ABSTRACTJAMES EDWARD POWELL. Evaluating sexual prejudice among substance abuse counselors. (Under the direction of DR. JOHN R. CULBRETH) Sexual minority individuals seeking substance abuse treatment services are not immune from barriers of sexual prejudice. Although ethical standards and recommended best practice guideline admonish substance abuse counselors harboring sexual prejudice, research demonstrates the continued existence of sexual prejudice. Research into the nature of sexual prejudice of substance abuse counselors has been conducted for many decades, resulting in accepted associated variables of sexual prejudice. This study explored sexual prejudice as predicted by religious beliefs, education level, and various demographic factors of substance abuse counselors. The research design included bivariate correlational and regression analyses to evaluate data from substance abuse counselors who were members in a national association of substance abuse counselors. The sample of 652 substance abuse counselors completed a confidential online survey. Results indicated moderately strong correlations between sexual prejudice, religious beliefs, and the demographic variables of race, familiarity with sexual minority issues, gender, and age. Religious beliefs, race, familiarity with sexual minority issues, gender, and age were all significantly negatively correlated with sexual prejudice. Multiple regression results indicated that 47% of the sexual prejudice variance was accounted for by religious beliefs, education level, and the demographic variables of race, gender, age, and familiarity with sexual minority issues, though education level was not a significant predictor. Implications of the results for the fields of counseling and substance abuse treatment are discussed.
