Sexuality And Developmental Disabilities: A Study On The Values And Attitudes Held By Professionals, Caregivers, And Natural Parents.

Abstract

Little information exists today concerning the values and attitudes of parents, caregivers, and professionals around the sexuality of developmentally disabled persons. Yet many programs, workshops, and curricula have been designed and presented in recent years hoping to change attitudes. Before future work is done to change attitudes, persons employed in the combined area of sexuality and developmental disabilities need to know two things: first, the present values and attitudes of parents, caregivers, and professionals; and second, whether or not these values and attitudes can be changed. The purpose of this study was to examine the currently held values and attitudes about sexuality of persons involved in the field of development disabilities, and then to look at changes which might have occurred after their participation in a sexuality workshop. In order to accomplish this, demographic and attitudinal information was collected from 288 persons living in a five-state area; Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois. Each respondent was asked to complete a pretest at the beginning of the two-day workshop, and then asked to complete the same test at the conclusion of the workshop. The test results were organized into two groups and analyses were conducted for professionals and primary caregivers. The professional group consisted of those persons who provided professional services, and the primary caregiver group consisted of those persons responsible for the direct care of people with developmental disabilities. In order to obtain better data, the questions on the assessment instrument were divided and analyzed in six indexes. These were; masturbation, homosexuality, heterosexuality, birth control, attitudes concerning mental retardation, and general sexual attitudes. The major findings of this study conclude: that significant positive change can result from a workshop on human sexuality and developmental disabilities; that there is little difference between professionals and primary caregivers on post-test scores; that the age, marital status, sex, religious affiliation of the respondent, and degree of disability of client with whom the respondent worked are all significant factors when measuring for change; that education background, years of work experience, job description of the respondent, and age of disabled persons with whom respondent worked are not factors when measuring for significant change; and that the values and attitudes around disability need to be addressed before complete positive change can be achieved. Given these findings, it is very important to continue the work established to change attitudes and values if all developmentally disabled persons are to be given an opportunity to lead fulfilled lives. Such programs would seem invaluable, if not indispensable, to all groups, agencies, schools, and divisions of the department of Mental Health who work with persons with developmental disabilities.