“…Some practitioners believe it is possible to separate off personal views, including those based on religious beliefs, while others believe it is not possible and that, indeed, religious disapproval of LGBTQ people and their lives are contrary to social work values [149]. These findings echo previous research on social work training from the US, where similar divided views prevail [150][151][152][153][154][155].…”
Section: Older Lgbtq People Care and Religionsupporting
Research suggests health, social care, and social work professionals who are highly religious, and adhere closely to traditional doctrine, are more likely to take a negative view of LGBTQ people. This includes those who provide services to older people. Negative attitudes towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and/or queer (LGBTQ) people can translate into poor care and even abuse. This commentary discusses recent literature on older LGBTQ people’s experiences of religious abuse. It highlights the concerns among many older LGBTQ people about care from religious based providers where religion becomes a factor leading to abuse, associated with microaggressions, psychological abuse, harassment, discriminatory abuse, neglect, and poor care. Even though only a minority of religious care providers may hold negative attitudes towards LGBTQ people, and even fewer may allow this to inform poor/abusive practice, this is nonetheless an area of concern and merits further investigation. All care providers, including those with strongly held religious beliefs, should deliver equally good, affirmative, non-abusive care to older LGBTQ people, and to LGBTQ people of all ages.<strong>Key words</strong>LGBTQ; religious care providers; abuse; adult protection; equality and human rights; law
“…Some practitioners believe it is possible to separate off personal views, including those based on religious beliefs, while others believe it is not possible and that, indeed, religious disapproval of LGBTQ people and their lives are contrary to social work values [149]. These findings echo previous research on social work training from the US, where similar divided views prevail [150][151][152][153][154][155].…”
Section: Older Lgbtq People Care and Religionsupporting
Research suggests health, social care, and social work professionals who are highly religious, and adhere closely to traditional doctrine, are more likely to take a negative view of LGBTQ people. This includes those who provide services to older people. Negative attitudes towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and/or queer (LGBTQ) people can translate into poor care and even abuse. This commentary discusses recent literature on older LGBTQ people’s experiences of religious abuse. It highlights the concerns among many older LGBTQ people about care from religious based providers where religion becomes a factor leading to abuse, associated with microaggressions, psychological abuse, harassment, discriminatory abuse, neglect, and poor care. Even though only a minority of religious care providers may hold negative attitudes towards LGBTQ people, and even fewer may allow this to inform poor/abusive practice, this is nonetheless an area of concern and merits further investigation. All care providers, including those with strongly held religious beliefs, should deliver equally good, affirmative, non-abusive care to older LGBTQ people, and to LGBTQ people of all ages.<strong>Key words</strong>LGBTQ; religious care providers; abuse; adult protection; equality and human rights; law
“…(2019) in a study of 1376 US healthcare professionals; Jaffee et al. (2016) in their study of Canadian and US social work students; Dessel et al. (2012) and Chonody et al.…”
Section: Analysis Of Findingsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Jaffee et al. (2016), reporting on research with social work students in Canada and the United States, noted ‘the importance of intersections between race/ethnicity and religion’ (p.265), particularly in relation to African American students with negative attitudes towards/disapproval of LGBTQ people. They also observed that.Racial minorities in religious communities have traditionally been less likely to hold affirming attitudes toward gay and lesbian people; such communities often oppose same‐sex sexuality and reinforce traditional gender norms and procreation… These teachings may shape the views of social work students affiliated with these religious communities.…”
There is a dearth of research on how negative religious attitudes towards LGBTQ people inform professional practice. This paper reports on a scoping review of 70 selected studies from 25 different countries. It explores key issues and knowledge gaps regarding the delivery of services to LGBTQ adults by religious healthcare, social care and social work organisations and/or practitioners with faith-based objections toLGBTQ people and their lives. The review identified four main themes: (1) a close connection between religious affiliation and negative attitudes towards LGBTQ people, among both students and professionals; (2) a heightening effect of religiosity, particularly among Christian and Muslim practitioners/students; (3) educators' religious attitudes informing curriculum design and delivery, and some highly religious students resisting and/or feeling oppressed by LGBTQ-inclusivity, if present; (4) examples of practice concerns raised by professionals and lay LGBTQ people. The article considers the ethical, practical, educational and professional standards implications, highlighting the need for further research in this area.
“…In the US and Canada, social work professionals, students and educators affiliated with a religion, generally Christianity, are more likely to hold negative attitudes towards LGBTQ people (Chonody et al 2013, Jaffee et al 2016, Lennon-Dearing and Delavega 2016, McCarty-Caplan 2018, Atteberry-Ash et al 2019, Messinger et al 2020. This is compounded by religiosity, namely the frequency and depth of religious participation.…”
Tensions between religious freedoms and lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) rights have evolved from debates about sinful deviance to competing equality claims. There is a growing debate, originally in the US, but emerging in the UK, about whether religious social workers, particularly those holding fundamentalist Christian beliefs, can deliver affirmative, anti-oppressive services to LGBTQ people. This is important because over two-fifths of social workers identify as Christian and almost a quarter of UK charities, including those running community and residential care services for older people, are religious organisations. These concerns have been highlighted in a recent judicial review involving a social work student, Felix Ngole, who was expelled by the University of Sheffield for making homophobic comments on his Facebook page. The Court of Appeal ruled the University's decision was procedurally flawed and had conflated religious prejudice with discrimination. This paper considers 70 online responses to a Community Care article written by Ngole, which highlight divided opinions within the social work profession. It critically interrogates, within regulatory contexts, whether it is possible to be both deeply opposed to LGBTQ people's lives and yet work affirmatively and anti-oppressively with them. An urgent research agenda is proposed.
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