Contesting Sexual Prejudice to Support Sexual Minorities: Views of Chinese Social Workers.

Diana K Kwok

doi:10.3390/ijerph18063208

Abstract

Professional development has been recognized as one of the strategies to effectively combat sexual prejudice and negative attitudes against lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning/queer (LGBQ+) individuals and sexual minorities. Nevertheless, studies related to LGBQ+-inclusive training are rarely found in the Chinese Hong Kong context, where sexual prejudice still prevails without the establishment of antidiscrimination law. Sociocultural considerations, such as religious and parental influences, are obstacles to discussing the reduction of sexual prejudices, both within wider society and social work organizations, without institutional support. This paper aims to understand social workers’ perspectives on prejudice reduction training themes and perceived cultural barriers through qualitative in-depth interviews with 67 social workers. Qualitative thematic analysis yielded the following themes: (1) understanding sexuality; (2) initiating training legitimately; (3) contesting religious and cultural assumptions; (4) resolving value and ethical dilemma; (5) selecting relevant knowledge; (6) implementing diverse training strategies. The study suggests that social workers and service providers need to understand how sexual prejudice is manifested in Hong Kong through unique cultural forces. LGBQ+-inclusive content, addressing updated concepts and prejudice-free language, should be incorporated into the training curriculum. Intergroup contact, professional reflection, and experiential learning are suggested as training strategies (190).

Highlights

Supporting sexual minorities with professional competence has become an area of concern in social work training
This paper focuses on the transcripts from 67 Chinese social workers in Hong Kong, with the aim of exploring social workers’ perspectives on prejudice reduction training themes and perceived cultural barriers with the following research questions: (1) What are social workers’ perceptions or understanding of sexuality knowledge? (2) What are their experiences with cultural forces when encountering sexual prejudices in the social work context? (3) What are the suggested contents and themes relating to sexual prejudice reduction for social workers? To answer the specific research questions of this paper, the “qualitative description approach” was adopted
This article contributes to knowledge advancement by adding to the literature on antisexual prejudice social work training in sexual diversity studies, especially prejudices targeting LGBQ+ individuals in social work contexts in Hong Kong Chinese society

Summary

Introduction

Supporting sexual minorities with professional competence has become an area of concern in social work training. It has been revealed that support from social workers and LGBQ+-inclusive policies can enhance mental health and the accessibility of support services [3]. This has given rise to concern over social work training to support LGBQ+ service users better in relation to sexual prejudices [6]. Hong Kong is a city blending Eastern and Western cultures It has been a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China since 1997, when China resumed sovereignty at the end of British colonial rule of 156 years. Sociocultural influences, such as Chinese Confucianist values and Western Christianity, are some obstacles to discussing

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