Homosexuality and heterosexism: Views from academics in the helping professions

This study describes and analyses attitudes towards homosexuality among faculty in departments of three helping professions: social work, psychology and education. The sample consists of 235 faculty members in the five main universities in Israel. Out of 849 questionnaires that were sent to all faculty members of the relevant departments of social work, psychology and education, 103 were completed and returned from social work, 56 from psychology and 76 from education, representing a 27.7 per cent total response rate. The instrument used was the Index of Homophobia (IHP) (Hudson and Ricketts, 1980) in addition to professional background and demographic information. Findings show that, overall, members of academic departments of the helping professions present 'low-grade homophobic' attitudes (Hudson and Ricketts, 1980). Statistically significant differences surfaced among the three departments, with faculty members in schools of education emerging as most homophobic, followed by social work and psychology. Several explanations are put forward in an attempt to account for such differences, including the theoretical framework of marginality, the variables traditionally associated with homophobia, and professional training.