Working with GLBTQ Children, Youth, and Families Working with GLBTQ Children, Youth, and Families.
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Transcript Working with GLBTQ Children, Youth, and Families Working with GLBTQ Children, Youth, and Families.
Working with GLBTQ Children,
Youth, and Families
Working with
GLBTQ
Children, Youth, and
Families
Tools for Exploring
Basic
Knowledge
Language/Symbols
Coming Out/Found Out
Adaptations for GLBTQ Persons
Assessment & Interventions
Feedback
Basic
Knowledge
Heterosexual Privilege
The assumption that all people are
heterosexual, or that heterosexuality is
the only legitimate way to live one’s
life.
Being a heterosexual in society carries
with it power and privileges.
Who is, and who isn’t?
The question of who is gay, lesbian, or
bisexual is itself controversial
Frequently people confuse sexual behavior
and life styles with sexual identity
The Definition and Scope of Sexual
Orientation
Shivley & De Cecco (1977) have
developed a useful distinction in
dividing sexual identity into four parts:
Biological Sex
Gender Identity
Social Sex Roles
Sexual Orientation
Biological Sex
The genetic material
encoded in chromosomes
When the sperm fertilizes
the egg, a gender is assigned
Gender Identity
The psychological sense of
being male or female
Social Sex Role
The adherence to the
culturally created behaviors
and attitudes that are
deemed appropriate for
males and females
Sexual Orientation
A combination of all three
previously mentioned - biological,
psychological, and social
The commonly accepted,
scientific term for the direction
of sexual, erotic, and romantic
attraction, and its expression to
the same and/or opposite gender
Examples of Sexual
Orientation
Heterosexuality
Homosexuality
Bisexuality
Why are some people gay or
lesbian?
We don’t exactly know,
but there are two
theories:
Biological Essentialism
Social Construction
Why are some people gay or
lesbian?
The re-frame of this question is
why is it important?
The real question is why do some
people still have such a problem
with GLBTQ persons?
GLBTQ persons are not going to
go away because some people
don’t like them.
At what age can one know they
are gay or lesbian?
Most experts (Bell & Weinberg,
Green, Le Vey) agree that sexual
orientation is set by early
childhood - age 4 or 5 years. In
adolescence, identity becomes
solidified in a sexual way
Basic Knowledge
It is not possible to know if a
person is gay, lesbian, bisexual,
transgendered or questioning, unless
they tell you.
There are no outward signs that a
person is GLBTQ.
There is no such things as gay
tendencies - only gay stereotypes.
Language
Homosexual
Homo
SEXual
Homosexual
A “medical” term first developed in
1859 by German Physician Ulrich
An outmoded term used by “others” to
define the GLBTQ community
The word has pathologically-based
overtones and associations, even
though it was deleted from DSM in
1973
Appropriate Terms
Gay
Lesbian
Bisexual
Gay
A double meaning word that comes
from hiding, oppression, and
management of a stigmatized
identity.
This is a term used by mostly males
in the community to define itself after
Stonewall riots of 1969
Bisexual
1. A normal variation of sexual
orientation with affectional, romantic
and erotic attraction to either
genders- but usually NOT at the
same time.
2. A transitional period which acts as a
bridge from heterosexuality to a gay
or lesbian identity, or vice versa.
Lesbian
An older term derived from the Greek
island of Lesbos where the poet Sappho
wrote about her love for women.
An emotionally charged term, no double
meaning. Not a term that all homosexually
identified women use.
Differentiates the experience of sexual
identity by gender- gay males are very
different from lesbian females.
Gay
Lesbian
Bisexual
Questioning
Transgendered
Questioning
1. Those who are “going through a
phase,” i.e., experimentation,
situational homosexuality
2. Those who have survived sexual
abuse, without treatment, especially
same-gendered abuse
3. Those with some types of serious
psychiatric illnesses
Transgendered
An umbrella term for several groups of
individuals:
1. Transvestites
2. Transsexuals
3. Drag Queens/ Kings
4. Cross Dressers
Transvestite
Remains a diagnostic category in
DSM IV Heterosexual orientation, usually,
though not always, associated with
fetishism
Not many youth in child welfare
settings are transvestites
Drag Queens/Kings
It’s about performance/illusion
Drag Queens: Ru Paul; Geraldine
(Flip Wilson); Dame Edna (Barry
Humphreys)
Drag Kings: Lily Tomlin, Tracey
Ullman
Heterosexual or Gay/Lesbian
Cross Dressing
It’s about costuming, make-up,
jewelry, hair styles
Stretching the boundaries of sex
roles
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
heterosexual youth cross dress
If it’s more than costuming, it may be
about gender identity
Transsexuals
DSM IV Diagnostic Category Exists
Gender Identity Disorder
“Gender Dysphoria”
It’s about Gender Identity, one’s
sense of maleness or femaleness
Do not focus on genitalia
The sex change operation
Symbols
Rainbow Flag/Stripe
Flag with six colors: red, orange, yellow,
green, blue, purple is a symbol of unity
and pride.
Rainbow rings - Freedom rings are multicolored aluminum oxidized rings on a
chain, symbol of pride
Stripe on a car decal
Pink Triangle/Black Triangle
Pink Triangle is a symbol adopted from
Nazi Germany, where homosexuals were
interred along with Jews, and other
stigmatized populations chosen for
annihilation.
Black Triangle is another symbol adopted
from Nazi Germany, where never married
women, women with no children,
presumed to be lesbian, were interred.
Colors Purple and Lavender
Combination of pink and blue makes
lavender or purple.
Gay colors of pride
Other Symbols
Lambda, 11th letter of the Greek alphabet
Labarys, double edged axe
Intertwined genetic symbols for male
Intertwined genetic symbols for female
Combination of male, female and a
blended symbol for transgendered
persons
Coming Out
Being Found
Out
Disclosure
The point at which a lesbian, gay or bisexual
person openly acknowledges their sexual
orientation to another.
It is not appropriate to use terms such as“discovered, admitted, revealed, found
out, declared”, to describe this
phenomena. These are pejorative terms
which suggest judgment and should be
avoided by helping professionals.
A Process of Coming Out
1. I am NOT gay or lesbian.
2. I think I might be different- but I am
definitely NOT gay or lesbian.
3. Suppose I was gay or lesbian, what
would that mean?
4. I think I might be gay or lesbian or
bisexual.
A Process of Coming Out
5. I think I need to tell someone that I
might be gay or lesbian or bisexual.
6. I think I need to tell some other
people that I trust that I am gay or
lesbian or bisexual.
7. I know I am a gay or lesbian person.
8. Being gay or lesbian is an
integrated part of my identity.
A Process of Being Found Out
When a person is not prepared to
come out
A surprise/unplanned disclosure
This can occur via phone calls,
letters, glbtq related materials
This is a family system in crisis
Do family preservation workers know
how to preserve this type of family?
Adaptations
to a GLBTQ Identity
An Ecological Approach to Adaptation
Change Self
Change Environment
Migrate to a More Affirming
Place
Adaptations to a GLBTQ Orientation
Repress same-gender feelings and
identifications
Sublimate same-gendered feelings
Harm Self
Accept Self
Repression
Push it down
Hide, hyper-monitor behavior and
expressions
Neurosis is indiscriminate, it will
pop out when you least expect it
Energy Draining and Maladaptive
Sublimation
Positive or Negative
Positive - clubs, academics,
overcompensation
Negative - drugs, alcohol, school
drop out, “accidents”
Both are maladaptive and harmful in
the long-run
Harm Self
At-risk behaviors
Substance abuse (numbs the pain);
prostitution, homelessness
Suicidality, GLBTQ youth 3x more
likely to attempt suicide
Low self esteem, sense of self
worth and estrangement from
family
Accept Self
Finding a peer group
Identifying services
Integrating identity into life
Resiliency Issues
Assessment
Major Clinical Issues
Anxiety
Depression
Issues Around Coming Out
School Problems
Family Problems
Formulating the Assessment
Where is the youth at in their own
process of sexual identity
formation?
What are the
cultural/religious/racial/class/age
issues?
Is the youth at risk for violence at
school, in the community, or at
home?
Formulating the Assessment con’t
What are the salient family issues?
What is your own comfort level/skill
as a practitioner?
How can you facilitate/impede this
process?
Intervention
Assume a neutral stance
Make sure you have a good working
knowledge of the issues
Allow for ambiguity - be where the
client is at
Assure confidentiality
Intervention con’t
Individual and group interventions
are both effective strategies
Use bibliotherapy (in office)
Be prepared to work with families
Feedback
What do GLBTQ Youth
Need?
What do Families Need?
What Do GLBTQ Youth Need?
The same things that all youth need
Caring adults who will listen and
guide them
Competent professionals who will do
their own homework
An array of health and mental
health services that are GLBTQ
friendly
What Do GLBTQ Youth Need? Con’t
Opportunities to date and to be a
developmentally age-appropriate gay
or lesbian teenager
Safe schools that are
harassment/violence free
Families that will continue to love
them after disclosure
What Do GLBTQ Affected Families
Need?
Opportunities to process shame,
guilt, embarrassment, hopefully
pride
Individual and group interventions
Time to recover from the crisis of
initial disclosure
What Do GLBTQ Affected Families
Need? Con’t
All family members (grandparents,
sibs, cousins) need opportunities to
process feelings
Bibliotherapy - accurate
information to replace myths and
stereotypes
Time to reframe what it means to
have a GLBTQ family member
Conclusions
What Should Social Workers/Health
Care Professionals Do?
Do not focus on identifying a GLBTQ
youth
Focus on creating safe and affirming
environments
Focus on providing many opportunities for
the youth to disclosure
Accept that no matter what you do,
some GLBTQ youth may opt not to
disclose to you
What Should Social Workers/Health
Care Professionals Do?
Work to create organizational
change
Work to insist that you are trained
in this area
Remain open and use GLBTQ
cultural guides
Continue to do “your own” work in
this area
Green Chimneys GLBTQ Services
Gramercy Residence
SILP Apartment Program
TLP Apartment Program
AOBH Program
Green Chimneys GLBTQ Services
Audre Lorde High School
Mentoring Program
Triangle Tribe Training &
Technical Assistance
Services
Gerald P. Mallon, DSW
Associate Professor and Executive Director
Hunter College School of Social Work
129 East 79th Street
New York, New York 10021
212 452-7043 - phone
212 452-7051 - fax
[email protected] - email
www.hunter.cuny,edu\socwork\nrcfcpp