ABSTRACT
This chapter will introduce you to the role of therapeutic institutions (TIs) in the social
construction of sexuality. I will focus on these institutions as producers of knowledge. First, I
will describe the ‘‘pathological perspective’’ that guides practice within TIs. In the second
section, I will describe how TIs produce ideas about who people are and what they
should be. Finally, I will use the examples of women’s sexuality and homosexuality to
illustrate TIs’ definitions of human sexuality. Attention will also be paid to issues of race
and class.
