Homophobia within schools of social work: the critical need for affirming classroom settings and effective preparation for service with the LGBTQ community

Social work programs must effectively meet the needs of their diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) student populations as well as effectively train all students to work with minority groups including the LGBTQ community. While many undergraduate and graduate social work programs provide open, supportive, and affirming experiences for LGBTQ students, there remain ongoing challenges related to hostility, stigma, heterosexism, and homophobia within classroom settings across programs in the US and Canada. This study examines classroom experiences of homophobia among 1,018 social work students. Qualitative data associated with three optional open-ended questions were analyzed utilizing grounded theory. Main qualitative findings identified several major themes associated with social work student experiences of homophobia in the classroom including: (1) Coming out; (2) Faculty inaction; (3) Implicit and explicit content; (4) Direct language and actions; and (5) Religious rationalizations and non-affirming positions. Conclusions and recommendations for social work education are discussed that center around creating safe and affirming classroom settings; the vital role of out faculty, students, and allies; impactful integration of diversity content within curricula, policies, and accreditation standards; ongoing training and mentorship; understanding the role of power and oppression; and a call to action among social work educators and the profession.     

Credit Card Debt and the Provision of Financial Support to Kin in the US

Credit card debt stands at over $1 trillion in the US and grows continuously. Scholars have argued that high (and growing) levels of credit card debt are attributable in part to rising economic vulnerabilities, combined with a thinning public safety net, credit cards being increasingly employed to make ends meet in this context. This paper extends this line of work by stressing that individuals and households do not rely on their credit cards only to mitigate their own financial hardships, but also those experienced by their non-coresidential kin members. More specifically, building on the notion that kin networks can constitute a source of negative social capital, we argue that individuals often accumulate credit card debt as they attempt to provide monetary assistance to their relatives in need. We also show that this effect is particularly strong in lower-income groups and in African American communities, in which need levels are especially high. Based on random and fixed effects analyses of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, these insights extend scholarship on both kin networks of support and the sources of credit card debt.

     

In-Situ Displacement: Institutional Practices and the Making of the Hindu Other

This paper introduces the concept of in-situ displacement-displacement without mobility-as an analytic for understanding the place of Hindus in Muslim majority East Bengal, East Pakistan, and Bangladesh, a national formation that is best defined as one of a changing identification with Pakistan and India, and, subsequently, as a sovereign country in South Asia. Elaborating the contributions of Corrigan and Sayer on state formation and law, the paper highlights the importance of the judiciary as constitutive of the meanings that attend to belonging in the body politic. Evidence for this argument comes from court cases in the Dacca Law Review.     

What Protects Rejected Adolescents From Also Being Bullied by Their Peers? The Moderating Role of Peer‐Valued Characteristics

Adolescents rejected by peers are often targets of bullying. However, peer rejection is not a sure path to victimization. We examined whether characteristics valued by peers (i.e., attractiveness, wealth, academic, and athletic ability) moderated the relationship between peer rejection and victimization. We predicted rejected adolescents high on peer‐valued characteristics (PVCs) would receive fewer nominations for being victimized than adolescents with lower levels. Canadian students in Grades 6–10 (N = 549; M_age = 13.32, SD = 1.50) provided peer nominations for peer victimization, rejection, attractiveness, wealth, and academic and athletic competence. As hypothesized, each PVC moderated the relationship between peer rejection and peer victimization. No sex differences were found. This study demonstrates the buffering effects of nonbehavioral characteristics valued by peers.     

Organizational Identity and Philanthropic Institutions

This article proposes a framework for viewing the behavior of philanthropic institutions through the lens of organizational identity via semi‐structured interviews with twenty‐seven grantmakers representing seventeen foundations, along with content analyses of these foundations’ public documents. This empirical investigation revealed three identity profiles: agenda setter, supporter, and community builder, which capture distinct patterns in foundation strategy, operational structure, and grantmaking practices. For theory, these findings provide an alternative to the conventional view of foundation behavior along an active to passive continuum to one that suggests a role for organizational identity. For practitioners (grantmakers and grantseekers), this perspective demonstrates that there are multiple pathways through which foundations create social value, not just one definition of “best practices.” Understanding these different perspectives on social value creation can help grantmakers identify internal inconsistencies in their strategies and operations and can help grantseekers identify foundations most likely to fund their work. The article concludes with suggestions for further research to explore the extent to which this framework can advance understanding of institutional philanthropy as the field moves to challenge traditional boundaries between nonprofit foundations and private social change initiatives.     

The Effectiveness of the Strength‐Centered Career Adjustment Model for Dual‐Career Women in Taiwan

The authors investigated the effectiveness of a Strength‐Centered Career Adjustment Model for dual‐career women (N = 28). Fourteen women in the experimental group received strength‐centered career counseling for 6 to 8 sessions; the 14 women in the control group received test services in 1 to 2 sessions. All participants completed the Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS), Job Satisfaction Inventory (JSI), and Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) before and after the counseling sessions or test services. Analysis of covariance indicated that there were significant differences between the scores of the experimental and the control group on the PGIS and SWLS but not on the JSI.     

Practices of Dual Earner Couples Successfully Balancing Work and Family

Researchers have long explored conflict and strain in dual-career couples. Recently, the focus has begun to shift toward documenting the adaptive strategies of dual-earner couples in balancing family and work. The current study investigates workplace practices perceived as supportive in balancing work and family. Respondents were middle-class, dual-earner couples (N=47) who described themselves as successful in balancing family and work. These supportive practices include: flexible work scheduling, non-traditional work hours, professional/job autonomy, working from home, supportive supervisors, supportive colleagues and supervisees, and the ability to set firm boundaries around work. Additionally, many participants describe their efforts to actively secure employment at workplaces that offered family–friendly alternatives, and describe the tradeoffs they are willing to make.