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EX-GAYS? A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF RELIGIOUSLY MEDIATED CHANGE IN SEXUAL ORIENTATION. Stanton L. Jones & Mark ?. Yarhouse. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2007. Pp. 414, pb. Reviewed by Rod Bassett (Roberts Wesleyan College/Rochester, NY).
In a paper published in the American Psychologist, Stan Jones pointed out that one of the contributions of a postpositivistic philosophy of science has been the recognition that scientific theories are often undetermined by facts. The Emperor may not always be fully dressed. If I was to step back and survey psychology, then I might well conclude that one of the areas where this observation could be especially true is in regards to sexual orientation. Psychologists on all sides of this issue seem inclined to make sweeping conclusions based on minimal, incomplete, or inadequate data. If this observation is correct, then data regarding the possibility and functionality of efforts to change sexual orientation within a religious context presented in a reasoned and thoughtful manner should be a welcome contribution of the discussion of sexual orientation. Jones and Yarhouse attempt, and I believe succeed, in making such a contribution.
The book provides a detailed report on a collaborative effort with Exodus ministries to address two questions: "(1) Are the claims of a cluster of conservative religious ministries valid that homosexual orientation can be 'healed'? In other words, is it ever possible for an individual who has a homosexual orientation to change that orientation via religious means? (2) Is the attempt to change harmful, as so many today claim?" (p. 15). It is important to note that the possibility of change was studied not in...