Differences in Volunteer Interest by Level of Career Orientation

Although volunteer work can serve as a rich resource for career exploration and job experience, this study shows that the option to volunteer may be disregarded by vocationally oriented students.     

Beliefs of Professional Counselors and Clergy About Depressive Religious Ideation

Depressed clients sometimes express the belief that God wants them to suffer and even, through suicide, to die. To assess counselor and clergy beliefs about depressive religious ideation a questionnaire was developed and distributed. Respondents agreed that such ideation is a misinterpretation of Judeo-Christian principles, and respondents also tended to believe in the benefit, right, and ability to challenge such ideation. Expectation of client resistance to having such ideation challenged was more varied. Differences among the five issues appeared to be related to only some of the predictor variables. Limitations of the study and implications for further research are discussed.     

An Integrated Model of Outplacement Counseling

There is not a large amount of information on the subject of outplacement counseling. Although there are 3 existing models of outplacement, they do not contain the practical and theoretical elements necessary for a complete and effective model of outplacement counseling. The Aquilanti Integrated Model of Outplacement was developed from various aspects of existing grief and career theories after a literature review of these models to provide a complete approach to outplacement counseling.     

Christian-Published Textbooks and the Preparation of Teens for the Rigors of College Science Courses

Conservative Christian schools consistently earn higher standardized test scores than public schools while being criticized for using inferior curricular materials. This research investigates the effectiveness of Christian-published science textbooks in preparing students for the science reasoning subtest of the American College Testing. Data provide a sketch of the typical Midwest Christian high school and illuminate the rationale for endorsing one publisher-type versus another. Analysis indicates no statistical difference between the mean ACT science reasoning scores of schools using Christian-published science textbooks and those using secular-published textbooks. Multiple regression analysis also shows no significant difference in the effectiveness of two Christian publishers.     

Alcohol and Male Acceptance of Sexual Aggression: The Role of Perceptual Ambiguity1

The present study assessed the effects of drinking and behavioral ambiguity on perceptions of sexual aggression. Male participants, randomly assigned to 1 of 4 alcohol conditions (low, moderate, placebo, or control) viewed a videotaped interaction involving a couple meeting before a blind date. In the receptive condition, the female was friendly and excited. In the nonreceptive condition, she showed rigid posture and lacked enthusiasm. Participants then judged the acceptability of sexual aggression against the female and the attribution of the female's responsibility. Findings indicated a significant interaction such that in the receptive condition, higher alcohol doses elicited both greater acceptance of sexual aggression and greater attribution of female responsibility. There was no impact of alcohol dosage in the nonreceptive condition.     

Rachel's Story: A Transpersonal Experience

This article presents a case study in which a client's transpersonal/religious/spiritual experience facilitated the achievement of her counseling goal. Through the paranormal experience, she resolved several of her conflicts, including a new appreciation of the church from which she had become estranged.     

BEING AS THE GROUND OF TRUTH IN AQUINAS

Although St. Thomas Aquinas holds that the transcendentals are convertible with being, one may question whether they all follow upon the metaphysical principles of a creature in the same way. Aquinas raises the question when he says that creatures are one by essence but good only by being. This paper examines the ground of truth according to Aquinas, considering his distinction between types of truth as well as his distinguishing kinds of knowers. To advance this investigation the essay compares truth and goodness; it also includes a discussion of unity. Clearly there is a close parallel between goodness and ‘the truth of a thing’, but must the truth of the intellect – truth in the primary sense – be grounded in the extramental being of a creature? This paper argues that, for Aquinas, human knowledge of composite beings is attained through encounters with their real instances and is reflected in necessarily true yet nonanalytic statements about these creatures, statements that can be explained by St.Thomas's theory of predication, to which the theory of an influential contemporary thinker is strikingly similar. God's knowledge of finite essences, and hence truth concerning them, does not assume the actual existence of their instantiations from all eternity, but it does assume their real existence at some time. The requirement of real existence for the human mode of knowing, and, as explained, for divine knowing, underscores the value of finite being and thus harmonizes with Aquinas's claims that composite beings, as what they are, possess being more truly in themselves than as in the mind of God, and they are known properly by God only when grasped as actually existent particulars.