Introduction—Accountability or A-ccount-ability?

Guest Editors Larry Ellis and William Prochnow introduce this special issue of JEC by raising questions and issues of accountability that affect all professionals in employment counseling. Past accountability definitions hare been narrowly defined using accomplishmen/cost approaches. The Manpower Administration has attempted to use this approach in the provision of and justification for counseling services. Positive outcome data have been obtained for counseled applicants, but the counseling function is still being questioned. This article proposes expanding the concept of counselor accountability and introduces a multi-approach to accountability.     

Factors Related to Counselor Preference Among Gays and Lesbians

This study explored the preference for counselor's sexual orientation among gay and lesbian clients. Recognizing that the perceived reaction of participants to hypothetical situations may be a viable predictor of future choices, respondents were administered a comfort/discomfort index intended to probe a number of potential counseling concerns. Internalized homophobia (Hudson & Ricketts, 1977) and a scale measuring degree of same- or opposite-sex sexual preferences (Kinsey, Pomeroy, Martin, & Gebbhard, 1953) were also investigated in an attempt to account for variance in the comfort/discomfort ratings. Findings indicated that gay men and lesbians tend to prefer gay or lesbian counselors, although a sizable number believe that counselors' sexual orientations do not make a difference. Internalized homophobia was found to predict discomfort in discussing various topics with a counselor of unknown sexual orientation.     

Career Counseling and Reality Therapy: A Conceptual Flowchart

Reality therapy is a cognitive behavioral approach but has not been developed for, nor associated with, career counseling. This article discusses the role of reality therapy in career counseling, with the aid of a flowchart model to present the particulars of the system.     

The Delivery of Manpower and Supportive Services to Rural Areas

This study identifies problems encountered by state employment service agencies and other organizations in the delivery of equitable manpower and supportive services to rural and migrant workers and recommends solutions to these problems.     

Results and Possible Implications of the National Board for Certified Counselors Examination

The National Board for Certified Counselors' (NBCC) National Counselor Examination (NCE) has become important in the counseling profession because of its critical role in NBCC's counselor certification process and its increasing use as a state counselor licensure examination. This importance exists in part because implications about and for the counseling profession can be drawn from results of NCE administrations. Data from the six previously administered minimum-criterion score forms of the NCE and some possible implications of those data are presented in this article.