of reactions, many of them critical on the basis that it pathologizes reproductively valid behavior in order to uphold current social and legal standards. Critics include Richard Green
, Michael First
(DSM-IV editor), Karen Franklin
, and Charles Allen Moser
, while others including William O'Donohue
argue that the proposal does not go far enough. Blanchard also wrote the literature review paper for the DSM-5 committee regarding pedophilia, in which he summarizes and attempts to address the criticism over the DSM-IV-TR definition of pedophilia. The proposed DSM-5 replacement for the pedophilia diagnosis, called pedohebophilic disorder, largely reflects Blanchard's proposals. The naming also reflects the more general distinction proposed between paraphilia
and paraphilic disorder in DSM-5, also proposed by Blachard in his review paper on pedophilia.
Blanchard noted that both Richard Green
and William O'Donohue
remarked that a so-called "contended pedophile"—an individual who fantasizes about having sex with a child, but does not commit child sexual abuse
, but just masturbates fantasizing it, and who does not feel subjectively distressed afterward—does not meet the DSM-IV-TR criteria for pedophilia, because he does not meet Criterion B. Whereas Green proposed to solve the problem by removing pedophilia from the DSM, and O'Donohue proposed to remove criterion B for pedophilia, Blanchard proposed a general solution applicable to all paraphilias, namely a distinction between paraphilia and paraphilic disorder. The latter term is proposed to identify the diagnosable condition, which meets both Criterion A and B, whereas an individual who does not meet Criterion B, can be ascertained, but not diagnosed, as having a paraphilia. (Blanchard acknowledges Kenneth Zucker
and James Cantor
for discussions about this distinction.) Interviewed by bioethics
professor Alice Dreger, Blanchard explained: "We tried to go as far as we could in depathologizing mild and harmless paraphilias, while recognizing that severe paraphilias that distress or impair people or cause them to do harm to others are validly regarded as disorders."
Canadians of American origin
American-Canadians are people of Canadian citizenship who were born in the United States of America. They account for a significant portion of Canada's population. Canada and the United States share much culturally but are separate geopolitical entities in North America.According to the Canada 2006...
sexologist, best known for his research studies on pedophilia
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
, gender dysphoria, and sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
. He has also published research studies on phallometry and several paraphilia
Paraphilia
Paraphilia is a biomedical term used to describe sexual arousal to objects, situations, or individuals that are not part of normative stimulation and that may cause distress or serious problems for the paraphiliac or persons associated with him or her...
s, including transvestism
Transvestism
Transvestism is the practice of cross-dressing, which is wearing clothing traditionally associated with the opposite sex. Transvestite refers to a person who cross-dresses; however, the word often has additional connotations. -History:Although the word transvestism was coined as late as the 1910s,...
and autoerotic asphyxia.
Education and career
Blanchard was born in Hammonton, New JerseyHammonton, New Jersey
Hammonton is a town in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 14,791. It is located directly between Philadelphia and the resort town of Atlantic City, along a former route of the Pennsylvania Railroad currently used by New Jersey...
. He received his A.B. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
in 1967 and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1973. He conducted postdoctoral research at Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University is a public research university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university comprises eleven faculties including Schulich School of Law and Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine. It also includes the faculties of architecture, planning and engineering located at...
until 1976, when he accepted a position as a clinical psychologist at the Ontario Correctional Institute in Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Brampton, Ontario
Brampton is the third-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada and the seat of Peel Region. As of the 2006 census, Brampton's population stood at 433,806, making it the 11th largest city in Canada. It is also one of Canada's fastest growing municipalities, with an average...
(a suburb of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
). There, Blanchard met Kurt Freund
Kurt Freund
Kurt Freund was a Czech-Canadian physician and sexologist best known for developing phallometry , research studies in pedophilia, and for the "courtship disorder" hypothesis as a taxonomy of certain paraphilias Kurt Freund (17 January 1914–23 October 1996) was a Czech-Canadian physician and...
, who became his mentor. Freund was conducting research in chemical castration
Chemical castration
Chemical castration is the administration of medication designed to reduce libido and sexual activity, usually in the hope of preventing rapists, child molesters and other sex offenders from repeating their crimes...
for sex offenders. In 1980, he joined the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry
Clarke Institute of Psychiatry
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health is a psychiatric hospital in Toronto, Ontario. Much of their work focuses on forensic psychology, sex addiction, drug addiction, and research designed to shape public policy....
(now part of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health is a consortium of mental health clinics at several sites in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its name in French is Centre de toxicomanie et de santé mentale...
). In 1995 Blanchard was named Head of Clinical Sexology Services in the Law and Mental Health Programme of the CAMH, and he serves as a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
. He served on the American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
DSM-IV Subcommittee on Gender Identity Disorders and was named to the DSM-5 committee. According to the Web of Science
Web of Science
ISI Web of Knowledge is an academic citation indexing and search service, which is combined with web linking and provided by Thomson Reuters. Web of Knowledge coverage encompasses the sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities. It provides bibliographic content and the tools to access, analyze,...
, Blanchard's scientific articles have been cited more than 1800 times, with an h-index
H-index
The h-index is an index that attempts to measure both the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist or scholar. The index is based on the set of the scientist's most cited papers and the number of citations that they have received in other publications...
of 27.
Fraternal birth order effect
Blanchard has conducted research on factors that influence the development of sexual orientationBiology and sexual orientation
Biology and sexual orientation is the subject of research into the role of biology in the development of human sexual orientation. No simple, single cause for sexual orientation has been conclusively demonstrated, but research suggests that it is by a combination of genetic, hormonal, and...
, including biological
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
factors. He has proposed a theory known as a fraternal birth order effect or "older brother effect". This theory is that the more older brothers a man has, the greater the probability is that he will have a homosexual sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
. The number of older sisters has no effect, however. The same is not true for lesbians—neither the number of older brothers nor the number of older sisters appears to be related to the sexual orientation of women. The fraternal birth order effect is the strongest known predictor of sexual orientation, with each older brother increasing a man's odds of being gay by about 33%. Blanchard goes on to state that "A man's chance of being gay is pretty low to begin with --perhaps as low as 2%..." So having one older brother ups the chance to only about 2.6%."
Blanchard hypothesizes that the older brother effect is caused by interactions between a male fetus and the immune system of the mother: Because certain proteins (called H-y antigens) are produced by male and not by female fetuses, the mother's immune system reacts only to male fetuses and is more likely to produce a reaction with each successive exposure to a male fetus.
Autogynephilia and the taxonomy of male-to-female gender dysphoria
Blanchard coined the term "autogynephilia" (ill formed, because GreekAncient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
“γυνη” actually has a stem “γυναικ-”) to describe men with an erotic desire to be women and provided evidence that the previously described types of gender dysphoria in biological males were actually all variants of only two types: homosexual gender dysphoria and non-homosexual gender dysphoria.
Within the transsexual community, there has been much controversy surrounding Blanchard's ideas.
Blanchard supports sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...
as an appropriate treatment for transsexual people whom he considers to have a mental disorder. For example, in 1998, the Ontario Health Insurance Plan ceased funding all sex reassignment surgeries in the province. Blanchard strongly supported Michelle Josef
Michelle Josef
Michelle Josef is a Canadian musician and transgender activist.Josef was born Bohdan Hluszko. Under her former name, Josef was already established as one of Canada's leading session drummers, and has continued her career in music. She has appeared on albums by Prairie Oyster, Doug Sahm, Jo-El...
's lawsuit to get funding restored as being medically necessary.
- See also: Blanchard, Bailey, and Lawrence theoryBlanchard, Bailey, and Lawrence theoryBlanchard's transsexualism typology is a psychological typology of male-to-female transsexualism created by Ray Blanchard through the 1980s and 1990s, building on the work of his colleague, Kurt Freund...
The term teleiophilia
Blanchard coined the term teleiophilia to refer to sexual interest in adults. Unlike the terms referring to sexual interest in other age groups, such as pedophiliaPedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
(sexual interest in prepubescent children) and hebephilia
Hebephilia
Hebephilia refers to the sexual preference for individuals in the early years of puberty . Girls typically begin the process of puberty at age 10 or 11; boys at age 11 or 12...
(sexual interest in pubescent children), teleiophilia is not considered a paraphilia. The term was formalized in order to forestall neologisms, such as "adultophilia" or "normophilia," that were occasionally used, but had no precise definition. The term is used primarily by professional sexologists in the scientific literature.
Appointment
Blanchard served on the gender dysphoria sub-working group for the DSM-IV and served as Chair of the paraphilia sub-working group for the DSM-5DSM-5
The next edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , commonly called DSM-5 , is currently in consultation, planning and preparation...
. Some activists protested the latter appointment. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force builds the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community from the ground up. The Task Force is the country’s premier social justice organization fighting to improve the lives of LGBT people, and working to create positive, lasting...
issued a statement questioning the APA's decision to appoint Blanchard.
Paraphilias
In 2008, Blanchard was the lead author of an influential paper proposing the introduction of hebephiliaHebephilia
Hebephilia refers to the sexual preference for individuals in the early years of puberty . Girls typically begin the process of puberty at age 10 or 11; boys at age 11 or 12...
in the DSM-5. The paper, coauthored mostly with colleagues from CAMH and the University of Toronto, triggered a number of reactions, many of them critical on the basis that it pathologizes reproductively valid behavior in order to uphold current social and legal standards. Critics include Richard Green
Richard Green (sexologist)
Richard Green is an American sexologist, psychiatrist, lawyer, and author specializing in homosexuality and transsexualism, specifically gender identity disorder in children. Green is the founding editor of the Archives of Sexual Behavior , and served as Editor until 2001...
, Michael First
Michael First
Michael B. First is an American psychiatrist who focuses on diagnostic criteria for mental disorders. He is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University. First was the Editor of the DSM-IV-TR, the Editor of Text and Criteria for the DSM-IV, and the editor of the Structured Clinical...
(DSM-IV editor), Karen Franklin
Karen Franklin
Karen Franklin is a forensic psychologist known for her research on the psychosocial motivations of antigay violence perpetrators. She is adjunct faculty at the California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University.-Career:...
, and Charles Allen Moser
Charles Allen Moser
Charles Allen Moser is an American physician specializing in internal medicine and focusing on sexual medicine. Moser is based in San Francisco and focuses his research and practice on individuals in the LGBT, kink, and fetish communities...
, while others including William O'Donohue
William O'Donohue
William T. "Bill" O'Donohue is an American psychologist who focuses on human sexuality, especially child sexual abuse. In 2009 O'Donohue was appointed as advisor to the DSM-V Work Group on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association.-Life and career:O'Donohue...
argue that the proposal does not go far enough. Blanchard also wrote the literature review paper for the DSM-5 committee regarding pedophilia, in which he summarizes and attempts to address the criticism over the DSM-IV-TR definition of pedophilia. The proposed DSM-5 replacement for the pedophilia diagnosis, called pedohebophilic disorder, largely reflects Blanchard's proposals. The naming also reflects the more general distinction proposed between paraphilia
Paraphilia
Paraphilia is a biomedical term used to describe sexual arousal to objects, situations, or individuals that are not part of normative stimulation and that may cause distress or serious problems for the paraphiliac or persons associated with him or her...
and paraphilic disorder in DSM-5, also proposed by Blachard in his review paper on pedophilia.
Blanchard noted that both Richard Green
Richard Green (sexologist)
Richard Green is an American sexologist, psychiatrist, lawyer, and author specializing in homosexuality and transsexualism, specifically gender identity disorder in children. Green is the founding editor of the Archives of Sexual Behavior , and served as Editor until 2001...
and William O'Donohue
William O'Donohue
William T. "Bill" O'Donohue is an American psychologist who focuses on human sexuality, especially child sexual abuse. In 2009 O'Donohue was appointed as advisor to the DSM-V Work Group on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association.-Life and career:O'Donohue...
remarked that a so-called "contended pedophile"—an individual who fantasizes about having sex with a child, but does not commit child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
, but just masturbates fantasizing it, and who does not feel subjectively distressed afterward—does not meet the DSM-IV-TR criteria for pedophilia, because he does not meet Criterion B. Whereas Green proposed to solve the problem by removing pedophilia from the DSM, and O'Donohue proposed to remove criterion B for pedophilia, Blanchard proposed a general solution applicable to all paraphilias, namely a distinction between paraphilia and paraphilic disorder. The latter term is proposed to identify the diagnosable condition, which meets both Criterion A and B, whereas an individual who does not meet Criterion B, can be ascertained, but not diagnosed, as having a paraphilia. (Blanchard acknowledges Kenneth Zucker
Kenneth Zucker
Kenneth J. Zucker is a Jewish American-Canadian psychologist and sexologist, and head of the child and adolescent gender identity clinic at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Based on his collaboration with Susan Bradley, Zucker is considered an international authority in the field...
and James Cantor
James Cantor
James M. Cantor is a clinical psychologist specializing in sexology. He is an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Toronto's Faculty of Medicine, and the Head of the Law and Mental Health Research Section of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.He is...
for discussions about this distinction.) Interviewed by bioethics
Bioethics
Bioethics is the study of controversial ethics brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, and philosophy....
professor Alice Dreger, Blanchard explained: "We tried to go as far as we could in depathologizing mild and harmless paraphilias, while recognizing that severe paraphilias that distress or impair people or cause them to do harm to others are validly regarded as disorders."
External links
- Blanchard Faculty Webpage at the University of Toronto
- Blanchard Staff Webpage via Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
- Ray Blanchard profile via American Psychiatric Association
- Origins of the Concept of Autogynephilia - Written by Blanchard in February 2004