Department of Sociology, University of New Mexico.
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico.
Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2021;91(4):558-568. doi: 10.1037/ort0000556.
This research investigates how school professionals, as institutional actors, influence school climates experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) youth. Although research links institutional characteristics to outcomes for LGBTQ youth, scholars do not yet fully understand the mechanisms. We address this gap through a mesolevel analysis of staff perspectives on schools' responsibilities to LGBTQ students. Using data from 96 semistructured interviews with high school staff during the 2016-2017 school year, we found that participants used three main cues to assess visibility of the school's LGBTQ population: (a) student self-advocacy; (b) students' enactment of LGBTQ stereotypes; and (c) same-sex relationships. Reliance on these cues led staff to underestimate the LGBTQ population and employ narrative frames to rationalize the status quo: small LGBTQ population did not merit allocating resources; all students were treated equally; LGBTQ-inclusive policies further marginalized LGBTQ students; and student issues were addressed through individualized interventions. Our research shows how staff's biases collide with institutional inertia to influence school climate, one crucial facet of the ecological contexts of LGBTQ youth. We conclude with discussion of implications and recommendations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
本研究调查了学校专业人员作为机构行为者如何影响女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋、跨性别和酷儿/疑问（LGBTQ）青年所经历的学校氛围。尽管研究将机构特征与 LGBTQ 青年的结果联系起来，但学者们还不完全了解这些机制。我们通过对工作人员关于学校对 LGBTQ 学生责任的看法的中观分析来解决这一差距。我们利用了 2016-2017 学年 96 名高中生工作人员的半结构化访谈数据，发现参与者使用了三个主要线索来评估学校 LGBTQ 人群的可见性：（a）学生自我倡导；（b）学生对 LGBTQ 刻板印象的表现；以及（c）同性关系。对这些线索的依赖导致工作人员低估了 LGBTQ 人群，并采用叙事框架来合理化现状：LGBTQ 人群规模小，不值得分配资源；所有学生都受到平等对待；包容 LGBTQ 的政策进一步使 LGBTQ 学生边缘化；通过个别干预来解决学生问题。我们的研究表明，工作人员的偏见如何与机构惰性碰撞，从而影响学校氛围，这是 LGBTQ 青年生态环境的一个关键方面。我们最后讨论了影响和建议。
