Understanding homophobia : preparing for practice realities in urban and rural settings

C. Snively, L. Kreuger, J. Stretch, J. Watt, J. Chadha

Examined in this study are factors that might account for social workers' negative affective responses to gay, lesbian and bisexual persons through analysis of individual predictors of homophobia: residence (urban/rural), gender, age, social interaction with gay persons, political opinions, and religiosity. The Hudson-Ricketts Index of Homophobia was administered to nonstudent adults and students from two social work schools (n = 177). Amount of homophobia was related to social interaction, residence, and religiosity. The authors discuss the need to individualize educational strategies for student subgroups and prepare social workers for practice with gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons in all settings, especially community practice.Keywords: homophobia, social work education, community practice, social interaction, religiosity, rural/urban[Copies are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Center. The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580, USA]