From Attitude Change to Effective Practice

Abstract

This article reports on a study of teaching strategies designed to improve students’ anticipated professional behavior (APB) with gay and lesbian clients. Early in the fall 1995 term, 110 students in social work courses at four schools were asked to respond—on a continuum from preferred to unacceptable responses—to four vignettes concerning gay and lesbian clients. Following different educational interventions, the students again responded to the vignettes. Analysis explored the effects of having gay or lesbian friends, academic major, attitude toward gay men and lesbians, and other factors. The results indicate that students’ APB improved over the semester, though the effects of the four interventions were not significantly different. The authors conclude that the profession should develop standards for practice with gay and lesbian clients, and that educators should focus on changing students’ APB, rather than their attitudes, toward this population.