Re: Ну все, понеслась! :)
Ты что, читать разучилась?:115:Originally Posted by Дженни
Gender Identity. In studies of children ranging in
age from 5 to 14, results of projective testing and
related interview procedures have revealed that
development of gender identity among children of
lesbian mothers follows the expected pattern
(Green, 1978; Green,Mandel, Hotvedt, Gray, &
Smith, 1986; Kirkpatrick, Smith & Roy, 1981).
More direct assessment techniques to assess gender
identity have been used by Golombok, Spencer, &
Rutter (1983) with the same result: All children in
this study reported that they were happy with their
gender and that they had no wish to be a member
of the opposite sex. There was no evidence in any
of the studies of gender identity of any difficulties
among children of lesbian mothers. No data have
been reported in this area for children of gay fathers.
Gender-Role Behavior. A number of studies have
reported that gender-role behavior among children
of lesbian mothers fell within typical limits for conventional
sex roles (Brewaeys et al., 1997; Golombok
et al., 1983; Gottman, 1990; Green, 1978; Green et
al., 1986; Hoeffer, 1981; Kirkpatrick et al., 1981;
Kweskin & Cook, 1982; Patterson, 1994a). For
instance, Kirkpatrick and her colleagues (1981)
found no differences between children of lesbian
versus heterosexual mothers in toy preferences,
activities, interests, or occupational choices.
Rees (1979) administered the Bem Sex Role
Inventory (BSRI) to 24 adolescents, half of whom
had divorced lesbian and half of whom had divorced
heterosexual mothers. The BSRI yields scores on
masculinity and femininity as independent factors
and an androgyny score based on the ratio of masculinity
to femininity. Children of lesbian and heterosexual
mothers did not differ on masculinity or
on androgyny, but children of lesbian mothers
reported greater psychological femininity than did
those of heterosexual mothers. This result would
seem to run counter to expectations based on
stereotypes of lesbians as lacking in femininity, both
in their own demeanor and in their likely influences
on children.
Gender-role behavior of children was also assessed
by Green and his colleagues (1986). In interviews
with the children, no differences between the 56
children of lesbian and 48 children of heterosexual
mothers were found with respect to favorite television
programs, favorite television characters, or
favorite games or toys. There was some indication
in interviews with children themselves that the offspring
of lesbian mothers had less sex-typed preferences
for activities at school and in their neighborhoods
than did children of heterosexual mothers.
Consistent with this result, lesbian mothers were
also more likely than heterosexual mothers to
report that their daughters often participated in
rough-and-tumble play or occasionally played with
"masculine" toys such as trucks or guns, but they
reported no differences in these areas for sons.
Lesbian mothers were no more and no less likely than
heterosexual mothers to report that their children
often played with "feminine" toys such as dolls. In
both family types, however, children's sex-role behavior
was seen as falling within the expected range.
More recently, Brewaeys and her colleagues (1997)
assessed gender-role behavior among 30, 4- to 8-
year-old children who had been conceived via
donor insemination by lesbian couples, and compared
it to that of 30 same-aged children who had
been conceived via donor insemination by heterosexual
couples, and to that of 30 same-aged children
who had been naturally conceived by heterosexual
couples. They used the Pre-School Activities
Inventory (Golombok & Rust, 1993), a maternal
report questionnaire designed to identify “masculine”
and “feminine” behavior among boys and girls
within unselected samples of schoolchildren. They
found no significant differences between children of
lesbian and children of heterosexual parents on
preferences for gendered toys, games, and activities
(Brewaeys et al., 1997).
In summary, the research suggests that children of
lesbian mothers develop patterns of gender-role
behavior that are much like those of other children.
Sexual Orientation. A number of investigators have
also studied a third component of sexual identity,
sexual orientation (Bailey, Bobrow,Wolfe, &
Mickach, 1995; Bozett, 1980, 1987, 1989; Gottman,
1990; Golombok & Tasker, 1996; Green, 1978;
Huggins, 1989; Miller, 1979; Paul, 1986; Rees, 1979;
Tasker & Golombok, 1997). In all studies, the great
majority of offspring of both lesbian mothers and
gay fathers described themselves as heterosexual.
Taken together, the data do not suggest elevated rates
of homosexuality among the offspring of lesbian or
gay parents. For instance, Huggins (1989) interviewed
36 adolescents, half of whom had lesbian
mothers and half of whom had heterosexual mothers.
No children of lesbian mothers identified themselves
as lesbian or gay, but one child of a heterosexual
mother did; this difference was not statistically
significant. In another study, Bailey and his colleagues
(1995) studied adult sons of gay fathers and
found more than 90% of the sons to be heterosexual.
Golombok and Tasker (1996, 1997) studied 25
young adults reared by divorced lesbian mothers
and 21 young adults reared by divorced heterosexual
mothers. They reported that offspring of lesbian
mothers were no more likely than those of heterosexual
mothers to describe themselves as feeling
attracted to same-sex sexual partners. If they were
attracted in this way, however, young adults with lesbian
mothers were more likely to report that they
would consider entering into a same-sex sexual relationship,
and they were more likely to have actually
participated in such a relationship. They were not,
however, more likely to identify themselves as nonheterosexual
(i.e., as lesbian, gay, or bisexual). These
results were based on a small sample, and they must
be interpreted with caution. At the same time, the
study is the first to follow children of divorced lesbian
mothers into adulthood, and it offers a detailed
and careful examination of important issues.
Other Aspects of Personal Development
Studies of other aspects of personal development
among children of lesbian and gay parents have
assessed a broad array of characteristics. Among
these have been separation-individuation (Steckel,
1985, 1987), psychiatric evaluations (Golombok et
al., 1983; Kirkpatrick et al., 1981), behavior problems
(Brewaeys et al., 1997; Chan, Raboy et al., 1998;
Flaks, et al., 1995; Gartrell, Deck, Rodas, Peyser, &
Banks, 2005; Golombok et al., 1983, 1997; Patterson,
1994a; Tasker & Golombok, 1995, 1997;Wainright
et al., 2004), personality (Gottman, 1990; Tasker &
Golombok, 1995, 1997), self-concept (Golombok,
Tasker, & Murray, 1997; Gottman, 1990, Huggins,
1989; Patterson, 1994a; Puryear, 1983;Wainright et
al., 2004), locus of control (Puryear, 1983; Rees,
1979), moral judgment (Rees, 1979), school adjustment
(Wainright et al., 2004), and intelligence
(Green et al., 1986). Research suggests that concerns
about difficulties in these areas among children of
lesbian mothers are unwarranted (Patterson, 1997,
2000; Parks, 1998; Perrin, 1998, 2002; Stacey &
Biblarz, 2001; Tasker, 1999). As was the case for sexual
identity, studies of these aspects of personal
development have revealed no major differences
between children of lesbian versus heterosexual
mothers. One statistically significant difference in
self-concept emerged in Patterson's (1994a) study:
Children of lesbian mothers reported greater symptoms
of stress but also a greater overall sense of
well-being than did children in a comparison group
(Patterson, 1994a); but this result has yet to be replicated.
Overall, the belief that children of lesbian
and gay parents suffer deficits in personal development
has no empirical foundation.
Social Relationships
Studies assessing potential differences between children
of lesbian and gay parents, on the one hand,
and children of heterosexual parents, on the other,
have sometimes included assessments of children's
social relationships. The most common focus of
attention has been on peer relations, but some information
about children's relationships with adults
has also been collected. Research findings that
address the likelihood of sexual abuse are also summarized
in this section.
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