The purpose of the study was, having elaborated a theoretical rationale, to assess the impact of a twelve-hour anti-homophobia workshop on the attitudes and professional practice of 16 staff participants at the public high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The theoretical aspect included an application of Kohlberg moral development theory and theories of sexism to an analysis of homophobia. The resulting Stage Model of bigotry was used in conducting the voluntary staff development workshop, "Gay and Straight at CRLS: Creating a Caring Community." The methodology included analysis of the responses to a questionnaire and interview given two years after the workshop was conducted. The results show that participants were more likely to be female, politically and religiously liberal staff members with little or no academic experience with the topic of homosexuality. Response to the workshop was very positive with an emphasis on empathizing with families of gay/lesbian people, being moved by testimony of co-workers dealing with their own experiences as gay/lesbian teachers or as parents of gay/lesbian children, and recognizing the inhospitable environment at the high school for gay/lesbian students. Most of the participants felt the workshop sharpened their view of homosexuality as an issue at the school and made them more likely to confront homophobic attitudes/behaviors around them. Participants' near unanimous support for a gay/lesbian student support group, which has been formed at the school as a consequence of the workshop, underscores the idea that a community of caring (Kohlberg Stage 3) was the moral atmosphere created by the workshop.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-7782 |
| Date | 01 January 1990 |
| Creators | Lipkin, Arthur Samuel |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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