Sexism in family therapy: Does training in gender make a difference?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical decision making of marriage and family therapists who had no training in gender compared to those who had such training, either through a separate course or by having gender issues integrated throughout the curriculum. Specifically levels of feminism and sexism in the clinical assumptions and interventions of therapists were evaluated using clinical vignettes. Participants for this study included 150 beginning or entry-level therapists from marriage and family therapy training programs in academic settings. Of the 102 participants with some training in gender issues, 64% reported having received gender training from a feminist perspective. Contrary to expectations, a multivariate analysis of variance revealed that training in gender issues alone did not significantly influence levels of feminism and sexism in clinical decision making. However the levels of sexism in clinical interventions were significantly lower if therapists had received gender coursework from a feminist perspective, whether in a separate course or integrated throughout the curriculum. These findings raise a question as to the utility of teaching gender issues if what is taught and how it is taught ave not also considered.