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Chris Rogers
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From a standpoint of someone in the field of psychotherapy, I feel that it is difficult to determine whether these posts should be deleted or not. To a degree, one part of me agrees with @RobinKramer that these questions should not be deleted due to the fact that although they may cause some offence, the premise of the question is something which is still prevalent in society, even though there has been a lot of effort to try and remove it from society. Removing these questions would remove the ability to challenge these viewpoints.

The other part of me is saying that these questions should be deleted due to the fact that

  1. You cannot just single out specific answers from the standpoint that they may cause offence. This to me would have a horrible (for want of a better word) feel to it as it silences a section of society and creates a skewed view of society from a sociological standpoint.
  2. Although the questions may cause offence, and there are excellent answers which try to show that these people are not suffering from some sort of mental disorder, the accepted answer which @RobinKramer pointed out could be seen to show that the field of psychology as a whole still sees these social groups as having some sort of mental disorder.

As someone who is bound by codes of ethics banning sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE, reparative, conversion or reorientation therapy) or similar therapies by other names (e.g. NCS Code of Ethics), the accepted answer has pointed out to me a contradiction of standpoints in the field which needs addressing and I have contacted relevant organisations in order to try and get these contradictions addressed.

Another thing from the wider viewpoint which may need to be looked at is how is CogSciSE, the cognitive science fields, and maybe even StackExchange going to be seen by the wider public? Are the wider public going to see us as being homophobic, racist, xenophobic... etc. as a result of this and other questions along with future questions left on the site without deletion?

I too will be interested to see the answers from others on this.

Edit after further thought

I think on balance after reading @mfloren's answer and @AliceD's comment after my answer I think I am going for deleting the questions overall. We don't want questions decending into abusive responses. However each case has to be viewed separately. The case of the homosexuality question leads to deletion in my view.

From a standpoint of someone in the field of psychotherapy, I feel that it is difficult to determine whether these posts should be deleted or not. To a degree, one part of me agrees with @RobinKramer that these questions should not be deleted due to the fact that although they may cause some offence, the premise of the question is something which is still prevalent in society, even though there has been a lot of effort to try and remove it from society. Removing these questions would remove the ability to challenge these viewpoints.

The other part of me is saying that these questions should be deleted due to the fact that

  1. You cannot just single out specific answers from the standpoint that they may cause offence. This to me would have a horrible (for want of a better word) feel to it as it silences a section of society and creates a skewed view of society from a sociological standpoint.
  2. Although the questions may cause offence, and there are excellent answers which try to show that these people are not suffering from some sort of mental disorder, the accepted answer which @RobinKramer pointed out could be seen to show that the field of psychology as a whole still sees these social groups as having some sort of mental disorder.

As someone who is bound by codes of ethics banning sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE, reparative, conversion or reorientation therapy) or similar therapies by other names (e.g. NCS Code of Ethics), the accepted answer has pointed out to me a contradiction of standpoints in the field which needs addressing and I have contacted relevant organisations in order to try and get these contradictions addressed.

Another thing from the wider viewpoint which may need to be looked at is how is CogSciSE, the cognitive science fields, and maybe even StackExchange going to be seen by the wider public? Are the wider public going to see us as being homophobic, racist, xenophobic... etc. as a result of this and other questions along with future questions left on the site without deletion?

I too will be interested to see the answers from others on this.

From a standpoint of someone in the field of psychotherapy, I feel that it is difficult to determine whether these posts should be deleted or not. To a degree, one part of me agrees with @RobinKramer that these questions should not be deleted due to the fact that although they may cause some offence, the premise of the question is something which is still prevalent in society, even though there has been a lot of effort to try and remove it from society. Removing these questions would remove the ability to challenge these viewpoints.

The other part of me is saying that these questions should be deleted due to the fact that

  1. You cannot just single out specific answers from the standpoint that they may cause offence. This to me would have a horrible (for want of a better word) feel to it as it silences a section of society and creates a skewed view of society from a sociological standpoint.
  2. Although the questions may cause offence, and there are excellent answers which try to show that these people are not suffering from some sort of mental disorder, the accepted answer which @RobinKramer pointed out could be seen to show that the field of psychology as a whole still sees these social groups as having some sort of mental disorder.

As someone who is bound by codes of ethics banning sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE, reparative, conversion or reorientation therapy) or similar therapies by other names (e.g. NCS Code of Ethics), the accepted answer has pointed out to me a contradiction of standpoints in the field which needs addressing and I have contacted relevant organisations in order to try and get these contradictions addressed.

Another thing from the wider viewpoint which may need to be looked at is how is CogSciSE, the cognitive science fields, and maybe even StackExchange going to be seen by the wider public? Are the wider public going to see us as being homophobic, racist, xenophobic... etc. as a result of this and other questions along with future questions left on the site without deletion?

I too will be interested to see the answers from others on this.

Edit after further thought

I think on balance after reading @mfloren's answer and @AliceD's comment after my answer I think I am going for deleting the questions overall. We don't want questions decending into abusive responses. However each case has to be viewed separately. The case of the homosexuality question leads to deletion in my view.

Source Link
Chris Rogers
  • 12.3k
  • 9
  • 16

From a standpoint of someone in the field of psychotherapy, I feel that it is difficult to determine whether these posts should be deleted or not. To a degree, one part of me agrees with @RobinKramer that these questions should not be deleted due to the fact that although they may cause some offence, the premise of the question is something which is still prevalent in society, even though there has been a lot of effort to try and remove it from society. Removing these questions would remove the ability to challenge these viewpoints.

The other part of me is saying that these questions should be deleted due to the fact that

  1. You cannot just single out specific answers from the standpoint that they may cause offence. This to me would have a horrible (for want of a better word) feel to it as it silences a section of society and creates a skewed view of society from a sociological standpoint.
  2. Although the questions may cause offence, and there are excellent answers which try to show that these people are not suffering from some sort of mental disorder, the accepted answer which @RobinKramer pointed out could be seen to show that the field of psychology as a whole still sees these social groups as having some sort of mental disorder.

As someone who is bound by codes of ethics banning sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE, reparative, conversion or reorientation therapy) or similar therapies by other names (e.g. NCS Code of Ethics), the accepted answer has pointed out to me a contradiction of standpoints in the field which needs addressing and I have contacted relevant organisations in order to try and get these contradictions addressed.

Another thing from the wider viewpoint which may need to be looked at is how is CogSciSE, the cognitive science fields, and maybe even StackExchange going to be seen by the wider public? Are the wider public going to see us as being homophobic, racist, xenophobic... etc. as a result of this and other questions along with future questions left on the site without deletion?

I too will be interested to see the answers from others on this.