Umgang mit sexueller und geschlechtlicher Vielfalt

ZusammenfassungDer Umgang mit Diversität gehört zu den zentralen Aufgaben von Professionellen in der Sozialen Arbeit. Dieser wird entlang der Befunde mehrerer empirischer Projekte zum Umgang von Fachkräften mit geschlechtlicher und sexueller Orientierung beleuchtet. Dabei wird das US-amerikanische Konzept der Gay-Affirmative Practice (GAP) als ein Ansatz zum Umgang mit Diversität in der professionellen Praxis daraufhin kritisch hinterfragt, inwieweit er zur unbeabsichtigten Reproduktion gesellschaftlicher Machtverhältnisse und Teilhabeverweigerungen beitragen und einzuordnen ist. Affirmativ meint hierbei, wörtlich, eine „bejahende“ – also anerkennende und wertschätzende – Praxis.

The Psychological Society of South Africa’s guidelines for psychology professionals working with sexually and gender-diverse people: towards inclusive and affirmative practice

In this article, we outline the practice guidelines for psychology professionals working with sexually and gender-diverse people, ratified by the Psychological Society of South Africa’s Council in 2017. The guidelines are an augmentation of the Psychological Society of South Africa’s position statement of 2013 providing a framework for understanding the challenges that sexually and gender-diverse people face in patriarchal and hetero- and cis-normative societies. An affirmative stance towards sexual and gender diversity enables psychology practitioners to work ethically, effectively, and sensitively in this field. The guidelines – a first for Africa – are aspirational in nature and call on psychology professionals to become aware of their own biases, conscientise themselves of the best practices in the field by continued professional development, and to utilise the guidelines as a resource in their related work. Brief mention is made of the development process, before the rationale and possible applications of the 12 guidelines are explored.

Converging Cultures: Partnering in Affirmative and Inclusive Health Care for Members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community

BACKGROUND: Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community suffer from disproportionate rates of physical and mental illness. This population experiences enhanced vulnerability to illness as a result of societal marginalization, known as minority stress, which is compounded by insufficient LGBT education for health care professionals and stigmatizing experiences within medical institutions. AIMS: The aims of this study were to review the literature on LGBT cultural competence interventions; evaluate the effect of a 4-hour pilot workshop, “Converging Cultures,” on the development of cultural competence; and make recommendations for best practices in developing LGBT cultural competence among health care providers. METHOD: The study used a repeated-measures pre-/posttest design among a sample of 130 hospital employees and undergraduate nursing students. The GAP (Gay Affirmative Practice scale) scale, a measure of LGBT-affirmative practice beliefs, and an objective Knowledge Quiz were administered before and directly following the training. The posttest included three open-ended questions to elicit self-reflection and capture the development of cultural competence according to Campinha-Bacote’s theory, the process of cultural competence in the delivery of healthcare services. RESULTS: Paired sample t tests revealed significant improvement on the GAP and Knowledge Quiz. Open-ended responses reflected the five constructs of Campinha-Bacote’s theory. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reflection is an essential component of LGBT cultural competence education to uncover personal biases that affect clinical behavior. Future educational efforts for sexual and gender minorities should strive to avoid inadvertent marginalization of LGBT people through integration of concepts with existing curricula and workplace training.