Request for Investigation and Comprehensive Review by The American Psychological Association (APA) of Member Dr. Kenneth J. Zucker for what Appear to be Violations of the APA Code of Ethics
Dear Members of the Executive Board of the American Psychological Association:
My name is Curtis E. Hinkle and I am writing to you to as president of the Organisation Intersex International to file a complaint against Dr. Kenneth Zucker. Since OII is a Canadian organisation, I feel it is my duty to ask the APA to investigate the following allegations which concern me as president of OII and many of its members. After having been informed of alleged abuse and intimidation by Zucker and/or the CAMH, I have researched Dr. Zucker's writings and other statements and found many areas which merit an investigation.
What follows is a list of allegations concerning the ethics and conduct of Dr. Zucker which I feel should be resolved by the appropriate governing body within the APA. I am not an expert on what actually is a violation of APA's ethical standards and rules of conduct for psychologists. I therefore ask the APA to determine if these allegations, which are not a matter of legal fact at this time, comply with APA's policies, rules of conduct and ethical standards.
Regards,
Curtis E. Hinkle
Founder, Organisation Intersex International
3.02 Sexual Harassment
"Psychologists do not engage in sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is sexual solicitation, physical advances, or verbal or nonverbal conduct that is sexual in nature, that occurs in connection with the psychologist's activities or roles as a psychologist, and that...(2) is sufficiently severe or intense to be abusive to a reasonable person in this context."
I have received communication from someone who alleges to have been sexually and/or physically abused by Kenneth J. Zucker. Please see Appendix A. Upon receiving the e-mail, I filed a report about this matter with the Toronto Police Department and the Federal Sex Crimes Unit in compliance with laws in effect where I live which require reporting of all allegations of child sexual abuse to the proper authorities.
3.03 Other Harassment
"Psychologists do not knowingly engage in behavior that is harassing OR DEMEANING to persons with whom they interact in their work based on such as those persons' age, gender, GENDER IDENTITY, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, disability, language, or socioeconomic status."
Please see Appendix A.
3.04 Avoiding harm
"Psychologists take reasonable steps to avoid harming their CLIENTS/PATIENTS, students, supervisees, RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS, and others with whom they work, and to minimize harm where it is foreseeable and unavoidable."
Dr. Zucker has indicated the lack of evidence for the therapy which he uses in gender variant individuals (see Appendix B which links to article published in Australia by Polare.)
5.01 Avoidance of False or Deceptive Statements
"b) Psychologists do not make false, deceptive, or fraudulent statements concerning
(6) the scientific or clinical basis for, or results or degree of success of, their services;
When questioned about the effectiveness of Dr. Zucker's therapy of childhood GID, Dr. Zucker responded (e-mail response enclosed as Appendix C) with the misapplication of one study of adult GID outcomes for that of childhood and adolescent GID "psychotherapy claims". As Dr. Zucker has indicated that his therapy either prevents GID of childhood and/or adolescence from becoming adult GID, I note his peers, including Dr. Richard Green, Collette Chiland, and George Rekers demonstrate that this is likely incorrect, since they demonstrate that childhood GID outcome is usually homosexuality, and that adult GID is typically transsexualism (See enclosed publication in Polare). (Adult homosexuality has been removed from the DSM in 1973). I also note that J Michael Bailey (another of Dr. Zucker's peers) states that Dr. Zucker admits that he (Dr. Zucker) has no evidence that his (Dr. Zucker's) therapy works). (See note in Appendix B).
(8) their publications or research findings"
See above. Also note that Dr. Zucker published a study which had many factual errors in it. These were noted and corrected by Dr. Paul Vasey and his colleagues. (See Appendix B.)
5.04 Media Presentations
"When psychologists provide public advice or comment via print, internet, or other electronic transmission, they take precaustions to ensure that statements
(1) are based on their professional knowledge, training, or experience in accord with appropriate psychological literature and practice;
In a public documentary, Dr. Zucker touted the effectiveness of the correlation of psychotherapy with gender dysphoric adolescents and children, despite (as mentioned) the lack of evidence of such.(See Appendix B.)
(2) are otherwise consistent with this Ethics Code;"
I suggest that Dr. Zucker, as editor of the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, member of the World Professional Association of Transgender Health Disorders of Sex Development committee, and the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) gender Identity Disorders, in CONCERT with his affiliations with other contributors or co-authors (such as Dr. Anne Lawrence and Dr. Ray Blanchard), represents a conflict of interest and power, which may serve to perpetuate the alleged ethics violations as mentioned and which thus may also unduly impede more objective discourse.
8.10 Reporting Research Results
(a) Psychologists do not fabricate data.
See complaint of alleged ethics violation of section 5.01
(b) If psychologists discover significant errors in their published data, they take reasonable steps to correct such errors IN A CORRECTION, RETRACTION, ERRATUM, OR OTHER APPROPRIATE PUBLICATION MEANS."
In complaint of alleged violation of ethics in section 5.01, it was Dr. Vasey's group, and not Dr. Zucker who furnished a correction. I find no correction, retraction, erratum, or other appropriate publication means taken by Dr. Zucker to correct the statements. (See Appendix B).
Appendix A
E-mail from N____________ to the Canadian Health Minister. (I choose not to share the private e-mail sent to me by Ms. N____________ in this open request. It will be sent privately under seal through the mail.)
From: N____________
To: G____________
Date: Fri, May 30, 2008 at 1:41 AM
Subject: A letter to the Canadian Health Minister, about abuse from Kenneth Zucker
The Honourable Tony Clement, P.C., M.P.
Health Canada
Brooke Claxton Building, Tunney's Pasture
Postal Locator: 0906C
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9
Honourable Minister Clement,
My name is N____________. I have finally built up the courage to step foward and make a report about some sexual abuse that I have experienced from Dr. Kenneth Zucker and an assistant of his, at the Clarke Intitute in Toronto, Ontario when I was 9. I was diagnosed as having a Gender identity Disorder. I was born a male, but I have a female mind and internal female feelings. I have undergone Gender Transition as an adult.
But, I have had to live in hidden shame up until now, because no had believed that the sexual contact had happened when I was a child I have had to struggle with this secret for quite awhile, wanting to commit suicide because of this and his past gender treatment method. Dr. Zucker had tried to force me to be a boy and not a girl, as I had felt so deeply about back then, and then the 2 sexual incidents happened.
Please forgive me if I am taking up your precious time, but I'm not sure where or who to turn to about this.
Thank you for listening.
Sincerely,
N____________
Appendix B
Please read the following article:
Hinkle, C.E. (2008) Zucker: Manipulation of Young Feminine Boys. Polare 76, 10-18.
Available online at:
Note: (Citation from the above article)
The key word in Zucker's statement here is the word untreated. Zucker acknowledges that G.I.D. boys most commonly turn out to be homosexual adult men, not adult transsexuals. This is in striking contrast to his recent documentary statement that "when one engages in psychotherapy" with children and adolescents with gender dysphoria that one may find that many give up the wish for a sex change and come to an alternative to the "only way I can feel good about myself" is with a sex change.". It also contradicts his colleague's description of Zucker's view that, "Zucker thinks that an important goal of treatment is to help the children accept their birth sex and to avoid becoming transsexual".
With this statement, Zucker's colleague, J Michael Bailey, exposes Zucker's "treatment" as fraudulent, since we have already seen that Zucker knows that most of these boys don't become transsexual, but instead become non–transsexual adult homosexual men. Thus without Zucker's treatment, they mainly become gay men anyway; and thus, Zucker has no proof of his own fraudulent claims. We are not surprised then, that Bailey again exposes Zucker's "transsexual prevention" treatment of G.I.D. boys as fraudulent and baseless, by this following comment, "Zucker believes that most boys who play with girls' things often enough to earn a diagnosis of G.I.D. would become girls if they could. Failure to intervene increases the chances of transsexualism in adulthood, which Zucker considers a bad outcome. ... Zucker ... is the first to acknowledge that no scientific studies currently support the effectiveness of what he does."
Appendix C
Dr. Kenneth J. Zucker e-mail fails to address his statements concerning therapy for "gender dysphoric" children
