Counseling Native Americans

This article addresses the issues facing White counselors in providing services to Native Americans, whose values differ significantly from the dominant culture's. Native Americans have been consistently threatened with cultural assimilation. Previously published recommendations to counselors are reviewed and the relevance and possible uses of traditional Native American healing practices are discussed. One such practice, the vision quest, is described in detail. Counselors need to learn culturally relevant metaphors in order to promote healing and change and, in effect, must themselves undergo an acculturation process.     

Counseling Implications of Genetic Research: A Dialogue With Thomas Bouchard

Thomas Bouchard is a leading researcher of identical twins reared apart. In this interview he describes the major themes in the Minnesota twin research. Although the genetic influence is central, he also pleads for the impact of environmental factors in optimal human development. Included in the interview are the surprises he has experienced, his current focus, and his plans for the future research.     

Effect of Client Sense of Humor and Paradoxical Interventions on Test Anxiety

This study investigated the effectiveness of paradoxical and non-paradoxical interventions with clients [henceforth known as participants] possessing a high or low sense of humor. Fifty-three test-anxious participants were divided into a low sense of humor group and a high sense of humor group and were assigned to a paradoxical intervention condition, a nonparadoxical intervention condition, or a no-treatment control group. Participants in all groups improved over time but, contrary to the hypothesis, low sense of humor participants improved significantly more with a paradoxical intervention than high sense of humor participants with a paradoxical intervention. There were no differences in improvement due to treatment condition for the high sense of humor group. Low sense of humor participants perceived the counselor as more able to help than did high sense of humor participants. The paradoxical intervention was seen as more surprising than the nonparadoxical intervention. Implications for the use of paradoxical interventions are discussed.     

Gender,negative affectivity,and observed social support behavior in marital interaction

Most prior research on social support in close relationships examines perceptions of support, failing to capture fully the helping behaviors that partners exchange while interacting. We observed 60 newly married couples each engage in two 10-minute interactions. with one spouse (the helper) responding while the partner (the helper) discussed a personal characteristic or problem that he or she wanted to change. Helper and helper behaviors were coded and examined in relation to gender and negative affectivity, which have been linked in prior research to perceptions of support. Husbands and wives did not differ in helper behaviors, but wives displayed more negative helper behavior than did husbands. Helper and helper behavior covaried with negative affectivity in expected directions, and helper behavior covaried with the partner's negative affectivity. Finally, analysis of negative reciprocity sequences showed that, as helpers, husbands were more likely to reciprocate negative behavior, and to have their negative behavior reciprocated, to the extent that they were high in negative affectivity. We emphasize the value of observational data in understanding social support in marriage, we discuss the implications of the findings in terms of prevailing beliefs about gender and social support, and we outline the specific links between negative affectivity and observed support behavior in marriage.     

Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods: A Research Model

A historical antagonism between proponents of qualitative methods and quantitative methods has prevented recognition of the benefits to be gained by employing both methods (that is, a multi-method approach) during the same study or program of studies. Increasingly, family therapy researchers have begun to recognize the value of a multi-method approach in bridging the current gaps among theory, research, and practice. However, current writings have yet to move beyond the discussion stage. This article proposes a bidirectional continuum that includes both qualitative and quantitative methods. An ethnographic content analysis approach is presented to illustrate the procedural stages of this continuum. The article ends with a discussion of the challenges in carrying out a bidirectional, multi-method approach and the potential contributions that an integrative research methodology will give both researchers and clinicians.     

INTUITIVE-THEORETICAL SCALES OF CONTENT AND CONTEXT SATISFACTION

Evidence has suggested the usefulness of viewing job satisfaction as composed of content and context aspects. Armstrong attempted to develop intuitive-theoretical scales measuring content and context satisfaction but the scales lacked discriminant validity. The present study attempted the development of content and context scales based on Schletzer's overall job satisfaction instrument. After the criteria of internal consistency and discriminant validity were applied in refining scales, it was found that the inter-correlation between content and context scales after correction for attenuation was 0.06 and 0.05 for two separate samples of professional workers. It was concluded that the data provided some support for the content-context dichotomy. Application of the new scales and the general method for developing scales in industrial and organizational psychology are considered.     

The Stigma Associated with Various Criminal Offenses in Hiring Decisions

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of prospective employers toward hiring ex-offenders based on the nature of the crime committed. Thirty-nine male and 30 female students in a personnel management class at a major Midwestern university were surveyed regarding their attitudes toward hiring persons convicted for the following crimes: kidnapping, armed robbery, homicide, assault and battery (nonsexual), automobile theft, rape, burglary, sale of hard narcotics, forgery, and child molesting. Statistical analyses revealed a significant difference in the total group's rankings of the 10 crimes but no significant differences between males and females.