Evaluation of Money case study

This was a real-life case that was reported by Money so it has high ecological validity because the boy’s life and the events that happened to him were all real and not manipulated in any way.  This means that the conclusions drawn about the importance of biology on gender identity are based on a real experience and not the result of an experimental condition.  Furthermore the case study collected many in-depth and valid data.

This was a unique opportunity to test the effects of nature versus nurture on gender development due to the matched control of a genetically identical twin.  This meant that it was possible to compare the gender identity of the 2 boys who had identical genetic make-up but were brought up differently.

This study strongly suggests that gender reassignment surgery may not always be successful so careful consideration should be taken over what gender to raise an intersex child.  If biology is likely to have the biggest effect this should be considered first.

The case study only followed one child and the results may not be applicable to all other children.  For example David had an identical twin brother which may have also influenced his gender behaviour.

The reassignment of Bruce’s gender to female was suggested by Money to support his theory, and it could be argued that he coerced Bruce’s parents into allowing him to study the case.  This creates problems because it could be suggested that the study’s reported findings could have been manipulated by Money for his own gain and the potential effect on the children was ignored.

The behaviour of the twins was misreported by Money as he always claimed that the study was successful in the reassignment of Bruce’s gender, but David’s later testimony argued against this.  This means that the conclusions from the original study were false and did not represent the true findings.

Numerous ethical issues surround this case study. The twins were allegedly encouraged to pose naked in sexual positions which they said was degrading Being involved in the case study was alleged to have been a factor in the mental break down of Brian Reimer, and the later suicide of David

This study can be challenged by the case study of Daphne Went who is chromosomally male, but has the physical characteristics of and lives as a female.  However Daphne was not exposed to testosterone during prenatal development which may account for the difference between her and David.  Because David was exposed to testosterone and he would have developed many more male characteristics than Daphne did.