Is the grass greener on the other side? Adolescents and their satisfaction with school and residency in relation to gender and sexual orientation.
NERA 2013 Is the grass greener on the other side? Adolescents and their satisfaction with school and residency in relation to gender and sexual orientation Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason University of Akureyri, Iceland; University of New England, NSW, Australia University of New England, NSW, Australia
PROGRESS • Iceland progressive as compared with many other countries – E.g. gay marriage, adoption – Gay pride from 1999 • Ever growing – tens of thousands participated 2012
Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND YOUTH • Information from LGBT people needed from general population: – School based – Community based – Based on national populations
Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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HBSC • Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) is a cross-national research study conducted in collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for Europe. • www.hbsc.org
Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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HBSC – SCOPE • 40 participating countries • Participants: Year 6, 8 and 10 students • Data collection every four years – Last 2010
Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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HBSC – SETUP • Same questions for all countries • Country specific questions • The data presented here derives from Icelandic year 10 students only
Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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HBSC 2006 AND 2010 IN ICELAND • 2006 – Sexual orientation questions for the first time for half of the population
• 2010 – Sexual orientation questions for the whole population
Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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SEXUAL ORIENTATION – SENSITIVE QUESTIONS • Two sexual orientation questions – Have you ever had romantic/erotic feelings towards somebody? • Three alternative answers
– Have you ever had sex? • Three alternative answers
Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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2006 (SPLIT HALF)
2010
Gay Boys 38 (3.78%), Girls 24 (2.43%)
Gay Boys 84 (4.40%), Girls 53 (2.84%)
Non-gay Boys 913 (90.76%), Girls 941 (95.24%)
Non-gay Boys 1,736 (90.84%), Girls 1,74 (93.51%)
Unknown Boys 55 (5.47%) Girls 23 (2.33%)
Unknown Boys 91 (4.76%) Girls 68 (3.65)
Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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RESEARCH QUESTIONS • Satisfaction with school • 4-point Likert scale
• Satisfaction with current residency • 5-point Likert scale
• Likelihood of leaving current residency permanently • 5-point Likert scale
• Likelihood of leaving the country permanently • 5-point Likert scale
Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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GIRLS SATISFACTION WITH SCHOOL 60.0 50.0
Percentage
40.0 Unknown
30.0
Gay Non-gay
20.0 10.0 0.0 Not at all satisfied in school
Not satisfied in school
Rather satisfied in school Very satisfied in school
Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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BOYS SATISFACTION WITH SCHOOL 60.0 50.0
Percentage
40.0 Unknown
30.0
Gay Non-gay
20.0 10.0 0.0 Not at all satisfied in school
Not satisfied in school
Rather satisfied in school Very satisfied in school
Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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GIRLS SATISFACTION WITH CURRENT RESIDENCY 45 40 35
Percentage
30 25
Unknown
20
Gay Non-gay
15 10 5 0 Very unhappy
Rather unhappy
Neither or
Rather happy
Very happy
Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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BOYS SATISFACTION WITH CURRENT RESIDENCY 60 50
Percentage
40 Unknown
30
Gay Non-gay
20 10 0 Very unhappy
Rather unhappy
Neither or
Rather happy
Very happy
Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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GIRLS WISHES TO PERMANENTLY LEAVE PLACE OF RESIDENCY 35 30
Percentage
25 20
Unknown Gay
15
Non-gay
10 5 0 Very unlikely
Unlikely
Neither or
Likely
Very likely
Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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BOYS WISHES TO PERMANENTLY LEAVE PLACE OF RESIDENCY 40 35
Percentage
30 25 Unknown
20
Gay Non-gay
15 10 5 0 Very unlikely
Unlikely
Neither or
Likely
Very likely
Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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GIRLS WISHES TO PERMANENTLY LEAVE THE COUNTRY 35 30
Percentage
25 20 Unknown
15
Gay Non-gay
10 5 0 Very unlikely
Unlikely Neither or Likely Girls leaving for overseas permanently
Very likely
Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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BOYS WISHES TO PERMANENTLY LEAVE THE COUNTRY 50 45 40
Percentage
35 30 Unknown
25
Gay
20
Non-gay
15 10 5 0 Very unlikely
Unlikely
Neither or
Likely
Very likely
Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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MAIN FINDINGS
LGBT youth (boys and girls) were unhappier with school and current place of residency than non - LGBT youth GBT boys want to move permanently from their current place of residency and from the country LBT girls were not more likely than non – LBT girls to want to move permanently from either their current place of residency or from the country No difference between boys and girls Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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CONCLUSIONS LGBT YOUTH AT RISK – HARMING LGBT‘S IDENTITY FORMATION
LGBT INCOMPETENCY (E.G. INSTITUTIONALIZED HETERONORMATIVITY) IN SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES
FURTHER RESEARCH ON MINORITY STRESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL THREAT (E.G. INSTITUTIONALIZED HETERONORMATIVITY) FACED BY LGBT YOUTH Sigrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Thoroddur Bjarnason
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