AUNE Department of Applied Psychology core faculty member Dr. Justine D’Arrigo-Patrick and adjunct faculty member and doctoral student Brooke Bull, will be presenting at Gender Conference East, November 13-14 in Baltimore, Maryland. The mission of the conference is to provide a safe and supportive space dedicated to the needs of children and youth across the gender spectrum, as well as their families and the professionals working with them.
Bull, with D’Arrigo-Patrick serving as faculty advisor, will present her research findings involving a qualitative study focused on parents’ experiences with a child’s (ages 3-10) social transition. What is it like for a parent to honor their child’s authentic gender identity when cultural discourses would likely tell them that the child is “too young to know”? The phenomenological research sought to answer questions such as this through a series of interviews with eight parents. These in-depth interviews analyzed thematically highlight processes of internal, relational, and social meaning-making for the parents involved.
For more information on Gender Conference East visit: www.genderconferenceeast.org