Lefkowitz Ayla R F, Mannell Jenevieve
Department of Social Psychology, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.
Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK.
Health Soc Care Community. 2017 May;25(3):1237-1246. doi: 10.1111/hsc.12426. Epub 2017 Jan 23.
Transgender youth often face difficulties when accessing sexual health services. However, few studies investigate health service providers' perceptions of transgender youth, and fewer focus on sexual health. To fill this gap, our study draws on social representations theory to examine sexual health service providers' perceptions of transgender youth and how this influences the provision of health services for this marginalised population in England. A thematic analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews with service providers, conducted between March and June 2014, resulted in five main themes centred on: binary representations of transgender; transgender as homosexuality; uncertain bodies; unstable mental states; and too young to know. Of the service providers interviewed, many understood transgender within a male/female binary, and perceived being transgender to be synonymous with being gay. There was confusion among service providers regarding transgender youths' sexual organs, and most of those interviewed saw transgender youth as mentally unstable and confused. Finally, many service providers perceived that transgender youth are too young to know that they are transgender and make decisions about their body. Some of these representations were potentially stigmatising and many conflicted with transgender youths' representations of themselves. Training by transgender people is recommended to help address these misunderstandings.
跨性别青少年在获取性健康服务时常常面临困难。然而，很少有研究调查医疗服务提供者对跨性别青少年的看法，而关注性健康的研究更少。为了填补这一空白，我们的研究借鉴社会表征理论，审视性健康服务提供者对跨性别青少年的看法，以及这如何影响为英格兰这一边缘化群体提供医疗服务。对20名服务提供者在2014年3月至6月期间进行的半结构化访谈进行主题分析，得出了五个主要主题，核心围绕：跨性别的二元表征；跨性别即同性恋；不确定的身体；不稳定的精神状态；以及年龄太小不懂事。在接受访谈的服务提供者中，许多人在男性/女性二元框架内理解跨性别，并且认为跨性别等同于同性恋。服务提供者对跨性别青少年的性器官存在困惑，而且大多数接受访谈者认为跨性别青少年精神不稳定且困惑。最后，许多服务提供者认为跨性别青少年年龄太小，还不知道自己是跨性别者，也无法对自己的身体做出决定。其中一些表征可能带有污名化色彩，并且许多与跨性别青少年对自身的表征相冲突。建议接受跨性别者的培训，以帮助消除这些误解。
