Social Work Education and Sexual Orientation:

Abstract

Many practitioners who work with gays and lesbians have graduated, and will continue to graduate from accredited Social Work programs. Beginning in July, 1995, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) implemented a new Curriculum Policy Statement (CPS) that requires social work education programs to provide content on gay and lesbian persons in their curricula. This study examined the efforts of social work programs relative to gays and lesbians under the old CPS which required programs to address ethnic minorities of color and women but not gays and lesbians. Social work directors were queried about their efforts to hire faculty, recruit students, and provide content in their curricula about diverse groups. Gays and lesbains received relatively little attention. Thus, the study supports the need for increasing the emphasis on sexual orientation in social work education and provides baseline information for future comparison. Suggestions are provided to help ensure that future curriculum efforts are pr...