Frank Ambrose Beach

Frank Ambrose Beach, Jr. (April 13, 1911 – June 15, 1988) was an American ethologist, best known as co-author of the 1951 book Patterns of Sexual Behavior. He is often regarded as the founder of behavioral endocrinology, as his publications marked the beginnings of the field.

Early education and career

Frank Ambrose Beach, Jr. was born in Emporia, Kansas, the first of three children to Frank Ambrose Beach and Bertha Robinson Beach. Although he respected his father, a distinguished Professor of Music at Kansas State Teachers College (now Emporia State University), Frank Beach Jr. often rebelled against him. who had perhaps the strongest influence on Beach's professional life. In 1950, he accepted a position as a Sterling Professor of Psychology. A sabbatical at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford began in 1957–58. In 1958, Beach accepted a position as Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. The research program on dogs that was initiated at Yale was expanded at Berkeley. Beach helped found the Field Station for Behavioral Research near the Berkeley campus. Beach was known for being an excellent mentor to graduate students while at Berkeley. Beach became professor emeritus in 1978, but still remained active in his work. Beach was awarded the APA award for Distinguished Teaching in Biopsychology in 1986.

Beach, along with anthropologist Clellan S. Ford, co-authored the book Patterns of Sexual Behavior (1951), considered a "classic" of its field. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1953 and a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1961. He also authored an edited version, Human Sexuality in Four Perspectives, in 1977. The Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology has awarded the Frank A. Beach Young Investigator Award in Behavioral Neuroendocrinology annually since 1990.

Recognition

Chairman of the Department of Animal Behavior at the American Museum of Natural History, 1942 Elected President of the American Psychological Association Division of Experimental Psychology, 1949 Sterling Professor of Psychology at Yale University, 1950 President of the Eastern Psychological Association, 1951 William James Lecturer in Psychology at Harvard University, 1952 Chair of the National Research Council Committee for the Study of Problems of Sex, 1957 American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions, 1958 President of the Western Psychological Association, 1968 President of the International Academy of Sex Research, 1977 Co-founded the journal Hormones and Behavior, 1979 American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Teaching in Biopsychology, 1986

Patterns of Sexual Behavior Whereas for much of history, well into the 20th century, homosexuality had been considered a mental disorder, Beach conceptualized homosexuality as a natural human phenomenon. In Patterns of Sexual Behavior, Beach and his co-author, Clellan S. Ford, outlined their study of sexual practices—including dating rituals, frequency of intercourse, and types of foreplay—across 76 distinct cultures, in 49 of which they reported finding acceptance of homosexual behavior.

Since publication, Patterns of Sexual Behavior has been cited by numerous scholars advocating against classifying homosexuality as mental disorder: 95 times in the first decade alone and an additional 226 times in the subsequent decade. In 1973, homosexuality was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

Major publications

1937 - The Neural Basis of Innate Behavior, The Pedagogical Seminary and Journal of Genetic Psychology, 53:1 (Dissertation)

1948 - Hormones and Behavior: A Survey of Interrelationship between Endocrine Secretions and Patterns of Overt Response, Oxford: England (First Book)

1950 - The Snark was a Boojum, American Psychologist, 5:4

1952 - Patterns of Sexual Behavior, Oxford: England

1954 - Effects of Early Experience Upon the Behavior of Animals, Psychological Bulletin, 51:3

1955 - The De-scent of Instinct, Psychological Review, 62:6

1969 - Locks and Beagles, American Psychologist, 24:11

1971 - Hormonal Factors in the Ramstergig and Related Species, The Biopsychology of Development

1976 - Sexual Attractivity, Proceptivity, and Receptivity in Female Mammals, Hormones and Behavior, 7:1

1977 - Human Sexuality in Four Perspectives, Johns Hopkins University Press