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Understanding and preventing domestic violence in the lives of gender and sexually diverse persons
... QT suggests heteronormativity is embedded in all social structures (Ansara & Hegarty, 2011), routines and circumstances of everyday life (Frohard-Dourlent, 2016), naturalising and privileging heterosexist identity (Lorenzetti, Wells, Logie, & Callaghan, 2017). In school settings it occurs invisibly via constructed traditions, use of facilities, classroom habits, administrative practices, curriculum content, and 'normal, sanctioned' student-teacher, student-student interactions (Preston, 2014). ...
... I don't recall doing anything specific, like I remember doing sexuality just as a sort of uni subject, but not, nothing specific… (Beau) The invisibility of discourses of omission and subsequent discursive practices of teaching characterised by denial of diverse representation, mean students and teachers both, are unaware of heteronormative norms, knowledge, and understandings absorbed and perpetuated through 'positive unconscious of knowledge' (Springer & Clinton, 2015). It is this unnoticed transmission of absence of acknowledgement of diversity, and the reinforced understandings about the 'rightness' of heterosexuality, deployed via discourses of omission and discursive teaching practices of denial, which have long been suggested to drive maintenance and perpetuation of heteronormativity (Lorenzetti et al., 2017). They were also evidenced in the lack of coverage of appropriate interventions to use with LGBTQI students: understanding a marginalised group's experience of bullying, or situating their experience within the wider social context, or conceptualising truly inclusive service delivery, via educational delivery defined by discourse of omission regarding diversity? ...
Ten percent of high school students identify as LGBTQI and often experience very high rates of sexual/gender diversity bullying, negatively impacting their academic engagement and mental health outcomes. Evidence suggests these bullying rates are increasing worldwide, with the Australian experience exacerbated by recent Marriage Equality Plebiscite backlash, and regressive educational bullying intervention policy changes. In response to increased calls for psychological service support, the APS and industry experts have recommended psychologists develop their reflexivity regarding LGBTQI clients; practice inclusively; and situate LGBTQI youth’s experience within the wider social context. Psychologists’ understandings regarding these issues and recommendations are currently untapped. To contribute to the knowledge base, the understandings of 10 psychologists currently working with adolescents were explored, via semi-structured interviews utilising Foucauldian Discourse Analysis. Findings revealed Australian-trained psychologists lack exposure to LGBTQI inclusive educational discourses, hampering capacity to understand students’ experience, and practice inclusively. Participants were challenged to identify and theoretically explain structural drivers of LGBTQI identity based discrimination, such as heteronormativity, leaving them unable to situate students’ experience within the wider social context. Compounding these incapacities, findings suggested psychologists are inadequately trained in reflexive practice in ways that engage them on a personal, theoretical, and professional level.
À la suite de consultations auprès du milieu et de 18 mois de recherche menée par une équipe multidisciplinaire composée de membres de l'Université McGill et
d'organismes communautaires, le Collectif québécois pour la prévention de l’itinérance (CQPI) présente des recommandations concrètes de réforme du droit québécois pour mieux protéger les victimes de violence conjugale. Ce document d’orientation comprend des recommandations qui portent sur deux aspects : le droit des victimes de violence conjugale et de leur famille de vivre en sécurité, à l’abri de la violence, ainsi que le droit à un logement convenable.
S’inspirant des meilleures pratiques ailleurs au pays et à l’international, le rapport du CQPI préconise une approche menant à un cadre juridique « fait au Québec » qui serait ancré à la fois dans le droit au logement et le droit d’être à l’abri de la violence conjugale. Le document d'orientation cerne cinq domaines de réforme et offre douze recommandations d’ajouts ou de modifications à la législation québécoise qui participeraient à réduire le risque d’instabilité résidentielle et prévenir l'itinérance chez les survivantes de violence conjugale et leurs enfants
A 2017 compendium of laws relating to sexual orientation all around the world, with maps and charts. The 2017 edition (digital) contains thousands of hyperlinks to black letter laws and numerous primary and secondary sources around issues to do with criminalisation (various sorts), protection (issues such as hate crime, etc) and recognition (family structures, etc).
White privilege constructs whiteness as normative and central to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) identities and is reproduced through social norms, media representations, and daily interactions. We aimed to enhance understanding of the processes by which white privilege was experienced among lesbian, bisexual, and queer (LBQ) women of color in Toronto, Canada. We conducted two focus groups with LBQ women of color, one with participants who self-identified as masculine of center (n = 8) and the second with participants who identified as feminine of center (n = 8). Findings indicate that LBQ women of color experience intersectional stigma (e.g., homophobia, racism, sexism) on a daily basis. Participant narratives revealed that white privilege shaped the representations of women of color in a particular way that promoted their exclusion from white LBQ spaces and broader society. By representing queerness as white, LBQ women of color were rendered invisible in both queer and racialized communities. LBQ women of color were further marginalized by constructions of "real" women as passive, feminine and white, and conversely perceptions of women of color as aggressive, emotional, and hypersexualized. These representations inform spatialized practices and social interactions through constructing racialized communities as discriminatory and "backwards" while maintaining the invisibility of white privilege and racism in LBQ spaces.
This article brings together two case studies that examine how nontransgender people, “gender normals,” interact with transgender people to highlight the connections between doing gender and heteronormativity. By contrasting public and private interactions that range from nonsexual to sexualized to sexual, the authors show how gender and sexuality are inextricably tied together. The authors demonstrate that the criteria for membership in a gender category are significantly different in social versus (hetero)sexual circumstances. While gender is presumed to reflect biological sex in all social interactions, the importance of doing gender in a way that represents the shape of one's genitals is heightened in sexual and sexualized situations. Responses to perceived failures to fulfill gender criteria in sexual and sexualized relationships are themselves gendered; men and women select different targets for and utilize gendered tactics to accomplish the policing of supposedly natural gender boundaries and to repair breaches to heteronormativity.
The evidence is encouraging that men and boys can be engaged in health interventions with a gender perspective and that they change attitudes and behaviour as a result, but most of the programmes
are small in scale and short in duration.
Michael Kaufman discusses the need to both address and involve men in ending violence against women (VAW), a few of the pitfalls and guiding principles, and shares his thoughts on what is the most developed example of this work, that is, the White Ribbon Campaign.Development (2001) 44, 914. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1110254
Lesbian, bisexual and queer women are invisible and ignored in HIV discourse, as epidemiological classifications result in their institutionalised exclusion from risk categories. Simultaneously, these women live with HIV, often in situations of societal exclusion and under threat of violence. In this paper, we consider the connections between discourse and violence to examine how both are reproduced through, applied to and dependent upon people. The ways lesbian, bisexual and queer women do (or do not) appear in HIV discourse tells us much about how people and categories operate in the global pandemic. The fault-lines of lesbian, bisexual and queer women's constrained visibility in HIV discourse can be seen in situations where they are exposed to HIV transmission through homophobic sexual assault. In dominant HIV discursive practices, such homophobic assault leaves Judith Butler's 'mark that is no mark', recording neither its violence nor its 'non-heterosexuality'. Structural violence theory offers a means to understand direct and indirect violence as it pertains to HIV and lesbian, bisexual and queer women. We call for forms of modified structural violence theory that better attend to the ways in which discourse connects with material realities. Our theoretical and epidemiological lens must be broadened to examine how anti-lesbian, bisexual and queer-women bias affects transnational understandings of human worth.
This article builds on Lugg's (2006) discussion of surveillance in public schools and how queer youth are resisting schools' current efforts to regulate sexual orientation and gender expression in the U.S. and internationally. Legal complaints initiated by queer youth against their schools for harassment and access to extra-curricular activities are discussed. The number of cases in the past five years has increased significantly and the courts are siding with the youth and their allies, demonstrating that queer youth are significantly impacting the dismantling of heteronormative regulatory regimes and improving the school experiences for themselves and queer adults.
In this article, drawing on interviews with women and men in same sex relationships who have experienced domestic violence, we explore the ways in which recognition of domestic violence can be hampered by public stories about the phenomenon and practices of love. Public stories construct domestic violence as a gendered, heterosexual phenomenon that is predominantly physical in nature. Victims of domestic violence are also constructed as ‘other’, weak and passive. In addition, we argue that practices of love obfuscate practices of violence; and can also result in victim/survivors constructing themselves as stronger than the perpetrator who needs their care.
Background
Lesbian, bisexual, queer and transgender (LBQT) women living with HIV have been described as invisible and understudied. Yet, social and structural contexts of violence and discrimination exacerbate the risk of HIV infection among LBQT women. The study objective was to explore challenges in daily life and experiences of accessing HIV services among HIV-positive LBQT women in Toronto, Canada.
Methods
We used a community-based qualitative approach guided by an intersectional theoretical framework. We conducted two focus groups; one focus group was conducted with HIV-positive lesbian, bisexual and queer women (n=7) and the second with HIV-positive transgender women (n=16). Participants were recruited using purposive sampling. Focus groups were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was used for analyzing data to enhance understanding of factors that influence the wellbeing of HIV-positive LBQT women.
Results
Participant narratives revealed a trajectory of marginalization. Structural factors such as social exclusion and violence elevated the risk for HIV infection; this risk was exacerbated by inadequate HIV prevention information. Participants described multiple barriers to HIV care and support, including pervasive HIV-related stigma, heteronormative assumptions in HIV-positive women's services and discriminatory and incompetent treatment by health professionals. Underrepresentation of LBQT women in HIV research further contributed to marginalization and exclusion. Participants expressed a willingness to participate in HIV research that would be translated into action.
Conclusions
Structural factors elevate HIV risk among LBQT women, limit access to HIV prevention and present barriers to HIV care and support. This study's conceptualization of a trajectory of marginalization enriches the discussion of structural factors implicated in the wellbeing of LBQT women and highlights the necessity of addressing LBQT women's needs in HIV prevention, care and research. Interventions that address intersecting forms of marginalization (e.g. sexual stigma, transphobia, HIV-related stigma) in community and social norms, HIV programming and research are required to promote health equity among LBQT women.
In comparison with other helping professions, social work claims to embrace a very distinctive mission: to oppose the roots
and effects of social oppression. This article examines social work research from an anti-oppressive social work perspective.
It argues that in order to match the liberating mission of the profession, social work research should defy the dominant traditions
of social science research. The paper first outlines a definition of anti-oppressive research in social work and then suggests
a relevant set of criteria for assessing it. A case study is described and analysed according to these criteria, followed
by a discussion of some ethical and methodological issues involved in the development of a more inclusive inquiry in social
work.
The World Health Organization's (WHO's) social determinants of health discussion underscores the need for health equity and social justice. Yet sexual orientation was not addressed within the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health final report Closing the Gap in a Generation.
This omission of sexual orientation as a social determinant of health stands in stark contrast with a body of evidence that demonstrates that sexual minorities are disproportionately affected by health problems associated with stigma and discrimination, such as mental health disorders.
I propose strategies to integrate sexual orientation into the WHO’s social determinants of health dialogue. Recognizing sexual orientation as a social determinant of health is an important first step toward health equity for sexual minorities.
HIV infection rates are increasing among marginalized women in Ontario, Canada. HIV-related stigma, a principal factor contributing to the global HIV epidemic, interacts with structural inequities such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. The study objective was to explore experiences of stigma and coping strategies among HIV-positive women in Ontario, Canada.
We conducted a community-based qualitative investigation using focus groups to understand experiences of stigma and discrimination and coping methods among HIV-positive women from marginalized communities. We conducted 15 focus groups with HIV-positive women in five cities across Ontario, Canada. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis to enhance understanding of the lived experiences of diverse HIV-positive women. Focus group participants (n = 104; mean age = 38 years; 69% ethnic minority; 23% lesbian/bisexual; 22% transgender) described stigma/discrimination and coping across micro (intra/interpersonal), meso (social/community), and macro (organizational/political) realms. Participants across focus groups attributed experiences of stigma and discrimination to: HIV-related stigma, sexism and gender discrimination, racism, homophobia and transphobia, and involvement in sex work. Coping strategies included resilience (micro), social networks and support groups (meso), and challenging stigma (macro).
HIV-positive women described interdependent and mutually constitutive relationships between marginalized social identities and inequities such as HIV-related stigma, sexism, racism, and homo/transphobia. These overlapping, multilevel forms of stigma and discrimination are representative of an intersectional model of stigma and discrimination. The present findings also suggest that micro, meso, and macro level factors simultaneously present barriers to health and well being--as well as opportunities for coping--in HIV-positive women's lives. Understanding the deleterious effects of stigma and discrimination on HIV risk, mental health, and access to care among HIV-positive women can inform health care provision, stigma reduction interventions, and public health policy.
Lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals who are also racial/ethnic minorities (LGBT-POC) are a multiply marginalized population subject to microaggressions associated with both racism and heterosexism. To date, research on this population has been hampered by the lack of a measurement tool to assess the unique experiences associated with the intersection of these oppressions. To address this gap in the literature, we conducted a three-phase, mixed method empirical study to assess microaggressions among LGBT-POC. The LGBT People of Color Microaggressions Scale is an 18-item self-report scale assessing the unique types of microaggressions experienced by ethnic minority LGBT adults. The measure includes three subscales: (a) Racism in LGBT communities, (b) Heterosexism in Racial/Ethnic Minority Communities, and (c) Racism in Dating and Close Relationships, that are theoretically consistent with prior literature on racial/ethnic minority LGBTs and have strong psychometric properties including internal consistency and construct validity in terms of correlations with measures of psychological distress and LGBT-identity variables. Men scored higher on the LGBT-PCMS than women, lesbians and gay men scored higher than bisexual women and men, and Asian Americans scored higher than African Americans and Latina/os.
The importance of demarcating gender and sexually diverse populations in structural social work theory is discussed from a differently centred cultural group perspective highlighting distinct qualities that fall outside normative gender identities and heterosexuality. Historical oppression experienced by these populations has likened their inclusion in structural social work theory yet the continued marginalization of these populations and associated implications are not to be lost sight of. A means of bringing currency to structural social work theory with regard to these populations is to embrace liberationist goals taking intersectionality into consideration. Such goals are in alliance with the social work values of acceptance, self-determination and respect working towards social justice and emancipation, and go far beyond the rights-claims equality agenda that sustains a slightly varied hegemony, giving the social location of gender and sexually diverse groups relevancy and viability on the structural landscape of social work.
It is sobering to publish Sell's call for every federal survey to include questions about sexual orientation and gender identity precisely when the Trump Administration excludes such questions from the proposed 2017 National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants (NSOAAP) conducted by the Administration for Community Living (ACL) in the Department of Health and Human Services. In particular, NSOAAP question DE1a, introduced in 2014, asked "Which of the following best represents how you think of yourself? Lesbian or Gay; Straight, that is, not lesbian or gay; Bisexual; Something else; Refused; Don't know." The ACL has invoked the Paperwork Reduction Act to justify excluding this question. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print April 20, 2017: e1. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2017.303851).
No area of public policy and law has seen more change than lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and trans-gender rights, and none so greatly needs careful comparative analysis. Queer Inclusions, Continental Divisions explores the politics of sexual diversity in Canada and the United States by analyzing three contentious areas - relationship recognition, parenting, and schooling. It enters into long-standing debates over Canadian-American contrasts while paying close attention to regional differences. David Rayside's examination of change over time in the public recognition of sexual minorities is based on his long experience with the analysis of trends, as well as on a wide-ranging search of media, legal, and social science accounts of developments across Canada and the United States. Rayside points to a 'take off' pattern in Canadian policy change on relationship recognition and parenting, but not in schooling. At the same time, he explores the reasons for a 'pioneering' pattern in early gains by American LGBT activists, a surprising number of court wins by American lesbian and gay parents, and changes in American schooling that, while still modest, are more substantial than those instituted by the Canadian system. Queer Inclusions, Continental Divisions is a timely examination of controversial policy areas in North America and a reasoned judgment on the progress of lesbian and gay issues in our time.
A woman raping another woman is unthinkable. This is not how women behave, society tells us. Our legal system is not equipped to handle woman-to-woman sexual assault, our women's services do not have the resources or even the words to reach out to its victims, and our lesbian and gay communities face hurdles in acknowledging its existence. Already dealing with complex issues related to their sexual identities, and frequently overwhelmed by shame, lesbian and bisexual survivors of such violence are among the most isolated of crime victims. In a work that is sure to stir controversy, Lori B. Girshick exposes the shocking, hidden reality of woman-to-woman sexual violence and gives voice to the abused. Drawing on a nationwide survey and in-depth interviews, Girshick explores the experiences and reflections of seventy women, documenting what happened to them, how they responded, and whether they received any help to cope with the emotional impact of their assault. The author discusses how the lesbian community has silenced survivors of sexual violence due to myths of lesbian utopia, and considers what role societal homophobia, biphobia, and heterosexism has played in this silencing. Ranging from date and acquaintance rape, to domestic sexual abuse by partners, to sexual harassment in the workplace, these explicit and harrowing stories provide a fuller understanding of woman-to-woman sexual violence than exists anywhere else. This provocative book offers much-needed insights on a subject rarely discussed in the literature on domestic violence, and it does so with compassion. Above all, it recommends how agencies can best provide services, outreach, and treatment to survivors of woman-to-woman rape and lesbian battering, using suggestions by the survivors themselves.
Few violence prevention programs of any kind foreground discussions of masculinity. In his work with college athletes, Jackson Katz positions the sociocultural construction of manhood as central to the problem of men's violence against women, as well as the basis of potential sources of prevention. Through the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Project at Northeastern University in Boston, Katz and his colleagues seek to reduce men's violence against women by inspiring athletes and other models of traditional masculine success to challenge and reconstruct predominant male norms that equate strength in men with dominance over women. The Project specifically encourages participants to use their stature among their peers on campus to promote healthier attitudes and behaviors towards women.
One of the most prominent debates over minority participation in the military has been whether or not inclusive policies would undermine operational effectiveness. While the adoption of inclusive policy has tended to indicate that minority participation does not compromise effectiveness, the question has not yet been tested in the context of transgender military service. In this paper, we conduct the first-ever assessment of whether policies that allow transgender troops to serve openly have undermined effectiveness, and we ask this question in the context of the Canadian Forces (CF), which lifted its transgender ban in 1992 and then adopted more explicitly inclusive policy in 2010 and 2012. Although transgender military service in Canada poses a particularly hard test for the proposition that minority inclusion does not undermine organizational performance, our finding is that despite ongoing prejudice and incomplete policy formulation and implementation, allowing transgender personnel to serve openly has not harmed the CF’s effectiveness.
Pretty in Punk takes readers into the lives of girls living on the margins of contemporary culture. Drawing on interviews with 40 girls and women between the ages of 14-37, Leblanc examines the lives of her subjects, illuminating their forms of rebellion and survival. Pretty in Punk lets readers hear the voices of these women as they describe the ways their constructions of femininity-from black lipstick to slamdancing-allow them to reject damaging cultural messages and build strong identities. The price they pay for resisting femininity can be steep-girls tell of parental rejection, school expulsion, institutionalization, and harassment. Leblanc illuminates punk girls' resistance to adversity, their triumphs over tough challenges, and their work to create individual identities in a masculine world.
Legal recourse is a vital avenue for many domestic violence victims. For lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people, these laws have historically been heterosexist. Considering the many states that are now inclusive of same-gender relationships, an existing data set was utilized to examine the influence of sociodemographic predictors on the perceptions of domestic violence law among LGB. Our findings illustrate that nonwhite LGB and those who have negative perceptions of law enforcement have the most negative perceptions of domestic violence legal protections as they apply to same-gender relationships. These findings have implications for service providers, advocacy and outreach organizations, and future research exploring the impact perceptions of legal avenues have on LGB victims.
Although scholars have been studying domestic violence for four decades now, it is only recently that domestic violence occurring in non-heterosexual relationships has received attention. The purpose of this study is to explore the interconnections between the experiences of survivors of lesbian intimate partner violence (IPV), the lesbian communities' beliefs regarding IPV, and available shelter services. The ultimate goal of this project is to describe how the experiences and practices of all three ultimately affect survivors of lesbian IPV. To accomplish this, members of the lesbian community were asked to complete an on-line survey, and qualitative interviews were conducted with both shelter employees and lesbian IPV survivors. While more than 50% of lesbians completing the online survey reported experiencing IPV in a lesbian relationship, most agreed that lesbian IPV was ignored in lesbian communities. Lesbians also agreed that survivors would not seek help from local DV shelters or police, but did believe there were appropriate services available in their area. DV shelters reported allowing lesbian survivors to access their heterosexually focused services, but offered no services specifically addressing the unique needs of lesbian survivors. Lesbian survivors reported feeling isolated, trapped and helpless due to the lack of acknowledgement and support in their communities and scarcity of available services. The findings of this study suggest that IPV is common in lesbian relationships. Despite this finding, denial in the lesbian community and the lack of appropriate shelter services continue the isolation and marginalization of lesbian survivors.
The purpose of this article is to advance a new understanding of gender as a routine accomplishment embedded in everyday interaction. To do so entails a critical assessment of existing perspectives on sex and gender and the introduction of important distinctions among sex, sex category, and gender. We argue that recognition of the analytical independence of these concepts is essential for understanding the interactional work involved in being a gendered person in society. The thrust of our remarks is toward theoretical reconceptualization, but we consider fruitful directions for empirical research that are indicated by our formulation.
Domestic violence is often perceived to occur only in heterosexual relationships. However, domestic violence is also prevalent in same-sex relationships. The majority of the research indicates that counselors perceive same-sex domestic violence differently than heterosexual domestic violence. This literature review synthesizes the research investigating attitudes toward same-sex domestic violence.
La violencia doméstica se suele percibir como un evento que ocurre solamente en las relaciones heterosexuales. Sin embargo, la violencia doméstica también es prevalente en relaciones del mismo sexo. La mayor parte de las investigaciones indican que los consejeros perciben la violencia doméstica entre personas del mismo sexo de forma diferente a como perciben la violencia doméstica heterosexual. Esta reseña de la literatura sintetiza las investigaciones que tratan sobre las actitudes hacia la violencia doméstica entre personas del mismo sexo.
This article examines the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) among a national sample of Internet-recruited U.S. men who have sex with men (MSM) (n = 1,575), and associations between reporting of IPV, minority stress, and sexual risk-taking. Five outcomes are examined: experiences of physical and sexual violence, perpetration of physical and sexual violence, and unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) at last sexual encounter. MSM who reported experiencing more homophobic discrimination and internalized homophobia were more likely to report experiences of IPV. The results point to the need for prevention messages to address the external and internal stressors that influence both violence and sexual risk among MSM.
Over the last 15 years, societal awareness of spouse abuse has resulted in an extensive network of services, legislative reform, and research initiatives focused on increasing the public response to this serious social problem. More recently, battering in intimate lesbian relationships has gained the attention of women's and gay/lesbian organizations that deal with domestic violence issues. Lesbians in violent relationships differ significantly from heterosexual couples where battering occurs due to the powerful effect of societal homophobia that silences them from seeking help. This article will address the unique challenges faced by lesbians of color in violent relationships due to the interface not only between violence and homophobia, but racism as well. Analysis of community response by lesbians of color, and clinical issues presented in therapy by lesbians of color who are battered will also be discussed.
Information about the relationship of experiencing abuse or witnessing domestic violence in childhood to the risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) in adulthood is scant. The relationship of childhood physical or sexual abuse or growing up with a battered mother to the risk of being a victim of IPV for women or a perpetrator for men was studied among 8,629 participants in the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study conducted in a large HMO. Each of the three violent childhood experiences increased the risk of victimization or perpetration of IPV approximately two-fold. A statistically significant graded relationship was found between the number of violent experiences and the risk of IPV. Among persons who had all three forms of violent childhood experiences, the risk of victimization and perpetration was increased 3.5-fold for women and 3.8-fold for men. These data suggest that as part of risk assessment for IPV in adults, screening for a history of childhood abuse or exposure to domestic violence is needed.
The links between social constructions of sexuality and gender are theoretically and politically problematic. A contemporary social movement understanding of violence against gay men and lesbians as ‘homophobic’ suggests a solid basis for coalitionist action. But important aspects of the imposition of gender conformity are a common thread in the experience of female, male and transsexual victims and the motives of perpetrators. Detail of violent and hostile incidents is drawn from two Australian studies: Victorian research on the experiences of 75 lesbians and a New South Wales study of 74 homicides with anti-homosexual motives. Violent acts commonly reflect the hatred and stigma felt towards women and men whose sexuality falls outside of acceptable gendered boundaries. Additionally, this research signals the importance of violence and harassment for the attainment and protection of a masculine identity among perpetrators, and the significance of gender in ways that call for a new understanding of ‘homophobia’ as a socially widespread phenomenon.
The intersecting issues of violence and masculinity are central to Australian rugby league. Positively sanctioned violence is explicitly linked to the all-male preserve of rugby league, with physical violence and domination being an historically naturalised way of performing masculinity in this context. These characteristics see this sport perform as a 'flag-carrier' of masculinity in Australian society. This paper utilises Connell's concept of the 'gender order' to bring the issues of masculine identities, and the role that violence plays in the formation and construction of these identities, into the critical spotlight. While gender relations in rugby league appear 'natural', 'static' and 'normal', and remain mostly unquestioned, it is hoped to unravel many of the social and historical processes that have constructed and maintained masculine hegemony in and through the game. Issues to be addressed include codes of player behaviour, the body, injury and violence, the subordination of women and women's sport, and homosexuality in rugby league's homosocial subculture.
This article describes the development and psychometric evaluation of a twenty-four-item scale to measure attitudes toward gender norms among young men: the Gender-Equitable Men (GEM) Scale. Scale items on gender norms related to sexual and reproductive health, sexual relations, violence, domestic work, and homophobia are designed. Items are based on previous qualitative work in the community and a literature review and administered to a household sample of 742 men, including 223 young men ages fifteen to twenty-four, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The current analysis focuses on the young men, as they were the main audience for a planned intervention to promote gender equitable and HIV risk reduction behaviors. Factor analyses support two subscales, and the scale is internally consistent (alpha = .81). As hypothesized, more support for equitable norms (i.e., higher GEM Scale scores) is significantly associated with less self-reported partner violence, more contraceptive use, and a higher education level.
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"This book provides step-by-step instructions on how to analyze text generated from in-depth interviews and focus groups - i.e., transcripts. The book is primarily designed for research studies with an applied focus, but is also useful for theoretically oriented qualitative research. The book covers all aspects of the qualitative data analysis process including planning, data preparation, identification of themes, codebook development and code application, reliability and inter-coder agreement, data reduction techniques, comparative techniques, integration with quantitative data, and software considerations. The book describes what the authors call "applied thematic analysis", because it is the approach predominantly used in applied qualitative studies (and increasingly in academic contexts). The method employs a phenomenological approach to data analysis which has a primary aim of describing the experiences and perceptions of research participants. The approach presented is similar to Grounded Theory - in that it is inductive, content-driven, and searches for themes within textual data - and is complementary to Grounded Theory on many levels. However, within an applied context a phenomenological approach is primarily concerned with characterizing and summarizing perceptions and lived experiences and applying the results to a particular research problem, rather than building and assessing theoretical models"--
This essay explores what it takes to work toward a future of equitable pedagogy and schooling through the presentation of a short ethnographic play entitled The Card (2004). The play is 1 of 5 critically performed ethnographies written to engage pre-service teacher education students in thinking about social justice in education. The essay begins with a discussion of how critical performed ethnography works as an example of "engaged pedagogy" and the ways in which its form and content can promote anti-oppression teacher education. This discussion is followed by the presentation of the play. The Card tells the story of Roberto Rodriguez, a high school teacher, who comes out as a gay man when he tries to help a student being bullied. Embedded in the ethnographic play are the kinds of social practices and beliefs needed to achieve an educational future that recognises social difference and strives for equity. Following the play, a short commentary discusses these practices and beliefs in a more explicit way. The essay concludes with a brief discussion of the questions and issues a recent performance of The Card raised for other teacher educators. This discussion allows for the examination of how the play encourages readers, performers, and spectators to both recognise and respond to social difference in ways that will move schools toward a more equitable future.
The mental health of lesbian women is shaped by the unique intersection of violence across the lifespan with the trauma of living in a heterosexist society. I argue that living within the heterosexist culture of the United States constitutes a form of trauma which is rarely considered when examining the mental health of lesbian women. Heterosexism may be defined as heterosexuals' prejudices against lesbian women and gay men as well as the behaviors predicated on these prejudices (Herek, 1996). Heterosexism is manifested at both individual and cultural levels. This article discusses how the traumatic context created by heterosexism fosters the development of internalized homophobia and shapes the mental health of lesbian women (DiPlacido, 1998; Greene, 2000). Lesbians are not a homogenous group; there are significant within-group differences based on such factors as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and age. These differences result in interlocking oppressions that influence mental health.Lesbians experience violence across their lifespan. This article examines their experiences, reported retrospectively, of childhood physical and sexual abuse perpetrated by family members and others (e.g., Corliss, Cochran, & Mays, 2002). The experiences of lesbian and heterosexual women are compared and the impact on mental health is considered. I discuss the mental health implications of the victimization of lesbian adolescents within their homes, schools, and communities (e.g., D'Augelli, 1998).Social work researchers need to design and implement studies based on our profession's commitment to the person-in-environment model which acknowledges the interrelationship of a lesbian woman's mental health and the heterosexist society in which she lives. Recommendations are offered regarding how we can bring our unique perspective to this field of study.
This article examines the relationship between lesbian battering, homophobia (both external and internalized), and the stress of living as a member of an oppressed minority. While domestic violence in lesbian relationships parallels domestic violence in heterosexual relationships in many ways, the context of homophobia in society, in addition to sexism, creates some unique dynamics, issues, and barriers to change. Drawing upon a review of the theoretical and empirical literature, as well as the author's clinical experience as a lesbian psychotherapist, the impact of the homophobic context on lesbian battering is examined from the perspective of victims, perpetrators, and helping systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article examines the capacity of human rights commissions to foster public policy change by focusing on the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) and its role in advancing sexual orientation equality rights in Canada. The case study is informed by commission annual reports, speeches by past chief commissioners, presentations by the commission to parliamentary committees, and an examination of 442 sexual orientation complaints closed by the commission by 2005. The study shows that, from its inception, the commission had a simple and consistent message: sexual orientation should not be the basis for denying individuals employment, services or benefits. Using a variety of strategies, the CHRC facilitated the incorporation of this message into the Canadian Human Rights Act by promoting the designation of sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination. Subsequently, the commission became actively involved in securing equal access to employment-related benefits in the federal sphere for same-sex couples and also added its voice in support of legal recognition of same-sex marriage. The authors conclude by discussing how the unique position of human rights commissions gives them the potential to play an important role in public policy development, even when there may be a lack of political will or public support.
Many barriers prevent therapists from including young children in family therapy, despite the theoretical belief that every family member should be present. Although there is a wealth of literature describing how to include children, the information has not been compiled in a way that is easily accessible to therapists. In this article, we report the findings of an exhaustive and systematic literature review of 64 publications, published between 1972 and 1999, related to including children in family therapy. The purpose of this article is to offer therapists a succinct compilation of theoretical, structural, and practical aspects as well as a comprehensive listing of specific techniques for including children in family therapy.
This paper was intended to distinguish between poor parenting and child emotional maltreatment (CEM), to inform child welfare and public health policymakers of the need for differentiated responses.
Scientific literature was integrated with current practice and assumptions relating to poor/dysfunctional parenting and child emotional maltreatment, with a primary focus on the parent-child relationship context (rather than abnormal parent behavior alone). Numerous factors that impinge on the distinction between these acts were considered, such as the child's age, the frequency, and severity of behavior shown by caregivers, cultural norms, and parental beliefs and goals in childrearing.
The literature on child emotional maltreatment has advanced beyond the descriptive phase of scientific understanding, and principles and practical criteria for distinguishing such behavior from poor parenting are presented.
Recommendations focus on practical guidelines for assessing risk and activating appropriate prevention and intervention: (1) parental actions and relative risk of harm to the child are both important ingredients in defining and distinguishing child emotional maltreatment from other forms of poor parenting; (2) poor parenting methods fall along a broad continuum and fit within a population health mandate aimed at reducing incidence of all forms of negative parenting methods; (3) child emotional maltreatment can be defined categorically based on qualitatively more extreme and potentially more harmful behaviors (than poor parenting), which requires a focused intervention response. Additional recommendations for training, research, and community-based public health initiatives are presented.