Adapting Strauss and Corbin's grounded theory in clinical case study research in the field of counselling

Case study can be adopted when aiming to understand an individual's lived experience. Such experience produces rich and complex qualitative data for analysis, conducive to counselling and psychotherapy research. Furthermore, grounded theory (GT) can be adopted to produce a theory from qualitative data, fitting well with case study research that explores complex experiences regarding social, psychological and phenomenological processes. This paper aims to guide the counselling researcher to incorporate Strauss and Corbin's model into the main arena of qualitative counselling research. In addition, this paper draws on a multiple case study that adopted Strauss and Corbin's method and identified various phases in the GT process. The aim is to inform the reader how to put the iterative process and pragmatic theoretical sampling into practice to produce a robust theory from clinical case study data.     

On the loss of information in conditional maximum likelihood estimation of item parameters

In item response models of the Rasch type (Fischer & Molenaar, 1995), item parameters are often estimated by the conditional maximum likelihood (CML) method. This paper addresses the loss of information in CML estimation by using the information concept of F-information (Liang, 1983). This concept makes it possible to specify the conditions for no loss of information and to define a quantification of information loss. For the dichotomous Rasch model, the derivations will be given in detail to show the use of the F-information concept for making comparisons for different estimation methods. It is shown that by using CML for item parameter estimation, some information is almost always lost. But compared to JML (joint maximum likelihood) as well as to MML (marginal maximum likelihood) the loss is very small. The reported efficiency in the use of information of CML to JML and to MML in several comparisons is always larger than 93%, and in tests with a length of 20 items or more, larger than 99%.     

Cross-National Variations in Behavioral Profiles Among Homeless Youth

Cross-national comparisons of homeless youth in Melbourne, Australia, and Los Angeles, CA, United States were conducted. Newly (n = 427) and experienced (n = 864) homeless youth were recruited from each site. Compared to Australia, homeless youth in the United States were younger, more likely to be in school or jail, demonstrated fewer sexual and substance use risk acts, fewer suicidal acts, and reported less need for social services. Across sites, experienced homeless youth were more likely to be older, male, engage in sexual and substance use, report greater need for social services, and make greater use of work, substance use, and health-related services. Homeless youth have different behavioral profiles in Australia and the United States, reflecting differences in the effectiveness of service systems in the two countries in keeping youth with fewer problems out of homelessness.     

Stereotype Threat Effects on the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Scores of African Americans1

The present experiment examined stereotype threat effects on the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices (Raven) scores of African Americans. Support was found for Hypothesis 1, which stated that African Americans would experience significantly greater stereotype threat than Whites during an IQ testing situation. Hypothesis 2 proposed that a significant Race x Test Diagnosticity Condition interaction would occur in which the mean difference in intelligence test scores between African Americans and Whites (favoring the latter group) would be largest when the test was framed as a measure of intelligence, and smaller when framed as nonindicative of intelligence. Limited support for Hypothesis 2 was found in that a marginally significant Race x Test Diagnosticity Condition interaction was obtained. However, the interaction failed to reach conventional levels of statistical significance. Although preliminary, the present findings provide some support for the notion that stereotype threat compromises the intelligence test performance of African Americans.     

What do pre-adolescents and adolescents understand about HIV/AIDS?

Abstract

Pre-adolescents and adolescents (N= 80, aged 10, 12, 15, and 18 years) were tested on their knowledge of HIV/AIDS. Knowledge was assessed using a self-report questionnaire (examining levels of factual knowledge) and a semi-structured interview (examining cognitive developmental levels of understanding). Examination of the developmental shifts in understanding of HIV/AIDS revealed an increase in conceptual complexity on causal and prevention dimensions. The main conceptual changes included a shift from single cause to multiple cause solutions and a shift from identifying surface or immediate features to implicating less salient features. Additionally, with age, concepts about HIV/AIDS were increasingly organised around internal, physiological principles. Questionnaire responses yielded significant age-related increases in knowledge. Level of knowledge, as measured by the questionnaire, was higher than that assessed by the interview for the three youngest age groups. Thus, factual information acquired about HIV/AIDS is not automatically accompanied by understanding. In light of these findings the past conclusion that adolescents have high levels of knowledge of HIV/AIDS is questioned.     

Delinquency in gangs — Selection or socialization?

Thornberry, Krohn, Lizotte, and Chard-Wierschem's (1993) introduced three models to account for why gangs are associated with high levels of delinquency. Existing research using Thornberry et al.'s (1993) models to explain the gang-delinquency association has been inconclusive. This paper seeks to address this gap in research by incorporating Moffitt's (1993) developmental taxonomy of delinquency within Thornberry et al.'s (1993) explanatory models. A few proposals are put forth in this paper: (1) support for Thornberry et al.'s (1993) models depends on developmental stage of the individual, (2) the selection model explains delinquency of life-course-persistent gang members, while social facilitation model explains delinquency of adolescence-limited gang members, and (3) support for the enhancement model is an artifact of assuming a homogenous gang sample.     

Validity of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP–64) for Predicting Assertiveness in Role-Play Situations

The Buddhist notion of “nonattachment” (release from mental fixations) is related to but distinguishable from the Western construct of attachment. Secure (or insecure) attachment is based on internal working models related to security (or insecurity), whereas nonattachment is based on insight into the constructed and impermanent nature of mental representations. Based on historical and contemporary Buddhist scholarship, we designed the Nonattachment Scale and evaluated its psychometric properties in various samples. We also present evidence consistent with Buddhist theory that nonattachment is psychologically and socially adaptive, and we offer directions for further research on nonattachment.     

Counsellors' perceptions of client progression when working with clients who intentionally self‐harm and the impact such work has on the therapist

Introduction: This paper describes a qualitative study focusing on counsellors' perceptions of client progression when working with clients who intentionally self‐harm and the impact this has on the therapist. Method: Semi‐structured interviews were employed and the constant comparative method utilised to analyse the data. Findings: Findings indicate that counsellors experience intense emotions in response to self‐harm including: shock; sadness; anxiety; anger; and frustration. Counsellors also struggled to manage the tension between multiple dualities, corresponding to professional opinions of a seemingly polar opposite nature. Although participants indicated a requirement to work in a client‐led way, they all had either an explicit or implicit agenda for change. These two conflicting states create a tension for a counsellor that is difficult to resolve. In addition there were various views of client progression, yet all participants agreed that progression was not simply about stopping self‐harm. Conclusion: There is a significant impact on the counsellor when working with clients who intentionally self‐harm and the complexity of the phenomenon appears to exacerbate their anxiety. Implications: Further research within the counselling field focusing on the ambiguous nature of the subject may increase understanding, which in turn may contribute to greater therapist efficacy when working with this client group.