Occupational therapy is grounded in the use of purposeful activity. Current practice standards insist that such activity be meaningful for the participant. What makes an activity meaningful is a combination of an individual's identity, life experiences, intrinsic characteristics and the physical, social and cultural environments in which the person finds himself or herself. Sexuality is one of the frameworks that provide scaffolding for identity formation, developed alongside and because of engagement in occupations.
This paper presents a six-stage model, developed by a psychologist in Australia, of identity formation based on sexual orientation. This model is illustrated using the oral history of a gay man. The influence of occupation at crucial moments in the developmental stages for this individual is illustrated. The meaning of this model for occupational therapy practice, education and theory is discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BrunerJ (1990) Acts of meaning. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
2.
CantB (1993) Footsteps and witnesses: Gay and lesbian lifestories from Scotland. Edinburgh: Polygon.
3.
CarreraMA (1995) The Wordsworth dictionary of sexual terms. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Reference.
4.
CassV (1979) Homosexual identity formation: Testing a theoretical model. Journal of Homosexuality, 4(X)219–35.
5.
CassV (1996) Sexual orientation identity formation: A Western phenomenon. In: CabajRSteinT, eds. A textbook of homosexuality in mental health. Washington: American Psychiatric Press, 227–52.
6.
ConwayM (1996) Autobiographical knowledge and autobiographical memories. In: RubinD, ed. Remembering our past. New York: Cambridge University Press, 67–93.
7.
CouldrickL (1999) Sexual issues within occupational therapy, part 2: Implications for education and practice. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 62(1), 26–30.
8.
DavisMTroupeQ (1989) Miles: The autobiography. New York: Simon and Schuster.
9.
FoucaultM (1979) The history of sexuality, Vol. 1. London: Allen Lane.
10.
GregersenE (1994) The world of human sexuality: Behaviours, customs, and beliefs. New York: Irvington Publishers.
11.
Hall-Carpenter Archives (1989a) Walking after midnight: Gay men's life stories. London: Routledge.
12.
Hall-Carpenter Archives (1989b) Inventing ourselves: Lesbian life stories. London: Routledge.
HodgeN (1998) Transgressive sexualities and the homosexual advance. Alternative Law Journal, 23(1), 30–34.
15.
HookerE (1965) An empirical study of some relations between sexual patterns and gender identity in male homosexuals. In: MoneyJ, ed. Sex research: New developments. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 45–59.
16.
JacksonJ (1995) Sexual orientation and sexuality: Its place in occupational therapy and occupational science. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 49(1), 669–79.
17.
KatzJ (1995) The invention of heterosexuality. New York: Dutton Books.
18.
KielhofnerG (1995) A model of human occupation: Theory and application. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins.
19.
KinseyAPomeroyWMartinC (1948) Sexual behaviour in the human male. Philadelphia: WB Saunders.
20.
Lapovsky-KennedyEDavisMD (1994) Boots of leather, slippers of gold: The history of a lesbian community. New York: Penguin.
21.
LeVaySHamerD (1994) Evidence for a biological influence in male homosexuality. Scientific American, 270, 44–49.
22.
MartinsonF (1994) The sexual life of children. Westport, Connecticut: Bergin and Westport.
23.
MaurerH (1994) Sex: An oral history. New York: Viking Press.
24.
MillerN (1995) Out of the past: Gay and lesbian history from 1869 to the present. New York: Virago.
25.
McKnightJ (1997) Straight science? Homosexuality, evolution and adaptation. London: Routledge.
26.
MichaelRGagnonJLaumannEKolataG (1994) Sex in America: A definitive survey. New York: Little, Brown.
27.
PaulD (1996) The modern inquisition: The influence of religion on attitudes and behaviour of homosexual men. In: WotherspoonG, ed. Gay and lesbian perspectives III: Essays in Australian culture. Sydney: University of Sydney, 241–66.
28.
PorterKWeeksJ (1991) Between the acts: Lives of homosexual men 1885–1967. London: Routledge.
29.
RobinsonP (1996) Perspective, meaning and remembering. In: RubinD, ed. Remembering our past. New York: Cambridge University Press, 199–217.
30.
SpencerC (1995) Homosexuality: A history. London: Fourth Estate.
31.
SullivanA (1995) Virtually normal: An argument about homosexuality. London: Picador.
32.
TannahillR (1992) Sex in history. London: Scarborough House.
33.
TaylorT (1997) The prehistory of sex: Four million years of human sexual culture. London: Fourth Estate.
34.
WeinrichJD (1987) A new sociobiological theory of homosexuality applicable to societies with universal marriage. Ethology and Sociobiology, 8, 37–47.
35.
WotherspoonG (1986) Being different: Nine gay men remember. Sydney: Hale and Iremonger.
