Conservative Christian Beliefs and Sexual Orientation in Social Work: Privilege, Oppression, and the Pursuit of Human Rights

This important new work addresses the tensions and divisions in social work between conservative Christian religious beliefs and lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB)students, practitioners, faculty members, and clients. Authors representing a diverse range of sexual orientation and religious and professional identities explore the debate regarding freedom of religious expression and full sexual orientation affirmation. Their discussions provide a deeper understanding of the complexity of topics such as social identity, oppression, power and privilege, human rights and social justice, attitudes and prejudice, and ethics and the law. The book also discusses multiple ways of resolving some of the conflicts, including intergroup dialogue and sociodrama.