Perceptions of a Gay-Straight Alliance ban: School counselors and advocacy for students with minority sexual orientations

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Sifford, A. (2010). Perceptions of a Gay-Straight Alliance ban: School counselors and advocacy for students with minority sexual orientations. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

ABSTRACT AMY MCCARTHY SIFFORD. Perceptions of a Gay-Straight Alliance ban: School counselors and advocacy for students with minority sexual orientations. (Under the direction of Dr. Pamela S. Lassiter.) The purpose of this study was to examine how school counselors who are working or have worked in a school that banned a Gay-Straight Alliance club perceive the ban and how their perceptions influenced their advocacy for students with minority sexual orientations. Recommendations from participants for other school counselors who have experienced this phenomenon were also examined. Five school counselors participated in this qualitative research study. Participants were interviewed about their thoughts, feelings, and actions and completed a demographic questionnaire. A modified phenomenological data analysis procedure using descriptive and axial coding was conducted to analyze the data. The analysis indicated that the participants perceived the ban as a way for administrators to avoid controversy or collude with the religiously and politically conservative status quo beliefs about minority sexual orientations in their larger communities. The participants engaged in a variety of strategies to resist status quo beliefs, and while they perceive positive changes since the bans, discrimination against students with minority sexual orientations continues and the pace of positive change remains slow. The participants recommended proactive advocacy as a way for other school counselors working in religiously and politically conservative areas to resist reproducing status quo beliefs about minority sexual orientations in the school environment. The findings suggest that school counselors working in conservative settings who identify as advocates and have affirming attitudes about minority sexual orientations are willing to take risks to advocate for this student population. In addition, proactive advocacy for students with minority sexual orientations is necessary prior to attempting supportive services such as a Gay-Straight Alliance in schools in conservative areas. Finally, continued research concentrating on expanding the empirical literature base regarding advocacy for students with minority sexual orientations is needed in order to better prepare school counselors and their administrators to meet their needs.

Details
Author

Sifford, Amy

Title

Perceptions of a Gay-Straight Alliance ban: School counselors and advocacy for students with minority sexual orientations

Physical Description

1 online resource (201 pages) : PDF

Date

2010

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

ABSTRACT AMY MCCARTHY SIFFORD. Perceptions of a Gay-Straight Alliance ban: School counselors and advocacy for students with minority sexual orientations. (Under the direction of Dr. Pamela S. Lassiter.) The purpose of this study was to examine how school counselors who are working or have worked in a school that banned a Gay-Straight Alliance club perceive the ban and how their perceptions influenced their advocacy for students with minority sexual orientations. Recommendations from participants for other school counselors who have experienced this phenomenon were also examined. Five school counselors participated in this qualitative research study. Participants were interviewed about their thoughts, feelings, and actions and completed a demographic questionnaire. A modified phenomenological data analysis procedure using descriptive and axial coding was conducted to analyze the data. The analysis indicated that the participants perceived the ban as a way for administrators to avoid controversy or collude with the religiously and politically conservative status quo beliefs about minority sexual orientations in their larger communities. The participants engaged in a variety of strategies to resist status quo beliefs, and while they perceive positive changes since the bans, discrimination against students with minority sexual orientations continues and the pace of positive change remains slow. The participants recommended proactive advocacy as a way for other school counselors working in religiously and politically conservative areas to resist reproducing status quo beliefs about minority sexual orientations in the school environment. The findings suggest that school counselors working in conservative settings who identify as advocates and have affirming attitudes about minority sexual orientations are willing to take risks to advocate for this student population. In addition, proactive advocacy for students with minority sexual orientations is necessary prior to attempting supportive services such as a Gay-Straight Alliance in schools in conservative areas. Finally, continued research concentrating on expanding the empirical literature base regarding advocacy for students with minority sexual orientations is needed in order to better prepare school counselors and their administrators to meet their needs.

Genre

doctoral dissertations

Subjects--Topics

Counseling psychology
Queer studies
Ethics

Degree

Ph.D.

Keywords

Advocacy
Culture
LGBT Students
Schools

Subject Area

Counseling

Advisor(s)

Lassiter, Pamela

Committee Members

Lim, Jae
Abrams, Lyndon
Wierzalis, Edward
Gay, William

Degree Note

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2010.

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Sifford_uncc_0694D_10084

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:1782