ERIC Number: EJ1387449
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1066-5684
EISSN: EISSN-1547-3457
Available Date: N/A
Finding Home in a Hopeless Place: Schools as Sites of Heteronormativity
Cohen, Sarah Simi; Duarte, Bryan J.; Ross, Jennifer
Equity & Excellence in Education, v56 n1-2 p100-113 2023
For this study, we operated with a critical theoretical understanding of schools as sites of (cis)heteronormativity, which led us to question the impact of heteronormative schooling environments. We used data from the 2017 national Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System to examine the self-reported experiences and feelings of high school students with gay or lesbian, bisexual, or questioning identities. Additionally, we used a quantitative intersectional approach to juxtapose the lived experiences of queer youth in the data with our own counternarratives. Our findings indicate that queer students experienced sadness and/or hopelessness, which was predicted by unsafe schooling experiences and signs of mental health trauma and exacerbated by intersecting marginal identities (i.e., race, ethnicity, gender). Our counternarratives suggest that LGBTQIAA+ youth may experience dissonance among their sense of belonging, home, and identity that is caused by the oppressive cis-heteronormative structures of their schooling systems, which may negatively impact their mental health. Although this dissonance is ever-present, we argue that queer and trans students resist these cis-heteronormative structures through homing, which allows these students to create a more equitable environment for themselves and others.
Descriptors: Social Bias, LGBTQ People, High School Students, Student Experience, Student Attitudes, Educational Environment, Psychological Patterns, Trauma, Mental Health, Self Concept, Student School Relationship, Elementary Secondary Education, Bullying, Student Characteristics, Suicide
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education; Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Youth Risk Behavior Survey
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A