'I'm gay! I'm gay! I'm gay! I'm a homosexual!' : overt and covert conversion therapy practices in therapeutic boarding schools
Golightley, Sarah (2023) 'I'm gay! I'm gay! I'm gay! I'm a homosexual!' : overt and covert conversion therapy practices in therapeutic boarding schools. British Journal of Social Work, 53 (3). pp. 1426-1444. ISSN 0045-3102 (https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcad049)
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Abstract
Every year thousands of young people are sent to therapeutic boarding schools (TBS) in the USA. TBS are residential programmes that combine educational classes and group therapy in self-contained facilities that operate year-round. The programmes are part of a wider ‘troubled teen industry’ that seeks to reform young people perceived as having mental health and/or substance misuse problems. Interviews were conducted with former TBS students about their experiences as youth inside these facilities. The research was undertaken from a survivor–researcher approach and was conducted by a former TBS student with former students. This article will focus on the experiences of two LGBTQ+ former students who were subjected to conversion therapy in TBS. The case studies will describe conversion practices that pressure people to change or suppress their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Conversion therapy manifested in overt and covert forms that resulted in lasting psychological trauma. The case studies highlight the impacts of conversion therapy as epistemic injustice and the ways in which the former students adapted to and resisted institutional harm. Implications for practice include the importance for social workers to understand conversion therapy as a dynamic, evolving and potentially subtle practice.
ORCID iDs
Golightley, Sarah ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9641-8617;-
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Item type: Article ID code: 87949 Dates: DateEvent15 May 2023Published24 January 2023AcceptedSubjects: Social Sciences > Social pathology. Social and public welfare > Social service. Social work. Charity organization and practice
Social Sciences > The family. Marriage. Women > Gender identityDepartment: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) Depositing user: Pure Administrator Date deposited: 29 Jan 2024 10:50 Last modified: 03 Dec 2024 01:26 URI: https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/87949