How Chaos and Complexity Theory Can Help Counselors to Be More Effective

Chaos and complexity theory can help counselors to assist clients in new and unique ways. Chaos and complexity theory do not need to replace other counseling theories but can provide an alternative view. Using chaos theory in counseling requires, however, a revaluation of counselors' assumptions about the world, particularly about linearity, prediction, and control. This article uses a case study to illustrate how counselors can use chaos and complexity theory in their work with clients. This theory can offer an alternative framework to assist counselors in conceptualizing their clients and their practice.     

USING THE UNMATCHED COUNT TECHNIQUE (UCT) TO ESTIMATE BASE RATES FOR SENSITIVE BEHAVIOR

Many areas of personnel research are "sensitive." We provide an empirical assessment of the unmatched count technique (UCT) to determine the base rate for a number of proscribed behaviors for professional auctioneers. To our knowledge, this is the first empirical application of a UCT technique in organizational studies. Advantages of the UCT are discussed including: (a) a more accurate estimate of the base rates for sensitive behavior, (b) absolute anonymity to subjects, (c) "legal immunity" to the researcher, and (d) facilitation of complete disclosure to subjects with no deception.     

DESIGN, VALIDITY, AND USE OF STRATEGICALLY FOCUSED EMPLOYEE ATTITUDE SURVEYS

This paper presents logic, procedures, validity, and use of employee attitude surveys targeted on strategic objectives of the firm. The logic is that employees at the front line are in an optimal position to report on the degree to which strategic initiatives are being carried out. The procedure is to design survey questions that focus on the initiative rather than on employees' personal feelings or satisfaction. To validate employee reports, the relationships between those reports and customer satisfaction over four quarters of the use of the survey are shown. Evidence shows that the logical and empirical keying of employee surveys to strategic initiatives and objectives of the firm provide data of immediate use to management, in the present case to both marketing and human resources management.     

Multiculturalism and Rehabilitation Counselor Training: Recommendations for Providing Culturally Appropriate Counseling Services to American Indians With Disabilities

American Indians exhibit health-related problems at younger ages, as compared with the general population. They also have a disproportionate number of deaths related to alcoholism, accidents, homicides, pneumonia, influenza, diabetes mellitus, and tuberculosis as compared with the general population. In terms of mental health, depression and adjustment reactions are common problems, with the suicide rate among American Indian adults being more than twice as high as that for the general population. This article delineates specific steps necessary to successfully recruit and retain American Indians in counselor training programs, proposes a curriculum for training counselors to effectively provide services to American Indians with disabilities, and discusses the responsibility of counselor educators to concern themselves with the “job placement” of their graduates. En comparación con la población engeneral, los indios americanos tienen problemas de salud a edades más jovenes y tienen un número de mortandad deproporcionada debida al alcoholismo, acidentes, homicidios, neumonía, gripe, diabetes mellitus, y tuberculosis. En terminos de salud mental, reaciones a depresión y adaptación son problemas comunes, con la media de suicidios superior al doble de la cifra para la población general. Este artículo delinea medidas específicas que son necesarias para atraer y retener indios americanos en programas de entrenamiento de consejería, propone un programa para entrenar consejeros para el suministro eficaz de servicios a indios americanos incapacitados, y discute la responsabilidad de los educadores de consejeros para implicarlos en la búsqueda de un empleo para sus graduados.     

RELATIONS BETWEEN WORK GROUP CHARACTERISTICS AND EFFECTIVENESS: IMPLICATIONS FOR DESIGNING EFFECTIVE WORK GROUPS

Five common themes were derived from the literature on effective work groups, and then characteristics representing the themes were related to effectivness criteria. Themes included job design, interdependence, composition, context, and process. They contained 19 group characteristics which were assessed by employees and managers. Effectiveness criteria included productivity, employee satisfaction, and manager judgments. Data were collected from 391 employees, 70 managers, and archival records for 80 work groups in a financial organization. Results showed that all three effectiveness criteria were predicted by the characteristics, and nearly all characteristics predicted some of the effectiveness criteria. The job design and process themes were slightly more predictive than the interdependence, composition, and context themes. Implications for designing effective work groups were discussed, and a 54-item measure of the 19 characteristics was presented for future research.     

THE ONE STORY: A CRITIQUE OF DAVID KELSEY'S THEOLOGICAL ROBOTICS

In this article I argue that David Kelsey's approach to theological anthropology is problematic. I argue that a narrative basis proves inadequate to establish the doctrine of the Trinity and its relationship to human beings. Similarly, a Reformed humanist starting point, together with a Reformed extrinsicist account of revelation, I argue, cannot arrive at an orthodox Christology or an account of humanity as a divine gift. By bypassing ontology in favour of narrative and positivity, Kelsey is ironically forced to deny the truth of many passages of the Bible, especially the opening of Genesis, and to reject the Biblical doctrine of the image of God in humanity.     

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.