A COMPARISON OF 2 TEACHING MODULES FOR REDUCING HOMOPHOBIA IN YOUNG OFFENDERS

The outcomes for young offenders (N = 37) of two teaching modules for reducing homophobia were evaluated using a multigroup pretest-posttest design. Dependent variables were cognitive, affective, and behavioral self-report measures, as well as short-story responses. Cognition was assessed by the Modified Attitudes Toward Homosexuality Scale (Price, 1982). Affects of homophobic guilt, homophobic anger, and delight wer e measured by the Affective Reactions to Homosexuality Scale (Van de V en, Bornholt, and Bailey, in press). Behavioral intentions were assess ed by the Homophobic Behavior of Students Scale (Van de Ven et al., in press). Interventions took two forms: a New South Wales Department of School Education module and a Community Care Schools module. The latt er, which specifically addressed maintenance factors of juvenile offen der homophobia, was anticipated to result in better outcomes. ANCOVAs and a difference of proportions test revealed that the Community Care Schools module was superior in terms of producing less commitment to h omophobic behavior (p < .005), more positive written responses (p < .0 01), and more positive delight scores (p < .05). Implications for furt her interventions and research are discussed.