Boy is made to wear women’s clothes as well.
By Raif Karerat
A South Carolina mother is under investigation by the Department of Social Services after writing “bad” on her son’s head, putting him in a woman’s clothing and parading him around Wal-Mart as punishment for misbehaving.
Officers were called to the Rock Hill, S.C. store Sunday evening and found the boy dressed after in a tutu, women’s boots, a women’s undergarment and a T-shirt. The word “bad” was written in marker on the back of his shaved head.
The mother said she was “punishing her son for fighting and making homophobic remarks in school,†the report states. She added that he has been having behavioral issues, and “corporal punishment has been ineffective, so she was attempting to embarrass†her son as punishment, according to The Herald.
Officers subsequently informed the woman the punishment was not an acceptable form of discipline and contacted the Department of Social Services.
Recently, a controversial study conducted in Italy has concluded homophobia might be linked to mental health disorders and should be treated as a disease.
The study, titled “Psychoticism, Immature Defense Mechanisms and a Fearful Attachment Style are Associated with a Higher Homophobic Attitude,†was published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
“After our empirical analysis, we found that psychoticism represents an important risk factor for homophobic attitude,†lead author Emmanuele A. Jannini, M.D., professor of endocrinology and medical sexology at the department of systems medicine at Tor Vergata, University of Rome, and president of the Italian Society of Andrology and Sexual Medicine, told the Daily Beast in an email. “Psychoticism characterizes many aspects of human thought in a dysfunctional way, as a decrease of metacognition and mentalization. The severity of psychoticism is considered a possible predictor for psychiatric disease.â€
Many disagree, such as Gregory M. Herek, Ph.D., professor of psychology and an expert in prejudice and sexual orientation at the University of California, Davis.
“There are no empirical data that suggests homophobia is some sort of mental illness, and that includes this study,†Herek challenged.