Revealing Disagreement and Discomfort through Auto-ethnography and Personal Narrative

Abstract

Social worker educators in the UK are familiar with social issues of exclusion and marginalization, and are used to teaching about sexual abuse or sexual exploitation. However, many are less informed about work with gay people or with broader issues of sexuality. Adopting an auto-ethnographical perspective and using semi-structured discussion groups (which were audio taped, transcribed and analysed), this small group of gay and ‘straight’ practitioners and academics explored current social work practice and culture in the North East of England and reflected on their own learning and teaching experiences. They identified three key themes: differing opinions about what is regarded as an acceptable level of disclosure about personal information, disagreement about the use and meaning of key terms, and discomfort and defensiveness among social work educators, practitioners and students when addressing these issues. These findings are presented alongside some of the literature in this area, highlighting the links with professionals’ exclusion of gay people and the marginalization of gay and ‘straight’ issues in education and practice.

MSW student perceptions of sexual health as relevant to the profession: Do social work educational experiences matter?

“…There are many potential reasons that sexual behavior and related topics are not sufficiently included within social work curriculum. Trotter et al (2006) discussed that the "discomfort and defensiveness among social work educators, practitioners and students" (p. 360) may prevent the teaching of broader issues of sexuality. As such, more research is needed to understand how to effectively train social work professors and social work students on sexuality and sexual behavior topics and how to facilitate discussions (with students and clients) regarding these topics.…”

“…Accordingly, in asking faculty (N = 596) their opinion on the potential barriers to in-depth sexuality education within social work classrooms, responses included time, level of discomfort, lack of faculty training, and fear of negative ramifications (McKay, 2015). Instructors may not be comfortable teaching on topics related to sexual behavior, either because the topic itself is personally uncomfortable or they have not had sufficient training in sexuality education or the facilitation of potentially contentious discussions (McKay, 2015;Trotter, Brogatzki, Duggan, Foster, & Levie, 2006). Also, broader institutional curricula requirements may not provide ample time to devote to these topics in the classroom (McKay, 2015).…”

“…Alternatively, instructors may perceive such topics as contentious or stigmatized, perhaps prompting such topics to be either mentioned only briefly. Trotter et al (2006) concluded that, "because of misunderstandings and assumptions about terms, appearances and meanings, most students and social workers (like other professionals) are wary of exposing their own ignorance or prejudice and want to avoid embarrassment or causing offense" (p. 384). Thus, social workers may overall avoid sexuality and sexual behavior topics due to their own discomfort and/or lack of training.…”

Reflecting on What? Addressing Sexuality in Social Work

“…It also highlighted the value and importance of auto-ethnographical discussion groups as a research methodology (Trotter et al 2006). These reflections also revealed a crucial gap in social work"s knowledge base around sexuality -the management and presentation of one"s own/personal sexual identity.…”

“…This forum adopted an autoethnographical perspective to researching sexuality issues in social work practice and education (Trotter et al 2006). Whilst working on a small project about sexuality, as part of a larger venture on Post Qualifying Education (Trotter et al 2007), five of us began to think about the notion of "reflection" and its part in our practice as social workers, practice teachers and researchers.…”