When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding ins... more When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. Zitz, C. (2011) Friendships in the lives of transgender individuals. D.Clin.Psych. thesis, Canterbury
Two essential elements of clinical psychological practice are, first, the identification that som... more Two essential elements of clinical psychological practice are, first, the identification that something in a person’s psychological well-being or behaviour is causing distress and then, second, delivering an intervention to ameliorate that distress. Within clinical psychology, societal understandings of gender and sexuality have been both reflected in and influenced by the professional positioning of the discipline, changing over time, with the defining gaze of distress moving from the imposition of a largely restrictive and medically orientated set of beliefs to more individual, self-defining representations of pluralistic identities. This chapter will chart this journey, making reference to the changing nature of the profession arising from the changes in the frameworks of understanding (ontology) in which psychology has been contextualised and, with it, the shifting offerings in terms of therapeutic intervention
Thinking about ethnicity and gender diversity in children and young people
Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Background: Little is known about how social and cultural variants interact with gender identity ... more Background: Little is known about how social and cultural variants interact with gender identity development. This article aims to identify the ethnicities of children and young people referred to the United Kingdom’s national Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), and compare the ethnicity data with the UK child population and referrals to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Methods: GIDS referrals made between April 2012 and April 2015 for children and young people were retrieved. Ethnicity data were obtained by the ‘16 + 1’ ethnicity list. Chi-square and t-tests were performed on the demographics. Results: Less than 10% of the 995 referrals at GIDS were from Black and minority ethnic (BME) groups – an underrepresentation as compared with both the national population and CAMHS figures. No significant differences in ethnic representation were found between the demographic birth-assigned sexes, across age groups, or year of referral. Conclusions: Hypotheses proposed for this underrepresentation take into account both the potential barriers to accessing services and the possibility of cross-cultural variations in the conceptualisations of gender, gender roles and gender diversity. Ethnicity, culture and religion, and their overlapping relationship with gender need further exploration.
While research focusing on friendships of sexual minority individuals has increased over the last... more While research focusing on friendships of sexual minority individuals has increased over the last two decades, studies of transgender persons " friendships have been largely absent. Yet, within mainstream literature it has been demonstrated that friendships are central both to identity formation and as support in terms of psychological need and distress. Given that trans people face important identity challenges and may well be disenfranchised within society the role of friendships warrants study. Research which has occurred has largely focussed on trans women, yet trans men face particular issues in terms of their relationships with lesbian women and being positioned as joining patriarchy. This study explored this gap in the literature and used Foucauldian discourse analysis to explore friendship and gender identity. Dominant discourses identified included " friends as family " , " romance " and discursive practices of " disowning male privilege " , " effeminate heterosexual male " and " gender fluidity " which counter hegemonic (trans) male re-positioning within friendships. The results indicate that trans men elevate the status of friends to those of other culturally dominant relationships (e.g. family or sexual partner). Furthermore, their friendships, in particular friendships with lesbian women, can become complex platforms from which to contest privilege and power
When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding ins... more When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. Zitz, C. (2011) Friendships in the lives of transgender individuals. D.Clin.Psych. thesis, Canterbury
Two essential elements of clinical psychological practice are, first, the identification that som... more Two essential elements of clinical psychological practice are, first, the identification that something in a person’s psychological well-being or behaviour is causing distress and then, second, delivering an intervention to ameliorate that distress. Within clinical psychology, societal understandings of gender and sexuality have been both reflected in and influenced by the professional positioning of the discipline, changing over time, with the defining gaze of distress moving from the imposition of a largely restrictive and medically orientated set of beliefs to more individual, self-defining representations of pluralistic identities. This chapter will chart this journey, making reference to the changing nature of the profession arising from the changes in the frameworks of understanding (ontology) in which psychology has been contextualised and, with it, the shifting offerings in terms of therapeutic intervention
Thinking about ethnicity and gender diversity in children and young people
Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Background: Little is known about how social and cultural variants interact with gender identity ... more Background: Little is known about how social and cultural variants interact with gender identity development. This article aims to identify the ethnicities of children and young people referred to the United Kingdom’s national Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), and compare the ethnicity data with the UK child population and referrals to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Methods: GIDS referrals made between April 2012 and April 2015 for children and young people were retrieved. Ethnicity data were obtained by the ‘16 + 1’ ethnicity list. Chi-square and t-tests were performed on the demographics. Results: Less than 10% of the 995 referrals at GIDS were from Black and minority ethnic (BME) groups – an underrepresentation as compared with both the national population and CAMHS figures. No significant differences in ethnic representation were found between the demographic birth-assigned sexes, across age groups, or year of referral. Conclusions: Hypotheses proposed for this underrepresentation take into account both the potential barriers to accessing services and the possibility of cross-cultural variations in the conceptualisations of gender, gender roles and gender diversity. Ethnicity, culture and religion, and their overlapping relationship with gender need further exploration.
While research focusing on friendships of sexual minority individuals has increased over the last... more While research focusing on friendships of sexual minority individuals has increased over the last two decades, studies of transgender persons " friendships have been largely absent. Yet, within mainstream literature it has been demonstrated that friendships are central both to identity formation and as support in terms of psychological need and distress. Given that trans people face important identity challenges and may well be disenfranchised within society the role of friendships warrants study. Research which has occurred has largely focussed on trans women, yet trans men face particular issues in terms of their relationships with lesbian women and being positioned as joining patriarchy. This study explored this gap in the literature and used Foucauldian discourse analysis to explore friendship and gender identity. Dominant discourses identified included " friends as family " , " romance " and discursive practices of " disowning male privilege " , " effeminate heterosexual male " and " gender fluidity " which counter hegemonic (trans) male re-positioning within friendships. The results indicate that trans men elevate the status of friends to those of other culturally dominant relationships (e.g. family or sexual partner). Furthermore, their friendships, in particular friendships with lesbian women, can become complex platforms from which to contest privilege and power
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