PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION AS A SOURCE OF GAIN IN COUNSELOR COMMUNICATION

This study investigated the effectiveness of programmed materials in interpersonal relations in improving the facilitation levels of counselor communication. Thirty Employment Service counselors were pre-tested by assessing response levels to representative client stimuli expression. The subjects were then given 10 hours of written, programmed instruction. Post-test scores indicated that statistically significant gains were realized in the communication of empathy and respect.     

Book reviews

Paul Ricoeur. Freud and Philosophy: An Essay On Interpretation (trans. Denis Savage). New Haven: Yale University Press, 1970. Pp. 1–551. Indexed. $15.00.

Keith Campbell. Body and Mind. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1970. Pp. vi, 150. Indexed. $1.45 (paper).

D. J. O'Connor. Free Will. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1971. Pp. 1–150. Indexed. $1.45.

Dwight van de Vate, Jr. (ed.). Persons, Privacy, and Feeling: Essays in the Philosophy of Mind. Memphis: Memphis State University Press, 1970. Pp. vii, 140. Indexed. $5.00.     

Suicide Prevention in Australian Aboriginal Communities: A Review of Past and Present Programs

A review of Aboriginal suicide prevention programs were conducted to highlight promising projects and strategies. A content analysis of gray literature was conducted to identify interventions reported to have an impact in reducing suicidal rates and behaviors. Most programs targeted the whole community and were delivered through workshops, cultural activities, or creative outlets. Curriculums included suicide risk and protective factors, warning signs, and mental health. Many programs were poorly documented and evaluations did not include suicidal outcomes. Most evaluations considered process variables. Results from available outcome evaluations suggest that employing a whole of community approach and focusing on connectedness, belongingness and cultural heritage may be of benefit. Despite the challenges, there is a clear need to evaluate outcomes if prevention is to be progressed.     

Who is Offering and How Often?: Gender Differences in Drug Offers Among American Indian Adolescents of the Southwest

This exploratory study examines gender differences in the patterns of drug offers among a sample of 71 American Indian middle school students. Participants respond to an inventory of drug-related problem situations specific to the cultural contexts of Southwestern American Indian youth. They are asked to consider the frequency of drug offers from specific groups in their social networks and the difficulty associated with refusing drugs from various offerers. The results indicate that female and male American Indian youth differ in the degree of exposure to drug offers and the degree of perceived difficulty in handling such offers. Even after controlling for differences in age, grade level, socioeconomic status, family structure, and residence on a reservation, girls report significantly more drug offers than boys from friends, cousins, and other peers. Compared to boys, girls also report a significantly higher sense of difficulty in dealing with drug offers from all sources.