Role conflict for school counselors: training versus job demands

Principals' expectations on six counselor role dimensions were compared with ideal counselor roles as seen by counselor educators. The relationship of principals' training and practice in counseling to appropriate counselor role perceptions was also studied. Disagreement was found between principals and counselor educators on the role of the counselor in situations involving clerical tasks, confidentiality, personal-emotional counseling, and non-related counseling functions. Principals with some counseling training or experience were more similar to counselor educators in expectations concerning discipline, confidentiality, and clerical activity than those principals without counseling training experience. Yet all principals differed markedly from the ideal role as viewed by counselor educators.     

Local autonomy in visual space

Abstract.— The adjacency principle is considered in the context of the two factor theory of perception which divides the sources of perceptual information into absolute and relative cues. The adjacency principle states that the effectiveness of relative cues between objects varies inversely with the perceived separation of the objects either in a frontoparallel plane or in depth. The evidence regarding this principle is discussed for paradigms in which a test object is displaced spatially with respect to either one induction object or two opposing induction objects. The mqjor cues examined for evidence regarding adjacency effects consists of binocular disparity, achromatic color induction. and relative motion.     

Observations Of Conjointly Hospitalized “Alcoholic Couples” During Sobriety And Intoxication: Implications For Theory and Therapy

This paper presents clinical data from a research study designed to examine the relation between alcohol consumption and interactional behavior in “alcoholic couples.” The central innovative feature of the study was the simultaneous admission to an inpatient setting of up to three couples, one or both members of which was alcoholic. The in-patient experience was part of an intensive, six-week, multiple-couples, group-therapy program. During hospitalization couples were encouraged to reproduce as closely as possible their usual drinking patterns and interactional behavior. Therapists utilized observations of interactional behavior during intoxication and sobriety to formulate central interactional and psychological issues for each couple. The authors utilized these same observations to develop the interactional model of alcoholism in families that is presented in detail in this paper. This model is an extension of earlier work delimiting an interactional theory of alcoholism based on general systems concepts. Two extensive case histories are presented to illustrate both theoretical issues and the treatment process.     

DRUG ABUSE AND THE FAMILY

The Family and Drug Abuse Symposium held on July 10–12, 1975, brought together individuals who possess clinical and/or research expertise in the area of family research and substance abuse. The purpose of the symposium was directed toward assessing the current state of knowledge in the field and delineating directions for future work. The role of family interaction in causing or maintaining a drug abuse problem has only recently become the focus of research and innovative treatment efforts. This special section is intended to acquaint therapists and researchers with recent work in the field; the papers are revised versions of materials originally prepared for the symposium. This first paper offers a brief overview of the symposium and summarizes issues that arose from each of the four workshops: I. Psychosocial Research; II. Clinical Observations; III. Clinical Programs; and IV. Recommendations Made to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The next paper is a review of recent studies in research and treatment that have approached substance abuse from a family viewpoint. Other research methods that appear relevant to the study of families with a drug-abusing member are discussed. Three commentaries on this review follow. The last paper describes an extensive effort to implement and evaluate family therapy within an existing drug treatment facility.     

Career counseling: beyond “test and tell”

Behavior-oriented inventories need not be used in a static manner. This article presents a way of using John Holland's Self-Directed Search (SDS) as an illustration of how such an inventory can be employed dynamically within a developmental career counseling framework. Use of the SDS is discussed in terms of environmental exploration, self-exploration, and integration of information. The breadth of individual behavior styles and the flexibility of work environments are the key concepts in the approach to career counseling described here.     

Toward an ecology of student development

A key assumption behind the Cube is that the work of counselors can be more effective as they strive toward the developmental and organizational ends of those dimensions, using whichever methods are appropriate. Blocher fills in some of the detail behind this assumption with his example of life in the elementary school classroom. He posits three subsystems in the classroom ecology. The first he calls “opportunity structure,” the second “support structure,” and the third “reward structure.” The implementation of an ecological approach to student development will require the preparation of a professional with quite different competencies and interests than has been the case. The last section of this issue is addressed to that concern.     

Some Implications of Recent Research in Social and Developmental Psychology for Counseling Practice

Blocher sees four implications for counseling as a result of the additions to research and theory building of social, developmental, and general psychology. From social influence theory, from cognitive, behavioral, humanistic, and developmental research (and their hyphenated combinations) he offers a prototype “systematic eclectic” task-model directed toward implications (1) counseling is a social influence process, (2) counseling centers on the client's cognitive activity, (3) a major variable in the outcome of counseling is the level of the client's cognitive development, and (4) counselors may need intervention programs to raise cognitive levels.     

A PROCESS-ORIENTED INVESTIGATION OF RECRUITMENT SOURCE EFFECTIVENESS1

Two hypotheses explaining the causes of differences in recruitment source effectiveness, the realism of job information provided and the characteristics of individuals recruited, were tested on a sample of packaging plant employees. Seven recruitment sources used by the plant were found to differ in effectiveness as measured by attendance, performance and tenure. The hypothesis that recruitment sources differ because they reach individuals from different applicant populations received strongest support. Implications of the findings for future research and for organizational recruitment programs are discussed.