Sexuality, Sexual and Gender Identities and Intimacy Research in Social Work and Social Care

A Lifecourse Epistemology

Priscilla Dunk-West, Trish Hafford-Letchfield

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781315398761
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Health Care Delivery

Until now, sexuality has been treated as a specialist topic or area of specialist social work practice. This book cuts across all areas of the discipline. It examines the relationship between sexuality, sexual identities and intimacies and the life course, and showcases a range of issues pertinent to social work through these lenses. It opens up new possibilities for better understanding sexuality in social work, and contains empirical work and theorising about sexuality, intimacy and gender not currently found in a traditional course on life course theory and practice.

The chapters position new areas of scholarship in sexuality including trans perspectives, masculinities, bisexuality and the voices of other gender and sexual minority populations within a life course trajectory. Empirical research picks up on the broader public health and well-being agenda with a strong focus on challenging normative theories to promote human rights and justice for marginalised individuals and groups.

Sexuality, Sexual and Gender Identities and Intimacy Research in Social Work and Social Care will significantly enhance any core texts on life course theory and practice, anti-oppression and anti-discriminatory theories for professionals. It should be considered essential reading for academics, practitioners and undergraduate and postgraduate students.

1 Sexuality, sexual and gender identities and intimacy research in social work and social care

What does the life course lens have to offer?

Trish Hafford-Letchfield and Priscilla Dunk-West

Introduction

This introductory chapter sets out the context for addressing new areas of scholarship in sexuality and gender identities and the significance of including the voices of LGBT populations in social work scholarship. These impact well-being, but are not at the forefront of social work education and practice. The overall book content is linked to our examination of the life course in social work which can otherwise be institutionalised in their approach and themes. The chapter synopses are provided and broader public health and well-being themes are highlighted from their content. The chapter calls for readers to challenge normative life course theories so as to promote human rights and justice for marginalised individuals and groups.

This book follows on from the success of Sexuality and Sexual Identities in Social Work: Research and Reflections from Women in the Field (Dunk-West & Hafford-Letchfield, 2011), which brought together contemporary research about sexualities by women researchers. This second edited collection aims to compliment, enrich and extend social work knowledge of sexuality, sexual identity and intimacy for those working in the caring professions. Whereas Sexuality and Sexual Identities outlined relevant research from women’s perspectives, this collection includes relevant new areas of scholarship in sexuality including trans perspectives, masculinities and the voices of LGBT populations during life course trajectories and settings that impact on well-being but are not at the forefront of practice. Traditional texts on the life course used within professional education and practice are to some degree institutionalised in their approach and themes. This book, however, draws on empirical research which picks up on the broader public health and well-being agenda with a strong focus on challenging normative theories so as to promote human rights and justice for marginalised individuals and groups.

In this sense, the new collection opens up new possibilities for better understanding sexuality in social work: something which is needed despite some shifts in understanding this field since our first publication in 2011. This edited collection therefore contains relevant empirical work and theorising about sexuality, intimacy and gender not currently found in a traditional course on life course theory and practice.

This book examines the relationship between sexuality, sexual identities and intimacies and the life course and showcases a range of issues pertinent to social work through these particular lenses. The reason that a ‘life course’ perspective is important to this text is because of the need to tie together the varying ‘strands’ of sexuality. In social work, sexuality is a growing area of scholarly inquiry. Given the role that intimate relationships play in social and individual lives, much more needs to be achieved in order to value this area of scholarship. For example, social work’s relationship with sexuality, normally positioned and categorised through concepts of anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive theories, is yet to be fulling integrated into social work curricula.

In this chapter, we provide an orientation to the subject matter contained in this edited collection and we begin to explore some of the concepts central to the themes in this book. First, it is important to outline the reason for the arrangement of the chapters: thus, we now consider what role the life course approach plays in such an arrangement.

The life course approach

We know from both sociology (Hunt, 2016) and psychology (Elder, 1998) that questions and expressions of identity are pertinent throughout the life course. One of the benefits of a life course perspective is that it accounts for social, historical and biographical contexts in theorising about life stages (Elder, 1998). A life course approach sees life from beginning to end: birth to death. In social work, developmental theories not only inform childhood, but apply across the life span. Informed by theorists such as Erikson (1950, 1968), such a lens views age as bringing about a particular ‘stage’ tied up with identity. If we consider the role of intimacy, relationships, families, sexual and gender identities across the life course and in relation to social expectations and biographical events, we can begin to see that these issues are manifest throughout the life span in particular iterations. For example, from birth, the notion of family, being parented and the learning of social relationships occurs (Mead, 1913).

Sexualities and beyond

Up until now, sexuality has been treated as a specialist topic or area of practice whereas we contend that issues to do with sexual and gender identity cut across all areas of social work, and to relegate it to any specialist topic, stage of the life course or single field of practice would be very misleading. Sexuality is an umbrella term that relates to the private dimension in which people live out their sexual, intimate and/or emotional desires. Sexual identity, on the other hand, suggests a stance in orientation, it provokes categorical discernment. Thus, sexual and gender identities relate to defining the nature of one’s attractions and desires, gendered relationships and include terms that pronounce this, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, heterosexual, cis, questioning and many others. There are also broader terms which relate to sexuality and gender. Intimacy, friendships and relationships are examples that are explored in this edited collection. The term intimacy can be associated with sexual relationships as well as used to describe the closeness inherent to non-sexual relationships. The fact that this term has evolved to include the latter speaks to the shifting nature of theorising brought about through historical, social and political movements. Thus:

Over the course of modernity, various discourses of intimacy have evolved to designate types of relationship that the modern subject [implicitly male, white, heterosexual, bourgeois, reproductive] might establish with a variety of others. ‘Traditional’ discourses of intimacy have referred to physical contact, sex, romance or passionate love, invariably with a spouse. Newer discourse of intimacy have emerged that refer to the non-sexual relationships of family life.

(Attwood, Hakim, & Winch, 2017, p. 249)

Two points emerge from this quote that are relevant to our project. First, in this edited collection, this newer concept of intimacy is explored in relation to the role that others play in people’s lives. Second, individual conceptualisations of intimacy and sexuality must be seen in their broader social contexts. Thus, though sexuality and gender are often conceptualised as ‘private’ and merely individually experienced, they occur in social and historical contexts (Dunk-West, 2012). Tackling social injustice is at the core of social work. Inequality, trans-, bi- and homophobia are enduring issues for people who identify outside dominant heteronormative and rigid gender discourses, and these too ought to be of interest to the discipline of social work and are therefore examined in this book. Since social work’s core purpose is to work with individuals across the life course, issues relevant to relationships, gender and sexual identities and inequalities are crucial areas which need to be better understood. This edited collection therefore showcases the very latest theorising and research in these areas. At the end of each chapter we have ensured that the empirical work upon which each chapter is based is translated into recommendations for social work practice. The key messages for practice section therefore concludes each chapter and are included to assist the social work student, practitioner or academic reading this collection. We now move on to a summary of the chapters contained in this edited book.

Chapter synopses

In Chapter 2, Annie Pullen-Sansfaçon reviews the evidence on a neglected section of the population, that of gender non-conforming children and trans youth. Being able to respond and support these children and young people is of growing significance, yet the underpinning evidence is still lacking in many areas and what does exist has many gaps to help our understanding. Strong evidence on the degree of violence, discrimination, poor mental health and high-risk factors for health provide strong indications for preventative work in social work practice. Pullen-Sansfaçon also highlights the stress on families, parents and carers who need quality information, guidance and support to be able to access the best care for their children, and who also face stigma and poor-quality services. She highlights how important it is for social work to engage holistically and strategically as well as to support the individuals and families involved. As we will see in the chapter on homophobic and transphobic bullying, being a partner with local communities through schools, local health providers and other stakeholders is essential to challenge discrimination and oppression and to advocate on behalf of marginalised populations.

Chapter 3 looks at homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools and draws on findings from the European research project RAINBOW-HAS (Rights through alliances: Innovating and networking both within homes and schools’). Partners from the UK (Trish Hafford-Letchfield, Christine Cocker, Peter Ryan, Mary Martin, Rosalind Scott, and Sarah Carr) highlight some of the key findings from RAINBOW-HAS and enable us to get a good sense of where homophobic and transphobic bullying in the UK is situated in terms of the education policy literature. They use this review to foreground a case study which engaged with two secondary schools to develop and pilot a family and student led intervention aimed at preventing homophobic and transphobic bullying. Given the tendency for silence on LGBT issues more broadly, this practice example encourages readers to reflect on how they position themselves in relation to working with young people from the LGBT community and how they might take account of bullying experiences, targeted violence and hostility that young people may experience as a result of their sexual and gender identities. Using a community based intervention which engages with young people, their families and education provides a practice example for how collaboration can be more active in their contribution to young people’s well-being in education through LGBT rights-based advocacy.

In Chapter 4, continuing with themes associated with earlier life, Katie Letchfield and Trish Hafford-Letchfield invite us to think outside the box in their report of a research study into friendship and intimacy in young women. The phenomenon of friendship and its function and purpose within social work and social care is significantly under-researched and so this chapter attempts to do this through a sociological analysis of the function of symbols and ritual in relation to ideals of ‘friendships’ among young women. It draws principally from a small qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with five women aged 18–25 years during which they discussed their friendships. Letchfield and Hafford-Letchfield draw out the importance of intimacy in friendships for young women within this stage of the life course from the key themes emerging from their data. Their research focused particularly on the role of gender specific symbols and ritual, how these relate to gender roles in young women and the significance of external influences on their friendship practices. The findings indicated that not only do rituals and symbols create and support internal intimacy, but also constitute practices informed by a cultural ideal of what it means to be a ‘friend’. This suggests very unique implications for how social work assessment and interventions takes these into account when working with young people and other service user groups. It is important to be aware of relationships beyond the traditional family or network commonly conceptualised with social work assessment and care support. There are important messages about how social workers value social relationships beyond the family and their functions in providing support for expressions of intimacy, agency and identities in young women. Further, conceptualising friendships highlights the ways that friendship experience is shaped by minority status and inequalities and the support needed to develop cross group friendships which promote cultural competence or dialogue between different social groups and reinforce young people’s own identities through the life course.

Moving to consider mid-life course issues, in Chapter 5 Paul Simpson also explores friendships, this time in a midlife context. He explores a very much neglected topic by examining the means through which middle-aged and older gay men differentiate themselves from forms of intimacy and relating associated with heterosexual people. Writing from the UK, Paul draws on in-depth interviews with 27 middle-aged gay men living in Manchester and develops themes on ‘friendship families’, a concept which has been developed by other LGBT scholars. He argues that two major shifts occur in midlife away from the biological/biolegal family of origin and the Manchester ‘gay village’/’commercial scene’ towards domestically staged ‘friendship family’. The latter represents a creative extension of the gay scene/kinship. Such family helps maintain a sense of identity, self-worth and inclusion in one aspect of gay culture. It was narrated as a space that helped men to develop the ‘ageing capital’ – the age-inflected emotional, cognitive and political resources to withstand/contest homophobia and gay ageism. In this research project, subjects also used the ‘resources of ageing’ (Heaphy, 2007) to question heteronormative notions of family and practice non-monogamy. However, whilst men’s experiences of homes and neighbourhoods were generally affirmative, representation of home(s) as empowering space(s) is complicated and undermined for various reasons. Whilst some informants experienced disadvantaged access to or exclusion from friendship family for socio-economic and cultural reasons (often connected with homophobia), gay ageism online and (ageist) homophobia in neighbourhoods can render the home a site of risk, compromising its status as space of freedom, self-expression and physical and emotional safety.

Simpson draws attention to the value of friendship family as a way of distinguishing and framing middle-aged gay men’s relational experiences. For social workers, it is important to recognise and value this form of kinship which does important political and emotional work in empowering middle-aged gay men living in large cities and who may not be able to rely on their family of origin (or younger gay men) for support. Simpson illustrates how friendship family is characterised by an ethic of care and mutual understanding that enables middle-aged gay to men express their ‘authentic’ ageing selves freed from the ageist gaze that dominates experiences of the gay commercial scene. Social workers need to take note of this critical space in which to develop the resources of ageing capital and technologies of the self to contest homophobia, gay ageism and to resist pressures towards monogamy and thus assert the value of alternative ways of relating.

Chapter 6 returns to the topic of life course issues with people with transgender identities and how transgender people negotiate intimate relationships. In this chapter, Damien Riggs, Henry von Doussa and Jennifer Power remind us of the important relationship between discrimination and poor mental health in transgender populations and the importance of research for documenting these experiences of marginalisation and victimisation, and for identifying the needs of transgender people in terms of mental health service provisions. However, this chapter also contributes to a consistently overlooked aspect of the lives of transgender people in relation to their experiences of negotiating intimate relationships. They provide an important overview of previous literature on the topic of transgender people and intimate relationships, before reporting on findings from their own Australian qualitative study. Importantly, the findings suggest both that understanding transgender people’s experiences of intimacy cannot occur absent of an understanding of the effects of discrimination, and that recognising the impact of discrimination does not explain all there is to know about transgender people’s experiences of intimacy. Beyond the impact of both discrimination and cisgenderism, for many transgender people experiences of intimacy are fulfilling and meaningful. Riggs, Von Dousa and Power help us to understand that those who work with transgender clients must be mindful of the importance of engaging with transgender people’s experiences of intimacy and the dangers of taking a developmentally normative approach. They encourage us to incorporate a positive focus on intimacy when working with transgender people so as to support their future vision of living fulfilling and meaningful intimate lives as they determine them to be.

Chapter 7 looks at the issue of employment which for many people can be a significant activity for up to half of their life course, and with increasing longevity and demography, is likely to continue to be an important space in which we interact and contribute to society. Alfonso Pezzella examines the impact of institutionalised heteronormativity on LGBT employee’s relationships at work and focuses on the issue of disclosure of sexual identity and orientation, commonly known as ‘coming out’. Despite legislative gains on equality and rights in the workplace in many developing countries, the choice to disclose one’s sexual identity in every social role in the workplace is still controversial and sensitive for many LGBTQ individuals. This may involve them weighing up the risk of coming out to their colleagues and employer which in turn has the potential to impact on their professional career and prospects, as well as expose them to discrimination, harassment and oppression (Hafford-Letchfield, 2012). Drawing on a local case study in one university, Pezzella explores factors in a typical heteronormative institution which influence LGBT employee’s expression of identities, well-being, career choices and decision making. He uses these findings to help us think about our own institutional environments and specifically some of the knowledge, skills and awareness needed for ensuring inclusive support for employees in care settings so that we are enable and respect diversity of those providing as well as using services. There are also important messages for what we include in our curriculum and practice education and how we support learning about and with LGBT communities.

Social work is all about relationships, and Chapter 8 examines the utility of knowledge about relationship quality for practice. Jill M. Chonody, Jacqui Gabb, Mike Killian...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of figures and tables
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• List of contributors
• 1 Sexuality, sexual and gender identities and intimacy research in social work and social care: what does the life course lens have to offer?
• 2 Gender non-conforming children, trans youth and their family: identifying best evidences and practices for social work interventions
• 3 Combatting homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools through family engagement
• 4 Intimacy in young women’s friendships: symbols and rituals
• 5 Home and ‘hood’: middle-aged gay men’s stories of homes and neighbourhoods
• 6 Transgender people negotiating intimate relationships
• 7 ‘Out’ and about at work: institutionalised heteronormativity on relationships and employment
• 8 Measuring relationship quality in an international study: exploratory and confirmatory factor validity
• 9 Bisexuality and ageing: why it matters for social work practice
• 10 Single women living alone in later life: evidence from Understanding Society data
• 11 Stories of intimacy and sexuality in later life: Solo women speak
• 12 Sexuality, gender and intimacy, reflecting on professional practice
• Index