Operationalization of the Multicultural Counseling Competencies

For the past 20 years, the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD) has provided leadership for the American counseling profession in major sociocultural and sociopolitical domains. Through our vision of the centrality of culture and multiculturalism to the counseling profession, we have created new directions and paradigms for change. One of our major contributions has been the development of the Multicultural Counseling Competencies (Sue, Arredondo, & McDavis, 1992).     

Birth control practices and conservatism

This study examined the relationship of conservatism to reports of contraceptive usage, reasons for nonusage of a particular birth control method, and knowledge of birth control information. The never married high conservative subjects who were sexually experienced revealed that they had (a) a lower frequency of usage as well as a lower variety of contraceptive methods; (b) endorsed the beliefs that it was morally wrong and that it was unnatural to use a given birth control method significantly more often as reasons for not using contraceptive techniques; and (c) less knowledge of birth control methods than did low conservative subjects who were sexually experienced. Results were interpreted to support the notion that the fear of loss of control of one's impulses and hence the basis for conservative attitudes are determinants of contraceptive usage.     

A Comparison of Two Group Contingencies on Teachers’ Use of Behavior-Specific Praise

The present study evaluated the effects of two reinforcement contingencies on teacher use of behavior-specific praise (BSP) in the classroom. An alternating treatments design was used to compare the implementation of both an independent and interdependent contingency to increase frequency of BSP delivery. Four general education elementary school teachers and their students participated. Teachers’ use of BSP and general praise, as well as, behavior-specific and general reprimands were evaluated. Data were also collected on students’ levels of academically engaged and disruptive behaviors. Both the independent and interdependent conditions resulted in higher frequencies of BSP and reduced the use of both general and behavior-specific reprimands. Student levels of academic engagement increased while disruption decreased across both contingencies. Results of the present study are discussed in terms of related literature and implications for applied practice.

     

Advancing prevention research on the role of culture in suicide prevention

Despite evidence of considerable racial/ethnic variation in adolescent suicidal behavior in the United States, research on youth of European American descent accounts for much of what is know about preventing adolescent suicide. In response to the need to advance research on the phenomenology and prevention of suicidal behavior among ethnic minority populations, NIMH co-sponsored the "Pragmatic Considerations of Culture in Preventing Suicide" workshop to elicit through interdisciplinary dialogue how culture can be considered in the design, development, and implementation of suicidal behavior prevention programs. In this discussion paper we consider the three ethnic minority suicide prevention efforts described in the articles appearing in this issue, along with workshop participants' comments, and propose six major areas where issues of culture need to be better integrated into suicidal behavior research.