The Impact of School Violence on Self-Esteem and Depression Among Taiwanese Junior High School Students

The majority of research on the outcome of school violence has been conducted in Western countries. Empirical studies on how school violence impacts student psychological well-being in a Chinese cultural context are relatively limited. The aim of this study was to address this gap by exploring how student maltreatment by teachers, student perpetration against students, and student victimization by other students affected the self-esteem and depression of 1,376 junior high school students in Taiwan. The current study also explored how gender, family socioeconomic status (SES), student–teacher relationships and peer support moderate the impact of school violence. Structural equation analyses showed that student victimization by students and student perpetration of violence against students successfully predicted depression, but not self-esteem. Student maltreatment by teachers was associated with neither depression nor self-esteem. Multigroup analyses showed that relationships among the variables were similar across gender, family socioeconomic status, or student–teacher relationships. However, the impact of student victimization on depression was stronger for subgroups with a low level of peer support than for those with a high level of peer support. The overall findings suggest that depression is the major consequence of school violence in Taiwan and that the impact of student victimization by fellow students on depression is buffered by positive peer support. Implications for theory, intervention and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) physicians' experiences in the workplace

Little is known about the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) physicians in the workplace. There is little formal education in medical school about LGBT issues, and some heterosexual physicians have negative attitudes about caring for LGBT patients or working with LGBT coworkers, setting the stage for an exclusive and unwelcoming workplace. The current study used an online survey to assess a convenience sample of 427 LGBT physicians from a database of a national LGBT healthcare organization, as well as a snowball sample generated from the members of the database. Although rates of discriminatory behaviors had decreased since earlier reports, 10% reported that they were denied referrals from heterosexual colleagues, 15% had been harassed by a colleague, 22% had been socially ostracized, 65% had heard derogatory comments about LGBT individuals, 34% had witnessed discriminatory care of an LGBT patient, 36% had witnessed disrespect toward an LGBT patient's partner, and 27% had witnessed discriminatory treatment of an LGBT coworker. Few had received any formal education on LGBT issues in medical school or residency. It appears that medical schools and health care workplaces continue to ignore LGBT issues and operate in discriminatory fashion far too often.     

“That's So Gay!” Exploring College Students' Attitudes Toward the LGBT Population

Traditional students are often introduced to unfamiliar subcultures for the first time on the college campus. Recent high school graduates find themselves transitioning from an atmosphere in which homophobia is likely to be tolerated and possibly even expected to an educational setting in which diversity is promoted. Research shows that the college years are influential in the re-socialization of core values, yet very little work focuses on the ideological shifts that may take place in attitudes toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) population. The research presented in this study includes a modified version of LaMar and Kite's Component Measure, which has been broken down into 6 distinctive components of tolerance. In addition to examining religion, gender, and race—factors that have been correlated in past research with differing levels of tolerance toward the LGBT community—this study adds politics, sexual orientation, academic class standing, and college of major—variables that have received little or no attention in this literature. Higher levels of LGBT tolerance are consistently observed across the indexes among women, more liberal Christian traditions, non-Christian faiths, the non-religious, and those who self-identify as LGBT. The distinctive contribution of this study is that students in the College of Arts and Sciences and students further along in their college careers are also more tolerant. Based on these findings, recommendations are made for inter-college curriculum changes that integrate students in all disciplines and students of all classifications.     

Finding “Safe” Campuses: Predicting the Presence of LGBT Student Groups at North Carolina Colleges and Universities

A key indicator of a supportive campus climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) college students is the existence of an LGBT student organization. This article integrates the research on high school LGBT policies and programs with social movement studies of campus activism to examine the characteristics associated with the existence of university-approved LGBT groups on North Carolina campuses. Drawing on data from the National Center for Education Statistics, campus Web sites, and other sources, logistic regression is used to examine the importance of public opinion, campus and community resources, and the institutional context in predicting the location of these student groups.     

Evaluating the phobias, attitudes, and cultural competence of Master of Social Work students toward the LGBT populations

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests there is bias toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons by social workers; unfortunately, little research has been conducted to examine Master of Social Work (MSW) students' views toward these populations. The purpose of this study was to develop an assessment scale to evaluate the attitudes, phobias, and cultural competence of MSW students toward the LGBT populations. METHODS: An assessment scale was developed and administered to MSW students (n = 173) at a Midwestern American university. RESULTS: The majority of MSW students reported low phobia and a positive attitude toward the LGBT populations, yet participants reported having a low level of cultural competence in serving LGBT clients. CONCLUSION: More education and training is needed for MSW students to effectively serve the LGBT populations.     

Causal Effects of Single-Sex Schools on College Entrance Exams and College Attendance: Random Assignment in Seoul High Schools

Despite the voluminous literature on the potentials of single-sex schools, there is no consensus on the effects of single-sex schools because of student selection of school types. We exploit a unique feature of schooling in Seoul—the random assignment of students into single-sex versus coeducational high schools—to assess causal effects of single-sex schools on college entrance exam scores and college attendance. Our validation of the random assignment shows comparable socioeconomic backgrounds and prior academic achievement of students attending single-sex schools and coeducational schools, which increases the credibility of our causal estimates of single-sex school effects. The three-level hierarchical model shows that attending all-boys schools or all-girls schools, rather than coeducational schools, is significantly associated with higher average scores on Korean and English test scores. Applying the school district fixed-effects models, we find that single-sex schools produce a higher percentage of graduates who attended four-year colleges and a lower percentage of graduates who attended two-year junior colleges than do coeducational schools. The positive effects of single-sex schools remain substantial, even after we take into account various school-level variables, such as teacher quality, the student-teacher ratio, the proportion of students receiving lunch support, and whether the schools are public or private.     

Evaluating the Phobias,Attitudes, and Cultural Competence of Master of Social Work Students Toward the LGBT Populations

Abstract

Background. Evidence suggests there is bias toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons by social workers; unfortunately, little research has been conducted to examine Master of Social Work (MSW) students' views toward these populations. The purpose of this study was to develop an assessment scale to evaluate the attitudes, phobias, and cultural competence of MSW students toward the LGBT populations.

Methods. An assessment scale was developed and administered to MSW students (n = 173) at a Midwestern American university.

Results. The majority of MSW students reported low phobia and a positive attitude toward the LGBT populations, yet participants reported having a low level of cultural competence in serving LGBT clients.

Conclusion. More education and training is needed for MSW students to effectively serve the LGBT populations.     

Neighborhood Priority or Desegregation Plans? A Spatial Analysis of Voting on San Francisco’s Student Assignment System

In 2011, San Francisco held an unprecedented citywide vote on its public schools’ student assignment policy. Proposition H provides a unique opportunity to learn more about the public’s desire for “neighborhood schools,” as compared to their interest in maintaining districtwide desegregation efforts. This paper takes the approach of applying geographic information system tools and regression analysis to understand the relationships between neighborhood, race, income, and attitudes toward student assignment systems. By comparing the election results with demographics and school quality data, we identify patterns of support for the narrowly defeated proposition. Support for a shift toward neighborhood-based schools was higher in census tracts with high-performing schools, more school age children, high median income, or a large fraction of foreign-born residents, and lower in tracts with a high percentage of Latinos. The shifting race- and class-based politics of the city foreshadow expected demographic shifts in the US.     

农民工随迁子女高中教育与高中择校、高考移民的辨析及启示

农民工随迁子女高中教育成为继义务教育之后亟需面对和解决的问题。然而,"农民工随迁子女高中教育"与"高中择校"、"高考移民"的模糊性限制了人们正确地认识和有效地解决该问题。基于此,本文对三者共性及差异性进行了辨析和梳理,并在此基础上提出,在政策导向上将三者区别对待,在实践上将"父母社保号/一定年限纳税证明+农民工随迁子女学籍年限"作为农民工随迁子女在流入地接受高中教育的资格,以期为农民工随迁子女高中教育权利的保障进行有益的探索。     

A Systematic Review of the Psychometric Properties of Composite LGBT Prejudice and Discrimination Scales

ABSTRACT

Prejudice and discrimination against LGBT individuals is widespread and has been shown to have negative consequences for sexual and gender minority persons’ physical and psychological wellbeing. A recent and problematic trend in the literature is to compositely measure prejudice toward and discrimination against LGBT persons. As such, a review of the psychometric properties of scales assessing, in a combinatory fashion, negative attitudes and/or behaviors toward LGBT persons is warranted. In the current study, 32 scales were identified, and their psychometric properties were evaluated. Most of the scales reviewed did not provide sufficient information regarding item development and refinement, scale dimensionality, scale score reliability, or validity. Properties of the reviewed scales are summarized, and recommendations for better measurement practice are articulated.     

Learning,Interaction and Relationships as Components of Student Well-being: Differences Between Classes from Student and Teacher Perspective

The attitudes of students to their school, teachers and peers were investigated with 1,540 students in grade six from 30 schools and 78 classes. Using structural equation modelling, the students’ perceptions of well-being were investigated at class level using seven items with high reliability. Their well-being was dependent on at least three factors: students’ learning (seven items), student-to-student interaction (six items) and teacher–student relationships as described by students (ten items). Together, these factors explained 72 % of the variability of well-being between classes. The students’ well-being appeared to be significantly different between schools and between classes in the same school. The teachers’ opinions of their classes with the highest class score for well-being were compared with the lowest. The differences in the evaluation of the teachers’ own classes explain a number of critical issues which impact on educational outcomes. Students need to be aware of the combined effects of learning and socialisation.     

Factor Structure and Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version of the Homosexuality Scale of the Trueblood Sexual Attitudes Questionnaire

The aim of the present study was to translate the Homosexuality scale of the Trueblood Sexual Attitudes Questionnaire into the Italian language and to assess its factor structure and psychometric properties in Italian psychology students. The questionnaire was originally developed and validated in U.S. college students, and later in Turkish social work students, showing high internal consistency. It measures attitudes toward several sexual practices and behaviors, regarding self and others. Particularly, the Homosexuality scale measures attitudes toward different sexual and romantic practices with people of the same sex. A total of 199 Italian psychology students participated to the study, and they were administered the Italian translation of the scale. We applied exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Results showed that the scale has high internal consistency, and that the original two-factor model accounting for attitudes toward self and others fits the data well. Implications for education and assessment in student populations are discussed.     

Tolerance as a correlate of experience with stigma: the case of the homosexual

Scales measuring attitudes toward various unconventional groups were presented to 100 college students and 51 homosexual respondents. Homosexual respondents expressed significantly more tolerant attitudes toward deviantly labeled groups than did student respondents. Homosexuals were also significantly less likely to place social restrictions on those who opted for unconventional alternatives. However, differences between student and homosexual respondents were smaller on the public tolerance scale. The findings suggest that although gays expressed a significantly higher amount of tolerance for other unconventional groups, they appeared to have reservations in terms of total personal acceptance.     

LGB Identity Among Young Chinese: The Influence of Traditional Culture

Based on the social construction perspective, this research aims to investigate how traditional cultural values may affect the way individuals interpret and negotiate with their minority sexual identity. Using an online survey questionnaire with a student sample of 149 Chinese lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals, 2 elements of traditional Chinese culture were found to be associated with negative LGB identity among Chinese LGB students—namely, perceived parental attitudes toward marriage and participants' endorsements of filial piety values. In addition, the endorsement of filial piety moderated the relation between perceived parental attitudes toward marriage and LGB identity, such that the effect of parental attitude on LGB identity was only present among LGBs of high filial piety. This study suggests the importance of cultural values in shaping the way LGB individuals perceive their sexual identities.     

Substance abuse treatment providers' explicit and implicit attitudes regarding sexual minorities

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals have been found to have elevated rates of substance use disorders when compared with heterosexuals. However, little is known about the challenges a sexual minority might face in presenting for substance use treatment. In this study, treatment providers' attitudes toward LGBT individuals were assessed among a sample of 46 substance abuse treatment counselors who provide publicly funded treatment. Participants completed both explicit measures of heterosexist bias and an implicit measure designed to assess for biases that exist at an automatic, uncontrolled level. Results indicate that treatment counselors' negative biases regarding LGBT individuals were stronger for heterosexual counselors and for those with few LGBT friends. However, biases among this sample were significantly less than in comparison samples. Findings were also related to a newly developed measure of cultural competence in working with LGBT substance users. Implications for provision of appropriate services and recommendations to treatment agencies are discussed.     

The Quality of School Life: Teacher-Student Trust Relationships and the Organizational School Context

In exploring the quality of schools’ social system, this study provides insight into in which types of schools students may encounter barriers in developing supportive teacher-student relationships because of teachers exposing low levels of trust in students. Student culture and teachability perceptions are assessed as incentives for teachers’ perceptions of students’ trustworthiness. Information was gathered from 2,104 teachers across a representative sample of 84 secondary schools in Flanders (Belgium). A measure for trust in students was derived from the trust scales developed by Hoy and Tschannen-Moran. Multilevel analyses reveal that teacher perceptions of students’ teachability strongly predict teacher trust. This underscores the importance of teacher perceptions of students’ ability to meet the expectations imposed on them with regard to the formation of trust. Additionally, we show that teacher trust is affected by the organizational school context, although the academic orientation of the student culture plays no role.     

Differential Peer Effects,Student Achievement,and Student Absenteeism: Evidence From a Large-Scale Randomized Experiment

Using data from a well-executed randomized experiment, I examine the effects of gender composition and peer achievement on high school students’ outcomes in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Results show that having a higher proportion of female peers in the classroom improves girls’ math test scores only in less-advanced courses. For male students, the estimated gender peer effects are positive but less precisely estimated. I also find no effect of average classroom achievement on female math test scores. Males, on the other hand, seem to benefit from a higher-achieving classroom. I propose mechanisms relating to lower gender stereotype influences and gender-specific attitudes toward competition as potential explanations for peer effects findings. Finally, having a higher proportion of female students in the classroom decreases student absenteeism among male students but has no impact on female attendance.     

Portuguese Adolescents' Attitudes Toward Sexual Minorities: Transphobia,Homophobia, and Gender Role Beliefs

Research has shown that negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men are common and widespread in Western societies. However, few studies have addressed attitudes toward transgender individuals. In addition, although research has shown that homophobic harassment and bullying is highly common among adolescents, little is known about adolescent's attitudes toward sexual minorities. This study aimed to fill these gaps in knowledge, by investigating adolescents' attitudes toward transgender individuals and possible attitudinal correlates of those attitudes. Participants (N?=?188; 62 males and 126 females) were recruited in high schools in Lisbon, Portugal. Age ranged from 15 to 19 years (M?=?17; SD = .96). Participants completed a questionnaire booklet measuring attitudes toward transgender individuals, lesbians, and gay men, and gender role beliefs. Results revealed that attitudes toward transgender individuals were significantly correlated with all attitude measures. Specifically, it was revealed that those participants who endorsed negative attitudes toward transgender individuals were also endorsing of negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men and tended to adhere to traditional gender roles. A significant gender effect was found with males being more negative toward sexual minorities than females, but these negative attitudes were more extreme toward gay men than toward lesbian women. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Estimating the National High School Dropout Rate

Recent interest has focused on the high school dropout rate as one indicator of the national education picture. Empirical estimates of this "rate" vary considerably, because these estimates are poorly defined. This article reviews some of the current measures and presents a new measure of the high school dropout rate--the proportion of high school students who drop out in a defined period of time (1 year). The estimates show that the national yearly high school dropout rate was about the same in 1985 as it was in 1968. Improvement has occurred, however, since 1968 for specific racial groups as well as for some grade levels.     

Anti-Gay Sentiment Among Adolescents in Belgium and Canada: A Comparative Investigation into the Role of Gender and Religion

Previous research has indicated that opposition toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trangender (LGBT) rights remains prevalent among Western populations. In this article, we investigate the determinants of anti-gay attitudes among adolescents in two liberal democracies, Belgium (n = 6,330) and Canada (n = 3,334). The analysis indicates that hostile feelings toward LGBT rights are particularly widespread among boys, while the effects of socioeconomic status and parental education remain limited. Various religious denominations proved to have a strong and significant negative impact on tolerance, with especially high scores for Islam. Religious practice, too, contributes to a negative attitude toward LGBT rights. The consequences of these findings with regard to tolerance for gay rights among Islamic youth in Western democracies are discussed.