Elaboration of a classification of the strategies that adolescents adopt to cope with homophobic bullying

• Grant number: 23/00367-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: October 01, 2023
• End date: September 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Social Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Leonardo Lemos de Souza
• Grantee: Emerson Heleno da Cruz
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Letras (FCL-ASSIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Assis. Assis , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Studies that have examined strategies used to cope with homophobic bullying have generally done so working with a broad understanding of coping, without highlighting specific behaviors deployed when faced with victimization. Research that approaches the issue from this perspective indicates that social support is effective in putting an end to victimization. However, support tends to be drastically reduced in homophobic bullying, because it is mediated by the social stigma and discrimination suffered by LGBT+ people. Therefore, the stressors of adolescents who suffer this type of violence require specific approaches. The goal of this postdoctoral research proposal is to develop a classification of the strategies that male adolescent survivors of homophobic bullying use to cope with victimization. First, a classification of these strategies will be built analyzing 32 narrative productions by survivors of homophobic bullying from Brazil and Spain aged 14 to 25 years and based on a review of the scientific literature using ATLAS.ti 8.4 software. Then, the content of this classification will be reviewed by an international panel of 20-30 experts through a two-round Delphi study. The quantitative data will be analyzed using SPSS.22.0 software. Descriptive statistics will be calculated for the scores assigned to each component of the classification. Nonparametric Wilcoxon Z tests for related samples will be performed to assess the possible difference in rankings between assigned scores in the two rounds of the Delphi study. It is expected that the understanding of these strategies may provide relevant material for addressing homophobia in schools, a context that may be one of the best settings for psychosocial and pedagogical interventions in order to bring about positive social change regarding sexual and gender diversity. High schools will thus have the opportunity to train the educational community in the detection, prevention and pro-social intervention against homophobic bullying.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

VICENTE-CRUZ, EMERSON; SALDANA, OMAR; VALVERDE, GUILLERMO; DE SOUZA, LEONARDO LEMOS. Taxonomy of Strategies for Coping with School Homophobic Bullying. JOURNAL OF SCHOOL VIOLENCE, v. N/A, p. 12-pg., 2025-03-24. (23/00367-3)