Work Values of School Counselors Attending NDEA Summer Guidance Institutes

The work values of 164 men and 108 women school counselors, experienced and qualified, and enrolled in advanced summer guidance institutes, were studied by means of the Work Values Inventory. Sex, institutional, and occupational comparisons were made. Women counselors stress esthetic, intellectual, and way-of-life values more than men counselors, who put more emphasis on economic returns, managing, and surroundings. In comparison with other occupational groups studied, men counselors stress economic returns, security, and prestige, and attach less importance to esthetics, creativity, and intellectual stimulation.     

Returning to Work Following Childbirth: The Relationship Between Intentions and Behavior

College women's intentions to return to work following childbirth were compared to behavior 10 years later. Using an Ajzen-Fishbein model, college intentions were significantly related to how soon a mother returned to work after the birth of her first child. The amount of variance explained was significant for intentions and behavior. College intentions were influenced by perceived consequences, approval of significant referents, and personal control. Return to work was predicted by intention to do so, even though the behavior occurred an average of seven years after the intention was declared. This behavior was more likely to occur among those who had a sense of personal control.     

Evaluating Rehabilitation Caseload Management Skills Through Computer Simulations

In this article the authors report on the development and validation of a computer-based rehabilitation caseload management simulation as a teaching and evaluation tool in counselor education. The computer simulation was administered to 18 rehabilitation students and 18 rehabilitation counselors. Their performance on the simulation was evaluated using six caseload management performance indicators. These performance indicators, derived from the computer simulation, were found to be effective in differentiating the student group from the experienced counselor group using discriminant analysis. Implications for the use of computer simulations in rehabilitation counselor education and future research directions are discussed.     

New Concepts in the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics

The 2014 revision of the ACA Code of Ethics (American Counseling Association [ACA], 2014 ) substantially raises the bar for the ethical practice of professional counselors. This article provides interviews with members of the ACA Ethics Revision Task Force that explore and clarify new imperatives in the areas of ethical decision making, professional values, managing and maintaining boundaries, technology (including social media), the nonimposition of counselor personal values, counselor education, legal issues, sliding scales, and fee splitting.     

Biblical narratives for positive psychology and suicide prevention: an evidence supported approach

Suicide is the ultimate outcome of a tragic view of life that is prevalent in ancient Greek writings. Indeed, over 16 suicides and self-mutilations can be found in the 26 surviving tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides. In contrast, only six suicides can be found in the Hebrew Scriptures, and only one suicide in the Christian Scriptures. In addition, the Hebrew Scriptures present numerous suicide-prevention narratives that are psychologically instructive. This paper examines evidence regarding seven risk factors for suicide and contrasts Greek and Biblical narratives to underscore the clinical and theoretical utility of the Biblical approach: (1) Feeling isolated and ignored; (2) Feeling one’s life is meaningless; (3) Feeling exiled from one’s home or homeland; (4) Feeling unable to be oneself with others; (5) Feeling alone in one’s life mission; (6) Feeling abandoned by one’s child; and (7) Feeling doomed by a dysfunctional family of origin.     

DNA Testing for Family Reunification in Canada: Points to Consider

Countries have adopted different laws, policies, and practices that allow immigration officers to request in certain cases DNA tests to confirm biological relationships in the context of family reunification. In Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Canada has adopted a policy of suggesting DNA testing only as a last resort in cases where no documentary evidence has been submitted or where the evidence provided is deemed unsatisfactory. However, in practice, there have been concerns on the increasing use of DNA tests in family reunification processes of nationals from certain regions including Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Moreover, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) presents a biological definition of family as a determinant of parenthood in the context of family reunification that is inconsistent with the psychosocial definition used in provincial family laws. Although there are cases that can justify the request for DNA tests, there are also significant social, legal, and ethical issues, including discrimination and unfair practices, raised by this increasing use of genetic information in immigration. This policy brief identifies points to consider for policymakers regarding the use of DNA testing in Canadian family reunification procedures. These include (1) the need to refine the policy of “using DNA testing as a last resort” and its implementation, (2) the need to modify the definition of “dependent child” under the IRPR to reflect the intrinsic reality of psychosocial family ties, and (3) the importance of conducting more research on the use of DNA testing in other immigration contexts.     

Chisholm's Grand Move

Abstract: Roderick Chisholm famously held that our knowledge of the world is supported entirely by a foundation of self‐justifying statements, none of which logically implies the existence of any physical object in that world. The only contingent statements to be found in the foundation, he maintained, are those that are “about our own psychological states and the ways we are ‘appeared to’.” It is a view that, as Chisholm was well aware, tallies poorly with our ordinary practice of justifying statements. We are typically happy to justify statements by ultimate appeal to what we have seen or heard; that is, by ultimate appeal to statements that logically imply that certain things in the world are as we take them to be. This essay examines how Chisholm sought to explain away this apparent disconfirmation of foundationalism by ordinary practice—in effect, how Chisholm responded to one of the chief criticisms of foundationalism launched by J. L. Austin. My suggestion will be that, when the dust clears, it is Austin who comes out ahead.     

Persistent ERK activation maintains learning-induced long-lasting modulation of synaptic connectivity

Pyramidal neurons in the piriform cortex from olfactory-discrimination (OD) trained rats undergo synaptic modifications that last for days after learning. A particularly intriguing modification is reduced paired-pulse facilitation (PPF) in the synapses interconnecting these cells; a phenomenon thought to reflect enhanced synaptic release. The molecular machinery underlying this prolonged physiological modulation of synaptic connectivity is yet to be described. We have recently shown that extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) pathway and protein kinase C (PKC) are also required for learning-induced enhancement of intrinsic neuronal excitability. Here we examine whether these signal-transduction cascades are instrumental for the learning-induced, long-lasting PPF reduction. Days after learning completion, PD98059, a selective inhibitor of MEK, the upstream kinase of ERK, increased PPF in neurons from trained, but not in neurons from na?ve and pseudo-trained rats. Consequently, the differences in PPF between neurons from trained rats and controls were abolished. The level of activated ERK in synaptoneurosomes was significantly higher in piriform cortex samples prepared from trained rats. Notably, ERK activation revealed that PPF reduction lags behind ERK activation by 2 d. Similarly, the PKC blocker, GF-109203X, enhanced PPF in neurons from trained rats only, thus abolishing the differences between groups. Interestingly, the PKC activator, OAG, had no effect, indicating that PKC activation is required, but not sufficient for long-lasting PPF reduction. Our data show that persistent ERK activation has a key role in maintaining learning-induced PPF reduction for days. This time frame of compartmental ERK-dependent synaptic modulation suggests a novel role for ERK in cortical function.