Recognizing Sexual Well-Being As a Social Work Imperative and Moving Towards Asex-Positive Curriculum

Positive and comprehensive sexuality education is an effective tool for the primary prevention of sexual violence. Moreover, equitable access to sexual education and competent reproductive care are salient social justice concerns in the present political landscape, with federal and state legislation threatening reproductive freedom, gender-affirming care, and bodily autonomy. Despite the need for sex-positive social workers who can navigate these challenges to support the autonomy of clients, there is evidence that social work students feel they have inadequate education and training to help clients with sexual issues. Moreover, social science students report feeling discomfort and inadequacy addressing topics of sex in their future professions. This discomfort can limit the provision of needed sexuality education and behavioral health services. Education is associated with improved competence and comfort addressing topics related to sexuality with clients, creating an impetus for improved course offerings with graduate students interested in the helping professions or careers in sexual violence prevention or sexual development and well-being generally. Thus, research that critically examines pedagogical approaches and course content related to sex education and sexual violence prevention is needed. In this workshop, three speakers will present on the need for comprehensive and positive sex education within social work graduate curriculum. Through their talks, they will make the case that comprehensive, positive education on human sexual development, sexual behavior, and sexual violence prevention and policy is imperative to produce a competent workforce. The organizer will discuss the development and delivery of a graduate course on Sexual Behavior & Society, including conceptualization, selection of course materials, centering sexuality inclusivity in the syllabus, sample course resources and activities, strategies to overcome student discomfort in discussing sexual topics, and feedback from the first and second cohort of students. An early career faculty presenter who works in direct practice will discuss the utility of expanded course offerings from a current training perspective and speak to the needs of current graduate social work students. The final presenter, a mid-career faculty member, will describe their perspective on how and why education on sexual well-being should be incorporated into a broader social justice curriculum, contextualized in current funding priorities for research on the primary prevention of sexual violence. The major goals of the workshop will be to describe the importance of conducting social justice-oriented research on sex through the lenses of critical theories, and to enumerate the ethical responsibility of social work programs to provide balanced education on the range of human sexuality and behaviors. We hope to facilitate discussion and brainstorming that will challenge participants to think critically about their own constructions and biases regarding sexual behavior, while providing them with language and confidence to discuss sex in an informed and inclusive way in the classroom and their own research. In doing so, we hope to offer a progressive solution to the inequitable sex education many of our students have received, and prepare them to be competent practitioners who are equipped to support their clients by discussing sex in an inclusive, accessible, and scientifically-informed manner.