Abstract of Project Funded for FY 1999
| Gender Identity Development in Black, Deaf Women
Monica Motley, Psychology The current investigation is a preliminary study in a program of research focusing on the process that takes place as woman develop a positive gender identity. The gender identity attitudes of specifically Black, Deaf female students will be assessed by measuring their scores on the Womanist Identity Attitudes Scale (Helms, 1990). This particular scale was chosen because it was developed with the intention of tapping the range of experiences of women of color. However, due to the reading level and the sentence structure of the measure, the present form of this measure may not be easily understood by deaf persons. Research suggests that the reading levels of deaf people have been typically lower than those of the hearing population due to their reliance on American Sign Language as their primary language (Moors, 1996). The goals of this study are twofold. First, the Womanist Identity Attitudes Scale (Helms, 1990) needs to be revised in order to make this measure more appropriate for use with the deaf population. Second, this scale has never been used with a deaf population; therefore, it is necessary to test the reliability and validity of the scale with this population. Two versions of the scale, the original version and the revised version, will be administered to assess the participants’ attitudes of gender identity development. A demographic questionnaire developed by the researcher will also be administered. A factor analysis will be conducted to examine the relationship of the original version of the scale and the revised version of the scale. All the participants will be Black, Deaf women from Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. |