An Adaptational Approach In recent years Freud's concept of homosexuality has been challenged by those workers who discarded the libido theory in favor of a more adaptational approach. This made possible the reclassification of homosexuality as a neurosis and opened pathways to psychotherapy. Rado systematically reappraised the concept of bisexuality and point by point demonstrated its scientific weak ness. Hornet drew the homosexual into the ambit of the "neurotic personality." Thompson using Sullivan's operational scheme, described homosexuality as a disordered form of interpersonal relations. Rado reexamined all of sexual behavior, including certain aspects of homosexuality, from an adaptational point of view. All agreed that the indiscriminate label of homosexuality frequently disguised nonsexual elaborations ,that had to do with dependency, aggression, competition, domination, and submission. All proposed that the term "sexual" be used to designate only that behavior having orgastic satisfaction as its motivational aim, a proposition with which there can be no disagreement.

The adaptational frame of reference interprets psychological behavior as the result of two forces: the needs of the individual and the societal demands. The term "adaptation" refers to the behavioral maneuvers by means of which the individual adapts to his social environment as he seeks to insure his survival and to gratify his needs. The primary goal of all behavior is survival. Gratification of nonsurvival needs, under normal circumstances, is always secondary. The normal individual will inevitably give priority to survival in the event of conflict with other needs. Psychological needs may be divided into three categories:

(1) The psychophysiological needs, such as the needs for air and water;
(2) The psychobiological needs (oral, anal, and sexual);
(3) The culturally determined psychosocial needs, such as the needs for status and prestige.

Psychophysiological needs are primarily related to the physical environment and are controlled by internal homeostatic devices. They do not concern us here. We can assume that all normal individuals are innately endowed with approximately similar oral, anal, and sexual needs. Likewise, these needs seek gratification through similar end goals, but the particular adaptations by means of which these goals are achieved will vary with the social environment. The culturally determined psychosocial needs are not innate. They develop only after the individual's exposure to the society into which he has been born, and their nature is determined by the demands of that society. Here, too, the adaptations required to satisfy these needs will vary with the social environment. We can therefore conclude that in an adaptational context, in contrast to the instinctual view, the behavior of the individual will vary as his social environment varies. This conclusion is bolstered by cross cultural analyses, a field of research pioneered by Kardiner. Thus the adaptational frame of reference has a sociological emphasis, as opposed to the constitutional emphasis of the instinctual frame of reference. (see HOMOSEXUALITY AS A NEUROSIS PART II)