Doing diversity or neglecting difference? An exploratory study of UK social workers' knowledge and views of self, sex and sexuality in contemporary life

The social work profession struggles to engage with sexuality as deftly as it does with other types of social difference, such as ethnicity, disability, age, class and gender (cf Morton, et al 2013), in spite of contemporary... [ view full abstract ]

The social work profession struggles to engage with sexuality as deftly as it does with other types of social difference, such as ethnicity, disability, age, class and gender (cf Morton, et al 2013), in spite of contemporary emphasis given to the paradigm of anti-oppressive practice. This struggle is likely to cause inequality in the construction and delivery of social work services. Despite some theorizing and empirical work about sexuality in social work, relatively little is known about social workers’ perceptions, knowledge and values about sexuality in contemporary professional practice. Public perception and societal attitudes towards sexuality are not consistent, but can appear to be inflexible, and rooted in deeply held belief systems.

Conducted in 2013, this exploratory study set out to examine social workers’ beliefs and values about sexuality in relation to everyday professional interactions within the UK. The primary aim is to better account for the ways sexuality is constructed and understood by social workers in interactions with colleagues, services users and other stakeholders. This study used an online survey instrument to examine 115 respondents’ perceptions about sexuality, incorporating the Heteronormativity Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (Habarth, 2014) as a validated instrument and open-ended questions exploring how social workers acquire formal knowledge about sexuality within educational settings. Respondents were qualified social workers from Wales, England and Scotland. Findings were generated through interpretive thematic analysis and through Independent T-Tests and ANOVA. In this presentation we present qualitative and quantitative findings and discuss the implications for enhancing social work thinking about the connections between anti-oppressive practice, sexuality and everyday interactions with users of social work services. In particular we focus on the ways on which practitioners discuss sexuality through a diversity lens and in doing so negate divisions and inequalities embedded within sexuality as a social structure.