EXAMINING RATING SOURCE VARIATION IN WORK BEHAVIOR TO KSA LINKAGES

We examined Work Behavior to knowledge, skill, or ability linkage ratings for 9 jobs to determine the degree to which differences in the ratings were due to rater type. We collected ratings from incumbents and 2 types of job analysts: project job analysts (analysts knowledgeable of the job) and nonproject job analysts (analysts with very little or no knowledge of the job). In our analyses of the data, we calculated means, standard deviations, effect sizes, and correlations for each rater type, as well as compared the reliability of the ratings. We also estimated variance components for each job by conducting generalizability analyses ( Brennan, 1983 ; Shavelson, Webb, & Rowley, 1989 ). Our findings indicate that the level of linkage ratings is similar across rater types, that it is important to obtain ratings from multiple raters regardless of rater type, and that ratings from job analysts may be more reliable than those of incumbents.     

Dearly Departed: How Often Do Congregations Close?

We establish for the first time a national mortality rate for religious congregations by determining the 2005 status of congregations in the 1998 National Congregations Study sample. The annual mortality rate for religious congregations is 1 percent, which is among the lowest mortality rates ever observed for any type of organization. This unusually low mortality rate probably indicates an organizational population whose weakest members live on in a weakened state rather than an organizational population that is unusually robust all the way down to its most vulnerable members.     

Women's Postrape Sexual Functioning: Review and Implications for Counseling

The authors present a literature review concerning the effects of rape on sexual functioning and suggestions for facilitating sexual recovery of rape survivors in counseling.     

The Effects of Classroom Guidance on Children's Success in School

The authors investigated the effects of classroom guidance on children's classroom behavior, attitudes toward school, and achievement in language arts and mathematics. Pretreatment and posttreatment data were collected on each variable for the treatment and control groups. The study involved 896 children (grades 4 and 5) from 18 different schools in North Carolina. The children came from virtually every geographic region of North Carolina and represented varying economic, social, and cultural environments. Eighteen school counselors volunteered to lead the guidance sessions for children in the treatment group. Results showed the treatment group (n = 453) improving and the control group (n = 443) declining on two measures of classroom behavior and on a single measure of attitude toward school. The differences in score changes between the groups on all these measures were statistically significant (p<.001). The results showed no significant differences in language and math grade changes between the groups. The differences in language grade changes between the groups approached significance (p<.10, however, with the treatment group's language grades improving and the control group's language grades not changing.     

A Sort Card System for Therapists of Working Women

The author discusses the use of a system of sort cards that focus on the dilemmas of working women. The cards are used as a basis for therapy to help women focus on and come to terms with their ambivalences.     

A Perspective for Roffers,Cooper, and Sultanoff

Roffers, Cooper, and Sultanoff conclude that there is support for the use of skill-based training methods to increase counselor trainees' skill applications, but there is a great need to assess whether trainees' skills lead to positive client outcome. The author presents a perspective on the extensive evidence that already exists to support the connection between trainees' skills and positive client outcome.     

A Conversation With Donald H. Blocher

Donald H. Blocher has been a major contributor and advocate in the field of counseling psychology for more than 30 years. He has written six books, more than 60 book chapters and journal articles, and has had several publications translated into international journals. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, a recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award from Harvard University, and a Fulbright Lecturer in the United Kingdom. Donald Blocher was interviewed on the occasion of his retirement after a distinguished career. In this conversation he discusses a wide range of provocative ideas as he looks back at his life as a developmental psychologist.     

Forming a Consortium: A Design for Interagency Collaboration in the Delivery of Service Following the Disclosure of Incest

A central issue in the treatment of intrafamilial sexual abuse is the "secondary trauma" experienced by both the victimized child and her family when the wider system of regulatory and treatment agencies present redundant, incongruent, or conflicting perspectives and demands. This article describes an attempt to effect second-order change through formation of a consortium of regulatory and treatment agencies to develop a consistent and coordinated response to the disclosure of sexual abuse. Feminist, social constructionist, and organizational development ideas are used to develop principles of intersubjectivity, collaboration and a "both-and" stance, which have guided both the clinical and wider systems work.