Social Work Commitment to Diversity Award
Author: Hannah Baker | Majors: Social Work and Political Science
My name is Hannah L Baker, a recent graduate with degrees in Social Work and Political Science. My honors thesis was titled The Effects of Experiences on the Personal Reclamation of Slurs within the College-Aged LGBTQ+ Community at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Dr. Kim Stauss who is from the Social Work department was my mentor. In Spring 2021, we began the research, and we completed it in the Spring of 2022 when I graduated. Now, I am taking a gap year to work on saving money and building professional experience with plans to attend law school after.
In the Spring of 2020, I came out. Because of a social shift with the COVID-19 pandemic, my primary source of introduction to and information about the LGBTQ+ community came from social media platforms. Platforms like Twitter and TikTok introduced me to a wide array of experiences and perspectives. One of the common topics regarded slur usage by members of the community itself. Debates over who could use certain slurs based on gender and sexual identities, historical and social contexts, and individual experiences gave rise to self-reflection on the labels I chose to give myself and questions about why individuals choose to use or not use slurs for self and other-labeling.
Existing research has explored reclamation in the social and political contexts of a variety of groups, yet research about individual perspectives on reclamation is scarce. Much of the research discourse surrounds the term queer and the reclamation process it underwent. Also frequently addressed was the slur faggot. I brought the literature research to Dr. Stauss in what was also our first meeting. I was nervous about presenting my ideas and findings to a professor I had never met, but Dr. Stauss was encouraging and excited about the topic and agreed to be my advisor.
Immediately, Dr. Stauss directed me towards the research grant and assisted me in the application process, began educating me on the qualitative research process, and guided me in filling out the IRB forms. When the time came to analyze interview transcripts to find emerging themes, Dr. Stauss was vital. We would meet and discuss the themes I was findings, and Dr. Stauss helped me narrow themes down to those that emerged most frequently and then helped me group them into related clusters. As my research came to an end and defense day grew nearer, Dr. Stauss was my main source of encouragement. Her expressed faith in my research gave me the push I needed to finish strong.
Along with Dr. Stauss, my research process was aided by the other members of my committee, including Jill Wheeler and Dr. Chris Shields. Both provided me with excellent feedback and perspectives on the research. Claire Tiffin, an honors social work major as well, also helped me with my research as she was going through the process at the same time. We would discuss issues we were having in the process and provided encouragement to keep going when we both felt stuck.
One of my biggest challenges in this research process was my anxiety over the interviews, leading the focus group, and defense day presentation. Qualitative interviews were perfect for collecting information on the individual perspectives, but they were also the first time I had conducted formal interviews. I had to improve skills such as engaging in appropriate levels of self-disclosure, keeping dialogue on track, and managing my reactions to participant responses. Because of the sensitive interview topics keeping my perspectives to myself and not revealing too much was very important in ensuring that participants knew the interviews were a safe space where all of their responses were going to be valued and interpreted without bias. My personal opinions on slur usage and emotional or deeply personal stories of my own were never discussed. I did disclose my sexuality and gender identity. During the period I was conducting interviews, I frequently discussed any feelings or issues that arose with Dr. Stauss. When the time to defend my thesis came, I calmed my anxiety by sending my presentation for review to Dr. Stauss and then running through practice presentations with my roommates and friends.
Unfortunately, I was not able to present at the Arkansas state National Alliance of Social Workers (NASW) conference like I had intended to because of date conflictions. However, Dr. Stauss has expressed interest in working towards getting my research published this summer and looking into other conferences to present it at. I was also awarded the Commitment to Diversity Award from the School of Social Work for the research.
This Honors College Research Grant allowed to study a topic that is not only personal to me but examines the induvial experiences of slur reclamation that affects macro level environments such as academia and social settings. I was also able to explore the experiences with discrimination and harassment participants have had as University of Arkansas, Fayetteville students and then ask for suggestions directly from them. My mentor and I hope that the latter part of this study will be used to implement changes and improvements for the LGBTQ+ community at the University. This grant gave me the funds to incentivize participation for the interviews and focus group and gave me the ability to focus on the research. I am thankful for these opportunities that led to the completion of my research.