"Phobias, Attitudes and Competencies of MSW students toward the LGBT populations: A Call to Action"
Tana Bridge
Abstract:
Recent research of MSW students indicated
levels of phobia and attitude and self report of low competence in working with lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender populations. The outcomes of this published study allows for
a discussion of opportunities for vertical or horizontal integration of critical
competencies within higher education.
Description:
In
response to growing concern about attitudes, phobias and competencies of MSW students
toward LGBT populations, a student/faculty team conducted a study. This recently published study provided insight into the
attitudes and phobias of MSW students toward LGBT people and provided information
regarding the cultural competence of MSW students in working with the LGBT populations.
The study is unique, as the development of the LGBT Assessment Scale allowed for the
inclusion of bisexual and transgender populations, as most of the literature has focused
on MSW student phobias and attitudes toward the lesbian and gay populations. Additionally,
the LGBT Assessment Scale allowed for an assessment of student’s cultural competence
in working with the LGBT populations. While the outcomes indicate that the majority of MSW
students surveyed have positive attitudes and low-levels of phobia, significant
differences between subsets of the LGBT populations were evident. Specifically, students had a higher phobia toward
the bisexual and transgender populations as compared with gay men and lesbians. there are
many factors that can influence bias and potentially affect the quality of services
delivered. For example, ethnicity and religion often play an important role in molding the
personal views of people in most societies. Statistically significant differences were
found among ethnic groups. Specifically, African Americans demonstrated a higher level of
phobia and more negative attitudes toward all populations of gay/lesbian, bisexual and
transgender populations compared to the other ethnic groups. The outcomes from this study
suggest that being culturally sensitive to the LGBT populations does not necessarily
equate to being competent in working with these populations. In fact, 42.4% of the
students expressed that they lacked knowledge about the issues and challenges facing the
LGBT populations, and had a low level of competence in working with the populations. Students
can have compassion and acceptance of many cultures, yet need the skills in engaging and
empowering the LGBT populations; sensitivity or tolerance does not equate to competence.
In response, faculty developed an approach to
combating this reality through the development of a LGBT course (horizontal integration). The focus of this course includes addressing
personal bias as well as raising competence. Further
faculty committed to promote and securing vertical integration of critical content in each
course of the curriculum. For example, a practice course includes case vignettes of LGBT
people; a policy course examines policy and law that impacts gay and lesbian adoptions,
etc.
In addition to an overview of this study, this
presentation will both describe and illustrate the opportunities employed by faculty to
address attitudes, phobias and competencies across the MSW curriculum. Further, discussion of other opportunities for both
faculty and agency supervisors/personnel will be explored.