Date of Award

January 2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Social Work

First Advisor

Andrew Quinn

Abstract

Transgender individuals are characterized by identifying as a gender other than the gender they were assigned at birth based on their biological sex (Meerwijk & Sevelius, 2017). Transgender identities can include being born female but identifying as male and vice versa. Identities can also include people who are non-binary meaning that they identify as a gender other than male or female, such as identifying as no gender (i.e., agender). Being transgender can be seen as controversial and there is a lot of misinformation and little formal research conducted on this topic. Because of this, transgender people often face discrimination and rejection from their family, friends, and society. Transgender people may turn to the Internet and social media for transgender-related information and/or for social support related to their gender identity. This thesis explores how people in the transgender community utilize online resources by conducting a study where transgender individuals are interviewed about their use of the Internet and social media in relation to their gender identity. This thesis also connects this topic to the field of social work by focusing on how social workers can use the results of this thesis to better serve transgender clients.

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