Social Workers' Perspectives on Sexuality in Social Work Practice
Abstract
Sexuality has been underexplored by social work scholars. To help address gaps
in this area, I studied social workers’ perspectives on various aspects of sexuality in my
thesis research. I used qualitative, feminist methodology because of the fit with the topic
area and research questions. The sample of 14 social workers participated in semistructured
interviews. Thematic Analysis indicated that the participants were
predominantly comfortable with sexuality-related topics. Generally, they disclosed
acceptance of their own sexuality and had sought additional related education. The
participants agreed that social work educators should increase curriculum on sexuality but
recognized some of the constraints involved. Overall, the participants considered
capacity to address sexuality-related topics in therapeutic conversations a key aspect of
competent practice and identified several tools for that purpose. These findings have
implications for social work generally, and for aspects of practice, education and research
specifically.
Description
Keywords
Social Work
Citation
Berry, J. (2017). Social Workers' Perspectives on Sexuality in Social Work Practice (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27820