Gender, Alienation, Excessiveness and Normalization as Predictors of Social Work Students’ Attitude towards LGBTQIA+ Community

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Page: 650-654

Krishnaprabhath, K.K. Anuranj, P.B. Shankar Narayan, and Suraj Shankar Jadhav (Department of Social Work, Pondicherry University, Kalapet, Puducherry Union Territory, India)

LGBTQIA+ community is subjected to large-scale discrimination, marginalisation and exclusion, which results in grave psycho-social issues for the community members. As a helping profession, social work is significant in helping community members overcome those challenges. However, a large number of studies reveal the prevalence of prejudicial and negative attitudes towards this community among social workers. This Cross-sectional quantitative study re-examines the attitude of social work students towards the LGBTQIA+ community and its relationship with respondents’ Age, Sexuality, and Gender. This study also explores the relationship between students’ alienation and excessiveness towards the LGBTQIA+ community as well as their level of Normalization of LGBTQIA+ personality with their overall attitude towards this community. 70 samples were selected through the convenience sampling technique. The results indicate a significantly higher positive attitude towards the LGBTQIA+ community among female social work students than male students. Apart from these, low levels of alienation, excessiveness, and high normalization are related to a positive attitude towards community members. Measures to make social work education LGBTQIA+ inclusive and nurture values of tolerance, empathy and compassion towards this community are also discussed.