Building Connections, Resisting Constrictions: Transgender Youth and Mechanisms for Resilience

Background

Transgender and gender expansive youth face challenges to their well-being (Reisner, et al, 2015), particularly in adolescence when their agency is limited. These challenges are related to the stigma and marginalization faced in their families, schools, and communities (Garofalo, et al, 2012; McGuire, et al, 2010). In these potentially hostile environments, transgender and gender expansive youth seek spaces and opportunities for safety and acceptance (Singh, 2013). Little is understood, however, about the ways in which transgender youth perceive the experiences that support or constrain their well-being. This study aimed to identify the primary mechanisms that transgender and gender-expansive youth seeking involvement in a community-based program perceived as necessary to them embracing their identities, overcoming challenges, and achieving their goals.

Methods

Qualitative analysis was conducted on secondary data collected by a community-based LGBTQ youth organization in a large city in the U.S. via an online essay-based application for a leadership program. The application included demographics and open-ended responses to four questions including; greatest challenge, greatest accomplishment, why the youth wanted to attend the program, and what the youth expected to gain from participating. A total of 33 transgender and gender expansive youth ages 13 to 17 completed the survey application in 2014, and self-reported a range of different gender identities - both binary and non-binary - and sexual orientations. Inductive thematic analysis through a constructivist lens was the analytic approach. Responses to all of the questions were unitized. Units were coded initially using open coding. Focused coding was then used to sort data into categories. Categories were used to develop a conceptual framework that reflected the data and identified primary mechanisms for resilience identified by the youth.

Findings

Findings indicate that transgender and gender-expansive youth in the sample perceive opportunities for learning and connection with others as primary mechanisms that support goal achievement and the capacity to overcome challenges. Specifically, spaces and relationships that allowed for trust, acceptance, and emotional risk-taking were perceived as opportunities to explore their own understanding of themselves and how they fit within their broader social environment. Findings suggest that youth perceive these spaces and relationships, and the strength they draw from them, as being transferrable. When in unsupportive environments, the experiences stay with them. Youth also perceived these spaces and relationships as supportive of their capacity to resist or avoid people and spaces that constricted their abilities to live authentically.

Conclusion and Implications

Findings of the study suggest that social work practice with transgender and gender-expansive youth should emphasize relationships and opportunities to be in spaces that encourage them to learn about identity-specific communities, history, and people, and that open up opportunities to explore who they are while acknowledging the constraints they face from social norms and institutions.  The youth in this sample were able to articulate what they need to feel supported, suggesting that programs should be developed with youth advisement. Future research should explore the mechanisms identified in this sample and whether they transfer to other contexts and populations not connected to services.