Homophobia

Essay # 104434

Education > Curriculum
Education > Social Issues
Education > Teaching Methods

Homophobia

Examines ways of combating homophobia.

1,470 words () | 16 sources | APA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews approaches or programs that are designed to reduce prejudice towards homosexuals, with a view to ascertaining which are most likely to be successful. The author argues that contact with homosexuals should be increased for non-homosexuals, which should result in generally decreased homophobia. The paper concedes that it is hard to facilitate such contact, especially amongst homophobic individuals. The author recommends that a more pragmatic approach would be to offer anti-homophobic education to high school students on an ongoing basis.

From the Paper:

"One method that has been successfully tried is that of educating children at high school level. For example, Greenberg (1975) found that if high school students were exposed to lectures and group discussions about homosexuality, and also listened to the recorded opinions of two gay men, their written results on a test of homophobia indicated reduced homophobia. This finding has been replicated by several researchers, including Bleich (1989); Croteau & Kusek (1992); Sears (1992); and Stevenson (1988)."

Sample of Sources Used:

Barber, Katherine (Editor). (1998). The Canadian Oxford Dictionary. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
Barth, Jay and L. Marvin Overby. (2002). Contact, community context and public attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. Polity, 34(4), 433+.
Beggs, Wilton. (1998). "Revelation." In W. Curtis (Ed.), Revelations: A Collection of Gay Male Coming Out Stories, 9-19. Boston, MA: Alyson Publications, Inc.
Blalock, H. W. (1957). Per cent non-white and discrimination in the south. American sociological review 22, 677-82.
Bleich, D. (1989). Homophobia and sexism as popular values. Feminist Teacher, 4, 21-28.