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Understanding and Responding to Homophobia and Bullying: Contrasting Staff and Young People’s Views within Community Settings in England

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Abstract

Schools have been called the last bastion of homophobia; by comparison, little research has been carried out on this subject in youth services. This article reports on qualitative findings from a recent mixed methods study of barriers and facilitators to schools and youth services addressing issues about (homo)sexuality, homophobia and transphobia in one English region. The research sought to more fully understand the contexts in which young people experience and manage their identities and/or the prejudices they may face. Findings are based on 146 self-completion survey responses from young people and qualitative data drawn from 74 participants involved in in-depth methods (interviews and discussion groups) in nine different settings. This included teachers, youth service workers and young people (aged 11–20) who self-identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual, or heterosexual. The study adds to existing literature by taking a broader view of the social contexts in which young people learn about, make sense of, and practice, identities. In doing so, it suggests ways in which sociological perspectives can add to and expand the current (often psychology-based) body of work on bullying. The article documents six key themes emerging from the data: curriculum inclusion/exclusion; understandings of homophobia and bullying; experiences and impacts of bullying and homophobia; professional responses and support services; issues underlying professional practice; implications for identity management. Drawing on these findings and supporting evidence, the article concludes with a critique of the limiting constraints of individualised anti-bullying discourses, and argues that these risk minimising understandings of the complex social contexts for homophobia and transphobia.

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Notes

  1. Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 was a controversial piece of legislation which stated that a local authority “shall not promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality” (HMSO 1988). After vigorous campaigning, it was repealed in Scotland in 2000 and in England and Wales in 2003.

  2. Stonewall is the UK’s leading charity “working for equality and justice for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals” (Stonewall 2012).

  3. It is not possible to establish how many young people received invitations to participate in the research, and therefore to calculate a response rate. Nor is it possible to know (because it was anonymous) whether any of the survey respondents also participated in qualitative data collection methods.

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Acknowledgments

Many thanks to the young people and staff who participated in this research and who generously shared their time and personal experiences/reflections.

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  1. Centre for Education and Inclusion Research, Sheffield Hallam University, Unit 7 Science Park Howard Street, Sheffield, S1 1WB, UK

    Eleanor Formby

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  1. Eleanor Formby
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Correspondence to Eleanor Formby.

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Formby, E. Understanding and Responding to Homophobia and Bullying: Contrasting Staff and Young People’s Views within Community Settings in England. Sex Res Soc Policy 10, 302–316 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-013-0135-4

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