Theodore Sarbin,
Scholar, Dies at 94;
Studied Role of Gay
Troops
By MARGALIT FOX,
NYTimes on the Web, September 7, 2005
Theodore R. Sarbin, a prominent
social psychologist who in 1988 helped write a controversial Pentagon report
recommending that the United States military end discrimination against gay men
and lesbians, died on Aug. 31 at his home in Carmel, Calif. He was 94.
The cause was pancreatic cancer, said Frank Barrett, a colleague and longtime
friend.
At his death, Dr. Sarbin was emeritus professor of psychology and criminology at
the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he had taught since 1969.
He was previously on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Sarbin's report was prepared for the Defense Personnel Security Research and
Education Center, at the time a Navy program. Completed in late 1988, the
report was publicly rejected by the Pentagon after it was leaked to the news
media the next year by members of Congress sympathetic to the cause of gay men
and lesbians in the military. The report was written with Kenneth E.
Karols, a Navy psychiatrist and surgeon.
Dr. Sarbin was known as a pioneer in the field of role theory, which places the
behavior and actions of an individual in a larger social context. He was
also known for his work in narrative psychology, which examines people's use of
familiar stories to make sense of the world around them.
Theodore Roy Sarbin was born in Cleveland on May 8, 1911. As a young man,
he rode the rails as a hobo, an experience he would later say helped him
identify with people on the margins of society. He earned a bachelor's
degree from Ohio State University, a master's from Western Reserve University
and, in 1941, a Ph.D. in psychology from Ohio State.
After an early marriage that ended in divorce, Dr. Sarbin married the former
Genevieve Donahue Allen in 1948. She died in 1998.
From 1987 until shortly before his death, Dr. Sarbin was a research psychologist
at the Defense Personnel Security Research and Education Center, which is now
part of the Department of Defense. Based in Monterey, Calif., the center
was established in 1986 in the wake of the discovery of a Navy spy ring.
It studies human behavior as it relates to national security.
Dr. Sarbin's report was originally commissioned to examine the security risks
posed by gay men and lesbians in the military. In the finished report,
"Nonconforming Sexual Orientations and Military Suitability," he and Dr. Karols
concluded that gay men and lesbians posed no greater risk than heterosexuals
did. They recommended that the Pentagon rethink its policy barring them
from service.
"Having a same-gender or an opposite-gender orientation is unrelated to job
performance in the same way as being left- or right-handed," they wrote.
The report caused a furor at the Pentagon, which denounced it as exceeding its
mandate. The Clinton administration eventually instituted a "don't ask,
don't tell" policy, which requires gay service members to keep their sexual
orientation private or face discharge. The policy remains in effect.
Among Dr. Sarbin's many books are "The Myth of the Criminal Type" (Wesleyan
University, 1969) and "Schizophrenia: Medical Diagnosis or Moral Verdict?" (Pergamon
Press, 1980, with James C. Mancuso). His report for the military was
published in book form in 1990 as "Gays in Uniform: The Pentagon's Secret
Reports" (Alyson Publications), edited by Kate Dyer.
Dr. Sarbin is survived by his companion, Karin Sobeck; a sister, Ruth Landy, of
Beachwood, Ohio; three sons: James Allen of Belvedere, Calif., Ronald
Allen of Carmel; and Theodore Jr., of Reno, Nev.; four grandchildren; and two
great-grandchildren.
(Emphasis Added.)
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