ABSTRACT
Modern psychiatry emerged as an independent medical speciality in Europe in the 19th century (where, however, it had been preceded by forensic medicine). See "Pio neers," I.B; and "Medical Archaeology," XXIII.D. The medical origins, which set it apart from psychology (XVI. A-M) , have fostered a disease model of homosexuality. This tendency rears its head in the countless discussions of "etiology," which assume that the phenomenon of same-sex behavior is intrinsically abnormal and undesir able, and hence must have a specific (and remediable) cause. More recently, however, many psychiatrists have come to accept homosexual orientation as lying within the normal range of human experience, seeking only to allevi ate other problems that are complicating life for the patient. See "Psychotherapy," XVII.F.
