A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY OF 3 CASES OF GENDER IDENTITY DISORDER OF CHILDHOOD SUCCESSFULLY RESOLVED IN THE SCHOOL SETTING

This study follows the development of gender identity in three boys fr om the age of 10 to 20. Each of the boys fitted the diagnostic criteri a for gender identity disorder as each wished to be a girl and preferr ed to dress as a girl and two gave themselves girls' names. Through ac ceptance by the teachers at their small independent schools and a poli cy of protecting them from teasing, all three were able to arrive at a secure sense of their own masculinity by their mid-teens. From an exa mination of these cases it is suggested that this disorder is better v iewed as a developmental lag which can be pathologized by intolerance and the huge pressure on boys to conform to the masculine stereotype.