Support for Gay and Lesbian Rights Among Students of Helping Professions in Crete, Greece: A Comparison between Social Work and Psychology Students.

This study explores the level of support for gay and lesbian rights among social work and psychology undergraduate students (N = 870). While students were generally supportive of gay and lesbian rights, 43% believed that social workers and psychologists should support gay and lesbian rights only 'when lesbians and gay men do not offend or upset others', while 31.3% agreed that these rights should be supported 'as long as they don't contradict the prevalent religion and values of the society they live in'. Social work students were more supportive of all items compared to psychology students; they were also more supportive regarding professionals' obligation to challenge negative discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. Religiosity, gender and having gay and lesbian friends or acquaintances were important correlates of students' level of support for gay and lesbian rights. Findings are discussed in relation to social work and psychology education.

A comparison of attitudes toward lesbians and gay men among students of helping professions in Crete, Greece: the cases of social work, psychology, medicine, and nursing.

This study investigated the attitudes toward lesbians and gay men among social work, psychology, medical, and nursing students in Crete, Greece, using Herek's ATLG scale. No respondents held completely heterosexist attitudes; only 1.6% held completely non-heterosexist attitudes. The 44.96 total ATLG score indicates a slightly positive attitude toward lesbians and gay men. Psychology students scored higher than all others on positive attitudes, followed by social work students, medical students, and nursing students. Gender, having lesbian or gay acquaintances or friends, and religiosity were significant factors influencing students' attitudes, while no impact on attitudes due to the effects of higher education could be discerned. Implications for curriculum design and teaching methods are discussed.