The concept of homosexuality proposed by Sigmund Freud remains relatively unchanged in most of the psychoanalytic literature of today. The theoretical approach used by Freud in the development of this concept makes it difficult to explain certain phenomena that are a part of the homosexual conflict. The classical Freudian frame of reference is an "instinctual" one. It is overweighted on the constitutional side, under-weighted on the sociological side. It ultimately traces behavior to instinctual forces that are inherent, have a fixed ontogenetic course of development, and recapitulate phylogeny. The role of society, although not neglected, is minimized, and it is quite possible for instincts to find behavioral expression purely on a Constitutional basis without any significant interaction with the social environment. This is especially true in the case of homosexuality where classical theory pays insufficient attention to those social realities that underlie behavior categorized as homosexual. It is the purpose of this paper to recast the psychodynamics of homosexuality within an adaptational context in order to demonstrate the crucial role of societal forces. The paper will not deal all inclusively with the problem of homosexuality, but will attempt to develop a particular train of thought in as straight a line as possible. The discussion will be limited to the psychodynamics of male homosexuality, but the basic adaptational thesis is equally applicable to female homosexuality.

Let us begin by summarizing those of Freud's formulations on homosexuality that are the more pertinent for this paper! Freud postulated a homosexual stage in the ontogenetic development of the sexual instinct. This stage lay between autoerotism and a heterosexual object choice. The theory of instincts and its energic equivalent, the libido theory, held that neurotic symptoms represented repression of perverse infantile sexual impulses. If no repression occurred, the perverse impulses remained conscious and found direct expression without displacement. This led to one of Freud's earliest conclusions, that "neurosis is the negative of a perversion," a dictum which of necessity excluded homosexuality from the neuroses and also, at least theoretically, from the realm of psychoanalytic therapy, since only neuroses were believed susceptible to psychoanalysis.