Homophobia, Schooling, and the Italian Context

Abstract

This chapter documents the lecosecambiano@roma project, a collaborative initiative among researchers, political leaders, celebrities, and representatives of LGBTQI associations in Italy to study and combat homophobic bullying in Roman secondary schools. The chapter describes the project and presents results from a study of the interventions in schools. The authors describe interactions with students, the public’s reactions, and the obstacles encountered in implementing this program across schools in Rome. The chapter also includes a discussion of key lessons from this project and plans for future strategies to create safe and supportive schools for LGBT and all students. Through a description of the lecosecambiano@roma project, the authors illuminate what homophobic bullying means in Italy, what obstacles may arise from planning anti-homophobic bullying projects, and why combating homophobic bullying is of paramount importance in the Italian context.

Student Intervention Against Homophobic Name-Calling: The Role of Peers, Teachers, and Inclusive Curricula

“…This variation could be an expression of the different levels of tolerance of homophobic language across schools. Consistent with this interpretation, previous studies conducted in Italy suggested that homophobic prejudice was widespread among teachers in several high schools (Baiocco et al, 2020) and homophobic remarks were often used also by school staff (Ioverno et al, 2016). Also, an unexpected positive correlation between teacher presence and the frequency of hearing HNC was found in the preliminary analyses.…”

“…Second, secondary school students have the same team of teachers for multiple years. Thus, teacher–student interactions and classroom norms are likely to be more stable and consistent than in other countries where students choose elective subjects and move between classes (Ioverno et al, 2016). Third, in Italy, there is no antidiscrimination law that protects LGBT students or explicitly condemns homophobic behaviors in educational settings.…”

“…There are some aspects of the Italian school culture that are worth highlighting to better understand the present study. First, contrary to schools in other cultures, Italian high school students are assigned to a specific class and stay with the same group of classmates for five years (Ioverno et al, 2016). Compared to settings in which there is significant movement and exchange among students across different classrooms, bullying episodes are likely to involve students within the same classroom.…”

Bullying Victimization: Investigating the Unique Contribution of Homophobic Bias on Adolescent Non-suicidal Self-injury and the Buffering Role of School Support

“…Data about the prevalence of homophobic victimization in Italian schools are very few (Ioverno et al, 2016;Prati et al, 2011). In the study by Prati et al (2011), homophobic behaviors were reported to be widespread in the schools.…”

“…Similarly, about half of the sample reported to have red homophobic insults on the school walls, whereas about 20% have seldom seen a student isolated or assaulted because she/he was or seemed to be homosexual. Furthermore, differently from other several European countries (e.g., Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK), where schools are provided with specific national guidelines and trainings to deal with homophobic bullying, Italian schools miss any kind of institutional support to address this issue, and topics related to sexual and gender identity are quite invisible within schools (Ioverno et al, 2016).…”