Gendered analysis of clinical complaints: a feminist approach

Abstract

The approach of Behavior Analysis to the feminist perspective has fomented debates
about the importance of recognizing the sociopolitical aspect in the analysis of issues
related to gender. Because of this, a bibliographic study was carried out to investigate whether
the case studies published by the Revista Brasileira de Terapia Comportamental e Cognitiva
journal contemplated patriarchal social contingencies in understanding clinical complaints.
Behavior analytic articles with at least three gender-related words (e.g., male, female, female,
male) were selected without date restriction. Of the 124 articles selected, 21 were case studies.
One described four, and another described two, thus totaling 25 case studies. The most recurrent female complaints were anxiety disorder and problems related to romantic relationships; among men, the most recurrent complaint was aggressive behavior. Only one article mentioned differential social contingencies between genders related to female double shifts to interpret the complaint of a female patient. The analyzes reiterate previous warnings about the need to expand the functional analysis to encompass contingencies that allow behavior analysts to understand and clinically intervene in behaviors considering gender specificities in a sexist society.