Date of Award

Summer 2011

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Counseling & Human Services

Program/Concentration

Counselor Education and Supervision

Committee Director

Danica G. Hays

Committee Member

Tim Grothaus

Committee Member

Kathleen Levingston

Abstract

Bullying research frequently focuses on incidence and prevalence of bullying in schools, often failing to provide detailed accounts of the experiences and perceived impact of harassment and abuse (Poteat et al., 2009) on victimized lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) students. Further, these studies tend to have small samples of racial and ethnic participants and they fail to address victimization in individuals with multiple oppressed identities (D'Augelli et al., 2002; Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network [GLSEN], 2009). Utilizing a consensual qualitative research (CQR) design, the purpose of this study was to examine the victimization experiences and coping mechanisms utilized by LGBTQ individuals, particularly persons of color, in K-12 school settings. Data collection consisted of fourteen LGBTQ individuals from Southern Virginia participating in 30 minute interviews about their harassment experiences in school. Participants ranged in age from 17-21 years old and 11 (79%) of the 14 study participants identified themselves as racial minorities.

Results indicated that participant conceptualizations of their bullying experiences and responses may have been influenced by a number of confounding factors and/or variables (Mishna, Newman, Daley, & Soloman, 2009) such as sexual identity development, types of bullying, and locations of bullying. When compared to recent LGBTQ literature it would appear that individuals with multiple oppressed identities experienced bullying and harassment in much the same way as individuals without multiple oppressed identities.

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DOI

10.25777/qdq1-0t34

ISBN

9781124973012

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