Expanding Treatment for the Elderly: Counseling in a Private Medical Practice

The exploding elderly population demands expanded services in new settings. A primary care practice invites unique opportunities for counseling geriatric patients with psychosocial concerns.     

A SURVEY OF EXECUTIVE COACHING PRACTICES

Despite the ubiquity of executive coaching interventions in business organizations, there is little uniformity in the practices (e.g., assessment tools, scientific or philosophical approaches, activities, goals, and outcome evaluation methods) of executive coaches. Addressing the ongoing debate about the role of psychology in executive coaching, we compare the practices of psychologist and nonpsychologist coaches, as well as the practices of coaches from various psychological disciplines (e.g., counseling, clinical, and industrial/organizational). Results of surveys completed by 428 coaches (256 nonpsychologists, 172 psychologists) revealed as many differences between psychologists of differing disciplines as were found between psychologist and nonpsychologist coaches. Moreover, differences between psychologists and nonpsychologists were generally small (average d = .26). Our survey also revealed some differences in the key competencies identified by psychologist and nonpsychologist coaches.     

MEN,WOMEN, AND MANAGERS: ARE STEREOTYPES FINALLY CHANGING?

As the number of women in management roles increases and organizations place a greater emphasis on diversity, a subsequent change in perceptions of women as leader-like is expected. To test this notion, we examined gender and management stereotypes of male and female managers and students. Results reveal considerable change in male managers' views of women over the past 30 years, as evidenced by greater congruence between their perceptions of women and successful managers and stronger endorsement of agentic and task-oriented leadership characteristics for women. Stereotypes held by male students changed less, remaining strikingly similar to stereotypes held by male managers 15 years ago. Across samples, there was general agreement in the characteristics of managers but less agreement about the characteristics of women. We also found men somewhat less likely than women to attribute successful manager characteristics to women. Respondents with positive past experiences with female managers tended to rate women higher on management characteristics.     

Maternal Distress and Parenting in the Context of Cumulative Disadvantage

To read this article's abstract in both Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, please visit the article's full‐text page on Wiley InterScience ( http://interscience.wiley.com/journal/famp ). This article presents an emergent conceptual model of the features and links between cumulative disadvantage, maternal distress, and parenting practices in low‐income families in which parental incarceration has occurred. The model emerged from the integration of extant conceptual and empirical research with grounded theory analysis of longitudinal ethnographic data from Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three‐City Study. Fourteen exemplar family cases were used in the analysis. Results indicated that mothers in these families experienced life in the context of cumulative disadvantage, reporting a cascade of difficulties characterized by neighborhood worries, provider concerns, bureaucratic difficulties, violent intimate relationships, and the inability to meet children's needs. Mothers, however, also had an intense desire to protect their children, and to make up for past mistakes. Although, in response to high levels of maternal distress and disadvantage, most mothers exhibited harsh discipline of their children, some mothers transformed their distress by advocating for their children under difficult circumstances. Women's use of harsh discipline and advocacy was not necessarily an “either/or” phenomenon as half of the mothers included in our analysis exhibited both harsh discipline and care/advocacy behaviors. Maternal distress characterized by substance use, while connected to harsh disciplinary behavior, did not preclude mothers engaging in positive parenting behaviors.     

BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN OVERT AND PERSONALITY-BASED INTEGRITY TESTS

Overt and personality-based integrity tests are used for the same purposes, but the relationship between the two kinds of measures is unclear. Moreover, although the construct validity of personality-based integrity measures is well understood, the psychological meaning of overt integrity measures is unclear. A sample of applicants ( N = 2,168) for driver, warehouse, and clerical jobs completed an overt integrity test (Reid Report), a personality-based integrity test (Employee Reliability Index) and a measure of normal personality (Hogan Personality Inventory). A principal components analysis of the intercorrelations between the overt and the personality-based integrity item responses revealed four themes: (a) punitive attitudes, (b) admissions of illegal drug use, (c) reliability, and (d) theft admissions. A model testing for a general conscientiousness factor provided a good fit for the overt and personality-based integrity test variables, although item overlap between the two test types was minimal. Finally, the punitive attitudes and theft admissions components of the Reid item pool are most closely related to the Big Five personality factors of conscientiousness and emotional stability; the Reid component of illegal drug use was unrelated to personality measures.     

More Dyke Methods

In response to a commentary by Jacquelyn N. Zita on the essay “Dyke Methods,” the three principles of that work—” I speak only for myself,”“I do not try to get other wimmm to accept my beliefs in place of their own,” and “There is no given,” are further clarified and developed.     

Counselors' Perceptions of Spirituality in the Therapeutic Process

The authors investigated the attitudes of 147 Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs) in 2 southeastern states concerning spirituality in the therapeutic process. Results indicate that LPCs recognize the importance of being aware of their own spiritual beliefs. Spirituality is also viewed as a universal phenomenon that can act as a powerful psychological change agent. Respondents believe that spirituality is not experienced differently by women and men, although spirituality is believed to be expressed differently as a function of gender. Age of the client emerged as a salient variable. One's place in the aging process and one's perception of the aging process were perceived to affect the client's spiritual search. The results have implications for the training of counselors.     

DETECTING DECEPTION: THE RELATIONSHIP OF AVAILABLE INFORMATION TO JUDGMENTAL ACCURACY IN INITIAL ENCOUNTERS

The research examined the relationship of available and used nonverbal and total information when observers make deception attributions during initial exposure. Twelve interviewees underwent a procedure designed to induce deception; this yielded six deceitful and six truthful interviewees, as reflected in behavior exhibited during a postprocedure interview. Eight coders estimated the amount of available nonverbal and total information. Eighty observers made judgments as to the veracity of the interviewees and reported the amount of nonverbal and total information used in making these judgments. Comparison of available information and used information models indicates inconsistencies in total information estimates and an inability to predict accuracy of judgments based on these estimates.