Publication Date

2009

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Department

School for Social Work

Keywords

Transgender youth-Family relationships, Transgender people-Psychology, Transgender people-Identity, Transgender, Adolescents, Parents, Parent and teenager, Acceptance, Family

Abstract

The focus of this study is to retroactively explore the effects of parental acceptance or non-acceptance on transgender adolescents. In this study, transgender adults report retrospectively on their experiences as adolescents regarding their relationship with parents. The purpose of this study is to answer the following question: What are the retrospective perceived effects of parental acceptance/non-acceptance of transgender individuals during adolescence? The participants in this study were 22 self-identified transgender adults. Participant ages ranged from 25 to 63 years. There was limited racial/ethnic diversity in the study, as all participants identified as White, with five of these participants also identifying as Biracial. Quantitative and qualitative questions were both used to collect data, although most questions were open ended to allow participants to provide a narrative response. The findings revealed some perceived long-term effects these participants experienced as a result of parental acceptance or non-acceptance during adolescence. Participants who felt unaccepted during adolescence reported experiencing confusion over their identities and low self-esteem into adulthood. Other findings revealed that there was a significant difference between the age of awareness of gender variance and the age of disclosure of gender identity to parents.

Language

English

Comments

v, 60 p. Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-50)

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