1- PhD Candidate in Social Work Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran
2- Associate Professor, Department of Social Work Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran , sparvin1359@gmail.com
3- Professor, Department of Women’s Studies Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract: (82 Views)
This study seeks to understand the narratives of individuals seeking sexual transition regarding their change of sexual identity. The dominant discourse surrounding the issue of gender identity for these individuals has largely been shaped within a medicalized, pathologizing, and individualized framework—a discourse that reduces this experience to the level of psychological disorders and biological abnormalities through personalization. In contrast to this reductive approach, the narrative approach, as one of the emerging critical perspectives in social work interventions, provides an opportunity to reinterpret the experience of gender identity formation within social, cultural, and intersubjective contexts. In this study, the researcher employs a qualitative "thematic analysis" method, using semi-structured interviews with purposive and snowball sampling, to explore the narratives shared by transgender individuals about their process of sexual identity transition. The findings reveal how these individuals distance themselves from religious and theological narratives and gradually become redefined within medical and psychological discourses. They transition from a sinful identity to a sick one and then to deviant. Ultimately, relying on quasi-intellectual interpretations and engaging with dominant social discourses, participants attempt to frame their gender transition as a rational, legitimate, and acceptable narrative while rejecting restrictive counter-narratives.
Type of Article:
Original Research |
Subject:
Social problems Received: 2025/05/11 | Accepted: 2025/09/11