Social Workers and the Social Construction of Sexuality

Paper Summary:

This paper explores the attitude in the UK today, of social workers towards sexuality, noting that they are hesitant about even broaching the subject. The author discovers that, both in the United Kingdom and the United States, most of the attention for this subject has been directed at sexual abuse cases of children and vulnerable adolescents.

Outline:
Introduction
Sexuality as social construction
Marginalization
Same-sex couples and child adoption
Sexuality and the aged
Conclusions

From the Paper:

"Within the areas of social work sexuality needs to be debated more openly. But it needs to be done so based on a more sophisticated understanding of sexuality's meaning and power. Before the arrival of Michel Foucault, who as a French philosopher revolutionised our understanding of sexuality, the implications of maintaining attitudes as cited above - both open and hidden - had been scarcely realized. Most of the time people took it on trust, from both popular writers and medical experts, who convincingly based their explanations on a supposedly rigorous scientific footing, that sexuality was in the main a biological construct, with clear demarcations as to what constituted man and woman as well as the purpose of both in the evolutionary scheme of things. (Wilton, 2000, p.163) But more recently, people have come to appreciate how untenable and arbitrary this division could be. This misconception has been expressed by Ann Oakley particularly well."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Black, B., T.P. Oles and L. Moore (1998) 'The relationship between attitudes: homophobia and sexism among social work students', Affilia 13/2, pp.166-189.
• Brogatzki, L., L. Duggan, J. Levie and J. Trotter (2007) 'Disagreement and discomfort about the meaning sof language, behaviour and intentions', Paper Presented at JSWEC Conference, Loughborough University, 6-8 July.
• Brown, H.C. (1988) Social Work and Sexuality: Working with Lesbians and Gay Men, Basingstoke: Macmillan.
• Carabine, J. (2004) Sexualities: Personal Lives and Social Policy, Buckingham: Open University. ----, (1996) 'Heterosexuality and social policy' in D. Richardson (ed.), Theorising Heterosexuality. Telling it Straight, Maidenhead: Open University Press.
• Connell, R.W. (1995) Masculinities, Cambridge: Polity Press.

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