Online group work with social workers to enhance skills for working with LGBTQIA+ people

ABSTRACT

This study demonstrates that social workers who participate in online group work that utilizes LGBTQIA+ films, discussion, and didactic training on LGBGQIA+ history, term, and issues can strengthen their empathy for LGBTQIA+ people and reduce their homophobia in preparation for serving people in LGBTQIA+ communities better. A total of 24 social workers from the Istanbul Branch of the Association of Social Workers, 12 in the experimental group and 12 in the control group, participated in the research. It has been observed that online group work, which is carried out with nested design, which is one of the mixed methods, significantly reduces the homophobia levels of social workers. Workshops and group work should be carried out to reduce the LGBTQIA+phobic attitudes of social workers, and these studies should be prepared in a way that includes the life experiences of LGBTQIA+ people.

KEYWORDS:

• Group work
• LGBTQIA+
• training
• sexual identity
• sexual orientation
• social workers

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.