{"id":1051,"date":"2012-09-12T08:02:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-12T08:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/franciscan-university-defends-deviance-course-against-critics\/"},"modified":"2012-09-12T08:02:00","modified_gmt":"2012-09-12T08:02:00","slug":"franciscan-university-defends-deviance-course-against-critics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/franciscan-university-defends-deviance-course-against-critics\/","title":{"rendered":"Franciscan University defends deviance course against critics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Steubenville, Ohio, Sep 12, 2012 \/ 02:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- A Franciscan University of Steubenville course description that lists homosexuality as deviant behavior has drawn critical attention from the only social work accreditation council in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\tFranciscan University said its \u201cDeviant Behavior\u201d social work class \u2013 which takes its description from a standard public university textbook \u2013 is intended to \u201chelp students learn how to better serve and assist future clients.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe course has drawn hostile media attention after members of an unofficial Facebook group of gay and lesbian alumni asked the school to change the course description.<\/p>\n

\tCurrently, the class description reads: \u201cThe behaviors that are primarily examined are murder, rape, robbery, prostitution, homosexuality, mental illness and drug use.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tGregory Gronbacher, a 1990 graduate of Franciscan University who is a member of the group, told National Public Radio he thinks that the course description puts gay students \u201cin the same category as murderers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHe told NBC News he thinks the school\u2019s administrators \u201cmean well\u201d but \u201clive within a bubble.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIf you live in that sort of intellectual isolation where gay people are hidden, it\u2019s easy to wander down that path where gay people are rapists and murderers \u2013 that scary 'other,'\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tGronbacher said he was a serious Catholic in college and went on to become a philosophy and theology professor. He said he left the Catholic Church in part because of its stance on homosexuality, NBC News says.<\/p>\n

\tIn response, the university\u2019s Sept. 4 statement affirmed its adherence to Catholic teaching that homosexual persons are to be treated with \u201crespect, compassion, and sensitivity\u201d and that homosexual acts are \u201cintrinsically disordered.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tFranciscan University\u2019s social work program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, but the course description has prompted comment from Steven Holloway, director of the council\u2019s office of accreditation.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe fact that homosexuality was identified in the course description as a deviant behavior raises a flag,\u201d he told National Public Radio. He said understanding \u201cdiversity and difference\u201d is \u201ccritical for social workers to be effective in working with diverse populations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHe also noted that the accreditation standards have a diversity requirement that includes sexual orientation.<\/p>\n

\tThe council\u2019s 2008 accreditation standards say an accredited program must have a \u201ccommitment to diversity\u201d including sexual orientation and \u201cgender identity and expression\u201d that is \u201creflected in its learning environment.\u201d This includes \u201cthe demographic make-up of its faculty, staff and student body.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe council is the only accreditation agency for social work education in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\tThe council\u2019s Commission for Diversity and Social and Economic Justice includes a council on sexual orientation and gender identity. This commission council says on its website that it works for \u201cthe full participation of individuals who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or two-spirit in social work education.\u201d It identifies and advocates changes in \u201cany policies, procedures, or activities\u201d that impede these persons\u2019 \u201cfull and affirming participation.\u201d
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tFranciscan University spokesman Tom Sofio told CNA Sept. 11 that the university has not had communication from the accreditation council.<\/p>\n

\tThe university\u2019s Sept. 4 statement said the criticized course\u2019s description is \u201clittle more than abbreviated chapter headings from the primary course textbook\u201d that is used in over a dozen public universities.<\/p>\n

\tThe university said the textbook uses the term \u201cdeviant\u201d in the sociological sense \u201csimply meaning different from the norm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe understand that some, not understanding the term or its context, might take offense at the description,\u201d it continued. \u201cNevertheless, changing standard sociological definitions is beyond the scope of our work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe social work class treats other topics including crime, alcoholism and heterosexual deviance. The university said the course uses secular sources\u00a0 with \u201ctimely research findings, current data, and solid sociological analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tFranciscan University said it expects that faculty present \u201cauthentic Catholic teaching,\u201d saying that this benefits its graduates and their future clients because they have considered both sides of an argument.<\/p>\n

\t\u201c(T)hey leave here better prepared to assist clients than their counterparts from schools that teach only one perspective,\u201d the university said.<\/p>\n

\tThe university\u2019s statement also addressed its graduates.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cOur prayers and our love go out to all our alumni,\u201d it said. \u201cAll men and women, regardless of their sexual orientation, are deserving of respect, compassion, and love, and as a Catholic university we not only believe that, but also strive to live out that belief each day in our relations with students and alumni alike.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steubenville, Ohio, Sep 12, 2012 \/ 02:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- A Franciscan University of Steubenville course description that lists homosexuality as deviant behavior has drawn critical attention from the only social work accreditation council in the U….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nFranciscan University defends deviance course against critics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Steubenville, Ohio, Sep 12, 2012 \/ 02:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- A Franciscan University of Steubenville course description that lists homosexuality as deviant behavior has drawn critical attention from the only social work accreditation council in the U....\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/franciscan-university-defends-deviance-course-against-critics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Franciscan University defends deviance course against critics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Steubenville, Ohio, Sep 12, 2012 \/ 02:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- A Franciscan University of Steubenville course description that lists homosexuality as deviant behavior has drawn critical attention from the only social work accreditation council in the U....\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/franciscan-university-defends-deviance-course-against-critics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-09-12T08:02:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/franciscan-university-defends-deviance-course-against-critics\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/franciscan-university-defends-deviance-course-against-critics\/\",\"name\":\"Franciscan University defends deviance course against critics\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-12T08:02:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-09-12T08:02:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Steubenville, Ohio, Sep 12, 2012 \/ 02:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- A Franciscan University of Steubenville course description that lists homosexuality as deviant behavior has drawn critical attention from the only social work accreditation council in the U....\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/franciscan-university-defends-deviance-course-against-critics\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/franciscan-university-defends-deviance-course-against-critics\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/franciscan-university-defends-deviance-course-against-critics\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Franciscan University defends deviance course against critics\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Franciscan University defends deviance course against critics","description":"Steubenville, Ohio, Sep 12, 2012 \/ 02:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- A Franciscan University of Steubenville course description that lists homosexuality as deviant behavior has drawn critical attention from the only social work accreditation council in the U....","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/franciscan-university-defends-deviance-course-against-critics\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Franciscan University defends deviance course against critics","og_description":"Steubenville, Ohio, Sep 12, 2012 \/ 02:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- A Franciscan University of Steubenville course description that lists homosexuality as deviant behavior has drawn critical attention from the only social work accreditation council in the U....","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/franciscan-university-defends-deviance-course-against-critics\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2012-09-12T08:02:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/franciscan-university-defends-deviance-course-against-critics\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/franciscan-university-defends-deviance-course-against-critics\/","name":"Franciscan University defends deviance course against critics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-09-12T08:02:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-09-12T08:02:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Steubenville, Ohio, Sep 12, 2012 \/ 02:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- A Franciscan University of Steubenville course description that lists homosexuality as deviant behavior has drawn critical attention from the only social work accreditation council in the U....","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/franciscan-university-defends-deviance-course-against-critics\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/franciscan-university-defends-deviance-course-against-critics\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/franciscan-university-defends-deviance-course-against-critics\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Franciscan University defends deviance course against critics"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}