Alyssa Williams’s research while affiliated with University of Central Florida and other places

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Publications (2)


The Silencing of Sexual and Gender Diverse Identities in Middle and High School Sexuality Education
  • Article

June 2022

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195 Reads

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2 Citations

Contemporary School Psychology

Shereen C. Naser

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Alyssa Williams

The purpose of this study is to describe how school-based sexuality education (SBSE) in the context of health education frames and teaches sexuality, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Understanding how schools address sexuality and gender provides insight into how school systems might ostracize sexual and gender diverse (SGD) youth. This study used content analysis to survey 13 health education textbooks in the United States. The content of textbooks provides a sampling of cultural, economic, and political activities and the ways they may be portrayed in the school setting. All textbooks had to be (1) health education textbooks, (2) intended for middle and high school, (3) published in the last 15 years, and (4) required or recommended by a state or local Department of Education, or produced by a publisher recommended by a department of education. Results of this study indicate that 11 of the 13 reviewed textbooks had abstinence based or abstinence only until marriage sexuality education that presented narrow, binary definitions of gender and sexual orientation, and that ignored or provided misinformation about gender identity and sexual orientation. Results of this study suggest that school personnel should consider alternatives to widely available health textbooks to teach more inclusive, affirming, and effective sexuality education.


Preserving Abstinence and Preventing Rape: How Sex Education Textbooks Contribute to Rape Culture
  • Article
  • Full-text available

January 2021

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1,621 Reads

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13 Citations

Recent academic and popular conversations regarding #MeToo, sexual violence and harassment, and rape culture have begun to focus on K-12 educational spaces in the U.S., but they rarely examine how educational curricula actually foster or combat these dynamics. In this article, we present a qualitative content analysis of health education textbooks, which explores the following question: What implicit and explicit messages do youth receive about sexual violence, and specifically, sexual violence prevention in health education textbooks? As we explored this question, we analyzed the roles that sex education curricula may play in shaping (e.g., contributing to, intervening upon) rape culture. We found the following messages across textbooks: abstinence is the only way to preserve one’s safety; lack of abstinence increases risks, including the risk of being raped; and girls/women must assume personal responsibility and enact strategies that preserve one’s abstinence and prevent them from being raped. This article concludes by teasing out how curricula can shape interactions, relationships, and culture, and by offering recommendations for improving sex education curricula.

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Citations (2)


... Different interest groups influence SE content and also research to widen its scope. In previous research, SE content has been scrutinised and challenged regarding gender norms (Cense, 2019) and diverse sexualities regarding LGBTQ (Clonan-Roy et al., 2020;Naser et al., 2022;Roien et al., 2022;Røthing, 2017), and heteronormative and stereotypical assumptions of reproduction have been challenged (Martin, 1991). Critical aspects of variations in functionality through crip perspectives (Johnson & McRuer, 2014;McRuer, 2010) have contributed to research, with the potential to broaden norms of sexual possibilities in SE for all (Bahner, 2018;Löfgren-Mårtenson, 2013). ...

Reference:

‘Happy Stories’ of Swedish Exceptionalism
The Silencing of Sexual and Gender Diverse Identities in Middle and High School Sexuality Education
  • Citing Article
  • June 2022

Contemporary School Psychology

... Changes in role-shaping teachers change from knowledge transmitters to learning guides and participants. Teachers not only need to master professional knowledge but also need to understand and utilize digital teaching tools [7][8][9]. Students change from passive receivers to active explorers. Students are more likely to be exposed to rich and diverse cultural content in digital environments, and their need for personalized and self-directed learning increases [10][11]. ...

Preserving Abstinence and Preventing Rape: How Sex Education Textbooks Contribute to Rape Culture