The Lies That Bind: Heteronormative Constructions of “Family” in Social Work Discourse

The social work profession has an enduring history of commitment to American families; in fact, it has often led the way in embracing alternative family arrangements. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) families are gaining more political visibility and lobbying for rights and protections from which they were previously excluded. Therefore, this study is an analysis of social work's contemporary, defining representations of LGBTQ families. Twelve LGBTQ “family” research studies were culled from the database Social Work Abstracts, and subjected to queer discourse analysis in order to illuminate how these alternative family forms are being constructed within the discipline. This analysis details the multiple ways in which heterosexual norms are privileged throughout the research studies. For example, the heterosexual family is often constructed as an unchallenged index for psychological health, appropriate partnering, and child rearing practices, social acceptability, and general normative behavior. LGBTQ relationships often earn their “family” designations by their ability to approximate these legible, heteronormative “family” characteristics. As such, this queer discourse analysis indicates that LGBTQ families are ultimately invited to join, but not to change, the traditional terms of “family,” thus making the social work research less of an exploration of alternative family forms and more of an endorsement of same-sex, nuclear families.     

“To get the word out”: LGBTQ+ Young adults’ motivations for participating in qualitative research studies

Understanding why socially marginalized individuals, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or queer (LGBTQ+) people, participate in research can improve qualitative research designs, as well as social services and policies. In providing a participant-centered foundation, we interviewed 65 LGBTQ+ young adults and asked “Why are certain LGBTQ+ young adults motivated to engage in qualitative social science studies?” Many LGBTQ+ young people said they were committed to enacting social change and promoting advocacy. Participants also highlighted supporting scientific research and knowledge production. Finally, LGBTQ?+ participants engaged with research to introspectively analyze their identity development processes. These findings can facilitate access to socially vulnerable and underrepresented groups through a methodological focus on participant benefits.     

“It Gets Better” … but How? Exploring Resilience Development in the Accounts of LGBTQ Adults

As reports of bullying and suicide increase, research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth must expand its focus from vulnerabilities to resilience development. The purpose of this inductive qualitative study was to explore resilience development in the accounts of LGBTQ adults by analyzing videos posted for the It Gets Better social media campaign (n = 21). Four major themes emerged: (1) leaving hostile social environments; (2) experiencing “coming out” in meaningful ways; (3) remembering the social environment; and (4) turning challenges into opportunities and strengths. These findings suggest that, despite the campaign's premise, life did not automatically get better for the LGBTQ participants. Rather, the findings offer a nuanced look at the pathways to resilience development. Implications for social work practice are discussed.     

Beyond resilience: Resistance in the lives of LGBTQ youth

Resilience has come to define a wide breadth of impactful research on marginalized groups, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. This resilience framework shifted the deficit “at-risk” model of research on marginalized populations to a more nuanced strengths-based perspective. In this critical review article, we examine this research trend to understand how the shift to resilience has shaped patterns of LGBTQ youth research. In doing so, this piece calls for a more sophisticated engagement with operationalizing resilience–which is vaguely defined and often upholds dominant relations in society, such as capitalistic, heteronormative values of success and happiness. We show how a shift to understanding resistance, joy, and pleasure in LGBTQ youth's lives promotes a more dynamic and complicated look at how marginalized groups navigate their social worlds and exert power in shaping these worlds. Acknowledging and uplifting LGBTQ youth's resistance and power are necessary in pushing scholarly dialogue and the possible interventions informed by research towards a more fully transformative framework in changing and dismantling oppressive societal structures.     

Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,Transgender, Queer,and Questioning Youths' Perspectives of Inclusive School-Based Sexuality Education

Sexuality education is perceived as one way to prevent unhealthy sexual behaviors. However, current sexuality education materials are not tailored to fit the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) youth, and many have been critiqued for disenfranchising these populations. This study solicited the perspectives of LGBTQ youth on their experiences with school-based sexuality education in order to create a framework of LGBTQ-inclusive sexuality education. Five semistructured focus groups (N = 30 LGBTQ participants) were conducted to investigate the sexuality education experiences of LGBTQ youth and to solicit youth suggestions for improving the inclusiveness of sexuality education curricula. Results indicate that LGBTQ youth perceive current sexuality education as primarily “exclusive,” although examples of “inclusive” sexuality education were provided. In addition, participants provided suggestions for creating a more inclusive experience, such as directly discussing LGBTQ issues, emphasizing sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention over pregnancy prevention, and addressing healthy relationships. Educators and policymakers can use these ideas to help improve the quality of sexuality education—not only to make it more inclusive for LGBTQ youth but to make sexuality education more inclusive for all young people.     

“Parent Advocacy” as an Ideological Code: LGBTQ Parents Engage with Disability Services

What does the work that LGBTQ parents do to find resources for their disabled children reveal about the social organization of services? This article presents findings from an institutional ethnography study based on interviews with 15 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer (LGBTQ) parents and six key community informants in Toronto, Canada. The analysis focused on the work parents did to engage with disability service systems on behalf of their children, and the ways in which families’ social privilege and/or marginalization affected their experiences. Particular attention was paid to the ways in which “parent advocacy” was taken up, responded to, and critiqued in these interviews. “Parent advocacy” was found to operate as what Dorothy Smith has called an “ideological code” (Smith 1999), offloading systemic responsibilities onto parents, shielding inequities, and promoting individualized competition between service users. This study suggests that the systemic organization that makes “parent advocacy” necessary also renders parents’ relative privilege or marginality central to what their children receive.     

Exploring migration as part of a same-sex relationship in Scotland: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Migration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) individuals in a relationship is understudied. As motivation can influence the way migration is experienced, the commitment to a partner adds a further component to the equation. Three females were recruited via purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Three themes were identified: “Identity redefinition and sense of agency”; “Emotional response and social support”; and “Coping, meaning-making, and self-realization.” Results are discussed within the aforementioned themes. Limitations are considered for methodology and sample characteristics. Future research warrants to expand its focus on LGBTQ migration across Europe to tailor migration policies to individuals’ needs.     

We Need More Resources: Stories of QTPOC* Survival in the South

While men’s sexual violence against women is unarguably a social and public health issue, both nationally representative data and smaller studies tell us that rates for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer+ (LGBTQ+) individuals are equally or significantly higher. Despite this, there remains little structural support for LGBTQ?+?survivors. This article highlights the voices of 38 queer and trans people of color (QTPOC)-identified U.S. Southerners who have experienced sexual violence and came together across three focus groups to detail their interactions with advocates and other professionals and explore posttraumatic needs. Nearly all survivors reported that the level of awareness regarding sexual violence in their communities was limited, with most reporting that they did not successfully access mainstream services, due to concerns about homophobia, transphobia, and racism. To address sexual violence in LGBTQ?+?communities, survivors pointed to the importance of friendship and community networks “outside the system,” knowledge sharing about LGBTQ+-specific violence tactics (e.g., threats of outing a partner), and holding batterers accountable for their behavior within LGBTQ?+?circles. Findings highlight the need to move beyond “culturally competent” health care by proactively engaging LGBTQ?+?communities in education, networking, resource sharing, and anti-violence outreach.     

Developing a Vision for the Common Core Classroom: What Does Elementary Social Studies Look Like?

In each edition of their book Doing History: Investigating with Children in Elementary and Middle Schools, Levstik and Barton (2011) encourage us to take a mental journey to imagine classrooms where students regularly “do history” (xi). The social studies experiences that many educators envision for elementary classrooms include teaching students to frame questions, read for information, and organize primary and secondary sources to share their knowledge with classmates. NCSS provides an infrastructure for social studies goals in which knowledge, skills and attitudes are developed in meaningful social studies lessons. When viewed through the lens of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (CCSS ELA), we recognize the fundamental nature of aligning social studies standards with literacy strategies for elementary teaching and learning. The purpose of this article is to examine the usefulness of CCSS ELA for teaching elementary social studies. The authors share a vision for the “common core classroom” that includes a range of literacy strategies for teaching standards-based social studies.     

Direct and Indirect Measures of Learning Outcomes in an MSW Program: What Do We Actually Measure?

Abstract

Rankings of professional schools are often flawed and always controversial. This was certainly the case when, for the first time, U.S. News & World Report published a list based on “reputation” of the “best” schools of social work. This article compares the results of that study with the findings of eight other attempts to rank social work schools over the last 20 years. The similarities and differences among those studies are discussed in terms of what we may learn from them.     

Policy, Practice and People: Current Issues Affecting Clinical Practice

This commentary highlights current policy issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the US with implications for mental and behavioral health care and social work services. These issues include conversion or reparative therapies, especially for young people, and conscience clauses that may exempt some students and practitioners from serving LGBTQ people and their families. While not a “policy” per se, emerging knowledge about health disparities that affect LGBTQ people will also be summarized because of its relevance to practice; many of these concern mental health and behavioral health. Finally, some resources for making health care organizations more responsive to the needs of LGBT people are identified.     

A Theory of Access*

Abstract The term “access” is frequently used by property and natural resource analysts without adequate definition. In this paper we develop a concept of access and examine a broad set of factors that differentiate access from property. We define access as “the ability to derive benefits from things,” broadening from property's classical definition as “the right to benefit from things.” Access, following this definition, is more akin to “a bundle of powers” than to property's notion of a “bundle of rights.” This formulation includes a wider range of social relationships that constrain or enable benefits from resource use than property relations alone. Using this framing, we suggest a method of access analysis for identifying the constellations of means, relations, and processes that enable various actors to derive benefits from resources. Our intent is to enable scholars, planners, and policy makers to empirically “map” dynamic processes and relationships of access.     

Housing first: paradigm or program?

Sobriety, treatment compliance and celibacy have traditionally been behavioral requirements for housing persons who are homeless, regardless of the circumstances leading to loss of home. This remnant of the British Poor Laws is based on the premise that personal and behavioral flaws lead to housing loss and must be remediated before a person can live in permanent housing. A recent approach has reversed this logic and predicates the ability to change based on first providing stable and long-term housing. Termed “housing first,” it is both a housing philosophy or paradigm that everyone deserves a home of their own, regardless of personal circumstances, prior to engaging in any rehabilitative efforts, it also describes specific program models. A review of the research indicates that the success of “housing first” relies more on political support than wide-spread scientific evidence of “best practices”. This report examines the development and scientific evidence for “housing first” programs in North America and suggests that future housing first research examine modifications necessary for distinct geographies and groups of homeless persons.     

Cognitive Claims-Making,Enclosure, and the Depoliticization of Social Problems*

One of the most important contributions of recent social problems theory is the insight that social problems are inherently political phenomena. Existing scholarship on this characteristic has not dealt systematically with (1) the degree of overt politicality of social issues, or (2) the dynamic element of this politicality. This paper first reviews recent literature in the “medicalization of deviant behavior,” and sugests that this literature illustrates how the political element of social problem phenomena can be suppressed and replaced with a seemingly apolitical and technical perspective. Then it is proposed that interpretive social problems theory might deal more adequately with this pattern by incorporating a continuum ranging from “open” to “closed” social problems and analyzing the dynamics of social problem “enclosure,” and that certain sorts of claims—cognitive as opposed to normative—are especially conducive to the depoliticization and enclosure of social problems.     

Sex counts: An examination of sexual service advertisements in a UK online directory

Internationally, sex work research, public opinion, policy, laws, and practice are predicated on the assumption that commercial sex is a priori sold by women and bought by men. Scarce attention has been devoted to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning (LGBTQ) sex working as well as women who pay for sex. This is as much an empirical absence as it is a theoretical one, for the ideological claim that women comprise the “vast majority” of sex workers is rarely, if ever, exposed to empirical scrutiny. Focusing on the UK, we address this major gap in evidence in order to challenge the gendered and heterosexist logics that underpin contemporary debates. We do so by presenting large-scale data gained from the quantitative analysis of 25,511 registered member profiles of an online escort directory. Our findings point to heterogeneity rather than homogeneity in the contemporary sex industry including in terms of gender identity, sexual orientation, and advertised client base. For example, while two-thirds of advertisements self-identify as “Female,” one in four are listed as “Male;” less than half list their sexual orientation as “Straight;” and nearly two-thirds advertise to women clients. Our study thus challenges prevailing heteronormative assumptions about commercial sex, which erase LGBTQ sex workers and other non-normative identities and practices, and which we argue have important political, practical, and theoretical consequences.     

Fashion as consumer entrepreneurship: Emergent risk culture,social network markets,and the launch of Vogue in China

China has a reputation as an economy based on utility: the large‐scale manufacture of low‐priced goods. But useful values like functionality, fitness for purpose and efficiency are only part of the story. More important are what Veblen called “honorific” values, arguably the driving force of development, change and value in any economy. To understand the Chinese economy therefore, it is not sufficient to point to its utilitarian aspect. Honorific status‐competition is a more fundamental driver than utilitarian cost‐competition. We argue that “social network markets” are the expression of these honorific values, relationships and connections that structure and coordinate individual choices. This paper explores how such markets are developing in China in the area of fashion and fashion media. These, we argue, are an expression of “risk culture” for high‐end entrepreneurial consumers and producers alike, providing a stimulus to dynamic innovation in the arena of personal taste and comportment, as part of an international cultural system based on constant change. We examine the launch of Vogue China in 2005, and China's reception as a fashion player among the international editions of Vogue, as an expression of a “decisive moment” in the integration of China into an international social network market based on honorific values.     

The Dramaturgical Model of Behavior: Its Strengths and Weaknesses*

By means of the dramaturgical model we freshly illuminate social behavior as role-like “performances” in which persons manage the impressions that others get of them. This impression management involves the concealment of data in a “dramatic” struggle with those others who wish to penetrate one's “mask.” But the chief limitations of the dramaturgical model are that it excites the invalid inferences that offstage “roles” are more like stage actors' roles than they really are, and that the person is nothing but these “roles.” The differences between onstage and offstage behavior are kept in view when the metaphorical concept of “role playing” is re-connected to its source in role playing onstage. Through an analysis of theatre and the concepts of appearance and time we conclude that while we must appear to others in a “role-like” way offstage in order to be ourselves, we are nevertheless involved in world-time offstage in a way that fundamentally distinguishes our “role-playing” from an actor's role playing. We are our “roles”, but not just our “roles.”     

Economic man and selfish genes: the implications of group selection for economic valuation and policy

A basic tenet of socio-economics is that economic behavior is shaped by social bonds and cultural context. A relevant controversy in evolutionary biology is group selection and the related issue of altruistic behavior, that is, behavior neutral or detrimental to the individual but positive for the survival of the group. In this paper we examine the parallel controversies surrounding “economic man” and “selfish genes” with particular emphasis on the policy implications of group selection. We argue for the replacement of standard welfare economics with models of human behavior in the spirit of “consilience” between economic theory and the best available science from other relevant disciplines.     

Toward a Sociology of Nature

Although we often believe that nature stands apart from social life, our experience of nature is profoundly social. This paper unpacks this paradox in order to (1) explain sociology's neglect of the environment and (2) introduce the articles in this special issue on “the sociology of nature.” I argue that sociology's disinterest in the biophysical world is a legacy of its classical concern with tracing society's “Great Transformation” from gemeinschaft to gesellschaft: while early anthropologists studied “primitive” societies that allegedly had not yet completed “the passage from nature to culture” (Lévi‐Strauss 1963 : 99), pioneering sociologists presumed that industrialization and urbanization liberated “modern” society from nature and therefore focused their attention on “urbanism as a way of life” (Wirth 1938 ). As exemplified by the articles in this symposium, environmental sociology critiques the nature‐culture and town‐country dualisms. One of environmental sociology's core contributions has been demonstrating that nature is just as much a social construction as race or gender; however, its more profound challenge to the discipline lies in its refutation of the sociological axiom that social facts can be explained purely through reference to other social facts. “Environmental facts” are a constitutive feature of social life, not merely an effect of it.