'Who is going to shepherd the pink sheep?' : a study of the current services offered to LGB by social workers who work in Church run agencies

Abstract

'Who is going to shepherd the pink sheep' is a study of the current services offered to lesbians, gays and bisexuals by social workers who work in Church run agencies in Malta. The adequacy of the current service offered to LGB is examined. Another aim of the study is to help social workers in Church employment, who are bound by professional social work ethics to think about the kind of service they are providing to homosexual clients. All the heads of agencies which total to eleven and the social workers who work in those respective agencies were invited to participate. All heads of agencies participated and nineteen social workers out of twenty four participated in this study. The interviews were conducted on a one to one basis and open ended questions were asked. The results highlighted that the social workers and heads of agencies think that the service offered for LGB is adequate and that most of the agencies do not reflect the Church's values in relation to homosexuality as part of the agencies values. However it seems that social workers need more on going training in their respective agency to offer a better service for LGB.