BYU Electroshock Aversion Therapy

The Mormon University Atttempted to Cure Homosexuality

Oct 10, 2007

The Mormon Church's treatment of minorities has improved in recent years, but the horrific acts of the past should not be forgotten.

Aversion Therapy is no longer practiced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The practice of electroshock therapy at BYU ended in the 1970s. Aversion therapy had to be abandoned by BYU because electroshock aversion therapy failed to cure homosexuality. Reparative therapy programs today use behavior modification instead of the barbaric methods employed in the 70s by the Mormon church.

Evergreen, a group with ties to the Mormon Church, and Exodus International are two of the largest organizations reparative therapy organizatoins in the United States. The American Psychological Association does not recognize these programs. Homosexuality is no longer considered a mental illness and is not listed in the DSM-IV.

How BYU's Electroshock Aversion Therapy Worked

During the 70s, the psychology department at Brigham Young University experimented with electroshock aversion therapy in an attempt to cure homesexuality. Patients who went through BYU's program were shown erotic pictures of people of the same sex. When the counselors monitoring the patient sensed he or she was getting aroused, an electrical shock would be delivered to the patient. In later sessions, if a patient felt himself or herself being aroused they could press a plunger to stop the shock and an image of a fully clothed member of the opposite sex would appear on the screen.

BYU's attempts to cure homosexuality using electroshock aversion therapy are better known, but they were not the only method used. Patients undergoing treatment for what the church still calls same-sex attraction could be treated with a drug that would make them nauseous injected into them while looking at the images depicting homosexual activities, and a different drug that would cause euphoria injected into them while viewing images that depicted heterosexual activities. Neither method worked.

BYU Still Discriminates but the Problem is Mormon Culture

BYU’s attempts to track down gay students have resulted in an unofficial secret police form existing on the campus. The problems of how gays and lesbians are treated at Brigham Young university reflects how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints looks upon its members who do not fit the ideal Mormon mold. This unofficial secret police force still exists but has not played much or a role in the church in recent years.

While Mormon apostles have made statements that Reparative therapy does not work for many dealing with same-sex attraction, bishops and other church authorities still refer patients to Evergreen International. The idea that led to electroshock aversion therapy and the popularity of Reparative Therapy programs leaders still exists and is promoted by Mormon leaders today.

People who suffer from what the Mormon leadership call same-sex attraction are expected not to act as their sexual orientation would dictate. Rhetoric from church leadership, including the God Loveth His Children pamphlet on LDS.org still treat it as a problem that is capable of being cured, although Dalin Oaks stated that many people struggling with same-sex attraction will not find a cure in this life.

The copyright of the article BYU Electroshock Aversion Therapy in Mormonism is owned by Shawn Landis. Permission to republish BYU Electroshock Aversion Therapy in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.