School psychologists’ perceptions of homophobic bullying in schools
Homophobic bullying in schools has major consequences for victims, particularly among sexual and gender minorities. The school psychologist may be called upon to support these students in modes of prevention and intervention. While several studies have evaluated the impact of anti-bullying programs, there are few that describe school psychologists’ perceptions of the actions of schools in this context. This study aims to describe the perceptions of Quebec school psychologists regarding homophobic bullying as well as the actions taken by the school to counter it. This article is based on qualitative data from individual interviews of 30 school psychologists, 15 men and 15 women. The results suggest that the main actions against homophobic bullying in schools are thematic weeks against homophobia, diversity awareness, anti-bullying plans and social skills learning programs. It appears that awareness-raising actions against homophobia and bullying, training for school staff, networking groups and standardizing approaches to counter bullying across schools are important measures, according to participating psychologists.