Social work students\u27 comfort with gay and lesbian families

Despite recent advancements in legislation and policies regarding gay and lesbian Americans, negative attitudes and perceptions toward this population still exist. Anecdotal information from social work classroom interactions suggests that biases against gays and lesbian families may exist among those being trained as helping professionals. This study examined social work student comfort with gay and lesbian families. The researcher used an exploratory-descriptive research design, with a sample of 85 Bachelors level social work students (BSW) and Masters level social work students (MSW) who completed the 52 item online questionnaire related to gay and lesbian parenting. The findings from the research suggest the presence of a statistically significant relationship between students\u27 attitudes towards gays and lesbians and students\u27 comfort level with same sex parents. The researcher discusses the significance of the study and the implications for social work practice and education