QUEER?
Gay?
Undefined?
Incorporating Sexuality Into Social Work
Practice
IUSSW Alumni Conference 2015
Richard A. Brandon-Friedman, MSW, LCSW, LCAC
Doctoral Student
Indiana University School of Social Work
Why Consider Sexuality?
The Importance of Considering Sexuality
• It infuses all aspects of our lives:
[sex] goes to the core of who we are as human beings; it is
about power, and desire, and transgression, and guilt. Sexuality
is a disruptive, subversive force, subject to regulation, control
and repression in every society (McNair, 2009)
• It
is experienced by many as a core aspect of
their identity
Defining Sexuality
Who is a "Non-Heterosexual" Individual?
• What is definition based on?
•
Sexual Activity?
•
Romantic Desires?
•
Sexual Fantasies?
•
Emotional Connections?
•
Political Identities?
Who is a "Non-Heterosexual" Individual?
• What timeframe?
•
Past?
•
Present?
•
Future?
Who is a "Non-Heterosexual" Individual?
• What setting?
•
Private?
•
Public?
•
Institutional?
Who is a "Non-Heterosexual" Individual?
• Who gets to decide?
•
Individual?
•
Family?
•
Friend?
•
Professionals?
•
Society?
What does it mean to be "Non-Heterosexual"?
• Coming Out
•
To whom?
•
When?
•
How many times?
•
A lifelong process
What does it mean to be "Non-Heterosexual"?
• Impact on various life domains
•
Family?
•
Friends?
•
School?
•
Work?
•
Social Events?
•
Healthcare?
•
Mundane Aspects of Life?
Traditional Homosexual
Identity Models
Traditional Developmental Models
Viviane Cass (1984)
•
•
6 Stages
Richard Troiden (1989)
•
•
4 Stages
•
3 Aspects of Sexual Identity
•
Self - an individual sees himself or herself as homosexual in relation to
romantic or sexual settings
•
Perceived - individual thinks or knows that others view him or her as a
homosexual
•
Presented - individual presents or announces herself or himself as a
homosexual in concrete settings
Traditional Developmental Models
Differentiated Models
•
• Lesbians (Eliason, 1996)
• Bisexuals (Fox, 1995)
• Transgender (Devor, 2004)
Multidimensional Models
•
•
Incorporate fantasy, emotional and behavioral aspects of
sexuality
•
Consider possibility of change over time
•
Recognition of multiple aspects of identity
Queer Theory
Queer Theory
• Queer
• Unlike the rather polite categories of gay and lesbian, revels in
the discourse of the loathsome, the outcast, the idiomaticallyproscribed position of same-sex desire (Case,1991, as cited in
Tierney & Dilley, 1998)
• 3 Areas of critique of traditional models
• Faulty narratives suggesting “liberation”
• Empiricist model of objectivity
• The illusion of categories
Queer Theory
Main tenets
•
• Stresses the socially constructed nature of sexuality
• Rejects and attempts to deconstruct sexual binaries and
standard classifications
•
Emphasizes on fluidity and change
Queer Theory
•
Additional tenets
• Rejection of a medical model of sexuality
• Rejection of mainstream gay, lesbian, and bisexual identities
• Rejection of developmental “myths” (Zanghellini, 2007)
• Views Identity Politics as “assimilationist” (Tierney & Dilley, 1998)
Queer Theory
•
Additional tenets
• Classifications are artificial and depend on feats of
interpretation and exclusion (Hall, 2003)
• Sexual identities are socially created (Epstein, 1994; Foucault,
1990[1976])
• Homosexuals will always be the lesser (Derrida)
• “Gay Rights” simply reify the divide (Warner, 1999)
• Stress opposition, not liberation (Foucault, 1990/1976)
Research Findings
Elevated Mental Health Needs
• 1.5 to 3 times more likely to have experienced
depression in the last 12 months (King et al., 2008)
• 1.25 to 4.12 times more likely to have experienced
anxiety in the last 12 months (King et al., 2008)
• 1.71 times more likely to have suicidal ideation
(King et al., 2008)
• 1.96 to 2.76 times more likely to have a suicide
attempt in the past 12 months (King et al., 2008)
Drug and Alcohol Use
• 2.89 more likely to have abused drugs (Marshall et al.,
2008)
• More likely to have used hard drugs (Marshall et al.,
2008)
• 2.73 times more likely to have abused drugs or
alcohol (King et al., 2008)
Bullying / Assault
• Occurs across home, school, social events,
public arenas, and cyberspace (Mishna, Newman, Daley
& Solomon, 2009)
• Institutional supports through curriculum and
supportive programming were effective ways to
combat bullying (Mishna, Newman, Daley & Solomon, 2009)
• Higher levels of victimization (Katz-Wise & Hyde, 2012)
• 2.3 times more likely to have been sexually
assaulted (Cramer, McNeil, Holley, Shumway & Boccellari, 2012)
Contrary Research Findings
Contrary Research Findings
• A Critique of Research on Sexual-Minority Youth
(Savin- Williams, 2001a)
• Suicide Attempts Among Sexual Minority Youths:
Population and Measurement Issues (Savin-Williams,
2001b)
• Suicide Attempts Among Sexual Minority Male
Youth (Savin-Williams & Ream, 2003)
Contrary Research Findings
• The New Gay Teenager (Savin-Williams, 2005)
• Cross gender comparisons may be more accurate
(Savin-Wiliams, Cohen, Joyner & Rieger, 2010)
• There
is an over-emphasis on problems that
overshadows the significant variation in
experiences (Diamond, 2003)
2 Narratives of Development
(Cohler & Hammack, 2007)
• Narrative of Struggle and Success
• Traditional narrative of the 1980s and 1990s
• Narrative of Emancipations
• Late 1990s through 2000s
• Harkens back to questions of what constitutes an
“identity”
Practice Scenario
The “Down Low”
• Definition
• Men who have sex with men secretly but identify as
heterosexual
• Originally discussed regarding African-American men but more
recently has been researched amongst Caucasian and
Hispanic men as well
• The Questions:
• What do the two models say about how we
“should” view
these individuals?
• How do we as social workers engage with these individuals?
The “Down Low”
• Traditional View:
• Individuals are not yet ready to move through the
developmental stages
• Freudian defense mechanisms are at play
• We need to help them develop an integrated homosexual
identity
The “Down Low”
• Queer View:
• The individuals’ realities are what matter
• Labeling is an attempt to impose a structure and false
dichotomies
• “Traditional” models are an attempt to regulate sex and
enforce power differentials
Small Groups
Small Groups
• As a group, consider the following:
• Which narrative (traditional or queer) is more applicable to this
scenario?
• Is there a disconnect between the individual’s narrative and that of
his/her primary environment?
• How does that narrative affect your work with the individual?
• Where will your focus be?
• Possibilities might include individual development, environmental,
social, individual adaptation, system change, education
• Develop a plan of action to work with this individual
• Choose a spokesperson for your group to present
Questions?
References
References
• Cass, V. C. (1984). Homosexual identity formation: Testing a theoretical model. Journal of Sex
Research, 20, 143-167. doi: 10.1080/00224498409551214
• Cohler, B. J., & Hammock, P. L. (2007). The psychological world of the gay teenager: Social
change, narrative and "normality". Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 36, 47-59.
doi: 10.1007/s10964-006-9110-1
•Cramer, R. J., McNeil, D. E., Holley, S. R., Shumway, M., & Boccellari, A. (2012). Mental health in
violent crime victims: Does sexual orientation matter? Law and Human Behavior, 36 (2), 87-95.
doi: 10.1037/h0093954
• Devor, A. H. (2004). Witnessing and mirroring: A fourteen stage model of transexual identity
formation. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatry, 8(1/2), 41-67.
• Diamond, L. (2003) New paradigms for research on heterosexual and sexual-minority
development. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 32(4), 490–498.
• Eliason, M. J. (1996). An inclusive model of lesbian identity assumption. Journal of Gay Lesbian
and Bisexual Identity, 1(1), 3-19.
• Epstein, S. (1994). A queer encounter: Sociology and the study of sexuality. Sociological Theory,
12(2), 188-202.
• Foucault, M. (1990[1976]). The history of sexuality, volume 1: An introduction (R. Hurley, Trans.).
New York: Vintage.
References
• Fox, R. C. (1995). Bisexual identities. In A. R. D'Augelli & C. J. Patterson (Eds.), Lesbian, Gay, and
Bisexual Identities over the Lifespan: Psychological Perspectives (pp. 48-86). New York: Oxford
University Press.
• Hall, D. (2003). Queer Theories. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Katz-Wise, S. L., & Hyde, J. S. (2012). Victimization experiences of lesbian, gay and bisexual
individuals: A meta- analysis. Journal of Sex Research, 49(2-3), 142-167.
doi: 10.1080/00224499.2011.637247
• King, M., Semlyen, J., Tai, S. S., Killaspy, H., Osborn, D., Popelyuk, D., & Nazareth, I. (2008). A
systematic review of mental disorder, suicide, and deliberate self harm in lesbian, gay and
bisexual people. BMC Psychiatry, 80(70). doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-8-70
• Marshal, M. P., Dietz, L. J., Friedman, M. S., Stall, R., Smith, H. A., McGinley, J., . . . Brent, D. A.
(2011). Suicidality and depression diparities between sexual minority and heterosexual youth: A
meta-analytic review. Journal of Adolescent Health, 49, 115-123.
doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.02.005
• McNair, B. (2009). Teaching porn. Sexualities, 12, 558-567. doi: 10.1177/13633460709340367
• Mishna, F., Newman, P. A., Daley, A., & Solomon, S. (2009). Bullying of lesbian and gay youth: A
qualitative investigation. The British Journal of Social Work, 39, 1598-1614.
• Savin-Williams, R. C. (2001a). A critique of the research on sexual-minority youths. Journal of
Adolescence, 24, 5-13. doi: 10.1006/jado.2000.0369
References
• Savin-Williams, R. C. (2001b). Suicide attempts among sexual minority youths: Population and
measurement issues. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69, 983-991.
doi: 10.1037//0022-006X.69.6.983
• Savin-Williams, R. C., Cohen, K. M., Joyner, K., & Rieger, G. (2010). Depressive symptoms among
same-sex oriented young men: Importance of reference group. Archives of Sexual Behavior,
39, 1213-1215. doi: 0.1007/s10508-010-9658-4
• Savin-Williams, R. C., & Ream, G. L. (2003). Suicide attempts among sexual-minority male youth.
Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32, 509-522.
doi: 10.1207/S15374424JCCP3204_3
• Savin-Williams, R. C. (2005). The new gay teenager. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Tierney, W., & Dilley, P. (1998). Constructing knowledge: Educational research and gay and
lesbian studies. In W. Pinar (Ed.), Queer Theory in Education (pp. 49-71). Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
•Troiden, R. R. (1988). Gay and lesbian identity: A sociological analysis. Dix Hills, NY: General Hall,
Inc.
• Warner, M. (1999). The Trouble with Normal: Sex, Politics and the Ethics of Queer Life. Cambridge,
MA:Harvard University Press.
• Zanghellini, A. (2007). Scientific positivism and the controversy over research into lesbian and gay
parenting. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 4(3), 100-114. doi: 10.1525/srsp.2007.4.3.100
Contact Information
Richard A. Brandon-Friedman
Indiana University School of Social Work
902 W. New York Street
ES4138
Indianapolis, IN 46202
rifriedm@iupui.edu