Attitudes Regarding Sexuality and Abortion Among Social Work Students

Background: The social work profession works with diverse and vulnerable populations, and while divisive topics regarding sexuality and abortion are likely to be encountered in social work practice, there is little research on social workers’ personal beliefs regarding sexuality and abortion. Social workers, as well as clients and communities served, are comprised of individuals with countless identities and beliefs related to sexuality and sexual health. As such, this study seeks to better understand the relationship between social workers’ overall attitudes toward sexuality and their opinions on abortion, with aims of informing future social work research and education efforts regarding these often-polarizing, yet prevalent social issues.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional survey, data were collected online in 2014 among students enrolled in social work programs based in the United States.  The final sample (N = 504) includes BSW (n = 28), MSW (n = 443), and PhD (n = 33) students.  Measures include the Brief Sexual Attitudes Scale (BSAS), a validated measure of various dimensions of sexuality, and a 5-item abortion attitudes scale.  Control variables include sex, race/ethnicity, political affiliation, age, and sexual orientation.

Results:

Using linear regression, the abortion attitudes scale score was regressed on the BSAS and the control variables.  Results indicated that as students endorsed increasingly sexually-permissive attitudes, statistically significant negative relationships were found regarding their opposition to abortion (β=-.43, p<.001). Sex, race/ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation did not emerge as significant predictors, whereas students who identified with conservative (β=1.09, p<.001), moderate (β=.47, p<.001), and independent (β=.38, p<.001) political affiliations were significantly more likely to endorse anti-choice attitudes than their liberal peers.

For birth control attitudes, sex, age, sexual orientation, and all racial/ethnicity categories, except for Asian/Asian American, were not significant predictors. In this model, Asian/Asian American students scored significantly higher on anti-choice attitudes when compared to their Caucasian counterparts (β=.30, p<.05). Political affiliation again functioned similarly, with politically conservative (β=1.21, p<.001), moderate (β=.50, p<.001), and independent (β=.38, p<.001) students significantly more likely to endorse anti-choice attitudes when compared to their liberal counterparts. Overall, as students increasingly displayed supportive attitudes toward birth control, they were significantly less likely to endorse anti-choice attitudes (β=-.27, p<.001).

Implications: As a profession, social work espouses an ethical commitment to providing strengths-based and client-centered interventions for individuals, families, and communities served. Social workers do not hold monolithic beliefs regarding sexuality, sexual behaviors, contraception, reproductive rights, or abortion, yet all social workers arguably need to be able to navigate the potential tensions between personal values-based beliefs and the professional value of client self-determination. Results suggest the importance of further developing culturally-competent social work education regarding topics pertaining to sexuality and abortion. Future research within social work practice would additionally benefit from examining not only students’ responses, but also those of active practitioners and more-experienced social workers.