Therapeutic Justice Project: Bullying

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Bullying

- by Stacey Prince

Several months back I began collecting information and resources for an article on bullying in the schools. Discrimination and harassment experienced by youth, and the related social justice issues, are something we have not talked about very much yet in TJP. This was before what is now being termed an "epidemic" of teen and young adult suicides that can be directly linked to harassment, bullying and violence experienced by LGBT youth. I'm sure many of you have seen the terrible stories, too many to recount, in recent weeks about teen suicides. Most recently there was the young Rutgers student who killed himself after peers posted video on the internet of him being intimate with a male partner. There was the 13 year old in California who hung himself after being taunted by classmates for being gay, and the 15 year old in Indiana who hung himself under similar circumstances. Then there were the five suicides, including three by gay teens, in a single Minnesota school district.

Results of the 2005 Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) Climate Survey showed that while 22% of the general student population feels unsafe in school, 74.2% of LGBT students reported feeling unsafe. Further, based on data from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the CDC, and estimates that approximately 30% of youth suicides are related to sexual orientation, the National GLBTQ Youth Foundation recently concluded that over 1,400 GLBTQ youth between the ages of 10 to 24 complete suicides, and an additional 15,000 contemplate committing suicide, each year. Even these whopping numbers are likely to be under-estimates since the sexual orientation of youth suicide victims is not always known.

To read entire article click here.

No comments:

Post a Comment

About Us

Therapeutic Justice Project is a multidisciplinary collective of healers, advocates and activists dedicated to social justice. Our vision is to integrate social justice with health and mental health services at all levels including psychotherapy, service delivery, professional development, community/organizational support, and systemic change. In psychotherapy, our mission is to develop and implement a model that moves clients from unconscious to conscious, from an individual to a societal perspective, from depression and helplessness to activism and empowerment. We also aim to integrate therapeutic healing within social movement work. Socially, our intention is to make systematic change through community organizing, policy change, transformative dialogue, education, and special initiatives.

For TJP flyer, click here.

For more information or to submit to the blog, please contact:

sprince38@hotmail.com

Call to Action

Members of Congress are proposing substantial cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security in order to reduce the federal deficit. Instead of restoring taxes on the wealthy which could provide increased revenue, they are proposing cuts to the safety net to our country's most vulnerable. Call on congress to reach a budget agreement that will protect programs that disproportionately serve women, the disabled, the elderly, and people of limited means. Please sign this petition to strengthen social security, not cut it.

Announcements

Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment - now available!!!

The long-awaited book Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment, from Olympia’s Dr. Leticia Nieto, provides a breakthrough in the fields of liberation and cultural studies. It presents a powerful analysis of the psychological dynamics of oppression and privilege, and shows readers how to develop skills to promote social justice. It includes personal stories, exercises, visualizations and poetry. The book has roots in developmental psychology, theater, and liberation pedagogy. It was developed through collaboration among Leticia Nieto, Garth R. Johnson, Liz Goodwin, Margot Boyer, and Laurel Collier Smith. Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment is now available on Amazon.com, and Elliott Bay Books. More information is online at http://www.beyondinclusionbeyondempowerment.com/.

Fremont Community Therapy Project

The Fremont Community Therapy Project, a feminist, multicultural, queer-friendly, trauma-oriented clinic offering high-quality, low-cost psychological services is in need of assistance. While we are open for new assessment requests, we are currently experiencing a huge influx of requests for psychotherapy, to the point where we now have a 12-week wait list for psychotherapy.

We would like to be able to refer folks on this list, if possible, so that people are not stuck waiting for care for three months. Most of the people who seek our services have a complex trauma history. Thus, we are looking for therapists who share our values, and who would be willing to accept the referral of a person who you would see at our fees, which range from 20-45/session. Most of them require a longer-term commitment from a therapist (typically people remain at FCTP for up to four years). If you're willing to accept a referral from us, please contact Laura Brown, FCTP Director, at 206-633-2405 ext 1, or email Laura at lsbrownphd@cs.com.