PROVISION
KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES, LIZ GALST, OUT, 1993, DEC/JAN.
At one Los Angeles group home, teenagers in trouble find being lesbian or gay is no longer one of the stikes against them.
WIDENING CIRCUES: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF A YOUTH GROUP, C.J.
GERSTEL, A.J. FERAIOS, G. HERDT, J. JOURNAL OF HOMOSEXUALITY, 1989, VOL 17
Introduces work-in-progress on the ethnography of a gay and lesbian youth group in Chicago. The surrounding neighborhood is sketched and aspects of the supporting agency, within which the group functions, are described. Both are seen as contributing contexts for the "coming out" process. The youth group is described in part, including the age, ethnicity, and related factors of its composition. Youth are found to be involved in a process of dual socialization entailing roles and knowledge in the gay and straight normative communities.
ALL ABOUT PACE, PAUL GURNEY, CHANGES, AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY, 1994, VOL 12(4), P264.
GAY YOUTH MANCHESTER, DAVID SANDHU, YOUNG PEOPLE NOW, AUGUST 1994, P22-23.
STREETWISE ON STREETLIFE, TIM BURKE, YOUNG PEOPLE NOW, NOVEMBER 1991, P23-24.
YOUNG GAY & PROUD, MANDY JARVIS, YOUTH CLUBS, SEPTEMBER 1993, P17-19.
LESBIAN & GAY YOUTH CONFERENCE, YOUTH CLUBS, JUNE 1994, P35.
FOSTERING WITH PRIDE, FRANCES RICKFORD, SOCIAL WORK TODAY, 28 MAY 1992, P11-14.
CROSS REFERENCES
ADOLESCENCE
DEVELOPING SERVICES FOR LESBIAN AND GAY ADOLESCENTS, MARGARET SCHNEIDER, CANADIAN JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH, 1991, VOL 10(1), P133-151.
The needs of lesbian and gay adolescents for service provision are discussed in this paper. These needs are identified through research investigating milestones in the coming-out process. In addition, the way in which the research results influenced community development initiatives is described. The social context in which the research was conducted is also described.
PREVENTING MENTALHEALTH PROBLEMS AMONG LESBIAN AND GAY COLLEGE STUDENTS, A.R. D'AUGELLI, THE JOURNAL OF PRIMARY PREVENTION, 1993, VOL 13(4), P245-261.
Young adults who self-identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual experience major stresses in managing their sexual orientation. They are at risk for serious mental health problems, including suicide and depression. The mental health concerns of lesbian and gay male college students are reviewed. These problems result from the difficulties involved in developing a lesbian or gay personal identity, and are exacerbated by widespread negative attitudes, harassment, and violence directed toward lesbians nad gay men on college campuses. Several systemic preventive interventions are recommended to decrease mental health problems in this population.
OBSTACLES TO EFFECTIVE CHILD WELFARE SERVICE WITH GAY AND LESBIAN YOUTHS, T. RICHARD SULLIVAN, CHILD WELFARE, 1994, VOL 73(4) P291-304.
Agencies attempting to develop effective child welfare services for gay and lesbian youths must strive for effectiveness within a policy context that is politically polarized and generates more obstacles than directions. This article argues for a reconceptualization of service delivery that begins with a recognition of the unique developmental challenges facing sexual minority youths and proceeds to an examination of the systemic obstacles to providing competent services in their behalf. An ecological perspective informs the connections between developmental considerations, service issues, and human rights questions.
HELPING GAY AND LESBIAN YOUTH: NEW POLICIES, NEW PROGRAMS, NEW PRACTICE, ED. T. DECRESCENZO (also published as Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 1994, Vol 1(3/4) INCLUDES:
GAY AND LESBIAN YOUTH: CHALLENGING THE POLICY OF DENIAL, NANCY TAYLOR, P39-73.
Social policy tends to reflect community standards regarding a population's individual rights, expected conduct, and entitlement to public services. Populations, therefore, must be defined and acknowledged by their communities and by their policy makers if they are to be included in these codified standards. Lesbian and gay youth have yet to be clearly defined as a population. The origins and subsequent development of the current lesbian and gay movement offer a framework in which to consider future efforts to change social policy regarding lesbian and gay youth. The lesbian and gay community, despite the significant loss of leadership and experience as the result of AIDS, has continued its development as a force for social change. Organisations such as Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, and other groups focused on bombattting bigotry and expanding civil rights, are of crucial importance to the future of lesbian and gay youth and to the development of enlightened policy. The sooner enlightened policies are developed, the sooner these youngsters will be able to lead happier, healthier, and more productive lives.
DEVELOPMENTAL IMPLICATIONS OF HOMOPHOBIA FOR LESBIAN AND GAY ADOLESCENTS: ISSUES IN POLICY AND PRACTICE, DARRYL JACKSON, RICHARD SULLIVAN, P93-109.
This essay seeks to provide a critical analysis of how the developmental obstacles faced by lesbian and gay adolescents and the limitations on helping them are both byproducts of institutionalized homophobia. Implications for ethical practice grounded in advocacy are presented. Adolescence is above all else a transition to a more complex set of roles which have to be integrated into the totality of the self. We argue that most of the difficulties identified among sexual minority youth need not burden their development, and that it is an obligation of the helping professions to work toward the eradication of encumbrances to their optimal development. That work must begin with a critical analysis of our own theories and perspectives.
SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS FOR GAY AND LESBIAN YOUTH, GREGG GREELEY, P111-130.
This paper discusses six youth service organizations that represent diferent solutions to the same problem: the acceptance of sexual minority youth. These solutions include youth-led groups, organizations dedicated to training and education, and agencies that provide direct services to youth. This chapter tries to bring some insight into the forces that formed these groups and discusses some of the new directions in the youth service community. Although each of these groups started with different structures and services, many have evolved to offer a common set of services. Future organizations will be able to benefit from this by assembling programs from the model components that have already been implemented. Future work should enhance those effective service components that have received little attention and develop new models to meet youth needs.
EDUCATION
JOURNAL OF HOMOSEXUALITY, 1992, VOL 22(3/4) INCLUDES:
ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF LESBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL YOUTH: THE ORIGINS OF PROJECT 10 AND SCHOOL-BASED INTERVENTION, VIRGINIA URIBE, KAREN M. HARBECK, P9-28.
This research chronicles the formation and expansion of a counseling and educational program for gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth called PROJECT 10 at Fairfax High School. A model program was tested during the academic year 1985-1986, and is now being implemented throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District and in other schools actoss the nation. Fifty self-identified homosexual students were inteviewed in order to clarify the needs of lesbian, gay, and bisexual teenagers in relation to their school experiences. Additionally, a questionnaire study of 342 respondents from the general student population was undertaken in order to chart the beliefs and attitudenal changes of those teenagers who experienced school-based educational programs that portrayed homosexuality and bisexuality as variations on a continuum of human sexual expression and emotional attachment. Suggestions for further research are discussed.
OPENING UP THE CLASSROOM CLOSET: RESPONDING TO THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF GAY AND LESBIAN YOUTH, ERIC ROFES, HARVARD EDUCTIONAL REVIEW, 1989, VOL 59(4), P444-453.
Eric Rofes, gay community activist and author, explores the issues surrounding the schools' failure to meet the educational needs of gay and lesbian youth. He argues that there has been an across-the-board denial of the existence of gay and lesbian youth, and that this has taken place because "their voices have been silenced and because adults have not effectively taken up their cause." Rofes goes on to present some promising initiatives that are designed to change the status quo: Project 10 in Los Angeles and the Harvey Milk School in New York City. He concludes by proposing needed changes in U.S. schools if they are to become truly accessible to gay and lesbian youth.
MENTAL HEALTH
ENHANCING SERVICES FOR SEXUAL-MINORITY CLIENTS: A COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH APPROACH, JACK RABIN, KATHLEEN KEEFE, MICHAEL BURTON, SOCIAL WORK, VOL 31(4), 1986, P294-298.
The authors describe the efforts of a community mental health district to improve services for gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals. A Gay Services Coordinating Commitee recommended that the district (1) hire more sexual-minority staff, (2) give clients the option of seeing therapists sensitive to sexual minorities, (3) provide continuing education on homosexuality, and (4) appoint a contact person to coordinate services in each unit.
© Jan Bridget/Lesbian Information Service