Teaching Note—Challenges in the Classroom on LGBTQ Topics and Christianity in Social Work

This article provides guidance in facilitating the development of culturally sensitive skills for working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) populations that take into account power and privilege. Social work faculty and students have an ethical obligation to be competent and aware of privilege. When working with LGBTQ populations, this means addressing personal and social values and beliefs about gender and sexuality. Faculty may not feel prepared to address the influence of Christianity, the dominant religion in the United States, on social forces affecting LGBTQ populations and on social workers’ religious feelings when working with these individuals. This article describes pedagogical techniques and provides guidance for developing faculty and student competence and awareness when working with LGBTQ populations.     

Oppression Pedagogy: Intergroup Dialogue and Theatre of the Oppressed in Creating a Safe Enough Classroom

ABSTRACT

Creation of a classroom environment safe enough for students to expess their perspectives, hear classmates views and engage in classroom dialogue remains a major challenge in social work teaching. Intergroup dialogue and Theatre of the Oppressed are two approaches that effectively meet these challenges. Intergroup dialogue offers a systematic method of creating safety, exploring and owning social identity, engaging in hot topics, and ally building. Theatre of the Oppressed promotes communications that allow creative delving into sensitive topics. Data are presented from a cohort of students in a social work undergraduate oppression class. An ethnographic method was implemented to review student responses to a pedagogical approach that combined intergroup dialogue and Theatre of the Oppressed. Data analysis revealed students’ increased self-reflection and perspective taking.     

The nature of incoming graduate social work students' attitudes toward sexual minorities

Competent social work practice with sexual minorities requires educators to identify factors that can be addressed in the graduate social work curriculum to foster affirming attitudes among students. This study explored the attitudes incoming master of social work (MSW) students hold toward sexual minorities, utilizing a scale that addresses contemporary subtle biases toward lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people, rather than overt, fear- and morality-based objections measured in previous studies. We explored the role of race/ethnicity, age, sex, sexual orientation, religiosity, political ideology, perceived biological causation of sexual orientation, and LGB social contacts on students' attitudes toward sexual minorities. Multivariable linear regression results suggest that being African American/Black (versus White), older, and heterosexual (versus sexual minority), and greater religiosity (importance of religion and frequency of service attendance) and conservative political ideology, predicted less affirming attitudes, while greater endorsement for genetic causation of sexual orientation and exposure to LGB friends and immediate family members each predicted more affirming attitudes among our sample.     

Social work students’ experiences in a Christianity and sexual minority intergroup dialogue

A tension between the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) and (heterosexual) conservative Christian communities has been documented within social work. This qualitative study explores students’ experiences in a Christianity and LGB sexuality intergroup dialogue at an American graduate social work program. This dialogue was the first known case of intergroup dialogue being used to address these topics in a social work program. Students’ motivations for participating in the dialogue, challenges faced throughout the dialogue, and what they learned are discussed. Pedagogical implications for schools of social work and intergroup dialogue are outlined.     

Intergroup dialogue courses on sexual orientation: lesbian, gay and bisexual student experiences and outcomes

Intergroup dialogue is a method of social justice education. Most intergroup dialogue research explores race and gender identities. Sexual orientation dialogues are uncommon and not yet examined empirically. This qualitative study explores sexual orientation dialogue courses from the perspective of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) student participants. Understanding target, or marginalized, group perspective of planned intergroup experiences is important given concerns raised in the literature. We document student motivations for participating in dialogues, core outcomes, and main challenges that arose in dialogue. Core outcomes include learning about and accepting one's sexual identity and empowerment. Challenges include those stemming from invisibility of sexual orientation identity. Recommendations are made for intergroup dialogue practice and research.     

Optical services in the UK: A study of a professional labour market

What is the optimum size of a profession and how should it be determined? If norms about working standards exist and if it can be assumed that its geographical distribution and organisation are optimal, then man-power planning can be reduced to an arithmetical exercise; and the ideal number of places offered on qualifying courses in Colleges and Universities will be determined by pass-rates. However, in most cases, the problems are more complex. A proper concern for professional freedom leads society to tolerate wide variations in professional behaviour and working practice. One aim of policy, whether developed by a Government department or by a professional association or both, may be to promote efficiency, but not at the expense of individual discretion. In such circumstances, working norms do not exist. If, in addition, there is little hard information about the extent of part-time working, actual working practices and so on, it is difficult at first to see how to decide the future size of the profession. The aim of this paper is to illustrate how a simulation exercise combined with a sensitivity analysis was able to contribute to the solution of this problem in the case of one profession, that of opticians. It is hoped that the approach can be adapted to deal with similar problems in other professions who sell their services directly to the public.     

Is Discrimination Against Evangelical Christians a Problem in Social Work Education?

This article reviews the literature regarding discrimination by social work practitioners and educators against evangelical Christian social workers. We examine the methodology of articles that compare religiosity and political ideology between social workers and the general population and also of articles that address discrimination against evangelical Christians in social work education. Our results indicate that there are limited studies to support arguments that such discrimination exists and that these studies have significant methodological weaknesses. We conclude that the claims about social work and social workers discriminating against evangelical Christians are not supported by a sufficient body of rigorous research.     

Teaching Note—Learning About Segregation and Cultural Competence

ABSTRACT

The Council on Social Work Education requires students to understand how diversity and difference shape human experience. But segregation prevents students from appreciating the circumstances of others’ lives and how widely human experience differs by race, religion, and other social identities. This teaching note presents the Social Contact Survey, a pedagogical tool designed to help students understand their level of segregation, its effect on their daily lives, and its relationship to social work practice. Aversive racism and intergroup contact theories suggest a relationship between segregation and prejudice and frame the survey. Following a review of the literature and theory, the survey instrument and pedagogical suggestions are provided.     

Dialogue and Social Change: An Interdisciplinary and Transformative History

Intergroup dialogue is an interdisciplinary field of practice that seeks to improve intergroup relations and effect social change. The use of dialogue as a method is growing within numerous social science professions including social work, and an understanding of the origins of dialogue will allow current practitioners to place their work within a larger context. This article provides a historical overview of the application of dialogue theory and methods, an analysis of the relationship between social constructionism and intergroup dialogue, and provides important directions for social workers who can utilize intergroup dialogue to promote social justice.     

LGBTQQ youth creating change: Developing allies against bullying through performance and dialogue

Research has documented heterosexism and genderism facing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) students in schools, especially as it relates to experiencing bullying and harassment. However, little research addresses anti-LGBTQQ bullying interventions, and no research has examined the use of youth-led performance and dialogue in cultivating anti-bullying behaviors among students. The present mixed-methods study assesses one such intervention led by a community-based LGBTQQ and allied youth group. Repeated measures general linear modeling demonstrates a positive impact of this intervention on middle and high school students' likelihood to intervene when witnessing anti-LGBTQQ harassment and confidence to successfully do so, particularly for White students. Qualitative findings demonstrate barriers to intervention and decision-making processes of youth when intervening. Results suggest the importance of these interventions in empowering LGBTQQ youth to effect change in their schools.