PAPER #3 - Domestic violence in same-sex couples and homosexuality: level of knowledge in group students.

In this paper we present the results of a study on the level of knowledge of Psychology's students on two topics: homosexuality and domestic violence in same-sex couples. Assuming that stereotypes and prejudices about lesbian and gay (LG) population are still widespread in society and that, in the scientific literature, there are several theories and conflicting points of view on the origin and nature of sexual orientation, we investigated the level and quality knowledge about LG issues in 419 heterosexual students attending degree programs in Psychology at the University of Turin. The 18.6% of the subjects were men and 81.4% women, with a mean age of 25.08 years (SD = 4.16). As for domestic violence in same-sex couples, we explored the knowledge of the phenomenon, considering that interpersonal violence is a traumatic experience and its impact, if it happens within a romantic couple bond, is even greater. International scientific studies on this issue show that the severity and types of experience of abuse in gay and lesbians would be similar to those of heterosexual people: this phenomenon exerts, in fact, its incidence regardless of sexual orientation. Our data seem to show that a large percentage of students of Psychology, regardless of their course of study (Bachelor or Master degree), believes that the phenomenon is prevalent in heterosexual couples or does not know the DV in same-sex couples. Even the perception of difficulty in receiving help from the homosexual victims seems to be widespread among students who, presumably, will be professionals in the field of mental health. About knowledge, the answers given by the participants and the level of knowledge seem to reflect the lack of uniformity in the scientific research results and the gaps that remain in the dissemination of a scientific, specific, clear and detailed knowledge about sexual orientation. Overall, the survey results show how much there is still a lack of clarity in the knowledge possessed by the students and how important it is to invest further on the training of future mental health professionals on issues object of our investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]