http://hdl.handle.net/10027/8827 Mon, 20 May 2013 03:45:35 GMT 2013-05-20T03:45:35Z http://hdl.handle.net/10027/9522 Education for Liberation: A Precursor to Youth Activism for Social Justice Education for Liberation: A Precursor to Youth Activism for Social Justice Kristen Nicole Atkinson, Ph.D. Jane Addams College of Social Work University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, IL (2012) This paper presents a participatory research approach to the study of youth activism within a community development and movement-building program. It employs participatory ethnography theory and methods to explore an innovative model of social change for social justice. Building on community youth development and transformative social work perspectives, this study examines the relationship between youth participation in a liberatory education program and the development of an activist identity. This research utilizes a collaborative, community-centric approach to expand social workers’ knowledge of community organizing approaches to youth work in terms of (1) how education on oppression and social justice activism support youth development and (2) how youth in an activist program impact their communities. Findings from this study articulate a model of social justice youth development founded in intergenerational collaboration, anti-oppression, community, history, wellness and socio-political development. They indicate that such programming impacts young people’s development in terms of their critical consciousness, self-reflexivity, sense of agency, relationships with adults and peers, ability to build alliances and leadership for social justice. Finally, they point to a number ways in which youth activists impact the organizations and communities in which they are engaged, including shaping the policies and practices of youth-serving institutions and the adults who work within them. In terms of implications, this study addresses gaps in knowledge of the impact of youth activism on healthy youth development and contributes to theory-building about the facilitative factors associated with social justice-focused approaches to youth development. It offers us a model of empowerment-based youth services founded in intergenerational relationships, anti-oppressive principles and social change. In practice, these findings indicate that liberatory education and youth activism programs hold enormous potential as avenues of young people’s development as engaged citizens. They point to innovative ways to foster youth agency by re-imagining the conditions, policies and practices of service organizations. At the policy level, these findings justify further investment in resources, opportunities and supports that facilitate youth civic engagement. Thu, 13 Dec 2012 06:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10027/9522 2012-12-13T06:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10027/9506 Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Workers in Chicago: Enacted Stigmatization, Stigma Consciousness, and Outness This Internet-based descriptive study examined the experiences of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people in the workplace.  In particular, the study explored the extent to which LGB people living and/or working in metropolitan Chicago, Illinois experience sexual orientation-based harassment and discrimination in the workplace, the extent to which the experience of sexual orientation-based harassment differs by certain characteristics, the extent to which LGB people experience stigma consciousness, the extent to which the experience of stigma consciousness differs by certain characteristics, and the relationship between sexual orientation-based harassment and discrimination and stigma consciousness. A convenience sample (N = 215) of LGB workers, aged 18 to 64, living and/or working in metropolitan Chicago, Illinois was recruited using various social networking sites, Internet and print advertisements, and paper flyers at several Chicago-area agencies serving LGB people.  Participants were given an anonymous survey examining workplace stigma-related experiences. Several existing measures were used, including Waldo's (1999) Workplace Heterosexist Experiences Questionnaire, Pinel's (1999) Stigma Consciousness Questionnaire for Gay Men and Lesbians, and Mohr and Fassinger's (2000) Outness Inventory, which highlighted some of the differences in LGB workplace experiences.  Major findings of the study were that LGB workers’ stigma-related experiences differed by social identity, that outness may positively impact the workplace, and that formal legal protections do not necessarily prevent workplace stigma experiences. Findings of the study have relevance for social work education, social work practice, and social welfare policy.  Work is an important part of our lives, yet many LGB workers are prevented from full participation in the workplace because of their stigma-related experiences.  Social workers are likely to encounter LGB workers affected by stigma-related experiences, and have a responsibility to affect change, both with that individual client and with broader social welfare policy systems. Thu, 13 Dec 2012 06:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10027/9506 2012-12-13T06:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10027/9496 Disability and Participatory Development in South India: Perils of Neoliberal Governance My doctoral research explores the intersections between disability, development, globalization, and the politics of subject-formation in the Global South. In my dissertation, I investigate the impact of globalization and neoliberal development practices on people with disabilities in developing countries, with specific reference to India. Located in rural districts of Andhra Pradesh, the flagship state of neoliberal reforms in south India, this research is an ethnographic study of a participatory development project of the World Bank that organizes large-scale self-help groups (SHGs) among disabled people and other marginalized groups for their empowerment and poverty alleviation. In the context of a shrinking welfare state, I critically explore the depoliticized notions of empowerment and participation that are circulated in these SHG projects and the possibilities and paradoxes such practices carry for rural disabled people. Illuminating the changing relationships between the state and its disabled citizens, I focus on the process of subject-formation to understand the kind of disabled subjects that get produced through these projects and the new forms of neoliberal selves and identities that come into being. In doing so, I highlight the disempowering effects of such shifts on marginalized communities. I foreground the discussion on disability as a subaltern category, a relatively new identity that offers analytical tools to understand and critique debates around governance and citizenship in the context of globalization. Thu, 13 Dec 2012 06:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10027/9496 2012-12-13T06:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10027/9271 An Examination of Homophobia and Social Work Practice Among a Sample of School Social Workers An Examination of Homophobia and Social Work Practice Among a Sample of School Social Workers Milka Ramirez, Ph.D., MSW Jane Addams College of Social Work University of Illinois at Chicago (2012) Dissertation Chairperson: Patricia O’Brien, Ph.D., MSW Scant empirical evidence exists that examines school social workers’ attitudes toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals and engagement with gay affirmative practice. This cross-sectional exploratory, descriptive study surveyed 283 school social workers across 42 states in the United States. Participants were recruited from two national school social work organizations, and their affiliates. The study aimed at examining the relationship between the degree of homophobia among school social workers and the extent that school social workers engage in gay affirmative practice, as well as how the perceived school climate moderated the relationship between these two variables. Results from this study suggest that school social workers reported nonhomophobic views and high engagement with gay affirmative practice. Results from bivariate analysis indicate that school social workers who reported more contact with LGBT individuals, more education in their master’s education program focused on LGBT populations, more self-directed learning about LGBT populations, as well as more supervision or consultation in the workplace about LGBT populations also reported nonhomophobic views and high engagement with gay affirmative practice. Conversely, school social workers that reported high scores of religiosity and more frequent attendance of religious services reported lower favorable views toward LGBT populations and low engagement with gay affirmative practice. Results from multiple regression analysis indicate that homophobia, accounted for over 50% of the variance found in gay affirmative practice. Results from multiple regression with interaction analysis imply that school climate may potentially moderate the relationship between homophobia and gay affirmative practice. However, stronger empirical support for the interrelatedness among homophobia, gay affirmative practice and school climate is needed. Content analysis of open ended questions supports that school social workers adhere to at least two tenets of gay affirmative practice (i) intellectual capacity for gay affirmative practice and (ii) creating a safe and affirming space for LGBT students in schools. Content analysis of open ended questions provides information about the support and obstacles faced by school social workers’ who address school climate for LGBT students. Implications for social work research, education, practice, policy development, theory and social justice are discussed. Mon, 10 Dec 2012 06:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10027/9271 2012-12-10T06:00:00Z