ABSTRACT
This chapter will introduce you to the role of therapeutic institutions (TIs) in the social construction of sexuality. I will focus on these institutions as producers of knowledge. First, I will describe the "pathological perspective" that guides practice within TIs. In the second section, I will describe how TIs produce ideas about who people are and what they should be. Finally, I will use the examples of women's sexuality and homosexuality to illustrate TIs' definitions of human sexuality. Attention will also be paid to issues of race and class.
