Stereotype of ‘bullied, at-risk’ homosexual youth queried
An education researcher has queried
the stereotype of the “bullied” or “at-risk” homosexual youth, suggesting it is
a construction of scientific literature that may be counter-productive.
University of New England academic Tiffany Jones
appears to have broken ranks from many colleagues in the field by highlighting
the deficiencies of some advocacy-driven research studies, particularly those
presenting gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (GLBTIQ)
youth as victims of homophobic bullying.
It is an extraordinary admission given Professor
Jones’s role as a collaborator on a high-profile research project, the 2010
Writing Themselves In 3 study, which has propagated this view and formed the
basis for education policy across the country, including the Safe Schools
gender and sexual diversity program.
In a paper published in the Journal of Sex
Education, Professor Jones argues that the “bullied GLBTIQ student” is a
recent emergence constructed by researchers, many of whom are backed by GLBTIQ
networks.
Studies that repeatedly focus on students’
experiences of homophobia, depression or suicidal thoughts have created an
“expected narrative” for the GLBTIQ student, she writes.
She singles out Writing Themselves In, led by La
Trobe University’s Australian Research Centre in Sex Health and Society, in
which she is listed as a co-author, for inviting research participants to list
the effects of homophobia on their schooling. Eleven of 13 options offered had
negative connotations.
“A stress on victimhood and endangered wellbeing
can be supported by research participating processes, whereby students may be
repeatedly asked … to describe and express their feelings about experiences of
bullying and thoughts of suicide, or to … describe moods,” she writes.
“Research can further emphasise at-risk GLBTIQ
identities through recruitment processes privileging support groups and
services for struggling youth.
“The methodologies underpinning the representation
of GLBTIQ students as at-risk victims constitute a dominant discourse in
Western research … and because of their negativity may be starting to impact on
the experiences of students.”
The paper, published in 2014, has emerged ahead of
the marriage equality plebiscite.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, a proponent of marriage
equality, sparked controversy last month when it said the plebiscite would cost
$525 million, allocating $20m to an anticipated increase in mental health
support services by those hurt by a public debate.
Professor Jones could not be contacted for comment
but her analysis has attracted the support of University of Sydney health
sciences academic James Athanasou.
