Despite its central role in social work practice and education, little is known about how social justice is operationalized within the discipline. One aspect that may shed light on how the field engages the construct of social justice is through understanding more about recognition of privilege. This study examines how demographic differences,…

School climate describes the quality of the school environment. School climate is a construct that refers to the perceived structural, interpersonal, and learning aspects of a school; a positive school climate is associated with school success and academic achievement (Hoy & Hannum, 1997), prosocial development (Koth et al., 2008), and…

Because sexual orientation is a crucial factor in social discrimination, this study assessed how the working memory capacity of gay-men and heterosexual-men is affected by a social exclusion event (N = 88). To manipulate the experience of social exclusion participants were included or excluded from a game of Cyberball. To assess working memory…

Reflecting on a previous article, I evaluate changes encountered around teaching sexuality over the past 22 years in different geo-political settings. This article examines the ways in which my teaching practices, as an academic committed to equality, have developed in relation to different academic and political contexts. This personal pathway…

Objectives: To estimate individual and group trajectories of substance use among heterosexual and sexual minority adolescent females (SMFs) and evaluate longitudinal substance use disparities. Methods: Annual self-reported substance use data (frequency of cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use) across ages 13-20 years were used to estimate…

This study explored the intersections of disability, race, sexual orientation, and gender on peer victimization, suicidal ideation, and school connectedness. Participants were 11,353 high school students ages 14 to 18 years (MD =15.88, SD = 1.20). Of these individuals, 1,640 students self-identified as either having an Individualized Education…

Sexuality is both everywhere and nowhere in children's literature since it collides with an ideology of childhood innocence that works to erase childhood sexuality altogether. Debates about identity, self-expression, the boundary between childhood and adulthood--and attempts to police that boundary--often center on sexuality. Anxiety around…

Bullying is common among students; however, there are several individual characteristics or identities that make an adolescent more susceptible to victimization. This secondary data analysis of a sample of 20,302 high school students in Wisconsin uses a multilevel model to assess common risk factors such as gender identity, sexual orientation,…

Objective: This study examined socio-demographic characteristics and COVID-19 experiences as concurrent predictors of perceived familial and friend social support, social media use, and socio-emotional motives for electronic communication during the COVID-19 pandemic among college students. Participants: Participants were 619 emerging adults…

This experimental study explored the use of online expressive writing interventions to cope with distress from heterosexist events among a sample of autistic-LBGQ + individuals. This study included an open writing condition and an emotion focused therapy guided writing condition. Over 89% of the participants indicated that the writing exercises…

Public education reflects the ideas that various stakeholders hold about relationships between schooling and society and the forms of knowledge that are deemed most socially valuable (Kliebard, 2004; Spring, 2016). Public education can be used to support human flourishing and the cultivation of skills needed for civic participation in democratic…

Historically, sexual and gender minority populations may have faced multiple Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and their utilization of preventive healthcare is low. However, sociocultural changes in attitudes and policies affecting sexual and gender minority populations signal their broader societal acceptance. We examined the prevalence of…

This study aims to explore the relationship of Gender and Sexual Minority (GSM) college students with academic stress through the use of counseling and how this may differ based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In addition, this study examined frequency of career concerns among GSM college students. Further this study aimed to determine…

Bringing together research from several lines of inquiry in psychology and education, this paper proposes a conceptual model for understanding how entrenched inequalities embedded within ecological macrosystems play out in the classroom to affect student learning. We consider how implicit teacher beliefs and belief expression affect…

Youth in the United States have been significantly impacted by COVID-19. Their education was disrupted at the onset with many going into virtual school for extended periods of time. This resulted in a loss of connection to peers, teachers, school counselors, and other educational support staff. Extra-curricular activities ceased and many…