Social Movement Growth, Domain Expansion, and Framing Processes: The Gay/Lesbian Movement and Violence Against Gays and Lesbians as a Social Problem

• NCJ Number: 153561
• Journal: Social Problems Volume: 42 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1995) Pages: 145-170
• Author(s): V Jenness
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Thirty-two projects sponsored by gay and lesbian organizations and focusing on violence against homosexuals were analyzed with respect to how gay and lesbian communities have brought attention to the scope and consequences of this form of violence in the United States.

Abstract

The discussion notes that anti-homosexual violence has become a societal concern, similar to that regarding violence against women, children, and ethnic and racial groups. In large part, this has occurred because of the gay and lesbian communities' extensive organizing efforts against violence. This activism continues to include documenting the incidents and prevalence of this violence, establishing crisis intervention and victim assistance programs, sponsoring public education campaigns, and undertaking surveillance efforts in the form of street patrols. The analysis demonstrates that domain expansion accompanies the growth of social movements and provides a necessary resource for framing specific social conditions as a social problem. Footnotes and 135 references