The Effectiveness of the Dealing with Homophobia Psycho-Education Program on Psychological Counselor Candidates

Meryem Vural-Batık

doi:10.5539/hes.v10n3p1

Abstract

The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of the Dealing with Homophobia Psycho-Education Program on homophobia levels of psychological counselor candidates. This research was conducted with a mixed model and utilized quantitative and qualitative methods. 2 (experimental and control groups) x 3 (pre-test, post-test, follow-up) research design which is a type of quasi-experimental design was used and content analysis was applied to the data obtained via interviews. The study was conducted with a total of 24 psychological counselor candidates, 12 in the experimental group and, 12 in the control group. The Homophobia Scale was used to determine the homophobia levels of psychological counselor candidates. The Dealing with Homophobia Psycho-Education Program was developed by the researcher. In order to determine the effectiveness of the program, The Two-Way Analysis of Variance with Repeated Measures was used. As a result of the research, it was determined that the Dealing with Homophobia Psycho-Education Program is effective in decreasing the levels of homophobia of the psychological counselor candidates. Also, according to the participant&#39;s views, it was determined that the psycho-education program was effective in decreasing homophobia and caused changes in attitudes. The importance and necessity of using the program on psychological counselor education are discussed.

Highlights

Sexual identity can be defined as the perception of oneself and his/her body within a certain gender; sexual orientation can be described as an enduring sexual, emotional, affectional, or behavioural attraction to individuals of a particular gender, and sexual role can be defined as the expression of sexual behaviors within the society (Yüksel, 2010)
It is found that in both groups the difference between participants' mean pre-test, post-test and follow-up scores was significant (F(2-44)=18.454; p
In addition the value obtained as a result examining the common effect was significant (F(2-44)=18.181; p

Summary

Introduction

Sexual identity can be defined as the perception of oneself and his/her body within a certain gender; sexual orientation can be described as an enduring sexual, emotional, affectional, or behavioural attraction to individuals of a particular gender, and sexual role can be defined as the expression of sexual behaviors within the society (Yüksel, 2010). When the related literature is examined, it is seen that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transexuel (LGBT) students are more likely to have suicide ideation compared to their same-aged peers (Bouris, Everett, Heath, Elsaesser, & Neilands, 2016; Dunn, Clark, & Pearlman, 2015). Homophobia is generally defined as negative emotions, attitudes and/or behaviors towards people with different sexual orientations or identities such as homosexuality, bisexuality, and transsexuality (Budak, 2003). LBGT individuals who do not behave appropriately to social gender roles that are expected are exposed to more violence and harassment in the society (Butler, 2010), and homophobia is an important cause of violence and aggression against homosexuals (Orue & Calvete, 2018).

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