Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Education

Supervisor

Martino, Wayne J.

2nd Supervisor

Rodger, Susan

Co-Supervisor

Abstract

This qualitative collective case study investigates the impacts of cissexism on the provision of and access to school-based mental health support for trans and gender diverse youth. The study draws on Trans Studies and Foucauldian analytic frameworks to examine how cissexism operates across mental health policy, research, and practice to constitute trans and gender-diverse youth as subjects within the field of school-based mental health. A conceptual framework of (in)visibility is utilized to account for the ways in which trans and gender-diverse youth are simultaneously made intelligible as a result of experiencing mental health stress and/or gender dysphoria, while their other mental health needs are obscured or just conflated with other comorbidities. Through employing mind mapping and interviews with both school-based mental health practitioners and trans/gender diverse students in schools, I examine the relationship between the production of knowledge within the field of school based mental health and how it informs practices of mental health support and impacts student access. Two forms of knowledge, institutional and community informed, emerged as important influences which shaped how practitioners identified and engaged with cissexism in their work. The accounts of trans and gender-diverse youth offer a much needed triangulated and trans desubjugated perspective on the administration of and access to mental health support which further exposes the extent of the institutionalization of cissexism in the school system and also documents their hopes for a school-based mental health system which meets their needs. The findings reveal the need for the integration of intersectional and decolonial frameworks in the school based mental health field which has implications for improving both pre- and in-service practitioner training. Overall, the study highlights the importance of recognizing the full range of mental health needs that trans and gender-diverse youth have beyond the limited discourses of gender dysphoria and minority stress which currently dominate the field.

Summary for Lay Audience

Trans and gender-diverse youth experience a wide range of mental health challenges that are currently unrecognizable or just not understood in the field of school-based mental health. These challenges are a result of relying on an understanding of the mental distress that trans and gender-diverse people experience as a result of minority stress in response to facing discrimination and prejudice on a regular basis. While these experiences impact many trans and gender-diverse youth, their needs are greater than these two issues alone. This study attributes this problem to cissexism – the belief that trans and gender-diverse people are inherently inferior to cisgender people as a result of their gender identity differing from that which is assigned at birth. It shows how cissexism affects the mental health support available to transgender and gender-diverse students in schools. Interviews with both school-based mental health practitioners and trans and gender-diverse youth were conducted to learn about the experience of accessing mental health support at school. The findings from the interviews with practitioners reveal that two types of knowledge – institutional and community-based – significantly influence how practitioners understand and address cissexism in their work with youth. Interviews with transgender and gender-diverse students provided insights into their experiences with school mental health services, highlighting gaps in support and their hopes for a system that meets their needs. This study has implications for the education of school-based mental health practitioners and concludes that additional and ongoing education in both their initial training programs and as professional development are required to support them to identify and address cissexism in their work. Such training is necessary to ensure that the mental health needs of trans and gender-diverse youth are better supported in the school system.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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