Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Impact of a Romantic Relationships Counseling Group Project on Deaf Male Adolescents in a Deaf School

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Sexuality and Disability Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To date, limited research has been conducted on and few educational tools exist regarding the romantic relationships of deaf adolescents. Although deaf male adolescents are supposed to pursue partners according to social norms, they are often afraid of expressing their feelings and being rejected. In particular, deaf male adolescents at deaf schools are accustomed to following their superiors and suppressing their autonomy. This study established a group counseling project to discuss the romantic relationships of deaf male adolescents in a deaf school, and understand the impacts of the counseling to later refine the project. The group was facilitated by three leaders who were assisted by a sign language interpreter, and ran for a total of 25 h over 12 sessions. Eight male adolescents joined the group. A mixed-method design, which emphasizes a qualitative approach, was adopted to collect and examine the data. Interviews with the group members and the teachers of members were conducted for qualitative content analysis, supplemented with score changes in the members’ satisfaction between the midterm and final group counseling sessions. The results indicated that joining the group helped the deaf male adolescents learn new ways to care for their partners, improved their interactions with partners, peers, and teachers, and enhanced their esteem for themselves and other people. Finally, suggestions of themes to explore in the group, and the leadership skills required for romantic relationship group counseling targeted at deaf male adolescents, are provided.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The term “Deaf” with an uppercase “D” is used periodically in this paper to represent deaf people as a cultural group with their own language and lifestyle. By contrast, the lowercase “deaf” is used when discussing a person’s audiological inability to hear [1]. Although the terms “deaf” and “hard of hearing” are often used to distinguish between people who have profound or severe hearing loss and those with mild or moderate hearing loss, respectively, the general term “deaf” here includes all people on this spectrum. In addition, out of respect for the deaf population, I contacted deaf people in Taiwan during the study and asked them to read this paper to ensure that respectful and appropriate terminology and messages about the deaf were used. The reviewers all explicitly and proudly identified as “deaf people” who use sign language; for them, being deaf is not an indication that they require correction. They also stated that they preferred to be called “deaf people” directly. A review of the World Federation of the Deaf website (https://wfdeaf.org) also revealed that this population frequently claims the labels of “deaf people” or “deaf women.” For these reasons, this article uses “deaf people” instead of “people who are deaf”.

References

  1. Padden, C.: The deaf community and the culture of deaf people. In: Baker, C., Battison, R. (eds.) Sign Language and the Deaf Community: Essays in Honor of William Stokoe, pp. 343–352. National Association of the Deaf, Silver Spring, MD (1980)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Gilbert, G., Clark, M.D., Anderson, M.: Do deaf individuals’ dating scripts follow the traditional sexual script? Sex. Cult. 16(1), 90–99 (2012). doi:10.1007/s12119-011-9111-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Punch, R., Hyde, M.: Social participation of children and adolescents with cochlear implants: a qualitative analysis of parent, teacher, and child interviews. J. Deaf Stud. Deaf Educ. 16(4), 474–493 (2011). doi:10.1093/deafed/enr001

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Ministry of Health and Welfare: Population of Physically and Mentally Disabled Citizens. Retrieved from http://www.mohw.gov.tw/cht/DOS/Statistic.aspx?f_list_no=312&fod_list_no=4198 (2014)

  5. Lan, M.-Y.: A study on sex al knowledge, altitude, and behaviors to high school students at the municipal school for the deaf in Taipei. Formos. J. Sexol. 1(1), 65–78 (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Hsueh, M.-L., Sun, M.-L.: An investigation of the current situation in sexual knowledge, sexual attitude, and sexuality education needs of the hearing-impaired students in the fifth and sixth grades. Formos. J. Sexol. 18(1), 49–81 (2012). doi:10.3996/160857872012041801003

    Google Scholar 

  7. Yang, A.-H.: Teaching needs and coping of gender equity education in schools for hearing impaired students. Spec. Educ. Q. 28(1), 13–20 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Suter, S., McCracken, W., Calam, R.: Sex and relationships education: potential and challenges perceived by teachers of the deaf. Deaf. Educ. Int. 11(4), 211–220 (2009). doi:10.1002/dei.268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Gender statistics–students–enrollment/graduates in special education school. In: Republic of China (Taiwan) Ministry of Education, D.o.S. (ed.).  Retrieved from http://depart.moe.edu.tw/ED4500/cp.aspx?n=DCD2BE18CFAF30D0 (2016)

  10. Shulman, S., Davila, J., Shachar-Shapira, L.: Assessing romantic competence among older adolescents. J. Adolesc. 34(3), 397–406 (2011). doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.08.002

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Collins, W.A., Hennighausen, K.C., Schmit, D.T., Sroufe, L.A.: Developmental precursors of romantic relationships: a longitudinal analysis. New Dir. Child Dev. 78, 69–84 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Lin, H.-C., Huang, S.-Y.: A study of general transition skills for senior-high-school students with hearing impairment. J. Taipei Munic. Univ. Educ. 36, 1–32 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Jhai, Z.-T.: A preliminary study of the romantic relationship counseling group project with deaf teenage girls in a deaf school. Spec. Educ. 136, 11–18 (2015). doi:10.6217/SEQ.2015.136.11-18

    Google Scholar 

  14. Tseng, C.-L.: The Study of School Adjustment, Emotion and Behaviors of the Junior High School Students with Hearing Impairments who are Integrated into General Education Classroom. National Taipei University of Education, Taipei, Taiwan (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Hsieh, H.-H.: Dyadic Research of Friendship Experiences between Hearing-Impaired and Hearing College Students. National Taipei University of Education, Taipei, Taiwan (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Wang, C.-S., Hsu, W.-S.: The partner selection of married hearing-impaired. Bull. Educ. Psychol. 40(1), 127–152 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Scheetz, N.A.: Psychosocial Aspects of Deafness. Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Chuang, Y.-C.: A Study of Learning Motivation and Learning Attitude of the Hearing-Impaired Students in Junior and Senior Department at National Tainan School for the Hearing Impaired. National Taitung University, Taitung, Taiwan (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Brice, P.J.: Ethical issues in working with deaf children, adolescents, and their families. In: Gutman, V. (ed.) Ethics in Mental Health and Deafness, pp. 52–67. Gallaudet University Press, Washington, DC (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Sebald, A.: Teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing: perceptions of self-determination for their students. Teach. Educ. Spec. Educ. J. Teach. Educ. Div. Counc. Except. Child. 36(2), 145–159 (2013). doi:10.1177/0888406413484158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Shulman, S.: Conflict and negotiation in adolescent romantic relationships. In: Florsheim, P. (ed.) Adolescent Romantic Relations and Sexual Behavior: Theory, Research, and Practical Implications, pp. 109–135. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NY (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Ryan, R.M., La Guardia, J.G., Solky-Butzel, J., Chirkov, V., Kim, Y.: On the interpersonal regulation of emotions: emotional reliance across gender, relationships, and cultures. Pers. Relatsh. 12, 145–163 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Yeh, K.-H., Bedford, O., Yang, Y.-J.: A cross-cultural comparison of the coexistence and domain superiority of individuating and relating autonomy. Int. J. Psychol. 44(3), 213–221 (2009)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Taradash, A., Connolly, J., Pepler, D., Craig, W., Costa, M.: The interpersonal context of romantic autonomy in adolescence. J. Adolesc. 24(3), 365 (2001)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Schad, M., Szwedo, D., Antonishak, J., Hare, A., Allen, J.: The broader context of relational aggression in adolescent romantic relationships: predictions from peer pressure and links to psychosocial functioning. J. Youth Adolesc. 37, 346–358 (2008)

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Wu, P.-L.: Guidance and Counseling Psychology. Tung Hua Book co. Ltd, Taipei City (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Jhai, Z.-T., Wu, P.-L., Cheng, C.-P.: Effect research of teenage girls in junior high school participating in ‘a romantic relationship counseling group’ oriented to encouragement of self-respect and respect for their partner. Arch. of Guid. & Couns. 35(2), 47–74 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Creswell, J.W.: Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 2nd edn. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Mayring, P.: Qualitative Content Analysis: Theoretical Foundation, Basic Procedures and Software Solution. Free download via Social Science Open Access Repository SSOAR. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-395173 (2014)

  30. Schreier, M.: Qualitative content analysis. In: Flick, U. (ed.) The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Analysis, pp. 170–183. SAGE Publications Ltd, London (2014)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  31. Yang, C.-L.: Examining peer interaction via a gender relation approach: taking high school students as an example. Contemp. Educ. Res. Q. 15(2), 79–112 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Jhai, Z.-T.: Exploring the intimate world of adolescents in group counseling. Chin. J. of Guid. 22, 119–155 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Wang, L.-F., Lin, M.-J.: Development and validation of the group therapeutic factor inventory. Chin. Annu. Rep. Guid. Counsel. 9, 1–24 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Rose, S.D.: Group Therapy with Troubled Youth: A Cognitive-Behavioral Interactive Approach. SAGE Publications Ltd, California (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Mayring, P., Fenzl, T.: Qualitative Content Analysis Program. https://www.qcamap.org/ (2014)

  36. Shorey, R.C., Cornelius, T.L., Bell, K.M.: A critical review of theoretical frameworks for dating violence: comparing the dating and marital fields. Aggress. Violent Behav. 13, 185–194 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Swartz, D.B.: Cultural implications of audiological deficits on the homosexual male. Sex. Disabil. 13(2), 159–181 (1995). doi:10.1007/bf02590063

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Yoshino, S.: Consideration of situation of deaf women in Asia from viewpoint of an Asian deaf woman. In: Xvii World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf, Istanbul, Turkey (2015)

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the teenagers, teachers, co-leaders, observers, and research assistants for their participation and help. In addition, it is grateful for Dr. Min-Hua Hsing to provide her consultation.

Funding

This study was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (Project Number MOST103-2410-H-024-020), which played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling and Guidance, National University of Tainan, 33, Sec 2, Shu-Lin St. Tainan, Taiwan, 70005, Taiwan, ROC

    Zong-Ti Jhai

Authors
  1. Zong-Ti Jhai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zong-Ti Jhai.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The author declares that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jhai, ZT. Impact of a Romantic Relationships Counseling Group Project on Deaf Male Adolescents in a Deaf School. Sex Disabil 35, 185–206 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-017-9481-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-017-9481-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation