Staff attitudes to sexuality and people with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

The attitudes of staff in services for people with intellectual disabilities are crucial as they can control the client’s access to sex education and opportunities for sexual expression. In this study a sample of 150 staff working in education, health and social services, private and voluntary sector provision within a defined geographical area of Northern Ireland answered a self-completed questionnaire. A factor analysis identified four dimensions to their attitudes and significant relationships were found between these and predictor variables relating to church attendance, gender, the type of service the staff worked in and their prior attendance on training courses. The implications for staff training and further research are noted.