Roosevelt University PsyD student Joanna Thome wins grant to research attitudes on same-sex couple adoptions

PsyD student Joanna Thome wins research grant to gauge attitudes on adoptions by same-sex couples

PsyD student Joanna Thome Psychology Department

Roosevelt University PsyD student Joanna Thome is the 2009 winner of a national grant for her upcoming research and dissertation that will analyze perceptions of same-sex partners seeking to adopt. Thome, who received her MA in psychology from Roosevelt in 2008, will survey as many as 200 people in the Chicago area starting this spring to gauge attitudes on adoptions by same-sex couples with support from the American Psychological Foundation (APF).

"I am honored to be selected as a grant winner for a project that I hope will break new ground about our perceptions toward same-sex parents," said Thome, whose project was selected through a competitive process for a $1,500 Roy Scrivener Memorial grant supporting empirical and applied research on lesbian, gay and bisexual family psychology and therapy.

A native of Whidbey Island, Wash., Thome first got the idea for the project while taking a child development psychology course as a graduate student at Roosevelt.

During research for the class, she learned that children of gays and lesbians are no more at risk of developing psychological problems than are children of heterosexual couples. She also discovered that a majority of U.S. states have vague laws concerning same-sex couples, and found to her surprise that little research has been done on the role that perceptions play in handling adoption requests made by same-sex couples, particularly male couples.

All of this made her wonder why authorities, including judges, would deny adoptions to same-sex couples, particularly male partners. Were they opposed because of a bias against the adoptive parents being gay? Or could it be that they weren’t enthused in general about the idea of men raising children?

Hypothesis for the dissertation, which Thome hopes to complete this year, is that there is a bias against gay male couples adopting children in large part because of their sexual orientation.

Whether she proves that hypothesis or not, the dissertation has the potential to be a significant study, according to Cami McBride, assistant professor of psychology and Thome’s dissertation adviser.

"It’s a significant project in the sense that it has policy implications in terms of gays and lesbians being able to adopt children," said McBride. "The project can inform us how people’s prejudices play into their decisionmaking, and ultimately the project’s findings could have legal implications," she said.

Thome, who plans to complete her doctoral studies in 2011, said she has high hopes for the project that is keeping with Roosevelt’s mission of social justice.

"I hope my project will be a catalyst for social and political change movements for the equality of all," she said.