The project purpose is to study the effects of labeling on homosexual conflict. Study of homosexual labeling may reveal the nature and degree of social prejudice against homosexuality. This research, therefore, will be the study of the interaction between social prejudice and the ways in which it gives rise to conflicts between homosexuals and heterosexuals and affects the course and resolution of conflicts. The target sample will be delinquent and criminal homosexual adolescents and adults whose handling of aggression and conflict has resulted in collisions with the law and in mental disorders leading to personal and social dysfunction. It will include heterosexuals whose institutional roles make them parties to conflicts with homosexuals. The control samples will consist of non-official heterosexuals and non-criminal and non-delinquent homosexuals. The interview method will allow respondents to relate fully conflict incidents which then will be analyzed for labeling and civil rights issues. Respondents will also rate labels on semantic differential scales and be rated on a masculinity-femininity scale. The research has broad and practical implications for legal and social policy change, especially as these pertain to the prevention of crime and delinquency and the treatment of mental disorders in homosexual men and women.
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter