AN mvzsncmou or THE RELATiON'Sl-MP OF SOCIAL CHARACTERISTlCS TO Responses FROM SELECTED MICHiGAN HIGH SCHOOL couusaLoas Thesis for the Dam of Ed. D. MICHEGAN STATE COLLEGE Allan C. Erickson 1954 This is to certify that the thesis entitled An Investigation of the Relationship of Social Characteristics to Responses from Selected Michigan High School Counselors presented by ALLAN CIL’LRLES ERI C KSO N has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for m degree in _.E_ .du Gati O n Major profes r Date JUly 30, 19514 0469 AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP OF SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS TO RESPONSES FROM SELSCTED MICHIGAN HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELORS By C ~Fx’ ‘l ' I .5 L" Allan cf Erickson A THESIS Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION Department of Guidance and Counselor Training 1951+ ”‘4 a. *‘0‘3‘ .1/ (/7; ’5') Q 9 Allan Charles mriokson Candidate for the degree of Doctor of Education Final hxamination, July 30, 1954, 8:00 a.m. Room 17 horrill Hall Dissertation: AN INVLSTIGATION OF TEL RLLATICNSHIP OF SOCIAL CEARACTLRISTICS TO RESPONSLS FROM ShLiCTLD MICHIGAN HIGH SCHOOL COUNSLLORS. Outline of Studies: Major subject: hducetion, Guidance Minor subject: Sociology and AnthrOpology Biographical Items: Born,August l, 1924, Chicago, Illinois Undergraduate Studies, Wright Jr. College, l9u5-l947 Loyola University, 1947 DeKalb State Teachers College, 1947-1948 Graduate Studies, Michigan State College, 1949 1951-1953 hxperience: Social Science Teacher, Reed City High School, 1953—1954 Steel Salesman, B. Wolff & 00., 1950-1951 Member of the United States Army, l9u3—l945 {ember of Kappa Delta Pi V r) 3f" _, "“' ‘”_ r Lhzlla ,7 . ‘3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to express his sincere thanks to Dr. Walter Johnson, Chairman of the guidance committee, under whose constant supervision and unfailing interest this in- vestigation was undertaken and to whom the results are here- with dedicated. He is also indebted to other members of his committee, Dr. Leonard Luker, Dr. hristOpher Sower, and Dr. C. V. Millard, Graduate Council Representative, for their many helpful suggestions and criticisms. He is grateful to the officers and members of the Michigan Counselors Association without whose help the study would not have been possible. AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP OF SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS TO RESPONSES FROM SELECTED MICHIGAN HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELORS By Allan G. Erickson AN ABSTRACT Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION Department of Guidance and Counselor Training 1954 Approved WW X flaw W— The counseling profession has grown and developed in response to the needs and demands of our modern complex society. As the profession grew, so did the range of problems with which it dealt. Today the counselor deals with a wide variety of personal and social problems. In the early growth of the profession rapid shifts in personnel were made. There were no standards for selection and training of these early counselors. Today the profession is moving towards the establishment of training standards and a process of certification. An investigation of the literature reveals that some investigation of the social characteristics of counselors has been made. However, there is little research or evidence to show the relationship of these characteristics to perfor— mance. If standards are to be established there is a need to know the relationship of characteristics to performance. The problem of this study was (1) to discover the social characteristics of counselors, (2) to obtain counse- lor's responses to a series of test cases develOped for this study, and (3) to determine the degree of relationship between these social characteristics and the response typology of counselors. The method used was a mailed questionnaire that was designed to discover the social characteristics of counselors and to get responses to the alternatives contained in the test CELEBS. The counselors were to respond to the test cases by agree, disagree, or undecided. Their responses were then subject to a Chi-Square analysis to discover the degree of association between the selected social characteristics and their response typology. The level of significance estab- lished for this study was .05 or less. The social characteristics selected for contingency analysis were sex, age, education, and status concepts. The latter refers to the counselors view of his social status in relation to that of his parents. These were selected because preliminary analysis indicated their possible significance. Several hypotheses were developed for the purposes of this study. They were (1) Since counselors are a relatively homogeneous group with respect to education and occupation, they can be expected to react in similar ways to the same case data; (2) Counselors will tend to sublimste their own motiva- tions and personal biases in the counseling situation; (3) Counselors, in a conflict of the individual and institutional equilibrium, will tend to support the individual; and (4) The way in which a counselor views his social status is related to the way in which he reacts to case data. The sample selected for the study was high school counselors who were members of the Michigan Counselors Associa— tion. They were selected because they were on record as being in favor of certification and had an active committee working on the problem at the time of the study. The findings indicate that counselors in Michiga come from femilies that enjoy a fairly secure economic posi- tion. The counselor comes mainly from families where the father was either a farmer, skilled or semi-skilled worker, or in a profession. The respondents are a stable group occupationally, most of them having been in the field five yezrs or more, The greater majority have at least a masters degree. That they are educationally oriented is demonstrated by their re- sponses to the test cases and the fact that they are, in most cases, the most educated sibling in the family. There is evidence of upward occuprtional mobility when their education and occupation is compared with that of their father. Contingency analysis of the response typology in the test cases reveals several significant findings. The counse- lors in the study, as a rule, do not react in a similar way to the same case data. Further, there are significant dif- ferences in reSponse on the basis of the respondent's sex. The evidence does indicate that counselors do inject their motivations and biases into the case situation. Also, they tend to support higher education regardless of the other values which were present in the test cases. Perhaps the most significant findings is that counselors view their social status differently, and that difference is significantly related to responses in most of the test cases. 'I u. 4" \ 1‘ TABLb OF CONTENTS CHAPTmR I. II. III. IV. THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITIONS OF TERKS UBLD Statement of the problem Importance of the study Definitions of terms used. Certification Counselor . Limitations of the study Plan of the study ELVIhN OF THE LITERAT RE . . . . . The characteristics of counselors Survey studies Use of the Interview . Use of standardized tests Case studies METHODOLOGY . The questionnaire The sample Treatment of the data SOCIAL CHA.ACTsRIbTICS CF COUNsaLoas . Personal background Family background L» t4 b KR CD'QLRO\O\ 10 11 15 '16 17 18 18 20 23 26 26 31 [I] ll CHAPTBR PAGE Social background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Professional background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Status concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 V. SOCIAL CHARACTsRISTICS AND BEHAVIOR . . . . . . . . . #8 Counselors responses to the case of Jack . . . . . #9 Counselors responses to the case of Booker . . . . 55 Counselor responses to the case of Marvin . . . . . 61 Counselor responses to the case of Leslie . . . . . 67 Counselor responses to the case of Jacqueline . . . 72 Counselor responses to the case of Mary . . . . . . 75 Counselor responses to the case of Katrina . . . . 79 Counselor responses to the case of Bill . . . . . . 84 VI. SUMIARY AND CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 101 Recommendations for training . . . . . . ... . . . 107 Recommendations for further study . . . . . . . . 108 BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 APPENDIX A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 APPENDIX B TABLE . Page I. Distribution of Counselors by Sex According to the Way in Which They View Their Social Status in Comparison to that of Their Parents . . . . . . . . . #5 II. Distribution of Counselors' Ultimate Professional Objectives According to Their Status Concepts . . . . 46 ‘ III. The Response Typology of Counselors in the Case of Jack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 51 IV. The Response Typology of Counselors in the Case of Booker . . . . . . . .‘. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 V. The Response Typology of Counselors in the Case of Marvin . . . .’. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 VI. The Response Typology of Counselors in the Case of Leslie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 VII. The Reaponse Typology of Counselors in the Case of Jacqueline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 VIII. The Response Typology of Counselors in the Case of Mary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 IX. The Resnonse Typology of Counselors in the Case of Katrina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 X. The Response Typology of Counselors in the Case of Bill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED The counseling profession has grown and developed in response to the demands and needs of our modern complex society. It might be regarded as a profession which is still in its developmental stages, since it appeared on the social scene only a relatively short time ago. Cox writes: Historically guidance as a social effort in this country dates from the opening of the Breadwinner's Institute at the Civic Service House in Boston, where in 1905 Frank Parson began working out the then new idea of helping young people to find the sorts of Jobs in which they could succeed and be happy (21:1). The profession did not limit itself to the purely vocational problems of its clients and as it grew, so did the range of problems with which it dealt. Today the counselor deals with a wide variety of personal and social problems. The interrelatedness of personal and social problems with future choices and satisfaction has made this range necessary. The rapid growth and acceptance of this new profession is a reflection of the rapid changes in the educational system of the country, and secondarily the occupational system during the last half century. The era which gave rise to the counseling movement is characterized by Cox (21:4) as being a "philosophic revolution" in the world of education. John Dewey and others were fostering a fundamental change in the pattern of educational thought. No longer was ‘subject matter to be the major interest of the school. The student was to become the focal point for the school. This new philosophy and the increasing pressures created by social change made it necessary for the school to arrange its pro- gram of services to provide for individualized counseling and other new services for its students. Rapid shifts in personnel were made to meet the new demands, and counseling services were added to the school program. The early counselors were recruited from the ranks of teachers already on the staff. There were no established standards of selection or training for these early workers. Consequently, as in any period of rapid growth of a profession, many workers were selected to provide services for which they were not adequately trained. Now, with the period of rapid growth drawing to a close, ever increasing concern is given to minimum training and standards of competency. Brayfield states: Looking to the future, one trend seems apparent: raising professional standards. The period of much- room growth has come to a halt and the demand in the future will be of such a nature that only the pro- fessionally trained will be able to qualify for employment. (833) There is a trend toward certification (19) and the establishment of minimum standards. Several writers (2, ll, 29, 58) have dealt with the problem of the training and selection of counselors. Although there are differences, most writers agree on several criteria. One criterion agreed upon is the need for the counselor to have an under- standing of the realities of our culture and to be able to counsel students in terms of these realities. Much has been done to examine the training levels needed and personality factors have been explored. However, there has been little research or evidence concerning the “social characteristics of counselors; or the relationship to behavior of the characteristics of counselors. I. STATEhENT OF THE PROBLEM It was the purpose of this study (1) to discover the social characteristics of counselors (2) to obtain counselors' reaponses to a series of test cases developed for the study, and (3) to determine the degree of relationship between these social characteristics and the response typology of counselors. The social characteristics to be described were age, sex, education, residential background, organizational experi- ences, voluntary associations, professional objectives, and status concepts. They were used as variables mainly because research has shown them to be related to behavior. Role theory, such as outlined by Linton, suggests that the age, sex, and education of an individual is associated with be- havior (hh:263-66). The relationship of characteristics with judgments was examined in relation to the response typology of the selected sample to a series of test cases developed expressly for this study. Each of the eight test cases contained a short explanation of the problem situation and a series of four to seven alternatives to which the counselor was to respond by indicating that he would agree, disagree, or was undecided. One alternative was common to all of the cases and the remainder were peculiar to a particular case. The alter- natives were constructed to present the counselor with a value conflict situation, the purpose being to determine what values were paramount for the counselor. All the alternatives were important for indicating the direction of counselor reaction. However, in testing the hypothsss and measuring contingency the interest of the study was in the one or two "key“ alternatives each case contained. In any study of the counselor he must be considered as playing a role in a social setting. Social characteristics become necessary variables for analysis of counselor Judg- ments within this frame of reference, i.e. the social setting. "No phenomena are causal; all phenomena are contingent, and the problem before us is to measure the degree of this contingency. ...... "(53:174). In persuance of the problem several hypotheses were developed. They are (1) since counselors are a relatively homogeneous group with respect to education and occupation they can be expected to react in similar ways to the same case data, (2) counselors will tend to sublimate their own motivations and personal biases in the counseling situation, (3) counselors, in a conflict of the individual and institu- tional equilibrium, will tend to support the individual, and (4) the way in which a counselor views his social status is related to the way in which he reacts to case data. II. IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY In spite of the general recognition of the importance of social characteristics as indicators for the behavior of counselors little research or evidence has been presented to demonstrate the association of these characteristics with the .actions of counselors. The counselor tries to assist young people in their adjustment to their environment. The counseling relationship brings into play the backgrounds of both counselor and counselee. If the complexities of American culture can be appreciated (73), the immense differences in background that are possible become readily apparent. The social experiences of an individual give rise to various values which, in turn, form the basis of his philosophy of life. These philosophies have a direct impact on the counseling situation. Vorden- berg, for example, feels that: The understanding of the student is incomplete with— out an understanding of his philosophy of life and the emperical basis for it; nor is counseling on firm ground without the counselor's understanding his own philosophy of life and the subtle, and sometimes umdetected, impact of these philosophies on the counseling situation (67:4u0). He goes on to say: Regardless of the personal philosophy evolved by the counselor it must surely effect the techniques he uses and the evaluation of the effectiveness of his work (67:4b0). III. DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED In terms of the working hypotheses, and the problem proposed, certain definitions are necessary. This section deals with the definitions and concepts that are employed in this study. Certification. "Certification" is interpreted to mean the giving of professional recognition, and the limiting of the profession, to peOple who possess certain minimal personal, professional, and training standards, which meet the qualifications established by a legal certifying body. Counselor. In this study the term "counselor" is in- terpreted to mean any person who is a member of the Michigan Counselors Association, is employed in the secondary schools, and has assigned as part of his duties a definite period of time for counseling. This definition necessarily excludes college and elementary school counselors as well as those employed in other institutions. IV. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY This is a study of a group of counselors who are employed in the Michigan high schools and who are members of the Michigan Counselors Association. Thus the scope of the study is limited to a rather specific group and educa- tional level. The findings may or may not apply to counselors in general. The number of variables may also be important to the study. Certainly, they are not the only variables that should be explored. The data were gathered by means of a mailed questionnaire and are subject to many of the limitations of a mailed questionnaire. Some of these limi- tations are suggested by Young. They include: (1) the possibility of a biased return; (2) the possibility of dif- ferent frames of reference for the reapondents; (3) the possible limitations in the number and types of questions that can be asked; and (h) the possibility of misjudging the representativeness of the returns received (75:184-225). A survey approach was used. This fact necessarily limited the depth of exploration in Specific areas. Every possible precaution was used to minimize the effects of these limitations. Despite,the limitations, the need for research in this area is so compelling that the obvious limitations, though important, were not considered to be of such a restrict- ing nature as to make the study valueless. The shortcomings, as well as the findings/should provide a valuable basis for further study and the refinement of the techniques and in- struments used. V. PLAN OF THE STUDY The plan of the study was dictated by the types of data explored and the purposes of the study. The following is a presentation of the areas to which succeeding chapters will be devoted. Chapter II. This chapter consists of a review of the literature, the main body of which will be presented here. Since this study is based on concepts employed by counselors as well as sociologists, the review will cover pertinent literature from both fields. Chapter III. The methodology and sample are covered in this chapter. The methodology was suggested by procedures employed in both fields. The statistical techniques employed will be covered as well as a description of the sample and a breakdown of the returns received. Chapter $1, This chapter is devoted to a description of the counselors in terms of the characteristics studied. Certain inferences were drawn from the presentation. Chapter 1, Here are presented the reactions of the counselors to the test cases used, along with directional trends, the contingency of such characteristics as sex, age, education and status concepts with reaponses to certain "key” alternatives found in each case. Chapter I. The last chapter contains a summary and conclusions. Recommendations for training of counselors and for future studies are also presented here. CHAPTER II A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE In order to provide the necessary framework for this study and its accompanying hypotheses it is important to re- view that literature dealing with the social characteristics ‘of counselors. The main body of literature is reviewed in this chapter. However, since certain of the sources are pertinent to materials presented elsewhere, these are deveIOped in other chapters. I. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF COUNSELORS Since the main emphasis of this study is on the rela- tionship between certain social characteristics and counselor behavior, it should receive the most attention in the review ,9; literature. However, little attention has been paid to the characteristics of counselors, and even less to the association of these characteristics with behavior. Cottle (18:445-50), reviewing the current literature, called it "sporadic and unrelated". Lbst of the literature has concerned itself with finding out what the desired characteristics are. Writers have relied mainly on the opinions of counselees, employers, ll trainers of counselors, and parents. Those studies which have measured the characteristics of counselors stOpped at that point, or went little further. Those studies that did examine counselors in test situations were mainly interested in whether or not discrimination between counselors was possible, and did not attempt to go any further. There is a great need for developing techniques that will help to find out what social characteriatics are associated with what kinds of behavior. Survey studies. The survey study is the first type to be reviewed. This kind of study was eSpecially concerned with counselors who were rated "good", “bad", or “competent". The basis for this judgment is never fully understood by anyone reading these studies. The first scientific attempt to understand the characteristics of counselors was that of Edgerton (28), who reported the results of an intensive study of vocational counselors in 143 cities. He was interested in the training, duties, and experience of these counselors, but he also in- vestigated counseling practices and policies. This study is important because of its use as a reference and model for many of the studies that followed. 12 Edgerton's study was largely of a descriptive nature and concerned with ascertaining the "status quo". In l9h0 Richard J. Bailey (2) made a study of counselors for the purpose of arriving at a process of selection, certification, and training for personnel workers in secondary schools. Bailey's study represents a shift from the ascertainment of the "status quo" to what is needed for improvement in the field. This study was conducted mainly by questionnaire, and used as its population a large heterogeneous group com- posed of counselors, supervisors of counselors, and deans. This study revealed that in the majority of states and com- munities studied counseling is still a part~time job. He found that, as a group, counselors displayed certain charac- teristics. Among them were approachability, good judgment, and a wide background of knowledge and interest. He concluded that: All personnel functionaries should be certified by means of a secondary school teachers' certificate plug a special counseling certificate (2:467). There was some attempt to get at the specific behavior of the counselor but not to relate the characteristics dis- played by the counselor to his behavior. Cox (21) compkwed a questionnaire study of counselors in 1946. She also interviewed part of her sample. She was interested in a select group of counselors who were rated as l3 "competent" by their employers. She examined such things as training, social contacts, and experience. Among her conclusions was the following: The preliminary study of counselors' functions and of counselors' experiences indicate that facility in dealing with social and racial differences is desirable for the adequate discharge of the counselor's responsi— bilities (21:121). Cox deveIOped several case studies of various coun— selors and succeeded in illustrating the influence of the counselor's background on his behavior in a broad sense. However, this illustration did not deal with very specific items, nor was the question of what employers meant by com- petency answered. Although Cox went further than the pre- vious studies, she nevertheless did not measure counselor behavior in specific situations. Ruby E. Brown (11) made a study of a group of counse- lors who were “recommended’I by outstanding people from various organizations and schools. One of the techniques she used was that of getting counselor responses to the Strong Voca- tional Interest Blank, from which she drew some conclusions. Thus: The data presented indicated that counselors are most interested in occupations which are concerned with the social interrelationships among individuals and groups of individuals (11:64). 14 She explored such things as family background,training desires, and opinions in relation to specific situations. She attempted to show the relationship between characteristics and reaponses in more than a superficial way. This study comes closest to what the present study attempts to do. Elliot (29) examined a group of counselors working in a Special project with adolescents. The counselors were rated as "good" or "bad" by a body of judges. Then the counselors and their parents were interviewed. This study is of a select group working on a specific project. Although the judges agreed on the rating of the counselors, there is little explanation of the basis for judgment. This lack of explanation is a common fault of many of the earlier studies. After observation, personal interviews, and contact with the counselor's parents certain conclusions were drawn about the counselor. The "good" counselors were found to be (1) leaders in extra-class activities; (2) happy in both grammar and high school experiences; (3) more religious than the general population; and (u) liked by both parents and siblings (29:92—100). This study at least associates certain characteristics with successful performance and represents an attempt to show an association between characteristics and behavior. 15 The aforementioned studies were all, more or less, of the survey type. They demonstrate a change in interest from pure description of the “status quo" to analysis of the characteristics that are associated with counselor behavior. There is need to go still further and test the relationship of characteristics and behavior in specific situations. H§2.QZ the interview. There are several studies that have attempted to determine what techniques could be used to discriminate among different counselors. The most common approach has been to use the "interview" as a tool for this discrimination. Porter (55) did a study of a select group of counselors to see if the interview were a means of getting at differences among counselors. He used rating sheets as a device to get at the judgments of the counselors concerning specific inter- views. He found counselors to be highly consistent from one interview to another. Further, he demonstrated that there is a measurable degree of directiVeness characteristic of dif- ferent counselors (55:67-72). Porter's study shows the possibility of using the interview situation for differentiating among different counselors. The next study represents an attempt to discover the differences among counselors through the use of inter— views. 16 Reid and Snyder (57:128-135) made a study of fourteen graduate students in counseling at Ohio State University. These students were rated as "good“ or “bad" counselors by the staff. They were all exposed to transcriptions and recordings of several interviews. They were instructed to see whether they could recognize the feelings displayed in the interview situation. They concluded that "good" counse- lors tended to find more feelings and to agree more on the feelings displayed. Th§_E§§__§_standardized tests. There have been several attempts to use standardized tests to determine differences among counselors. Brown (11) used the Strong Vocational Interest Blank as part of her methodology. Kriedt (#1) also employed the Strong. Although Kriedt's interest was primarily in the develop— ment of a series of "psych scales" to differentiate among different kinds of psycholOgists, he did several things that have meaning here. He used the Strong with a group of psychologists who were members of the A. P. A. He compared the interest patterns of the various kinds of psychologists. He found that "guidance psychologists" tended to be more in- terested in social service occupations than psychologists in general (41:56). 17 The use of standardized instruments would seem to offer an additional way to measure the characteristics of counselors. However, they do not test these related charac— teristics in actual behavioral situations. Case studies. Another method that seems to hold promise is the use of "case studies" with groups of counse- lors. Robinson's (58) approach is a good illustration of this. A series of short case studies was developed for use with graduate students in guidance. The cases were labeled as "athlete, plodder, bright", et cetera. The students were asked to decide what cases needed counseling the most and what kinds of counseling help was needed. One behavior pattern of all the counselors was readily apparent; a ten- dency to ignore the needs of the seemingly better adjusted. The outstanding weakness of the present studies would seem to be their general descriptive nature. There is little, if any, attempt to demonstrate the relationship between the characteristics of the counselor and his responses. Most of the studies are of such a nature as only to scratch the sur- face. There is a demonstrated need for more than descrip- tion. The present study considered this fact and attempted to overcome some of the shortcomings of previous studies. CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY This chapter is concerned with the methods used in the collection and analysis of the data which form the basis of this study. Attention is giVen to the construction of the questionnaire, the population studied, and the statisti- cal techniques employed in the analysis of the findings. I. THE QUESTIONNAIRE Data for testing the hypotheses stated in Chapter I were collected by means of a mailed questionnaire. The questionnaire was used to obtain the data about the social characteristics of the population studied, as well as to get counselor reactions to specific test situations. DevelOpment g; the questionnaire. The questionnaire used for this study was developed at Michigan State College during the fall and winter of 1952-53. Its construction followed the advice of staff members of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and Guidance and Counselor Train- ing at Michigan State. 19 The questionnaire was divided into two parts. The first part consisted of a series of questions designed to ascertain the social characteristics of the sample. The second part consisted of a series of test cases to which the counselor responded.1 The eight test caSes were constructed to present a student in a problem situation demanding some kind of de- cisive action. The situation is explained in one or two paragraphs. Then the counselor is asked to respond to the series of alternatives in the case which suggests possible solutions to the problem stated. These alternatives are stated in such a way as to present a conflict of values. The idea being that the counselor's response typology reveals those values which are paramount for him in the situation presented. Before the questionnaire was sent to the selected sample it was given to a group of fourteen graduate students at Michigan State College. All were graduate students in the guidance field. Nine of the group had a year or more of experience as counselors in the public schools. 1See Appendix A for a copy of the questionnaire. 20 The students in the sample were instructed to answer the questionnaire, to suggest word revisions and.to indicate where questions were not clear. Several changes were sug- gested and where three or more agreed these changes were made. II, THE SAMPLE The sample was limited to members of the Michigan Counselors Association who were employed as counselors on a full or part-time basis in the secondary schools. It was hoped that a check with the staff at Michigan State College and various other sources would insure that all the people to whom the questionnaire was sent would qualify as counselors as defined by this study. However, this did not turn out to be the case. Job situations for several members of the sam- ple changed even during the course of the study. Securing the gage. After final revision the forms were mailed to the selected sample of counselors. A letter of explanation accompanied the forms and a stamped self- addressed envelope was included for convenience in returning the completed forms. The accompanying letter mentioned the support of the certification committee of the association and the Department of Guidance and Counselor Training at Michigan State College. Since the Michigan Counselors Association 21 were on record as favoring certification the letter further stated that the study would supply information needed in establishing recommendations for certification standards.1 Six weeks after the forms were mailed, a follow-up letter was sent. A self-addressed postcard was enclosed with the follow-up letter. The letter asked the counselor to check one of the alternatiVes listed on the postcard to be returned. Nowhere in the questionnaire was the counselor asked to place his name. The sample was assured that its anony- mity would be respected. The only place for'a name was on the follow-up postcard. The two sections of the question- naire were marked.with an identifying number which was used to keep the two sections together and not to identify a particular counselor. Undoubtedly, the support of the Department of Guidance and Counselor Training and the certifiCation committee of the Michigan Counselors Association tended to increase the number of returns received, as well as the fact that the findings were to be summarized in a future issue of the Michigan Counselor, the official publication of the Associa- tion. 1See Appendix B for a copy of the letters and postcard. A total of 172 people were included in the sample to whom the questionnaire was mailed. There were ninety men and eighty-two women. The questionnaire was returned by eighty— nine counselors, forty-three men and forty—six women. This represents a 51.8 per cent return. However, these percent- ages are not a complete picture of the returns. Subsequent investigation of the returned postcards revealed the following information: twelve counselors had no counseling duties at the time of the study. Twenty stated that they would be unable to complete the questionnaire. Seventeen indicated that they would complete the forms but only six had completed theirs at the time the study was com- pleted. Six counselors requested that a second copy of the forms be sent, and four of these six completed the forms. This meant that some response was received from 135 out of the 172 people in the sample. No response was obtained from eighteen women and nine- teen men. An attempt was made to investig..te this group further. Further investigation revealed that six of them had no counseling duties. Of the remaining thirty-one nothing is known. The findings reported in the subsequent chapters are based upon eighty— six counselors who completed the first section of the questionnaire and seventy-one who completed 23 the second section. Three returns were not included in the description and analysis because they did not qualify as counselors as defined by this study. III. TREATMENT OF THE DATA The descriptive phase of the analysis was mainly in terms of numbers and percentages. In some few instances the concepts of range and mean are employed. The analysis of association was by means of a Chi-Square (X2) analysis. The Specific statistical test employed was the Chi- Square method of statistical analysis. The Chi-Square method , is a test for contingency; that is, it is a statistical test used to determine the degree of chance that two variables are related. In the case of the Chi-Square method, both variables are non-quantitative. This means that they are capable of description in terms other than numerical. Some examples are marital status, occupation, and education. The Chi-Square method used in the study is described in'Margaret Hagood's (34:488-540) Statistics for Sociologists. The methods for demonstrating the existence of association, the direction of association, and the degree of association between two variables are described there. The significance} test used to demonstrate the existence of association 2h necessitates the use of Fisher and Yates (30:27) table of Chi-Square (X2) distribution. When the Chi-Square method is used.where the number of units in each cell is small, a correction factor is necessary (34:512). The correction factor is especially important when "the value of chi-square is near the signifi- cance level, since the correction factor always reduces chi— square" (3#:512). The correction factor is applied by reducing by .5 any deviation of the observed from the expected frequency in each cell in the table. This correction factor was applied to all contingency tables where any expected cell frequency was less than five. . This study established the Probability (P) of .05 or less as being significant. That is, the variables being measured are associated in more than a chance manner. A probability (P) of .05 means that the association between the variables could occur by chance at this significance level only five times out of one hundred. If a Probability (P) of .05 or less is found, the association has been treated as significant and not due to chance. The choice of the .05 probability level as signifi— cant is an arbitrary choice. There is no uniform level of significance established for sociological research (34:h49). i 25 The choice of significance levels is left up to the individual researcher to decide. The decision as to significance levels in this study was dictated by the types of data used and the degree of refinement considered necessary. Probabilities of between .05 to .20 were treated as indicating direction. That is, a tendency for the association to occur, but not at a level that can be considered signifi- cant. If two variables are found in association at P .05 - .20 consistently, it is reasonable to believe that there may be some reason for this finding. In such cases they would suggest a further analysis. Where this occurs it will be pointed out. CHAPTER IV SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF COUNSELORS This chapter is concerned with a presentation of the characteristics displayed by the group studied. The presenta— tion is divided into five sections: (1) personal background, (2) family background, (3) social background, (4) professional background, and (5) status concepts. The exposition is mainly in terms of numbers and per- centages. Certain implications are suggested by the data and these are pointed out along with the presentation. I. PERSONAL BACKGROUND ég_. A practicing counselor typically has a high degree of formal education. It is desirable that he have both teaching and business experience. The counselor who has met these requirements would be of a relatively mature age. The data reveal that the counselors in the sample were generally forty years of age or older. Almost one- half (48.8 per cent of 83) were between forty and forty- nine years of age. The mean age of the group was 45.36 years, and the group may thus be described as largely a "middle— age" one. 27 lgagg in present position. It is a generally accepted fact that the counselor should be a well adjusted, stable person to be effective. That he must be qualified and like his work is axiomatic. One evidence of stability and pro- fessional effectiveness might be that he has been in his present position for a number of years. The counselors who returned the blanks apparently were occupationally stable, since the majority (67 out of 86) had been in their present position five or more years. This finding is essentially the same as reported by Cox (21:30) in her Study of counselors on a national basis, in which she concluded that counselors tend to stay in the profession and have several years of public school experience. Years 2; experience as a counselor. Counseling is an expanding profession. Its recruits have come largely from the ranks of practicing teachers. This is substantiated in this study by the fact that eighty-four out of eighty-six respondents were at one time practicing teachers. Also, for some sixty—five counselors the data revealed they have had more years in their present position than years experience as a counselor. Seventy-three per cent of those reporting (85) have had five or more years of counseling experience. 28 Education. Most training courses in counseling are offered at the graduate level. This, coupled with the fact that the group had to meet certification requirements for teaching, would result in a high degree of formal education. As would be expected, the population diaplays a high level of formal education. Eighty-six per cent of the eighty—five reporting have at least a master's degree. Sev- eral counselors mentioned being enrolled for graduate work at the time of the study, and two expected to complete their doctorates shortly. In the majority of cases (69.1 per cent of 81) the counselor has a higher level of formal educttion than any other sibling in the family regardless of his position in the family. If the twelve counselors who are an gply_ghllg are not considered, it can be seen that 81.2 per cent of the respondents received more education than any other sibling in the family. Social origins, It might be suggested that if the counselors were to live in many different states and dwell- ing areas, their understanding of environmental variants would be increased. This increaSed understanding would contribute to their efficiency as counselors. It will be remembered that most writers agree that the counselor must have a broad background of contacts and interests. 29 An examination reveals that forty-eight out of eighty— six respondents (55.? per cent) were born in Michigan. If the fact that 65.1 per cent of them graduated from high school in Michigan and that all are now employed in the secondary schools of Michigan, a pattern of migration to Michigan be- comes apparent. With six exceptions the migration comes from other mid-western states. The fact that counselors come from the mid-west and practice in the mid-west limits the range of areas and environments in which they have lived. Another consideration is the type of community in which the counselor has lived at one time or another. The data reveal that counselors have lived in a variety of dif- ferent size communities. It is impossible to evaluate the types of experiences of the counselor in the various communi- ties, but at least, the sample has lived in many different size communities. Seventeen of the counselors reported having lived in one size community all their lives: thirteen in large in- dustrial areas and four in large cities. Five counselors were working in their home town. This last factor could con- ceivably be a severe handicap if the counselor were to work with people from another community or move to a new position. 30 Religious affiliatigg. The counselors reporting were members of some religion. Seventy-one out of eighty-one re~ porting belonged to some church. Sixty—six out of the seven— ty—one were members of a protestant sect. Twenty of the respondents were members of the Methodist church. Warner and others found Methodists the largest denomination among students at a teachers college (68:156). Not only were the respondents church members but they attended church services regularly. Summary. Part I, the Personal Background, revealed several things about counselors in Michigan. There was evi- dence that they were an occupationally stable group. They were of a mzture age and have remained in their present positions for a number of years. The members of the group have had a variety of community experiences. This would seem to contribute to their competency. However, five counselors were working in their home towns, and seventeen had lived in one size community all their lives. The group reporting had obtained a high level of formal education. The greater majority had earned at least a master's degree. The members of the sample were the sib- ling in the family that had obtained the most education. 31 II. FAMILY BACKGROUND This section was concerned with the socio-economic factors which characterized the family from.which the coun— selors come. The items considered were home ownership, father's education, and father's occupation. figm§_ownership, Most of the counselors studied came from families that owned their own home. The question was asked "Did your parents own their own home while you were in high school"? Eighty-two per cent of the respondents (86) answered in the affirmrtive. Taking this as one type of evidence the counselor came from a family that had at least a minimum of economic security. Father's occupation. It will be remembered that teachers and counselors in general are classified occupa- tionally as professionals. An attempt was made to determine whether counselors came from a family in which the occupa— tion of the father could be classed as professional. If not, the counselor exhibits some degree of upward occupational mobility. The professionals are usually given the highest status in most studies (#7z367-8). It can readily be seen that counselors come from families above the lamest status levels. 32 They do not tend to come from the unskilled and labor groups. The data reveal that skilled and semi-skilled (36.4 per cent) are the largest gnoup with farmers (31.1 per cent) and pro- fessionals (18.9 per cent) next. ather's education. It is a well known fact that the trend in education is for more people to obtain a college degree. This trend has been particularly accelerated since World War II. The data shows that 54.4 per cent (43) of the father's had only an elementary school education, and that only nine- teen per cent (15) had a college educetion. All the counse- lors studied have a college educztion with the greater majority having at least a master's degree. There is a gap between the education of the counselors and that of their fathers. This gap can only be partially explained by the in- creased level for the pOpulation in general. It is possible that a desire for occupational mobility prompts that great disparity in educational levels between the two generations. The 1950 census report indicates that 45.8 percent of the males 25 or older in Michigan have completed the eighth grade or less (12:201). The same report reveals that in 1940 the percentage was 56.06 per cent. It can be seen from the census report that the counselor's father's education approxi- mates that of the general population of the state. 33 Summary. This section was concerned with the family background of the counselor. Home ownership, father's edu- cation, and father's occupation were explored. The findings indicate that the counselors tend to come from families that rank above the lowest occupational levels. The basis for this statement is the high rate of home ownership and the occupation of the counselor's father. The gap between the counselor and his father educa- tionally is the most outstanding. Though less outstanding, there is demonstrated a gap between the occupational level of the counselor and his father. III. SOCIAL BACKGROUND In this section the concern is with the social experi- ences of the counselor. Such things as associations, member- ships, community satifaction and community participation are presented. Voluntary Associations. In presenting information concerning the Voluntary association of counselors, the concern of the study was in the kinds of people with whom they asso- ciate in their private life. It is a generally accepted principle that the counselor, in order to be effective, must know and understand the backgrounds and experiences that influence people. Possibly, a counselor whoe contacts and 3h associations are mainly with peeple of a background similar to his own is limited in his understanding of people of dif- ferent backgrounds and experiences. The counselors were asked “In your personal life what kinds of people do you associate with most of the time"? Seventy per cent of the counselors associate mainly with other professionals or business men.1 The counselors studied do not associate with a great diversity of people in their private lives. It has been suggested that this may not give them the broad range of social experiences that are neces- sary for the counselor. Another consideration is the counselor's contacts with minority groups. It may be that the counselor who is to assist members of a minority group operates under a handi- cap unless he had some experience and contact with these groups. The next sub-section is concerned with the contacts Michigan counselors have with a racial minority - the Negro. The counselor's contacts with Negreo. The same reason- ing applies here that applied in the case of voluntary asso- ciations. It is reasonable to believe that having some contact with Negroes the counselor will be better able to understand and work with the problems of Negro students. LBusiness men included white collar workers. 35 More than half (56.6 per cent) of the eighty-three counselors reaponding reported having little or no contact with negroes. Those who reported a great deal of contact report this contact as mainly in school. This data indi- cated that, as far as experiences with Negroes goes, many of the sample might be handicapped. This lack of contact may be explained by the fact that, in Michigan, NegrOes tend to be concentrated in a few industrial areas. Community_satisfaction and participation. This por- tion of the paper is concerned with the counselor's identi- fication with the community in which he resides. One ques- tion asked was "If you had your choice would you continue to live in this neighborhood"? Sixty-seven per cent of the thirty-nine males responding would remain in their present neighborhood and 86 per cent of the forty-three females responding would remain. When women and men were compared as to whether or not they would remain in their present neigh- borhood a significant (.02—.05) Chi-Square was found.1 Men are less content to remain in their present neighborhood than women. However, the majority of both sexes would remain in their present neighborhood. 1x2 — b.39 with 1 D.F. 36 Another way to check on the counselor's satisfaction with or feeling of obligation to his current community was to discover his rate of participation in community affairs. The question was asked "What are the community affairs you have participated in during the last month"? Over three-fourths (70 out of 82) of those reaponding had participated in one or more community activity during the month in question. Apparently the majority of counselors participate in community affairs. The reapondents were asked “What activities that you participated in did you play the role of the leader"? Eighty- one counselors responded to this question and sixty—two had played the role of leader in at least one activity. They show, then, a tendency to assume leadership roles. Also, they are members of civic organizations. Sixty-three of the eighty-one responding belong to one or more civic organiza- tions. Summary. This last section was concerned with the voluntary associations, community satisfaction, and community participation of the respondents. The evidence indicates that the majority of counselors are content with their pre- sent neighborhoods, participate in community activities, and Join civic organizations. In other words, they are active in their communities. 37 Only nineteen counselors would move from their pre— sent neighborhoods. HoweVer, thirteen of these are men. It is possible that men are the sex that move on to new horizons and are more willing to make changes. The respondents are found to limit themselves to associating mainly with other professionals. This latter may find them handicapped in dealing with people of dissimi— lar backgrounds. 1 Their contacts with Negroes has been limited. This, coupled with the rather limited contact with people other than professionals, may prove a handicap. IV. PROFEESIONAL BACKGROUND This section is concerned with the professional back- ground of the counselor. Such things as training plans, Job satisfaction, professional duties, ultimate professional objectives, and reasons for entering the field of counseling. Th3 counselor's entry_into the field. Counseling, not yet fifty years old, is a relatively new field. For the most part, people enter the field from teaching or allied fields. The concern here was the way in which the counselor happened to get into the profession. The sample was asked "How did you happen to get into the field of counseling“? 38 The reasons for entering the field are varied. The most often mentioned (49.9 per cent) is being interested while teaching and given the Opportunity. This, again, tends to show that counseling is assigned as part of the duties after the original assignment has been made. Hours per week assigned §Q_counseling. As stated previously, counseling will usually be provided by people who spend the major portion of their time giving classroom instruction (26:198). If this be true, then the hours per week spent in counseling do not approach a full work week. Forty-nine (57.6 per cent) of the sample spend fifteen hours or less per week counseling, and only thirteen (15.3 per cent) spend thirty or more hours per week. Most counsel- ing in Michigan is a part-time function. ggp_satisfection. Eighty—four counselors responded to the question "Are you getting the satisfaction out of the field that you had hoped to"? Only two counselors answered in the negative. It would seem that counselors are satisfied with the field they are in. The next question asked was "Are there any changes you would like to make in your present position?" Seventy- three counselors_reSponded and sixty of these wanted to make changes in their present positions. The most frequently mentioned change (39.5 per cent) wanted to .ave more time for counseling. This might be expected in a group that is interested in its field and trying to reach more students. 39 The group indicated that it preferred to remain in its present neighborhood. However, a significant Chi—Square (.02-.o5) showed that men are less content to stay in their present neighborhood. If this is true, men would be expected to show a greater willingness to accept another position in a different locality. The counselors were examined as to their willingness to accept a counseling job in a new community. 75.6 per cent of the men and 4#.7 per cent of the women were willing to take another couneeling position. Sex was examined for re- lationship with willingness to take a new position. A sig— nificant (.001 - .Ol) Chi—Square was found.1 It becomes apparent that men are less content with their present neigh- borhoods and are more willing to move to a new position and community. This may be true for all males, but the data do not supply that information. Perhaps there might be an explanation for the differ- ences between men and women on the basis of married women not being able to move as readily as single women. This point was checked and there is go difference between married and unmarried women. lChi-Square - 7.84 with 1 D.F. 40 The forty-eight counselors who were willing to move to a new community were checked with respect to the reasons they would be willing to take another position. The most mentioned (46.2 per cent) reason was money. The next most frequent (16.4 per cent) reason given was a chance for ad- vancement. The reasons given suggest economic and status reasons as well as professional. Qltimate professional objective._ The counselors were asked to indicate their choice of ultimate professional ob- jective. The men tend to choose administration and the woman counseling. Only three of the reapondents want to re— main teacher counselors. As teacher counselor is the pre- sent position for the majority, it would seem that Michigan counselors want to change their positions within the field. The choices of the men and women were subject to Chi- Square analysis. With some sixty-one choices made by men and fifty—one by women, a significant (.OOl) Chi—Square was found.1 This high level of significance makes it reasonable to believe that the sex of the respondent is associated with the choice of ultimate professional objective. Although both sexes want to remain in the field of counseling, the men want to stay in it as administrators and the women as counselors. 1x2 = 14.05 with 1 D.F. #1 Along with the ultimate professional objective the counselor was asked to state at what educational level he preferred to work. Although a majority of both sexes pre- fer to remain on the high school level, 34.7 per cent of the forty-two men and seventeen per cent of the forty—four women desire to move into college counseling. A Chi-Square analysis measuring the relationship of sex and choice of educational level is not significant (.10 - .20).1 However, it is high enough to indicate a trend. Men are more apt to prefer working on the college level than women. Future training plans. The counselors were asked if they would go back to college for more training if they had a chance to do so. Eighty-three counselors responded and all but one had some type of additional work he would like to take. When their choices are broken down into fields, forty-three would take courses in guidance, thirty—one in psychology, and eleven in sociology. Other fields were men- tioned, but not often enough to indicate a trend. Summary. This section was concerned with the profes- sional background of the counselor. Several factors were revealed. Counselors tend to enter the field from teaching counseling being assigned to the counselor after he has per- formed his other functions for some period of time. sz = 3.72 with 1 D.F. #2 Counseling tends to remain a part-time job. More than seventy per cent of the counselors devote twenty hours or less per week to counseling. Their other duties are varied, but for the majority it included teaching classes. Some counselors are identified with administrative functions and this may limit their effectiveness. Although counselors are satisfied with the field, several factors were noted. Some counselors want to make changes in their present positions, move on to other jobs, work at the college level, and ultimately change their jobs within the field. Significant Chi-Squares were found in these areas. Men are more willing to make changes and move to new positions than women. The men in the sample are more interested in administrative and college positions. All but one of the counselors would go back to college for further training if given the opportunity. For the most part, the training would be in Guidance, Psychology, or Sociology. V. STATUS CONCEPTS This section is concerned with the status concepts of the counselor. It was not the purpose of this paper to arrive at a body of theoretical concepts concerning status. The concern of the paper was in how the counselor views his social status, particularly in relation to that of his parents. Also, is their some relationship between status concepts and his situational responses. 43 Improving social status in_the community. The coun- selors were asked "What is the best way to improve one's social status in his community?“ Out of the eighty counse- lors responding, seventy—eight mention pirticioetion as the means of improving their status in the community. It will be remembered that counselors belong to civic organizations, participate in community affairs, and tend to assume leader- ship roles. Thus, the counselors agree on the way to improve their social status, and large numbers of them do participate actively in their communities. Some of the more typical participatory activities mentioned are going to church, Joining community or“anizations, becoming a leader, service to others, and making friends. Counselors are status conscious, they are aware of the methods of improving their social standing in their com— munity, and the evidence indicates that they put into practice "the techniques they mention. lmproving social status lg the profession. The coun- selors were asked how they would improve their social status in their profession. By far the most frequently mentioned methods were training and education, joining professional organizations, and attending professional meetings. These three were all mentioned by more than fifty percent of the respondents. Apparently, the method to use in the profession an is to obtain as much education as possible and participate in professional activities. This participation parallels the findings on status improvement in the community. In brief, no matter what the area, pzrticipation in the approved ways, is the way to improve one's social status, and coun— selors tend to participate in professional and community activities. All of the counselors belong to two or more professional organizations. Spcia; status in relation £g_parents. The question was asked "Do you feel that your social status is higher than that of your parents?" Thirty-four said "Yes" and forty-four said "No". Of the remaining counselors, four said they did not know and four made no response. Table I is a distribution of counselors by sex according to their status concepts. Table I shows a significant difference (.001 — .01) in the status concepts of men and women counselors. More men than women state that their social status is higher than that of their parents. Those counselors who viewed their social status as higher than their parents were further examined. The reasons for their thinking their social status was higher than their parents were analyzed to discover why they though this. The most frequently mentioned (32.2 per cent) reason was their higher level of education. 45 TABLE I DISTRIBUTION OF COUNSELORS BY SEX ACCORDING TO THE WAY IN WHICH THEY VIEW THEIR SOCIAL STATUS IN COMPARISON TO THAT OF THEIR PARENTS Male Female Status Concepts Number Per cent Number Per cent Social Status Higher Than Parents 22 62.9 12 27.9 Social Status Not Higher Than Parents 13 37.1 31 72.1 Totals 35 100 RB 100 X2 = 9.45 P. = .001 - .01 Table I indicates that the majority of men counselors view what they conceive as their social status to be higher than that of their parents. On the other hand almost three-fourths of the women counselors view their social status as being no higher than that of their parents. This is noteworthy in view of the fact that there was no significant difference in the occupational background of the father for the two groups. Table II is a distribution of counselor's ultimate pro- fessional objective according to the way in which they View their social status. The Chi-Square is significant (.001 - .01). Therefore, the way in which a counselor views his social status is asso— ciated with his choice of ultimate professional objective. Further, administration is seen as the choice of those counse- lors who see themselves as socially mobile. CHAPTER v COUNSELOR RESPONSES TO THE TEsT CASES Chapter V is concerned with the responses made by the counselors to the alternatives contained in the test cases deveIOped for this study. The counselors were to respond to each alternative in every case by agree, disagree, or un- ‘decided.1 Eact test case contained four to six alternatives. In addition, one or two of the alternatives in each case are "key” alternatives. That is, alternatives constructed to present a value conflict situation for the purpose of deter— mining what values were paramount for the respondents and to test the hypotheses developed for this study. The counselor responses to the key alternatives are measured for relationship with certain selected social characteristics. The selected characteristics are sex, age, education, and status concepts. The reason for the examina- tion of these characteristics is that the data examined in Chapter IV suggests their possible association with behavior. The cases are treated separately and collectively. Directional trends are pointed out and Chi-Squares are pre- sented and examined. The significance of the relationship is pointed out together with the possible implications for future behavior. 1A OOpy of the test cases can be found in Appendix A. 46 TABLE II DISTRIBUTION OF COUNSELORS' ULTIMATE PROFESSIONAL OBJECTIVES ACCORDING TO THEIR STATUS CONCEPTS Ultimate Social Status Social Status Professional Objective Higher than Parents Not Higher Than Parents Administration 22 9 Counseling 15 32 Other 5 6 Totals* #2 b? X2 = 11.63 P. = .001 - .01 3The totals are based upon the responses of the seventy-eight counselors who stated their status concepts. There were multiple objectives for some respondents. Summary. Counselors are aware of status mobility techniques. They view participation as the means of improv- ing their standing in both community and profession. The data suggests that they do participate in activities both professionally and as members of a community. Differences in .the status concepts of male and female counselors are demon- strated. The men tend to see their social status as higher than that of their parents and the women do not. When asked why their status is higher than that of their parents, a variety of answers is given, but the most freouently mentioned reason is education. Social status as viewed oy these counselors was Ibundib be significantly associated with the choice of admin- 4? istration as an ultimate professional objective. It is possible that the way in which the counSelor views his social status will be related to his response typology when working with counseling cases. The last will be examined in the next chapter. CHAPTER V SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BEHAVIOR Chapter V is concerned High rho ro counselors to the liornat V0 5 contained devolopco fir this study. The counselors in every case by agree, 7-: Q a a f’] T. J- ' r J- I ’ 7 ~fl.~1 oCCioec. macn bCSt case containec i:u ~— ~ ~ ~ ;. -. L‘- a- . . , !--‘, l31 acio;yc:_orly “110 (fiI‘ ei.o (31‘ :10 .llnaei’i.1 l 'l , vl! ‘ r31. .7- _- . ‘ Inc-3’ (Alt-101.11‘Ctilvps Q «3.10.1.1 -'Ar‘ pro sent a Value conflict 3 tua more paramount olor to 'aill . - ' . ‘- J- ' . -. a .7- 7 .71. - \ ‘QUCRD‘OQ, ano Sea us concepts. Lac pea ' . ‘ HC‘ '2'- ‘U‘ ‘4‘ ‘ ~L - -. < '. 'n " “-‘ "‘ " .\ t;o1 o those CLQTCCSCPLSLLCS ss has n V '4 _c_ 1 ‘ I .0 ' Chapter If sugfios s choir pose bl“ essac CI” (3 J. ;leTN13 (Rial. orniu S {xro fJO“ITUQCLITUD sented 1 future oohavfor. ‘—--"“—‘. tion for t» Spon in xvere O0 673 s constructed 6 x.) OS "5180 tire iseiyt (‘1 c- _ ")111 -l- r “1580’ 3 Z“; O ("1‘ :I\ as of treated sonnraboly and 001100 E ‘ qu.-;re, s .. D 1% .1 ’ I", t " O i:.A-:J"- _L_C~‘ ..On;_} 0 l" spondont s [3 CLI“ C 1 ~‘ '—l- C‘ 0"]! bill? cases to 1’, :30 L3 1:),31’1CL Ul'l - to Gets and 1° - to nrr,. e31, tog. examiza in luc?10fif? ivol‘r. -9. fire 10 POJTL7DOUA‘Q for n O ‘91" o V‘,‘ . I.“ A w‘ . 1 . a. i I 1 . H- 49 It was decided that a probability (P.) of .05 or less was the minimum level:for rejection of the null hypothe- sis. A probability (P.) of .05 means that the two variables could be associated in a chance manner five times out of a hundred. If probabilities of .05 - .20 are found they will be treated as indicating a tendency for the relationship to occur but not at a significant level (Chapter III). The data presented in this chapter cannot be considered separately; it must be considered along with that of chapter IV. Conclusions will be based upon the findings of both chapters. It can readily be seen that the alternatives selected for testing counselor reactions are "closed" alternatives, and as such, may lead the counselor to make certain responses an "open" type of alternative might not find him doing. Also, the response is a "paper response" and might not be the same response he would make under a different set of circumstances. However, the consistency with which the counselors responded seems to indicate the data has some value for the study of behavioru Case of Jack. The first case is that of Jack. This case, as all the other cases, is not of a real person, but one constructed especially to meet the purposes of this study. The case of Jack is as follows: 50 Jack's mother and father are legally separated. His mother has custody of Jack and his younger sister, Mary. Jack is seventeen, an average student and in the first semester of his Junior year. He wants to quit school and help support his mother and younger sister. His father has disappeared from the local community, and does not contribute to the support of the family. Jack feels that he is the "man of the family" and should be the breadwinner. He feels that a part-time Job offers no solution to his problem. His mother, although feeling the strain of the financial burden, is willing to go along with anything that Jack and his counselor decide. The case of Jack was constructed to present a conflict of two roles for the counselor. The conflict in the case is between the privilege of education and the boy's responsi— bilities to his family. The thought here is that, perhaps, the counselor's orientation to education might cause him to support education as opposed to quitting school and going to work. The responses of the group are presented in Table III. The counselors seem to disagree with alternative one. As a group, they would like to see him continue in school. Jack is not "right" in assuming that he should be the bread- winner. Apparently, counselors prefer to see Jack remain in school. Not one counselor disagrees with alternative two. Since counselors use education so extensively it would.hardly be expected for them to feel otherwise. They, certainly, are revealed as feeling that Jack should finish his high school education. 51 TABLE III DISTRIBUTION OF COUNSELORS ACCORDING TO THEIR RESPONSES TO THE ALTERNATIVES CONTAINED IN THE CASE OF JACK Counselor Responses . Alternatives A. D. U. N.R.* Totals 1. Jack is right in assuming that he should be the bread— winner and he should.be en- couraged to quit school. 2 48 4 17 71** 2. Jack should be helped to see that he wauld.be better able to support the family if he graduated from high school. 68 O 3 0 71 3. Jack's education comes first and his role of bread- winner is secondary. 21 16 16 18 71 #. Jack should be encouraged to work this matter out with- out any outside help. 3 46 3 19 71 “These letters mean respectively agree, disagree, undecided, and no response. These letters are standard.for all tables in this Chapter. **A total of seventyaone counselors responded to at least one alternative in this case. They will differ in number from case to case. Alternative three is the "key" alternative for this case. This alternative presents a direct choice, either his privilege of education comes first or his obligations to the family. There is also consideration of the long-term view in opposition to a short-term view. This alternative, apparently, is less certain for counselors than the first two alternatives. Those counselors that agree with this alterna— tive are seen as supporting the education privilege for Jack. Those counselors who disagree with this alternative are seen as putting family loyalty first. Alternative four is repeated in every case used. Counselors are trained to disagree with this alternative. That all students need help of some kind is an accepted part of the counseling philosophy. The majority would be expected to disagree in every case. The key alternative, alternative three, is the alterna- tive that finds the counselors split on their reaponses. There is almost an equal number that agree, disagree or are undecided. An attempt will be made to determine whether any of the social characteristics to be examined are related to the counselors' responses. There may be some criticism at the use of contingency tables with so small a sample. However, a correction factor (Chapter III) has been applied to all the appropriate contin- gency data presented. This has the effect of lowering the significance level. Therefore, any significant contingencies shown are shown after a correction factor has been applied to the deviation of the observed from the expected frequency of each cell in the table. 53 The relationship of sex with responses to alternative three was examined. A probability of .30-.50 was obtained.1 Since the probability level for significance is .05 or less the sex of the respondent could not be considered as related to the response. However, male counselors are more undecided about this alternative than females. The next characteristic examined for relationship was the age of the respondent. The group was split into those under forty and those forty and older. 'A probability of .05-.10 was obtained.2 Although very nearly at the five per cent level it must be rejected, and age not considered as related to responses in this case. However, the probability is high enough to indicate a trend. It can be seen that the younger counselors are undecided or disagree with the alterna- tive, while older counselors tend to agree with the alterna- tive. It seems that older counselors see education as more important for Jack than the breadwinner role. If this is true, older counselors would possibly be less sympathetic to the desires of a student in a position similar to that of Jack. The next consideration is of the possibility of edu— cation being associated with responses to this alternative. The Chi-Square of 4.51, with two degrees of freedom, yields 1x2 - 2.29 with 2 D.F. 2x2 - 5.37 with 2 D.F. 54 a P. of .lO-.20. The association of education with responses to alternative three must be rejected as not significant. However, again it is high enough to indicate a trend. Those who have a masters degree are much more undecided about the alternative than those with less education. Hesitation on the part of the more educated counselors may be because of the limited facts presented. The last characteristic to be measured in the case of Jack is status concepts. These status concepts are the way in which the counselor views his social status in comparison with his parents. Some counselors see their social status as higher than that of their parents and some do not (Chapter IV). The responses of the counselors were analyzed in terms of their status concepts. A probability of .02-.05l was found. Those who view their social status as higher than their parents agree education comes first, while those who do not see their social status as higher than that of their parents see family as more important. Therefore, status concepts are significantly associated with responses to alterna— tive three in the case of Jack. The results suggest that the more status-oriented counselors are the more education- minded counselors and tend to support the value "education". This relationship has been checked in other cases to be presented. lX2 . 7.78 with 2 D.F. 55 The only Chi-Square found significant was that mea- suring the contingency of status concepts and responses. However, in the case of age, and education, the probabilities were .20 or less. It seems reasonable to believe that there is at least a trend toward the association of the character— istic measured and responses to the alternative in question. If the correction factor had not beenapplied to the tables age and education would have been found to be significantly associated with responses to alternative three. The Case of Booker. Booker is the case of a negro student in an all-white school. The case is as follows: Booker is the only Negro student in an all-white school. He is an average student and tries hard to get along with the other students. He is accepted by large segments of the student population.v He wants to run for treasurer of his class. Several students have encouraged him to do so. Others have been violently antagonistic. Booker came to the counselor and asked for his opinion. Booker feels he has every right to run but that he does not want to start any “trouble" that will eventually reflect back on him. The case was constructed, again to represent a con- flict of values for the counselor. On one hand is the ques- tion of institutional equilibrium, on the other is the question of Booker's right to run for office. The interest is in whether or not the counselor supports Booker's rights as opposed to the equilibrium of the school. 56 TABLE IV DISTRIBUTION OF CCUNrELCRS ACCORDING TO THEIR RESPONSES TO THE ALTERNATIVES CONTAINED IN THE CASE OF BOOKER . .—‘ .—-— flI-fl Counselor Responses Alternatives A. D. U.. N.R. Totals 1. Booker should avoid trouble and not run for office. . 5 39 7 15 66 2. Booker should run for office after the approval of the school staff has been gained. 30 18 9 9 66 3. Booker should be encouraged to work this matter out without any outside help. 7 37 8 14 66 4. Booker should run for office without ask— ing the school staff to intercede for him. 26 26 8 6 66 The greater majority of counselors reSponding to altern- ative one favor Booker's running for office. Apparently, they feel that Booker has the “right" to run for office. Many counselors mentioned the fact that this situation pro- vides an excellent opportunity to train the student body to understand more about such problems as this. Alternatives two in Table IV is one of the two key alternatives for this case. This presents a choice of run- ning with or without the approval of the school staff. Those counselors who agree with this alternative are seen to support institutional equilibrium and those that disagree with this alternative are seen as putting Booker's privilege of running for office first. Alternative three is standard for all cases and coun- selors are trained to disagree with this statement. It is interesting to note that seven counselors agree with this statement. Since the number of counselors that agree or dis— agree with this statement varies somewhat from case to case, it may be the seriousness of the situation influences coun- selor reaponses. Alternative four is the second key alternative in the case of Booker. It differs slightly from alternative two in that it goes further. This alternative speaks of interces- sion and alternative two speaks of approval. The same situa- tion, as in alternative two, prevails. The choice is between institutional equilibrium and the "rights" of the individual. This proposition finds the counselors evenly split between agreement and disagreement. The counselors in Michigan agree that Booker should run for office, and that he should have help in working out this situation. HoweVer, when it comes to his running with- out the approval or intercession of the staff, counselors are split in their opinions. The association of sex, age, educa- tion, and status concepts with responses to alternatives two and four are presented in the pages to follow. 58 The association of sex with responses to alternative two was examined. The probability of .50-.70 was obtained.1 The null hypothesis cannot be rejected and the sex of the respondent does not bear a significant relationship to re— sponses. The basis for counselor differences cannot be said to be the sex of the counselor. The characteristic of age was next examined for asso- ciation with response typology. A probability of .80—.902 was found. Age cannot be said to be associated with responses to this alternative. Next to be examined for association with responses was the amount of education the counselor had. The probability of .20—.303 is not high enough to be significant. The only differences, if any, are found in the inclination of the counselors with less education to be sure of the answer, whether agree or disagree. The same kind of distribution was found in the case of Jack: the more educated counselors were found to have the greater percentage of undecided. sz 2x2 a .30 with 2 D.F. .65 with 2 D.F. 3x2 = 2.63 with 2 D.F. 59 The last characteristic to be measured was that of status concepts. A probability of .30-.50 was derived.1 It cannot be said that status concepts are related to respon- ses to alternative two in this case, but as in the case of Jack, those who do pgtlview their social status as higher than that of their parents are more undecided than those that do. The social characteristics of sex, age, education, and status concepts are not associated with responses to al- ternative two in the case of Booker. The next step is the measurement of their relationship with alternative four in the case of Booker. The association of sex and responses to alternative four was measured. A probability of .lO-.20 was found.2 It must be said that sex is not significantly associated with responses to alternative four in the case of Booker. Howe ever, the probability is high enough to indicate a trend. Men are inclined to disagree with the alternative and women are more inclined to agree with the alternative. Males are shown to be administratively oriented, and it may be that they feel that the administration must act to preserve the equilibrium of the school. x2 = 1.43 with 2 D.F. 2x2 = .73 with 2 D.F. 60 It is possible that there may be some difference in the response typology in relation to age. A probability of .50-.7O was found. It is not significant, it cannot be said that it even indicates a trend. Therefore, age cannot be said to be associated with responses to alternative four in the'case of Booker. The amount of education a counselor has could possibly influence his responses. The thought being that the more education a counselor has the more likely he is to become oriented to the importance of institutional equilibrium. However, a probability of .95-.981 indicates no significance between amount of education and responses to this alternative. The next question was does the status concepts of the counselor relate to his responses to the alternative in ques- 2 that was obtained is not tion? The probability of .lO-.20 significant. However, it is high enough to indicate a trend. As in the first two alternatives examined, those counselors who do not view their social status as higher than their parents tend to be more undecided about the alternative. It may be that those counselors who are more status-conscious are more positive of the answers and not as inclined to cau- tion as other counselors. 1:2 - .02 with 2 D.F. 2x2 = 3.33 with 2 D.F. 61 As in the case of alternative two no characteristics were found to be significantly associated with responses to the alternative in question. However, there is some indica- tion of consistent trends in the case of concepts and edu- cation. The Case of Marvin. The case of harvin has several elements in it for the counselor to consider. There is (l) the question of religion, (2) the question of different social groups, and (3) the question of education versus marriage. The case is as follows: Marvin is an honor student in his senior year. He comes from a fairly well—to-do family. The family is highly respected in the community. He agrees with the family's desire for him to go to the university after graduation. This term Marvin's grades have begun to slip and he has become quite nervous and irritable. He and a girl from another community have fallen in love with each other. Marriage has been discussed and they plan to marry after he graduates from high school. She is Catholic and he is Methodist. Both families are opposed to the marriage, her family on religious grounds and his because the girl is not of his group and is a country girl. Possibly, as counselors are educationally oriented, they could be expected to feel that a marri:ge that would Jeopardize Marvin's education should not be encouraged. Table V is a distribution of counselors' responses to the alternatives in the case of Marvin. 62 TABLE V DISTRIBUTION OF COUNSELORS BY THEIR RESPONSES TO THE ALTERNATIVES CONTAINED IN THE CASE OF MARVIN Counselors Reaponses Alternatives A. D, U. N.R. Totals 1. Marvin should be en- couraged to work this matter out without any outside help.‘ 2 45 4 13 64 2. The religious dif- ference makes this a difficult situation. 60 1 l 2 64 3. They come from dif- ferent social groups and couldn't readily adjust. 10 29 14 11 64 4. If they are in love they should be permitted to get married. 10 19 24 ll 64 5. If this marriage will Jeopardize Marvin's edu- cation it should not be encouraged. 28 10 15 ll 64 Alternative one is again standard for all cases. Counselors are trained to disagree with this item. The answers seem to bear this out. The almost unanimous agreement in al- ternative two shows that counselors consider a mixed marriage as a difficult situation. This agreement precludes the fact that the different religions represented by counselors in- fluence their opinions in this situation. The one counselor that disagreed was Catholic and saw it as no problem because the Boy could "turn Catholic for her". 63 'Questions arising from alternative three are socio- logical in ncture. The point is whether or not the counselor sees a possibility of their different backgrounds posing a problem of adjustment.‘ Though a large number of counselors disagree with the alternative, there is no trend to the answers of the group. Apparently this group of counSelors sees the impact of different environments differently in this situation. Alternative four is one of the two key alternatives in this case. No agreement can be found among the counselors' responses. This alternative will be used to measure the as— sociation of characteristics with behavior. Alternative five is the other key alternative in the case of Marvin. This alternative places marriage and educa- tion in conflict. The majority of counselors agree that the marriage should not be encouraged if it jeopardizes Marvin's education. However, the agreement is by no means unanimous. This alternative, too will be checked for the association of certain social characteristics. The sex of the counselor was measure for association with responses to alternative four. A probability of .70 — .80 was obtained.1 This probability is not significant. Therefore, the null hypothesis cannot be rejected and sex cannot be considered as association with reaponses to this alternative. 1X2 = .50 with 2 D.F, 64 The next question is does the age of the reapondent show a relationship to responses to alternative four. It is possible that younger counselors might be more sympathetic to the impending marriage. However, the probability of .50- .701 is not significant. Age is not significantly related to responses in the case of Marvin. It could possibly be that the more highly educated counselors might see more strongly the need for Marvin's obtaining an education before marriage. However, the prob- ability of .99—1.OO2 is not significant. There has been demonstrated no relationship between responses and education. The next question is does the counselor who is status- conscious support education in opposition to marriage? The evidence, in this alternative, does not support this thought. The probability of..98--.993 is not significant. Status con- cepts are not related to responses in the case of alternative four. No associations were found at a significant level. The significances were not even high enough to indicate a trend. It may be said that although counselors disagree on alternative four in the case of Marvin, there has been pro- duced no evidence of any positive association. 1x2 = .98 with 2 D.F. 2x2 = .02 with 2 D.F. 3x2 = .04 with 2 D.F. 65 The next step is the association of the characteris— tics with responses to alternative five in the case of Mar- vin. This alternative reads "If this marriage will jeopardize Marvin's education it should not be encouraged." This alter- native puts marriage in opposition to education. It may be that when the two values "education" and "marriage" are directly opposed significant differences in the response typology will occur. Certainly, the more status—conscious counselor might be eypected to support the education value. The sex of the respondent is not significantly asso- ciated with responses to alternative five in the case of Marvin. The probability of .98—.99l is not significant. There is demonstrated no relationship between the sex of the respondent and responses to the alternative in question. There is demonstrated no relationship between the age of the respondent and reSponses to alternative five. The probability of .30-.5O2 is not significant. The age of the respondent does not explain the response typology of the group. The education of the respondent also shows no signifi- cance in the case of Marvin. The probability of .80-.903 obtained is not significant. Again, the null hypothesis can- not be rejected. Education cannot be said to be associated with responses to this alternative. 1x2 I .03 with 2 D.F. 2 X2 = 2.10 with 2 D.F. 3x2 = .56 with 2 D.F. 66 The last characteristic to be examined for alterna- tive five is that of status concepts. Does the counselor who views his social status as higher than that of his par- ents react differently to this alternative than the counselor who does not see his social status as higher than that of his parents? If the status—conscious counselor is to be consis- tent, as in the case of Jack, he would support the value "education" in this alternative. The Chi-Square analysis reveals that he does support the value education. A proba- bility of .02—.051 was obtained. This probability is signi- ficant. It can be said that the status concepts of the counselor are significantly assbciated with his response to this alternative. The counselors who see their social status as higher than their parents are almost one hundred per cent agreed that Marvin should get an education ahead of his get- ting married. In the case of Marvin only one significant associa- tion was found. That of status concepts and responses to al- ternative five. The more status-conscious counselors are agreed that Marvin's education comes first. 1x2 a 7.79 with 2 D.F. 67 The case of Leslie. This case was constructed to show a student of obvious college ability who doesn't want to go to college. The case is as follows: Leslie comes frem a family of professional people. All are college graduates and well known in their fields. His older brother and sister are college graduates. Leslie doesn't want to go to college even though tests and reports indicate that he is capable of it. He wants to go to automotive training school and be- come a certified mechanic. His aptitude and interest patterns indicate that he is capable of succeeding in this field. His parents are deeply hurt by this decision on Leslie's part. They insist that since he has the ability and comes from a family of professional people it is his duty to go into a profession. Leslie is determined to go to the automotive training school and his family insists that the school must show him how important it is he go to college. Leslie is seen as coming from a family that seems to enjoy a fairly high social status. They are all professionals and expect Leslie to be one also. The position taken by Leslie would probably appear as a betrayal of status. The responses of the counselors to the alternatives in this case are found in Table VI. The disagreement with alternative one shows counselors as being opposed to the notion that college is necessary in this case. It may be that the word "necessary" is a strong word and influences responses. At any rate, they are in dis- agreement with this alternative. 68 TABLE VI DISTRIBUTION OF COUNSELOR RESPONSES TO THE ALTERNATIVES IN THE CASE OF LESLIE Counselor Responses t ti Al erna ves A. D. U. N.R. Totais 1. Leslie comes from a family in a social status that makes it necessary that he go to college. 1 50 2 16 69 2. The counselor should try to make Leslie see how important it is he go to college. 15 37 1 16 69 3. Leslie owes certain obligations to his fam- ily and he should follow their desires in this matter. 0 46 7 16 69 h. Leslie has his own life to live and he should be allowed to go to the auto- motive training school if that is what he wants. 6O 2 4 3 69 5. Leslie should be en- couraged to work this matter out without any outside help. 6 40 4 18 69 Alternative two is the key alternative for this case. This is a question of counseling procedure and the majority of counselors do not think that Leslie should be shown how im- portant it is that he go to college. This would seem to be a contradiction to their position on educetion. However, the examination of social characteristics for contingency with 69 responses to this alternative reveals something more. Not one counselor would agree that he owes his family obligations that make it necessary that he follow their desire and go to college. It appears that it is Leslie's wishes that are to be considered. Alternative four is the question to which most coun- selors responded. Only three counselors did not respond to this item. Agreement with this alternative is in line with accepted counseling procedure. The counselor is expected to respect the students' desires. In commenting on this case nineteen counselors mentioned that fact that he should go to' college. It would seem that for these counselors, at least, their own allegiance to education has been sublimated to the desires of the student. Alternative five is, again, standard in each case. Most counselors agree that he should not be working this problem out without any outside help. On the surface it would appear that the counselors are 'agreed that Leslie should havehis own choice of future train- ing. Even so, we find several counselors that feel that he should go to college. This is to be expected when the group feels such a strong allegiance to education. The character- istics to be examined for association may help to account for the differences in opinion expressed by the counselors. 70 The sex of the respondent was measured for association with responses to alternative two in the case of Leslie. The probability of .05—.10l is not significant. However, it is high enough to indicate a trend. Twelve of the fifteen counselors who feel Leslie should be shown how important it is he go to college are men. As men are the sex that are the more status conscious this may explain their wanting Leslie to go to college. The age of the counselor is not related to responses to alternative two. The probability of .99-1.002 is not sig- nificant. This distribution is pure chance. Hence it must be considered as not showing any significance. Age and re- sponses are not associated in this case. The amount of education the counselor has is not re— lated to responses in this case. The probability of .90- .953 is not significant. The only conclusion possible is that education is not associated with responses to this alter- native. The last consideration in this case is the relation- ship of status concepts and responses. If the counselors are to be consistent, there should be found a significant difference between the counselors who View their social status 1x2 = 4.48 with 2 D.F. 2x2 = .01 with 2 D.F. 3X2 = .19 with 2 D.F. 71 thus if these counselors who view their social status as higher than that of their parents and those who do not are to be consistent, they would then support the notion of Marvin's going to college. The data bear this out, since a probability of .02-.05l was obtained. This probability is significant. Status concepts can be said to be associated with responses to alternative two in the case of Leslie. Those counselors who see their social status as higher than that of their parents are much more in— clined to agree that Leslie should be shown how important it is he go to college. The only characteristic significantly associated with responses to alternative two in the case of Leslie was that of status concepts. The probability, in the case of sex, was high enough to indicate a trend. Kale counselors, and the more status conscious counselors, tend to agree that Leslie should be shown how important it is he go to college. Despite the fact that Leslie himself does not want to go to college. 1X2 = 7.19 with 2 D.F. 72 The case of Jacqueline. The case of Jacqueline is constructed to show a girl who enjoys a position of high status who opposes the rules of the school. The interest here is in whether or not counselors recognize the impli— cations inherent in the situation. The case is as follows: Jacqueline is a girl of 16. She comes from one of the wealthiest families in town. Her ftther is president of the school board. her gr{des have been good despite a 150k of effort on her part. Recently she was assigned to two extra study-hall periods for being habitually late to class. fihe refused to attend the extra study—hall periods. She says that no one from her family has to do anything like that. It is, of course, much easier to be objective about the situations proposed in this case when the situation is on paper and not a real situction in which the counselor is personally involved. Perhaps, this makes it possible for counselors to agree with courses of action with which they might not agree in a real situation. The responses to the alternatives presented in this case are found in Table VII. The counselors had little trouble with alternative one in Table VII. The ideal of all students treated equally seems to be Operative here. Counselors would have her attend the assigned study—halls. Counselors are inclined to agree that her father, despite his position, should not be consulted and his decision TABLE VII DISTRIBUTION OF COUNSLLOE ALTERNATIVES CONTAINED IN THE CASE OF JACQUELINE RESPONSLD TO THE 73 Alternatives 1. The rules are made for everyone and she should be made to attend the assigned study-halls 58 2. Her father should be consulted and his decision adhered to. 3 3. There is not much that can be done to a girl in her social position 0 4. If the girl refuses to conform she should be suspended 29 5. The administration should move cautiously as there is the possibility that theirjpositions might become jeopardized in this situation 17 6. The girl should be en- couraged to work this matter out without any out- side help u Counselor Responses h D. b4 51 15 31 41 U. 0R0 1h 14 15 12 16 TOtClS 66 66 66 66 66 adhered to. Several counselors pointed out that he should be consulted, but that he should not make the decision in this case. It may be that the part about "his decision 74 adhered to" that disturbs counselors. They would consult the father but would not expect him to be the decision maker. No counselor agrees that nothing can be done to a girl in her social position. Counselors, apparently, feel something can be done with Jacqueline. The situation is not hopeless as far as counselors are concerned. In the case of alternative four, some counselors expressed the feeling that suspension is never the answer to this kind of problem. This feeling, und ubtebly, contributes to the amount of disagreement recorded for this alternative. Still, most counselors would suspend the girl. Alternative five in Table VII is the key alternative for this case. The concern here was whether or not counselors would agree that caution is necessary in this case. Three counselors commented that unfortunately it is necessary in this case. A total of seventeen counselors who reponded would move cautiously. -The association of the characteris- tics to be examined will be tested for association with re— sponses to this alternatiVe. The four characteristics of sex, age,education, and status concepts were examined for relationship with responses to alternative five in the case of Jacqueline. None of the characteristics were found to be significantly associated 75 with responses to the alternative. None of the probabilities1 were found even high enough to indicate a trend. The case of Mary. This case displays the situation of a lower status girl who gets into trouble. The concern is with the way in which counselors view her situation. The case is as follows: Mary is a girl of 17. She is considered by her classmates to be a "fast number". She has had several brushes with the law for petty-theft and shop-lifting. Her mother is dead and her father is a truck driver for a transcontinental trucking company and is away from home three or four days at a time. One day in class she suddenly fainted. The school nurse was called and discovered that Mary was pregnant. The girl refuses to name the boy involved and refuses to discuss the matter with anyone. The responses of the sample to the alternatives are recorded in Table VIII. The first alternative is a question of whether or not the counselor blames the father for this situation. Appar- ently, the majority of counselors would blame her father, at least partially, for what has tranSpired. Alternative two is the key alternative for this case. The majority of respondents see the pregnancy as quite apt lSeX and responses give a probability of .5o-.70 with D.F. 76 TABLE VIII DISTRIBUTION OF COUNSELOR RESPONSES TO THE ALTERNATIVES IN THE CASE OF MARY Counselor Responses Alternatives A. D. U. N.R. Totals 1. Her father is to blame 32 8 12 17 69 for leaving her unsuperviSed. 2. From her past record this sort of event was quite apt to happen. 33 12 10 14 69 3. This is more or less typical of people from her walk of life. 3 . 43 7 16 69 4. The girl should be punished and placed in a detention home. 0 49 3 17 69 5. This matter should be given as little notoriety as possible and the girl should not.be punished but helped. 67 O O 2 69 6. She should be encouraged to work this matter out with— out any outside help.' 0 50 2 17 69 to happen as a consequence of her past behavior. Possibly counselors see her difficulty as all part of a single pattern. The majority of counselors do not think that this situation is typical of people from backgrounds like Mary's. 77 The thinking of the three counselors who agree with this proposition is not revealed in the data. Alternative four finds no counselor agreeing that the girl should be punished and placed in a detention home. Counselors feel that this situation does not call for punishment but help. Alterna- tive five reverses the proposition stated in alternatiVe four. No counselor disagrees with this alternative. Coun- selors feel that the girl should be helped. Their outlook is not punitive but corrective. Alternative six is interesting in that not one counselor wants Mary to solve her own problem. In the five previous cases examined there were some counselors who would have the client solve the problem without help. It may be that this situation is thought of as too serious for her to be allowed to handle her problem by herself. The sex of the respondent was eXamined for associa- tion with responses to alternative two in the case of Mary. The probability of .70-.801 is not significant. The null hypothesis cannot be rejected and the conclusion is inevitable that sex cannot be said to be associated with responses to the alternative. 1x2 = .62 with 2 D.F. 78 The relationship of age to responses was next examined. The probzbility of .ld-.202 is not significant. however, it is high enough to indicate a trend. Those counselors forty and over are more inclined to agree that the event was quite apt to happen. It might be that the younger counselors can identify themselves more easily with Mary and are more sym— pathetic toward her. The education of the respondent bears no significant relationship to responses. The probability of .98-.993 is not significant. The amount of education does not explain the response pattern of the group to this alternative. The status concepts of the counselors also bears no significant relationship to reaponses to this alternative, The probability of .95-.984 is not significant. The null hypothesis cannot be rejected. Not one of the four characteristics examined were found to be significantly related to responses to the second alternative in the case of Mary. There is no significant relationships found. However, in the case of age, there is a tendency for the association to occur. There is some evidence to indicate that younger counselors are much less x2 = 3.68 with 2 D.F. 3x2 = .03 with 2 D.F. “x2 = .09 with 2 D.F. 79 positive that the event was quite apt to happen than older counselors. The idea was expressed that possibly younger counselors are more sympathetic to her plight than older counselors. The case of Katrina. The case of Katrina is intended to show the case of a brilliant student who wants to go to college but her parents do not want her to go. The case is as follows: Katrina is an "A" student in high school. She has an I.Q. of 146. She has displayed a keen aptitude for the natural sciences and wants to go the state univer- sity and study physics. Her family are first generation immigrants and feel that a college education is not needed by a girl.‘ They feel that she ought to work after high school until she gets married and settles down. Katrina was offered a scholarship to the State uni- versity and wants to go but she feels she doesn't dare go against the wishes of her parents. The alternatives were constructed to see whether coun- selors would support the position of the student or the family. The strong allegiance to education displayed by counselors would, possibly, lead them'to see Katrina's education as more important than the family relationship. The responses to the alternatives in the case of Katrina are found in Table IX. According to counselors responses to alternative one, the majority feel Katrina should not obey her parents. They want her to get the education deepite her parents' objections. TABLE 80 IX DISTRIBUTION OF COUNbbLOR RESPONSES TO TEE ALTERNATIVES CONTAINED IN T’E CASE OF KATRINA Alternatives 1. Katrina should obey her parents on this matter. 2 2. The counselor should attempt to change the parent's minds. 55 3. Katrina should be en- couraged to work this out without any outside help. 1 h. Her immigrant parents don't look at things the way we do here in the United States. #7 5. Katrina's education is more important than her parent's desire. 23 6. In the long run her re- lationship with her parents is more important to Katrina than her going to college. 8 Counselor Responses D. U. N.R. Totals 33 lb 15 6# 40 5 18 64 22 in 64 \J'\ In line with reSponses two finds the majority of coun to alternative one, alternative selors agreeing thatemtempts should be made to change the parents' minds. These kinds of responses are in line with counseling philosophy; the desires of the counselee are to be considered. 81 Alternative three is, again, the same alternative that is repeated in each case. As expected, the majority of counselors feel that she should eve help in working out her problems. Alternative four concerning her immigrant parents finds the counselors in agreement. Although five counselors are undecided, all those who responded agree her immigrant parents do not look upon education as we do here in the United States. This, again, shows the counselors strong orientation to education. Alternative five, in Table IX, is one of the two key alternatives for the case of Katrina. Although in alterna— tive one the majority of counselors feel that Katrina's edu- cation is important enough for her to go against the wishes of her parents, in alternative five counselors are not so sure thct her education is more important than her parent's desires. This same sort of semi-contraoiction is found in the case of Jack. The same kind of reasoning would apply here as in the case of Jack. Apparently, whenoounselors are face to face with education vs. family they are more disturbed than when the value education is not in opposition to the value familygloyelty. 82 Alternative six is the only alternative, of all those examined in this chapter, that finds the majority of counse- lors undecided. It may be that the lack of information in this case does not permit them to make a professional judg— ment. Alternative five in the case of Katrina is used to measure the association of the chosen social characteristics with behzvior. The sex of the respondent was examined for relation- ship to responses in the case of alternative five. A probabil— ity of .02—.05l was obtained. This probability is above the five percent level established for significance. Therefore, sex is associated with responses to alternative five in the case of Katrina. women seem to agree that Katrina's educa— tion is more important than her family's desires. Men are inclined to be undecided about this alternative. A probability of .lU-.202 was found when age was ex- amined for association with responses to alternative five. Though this probability is not high enough to be significant, it is high enough to indicate a trend. Older counselors are more inclined to be positive about their answers and ten to agree with the alternative. The younger counselors are more undecided about what the correct behavior is. 1 x2 6.04 with 2 DgF. 2 x2 4.u2 with 2 D.F. 83 The amount of education a counselor has is associated with responses to alternative five. A probability of .02— .051 was obtained. This probability is significant. Those counselors who have more than a master's degree are found to be more undecided about the correct reaponses, while those with a masters degree or less, though nmhy are undecidedethe maJOrity'tend to agree that education is more important than the desires of the family in this case. The last characteristic to be examined is that of status concepts. If the counselors are to be consistent, those counselors who view their social status as higher than their parents should be supporting the value "education" as opposed to "family". The probability of .lU-.202 while not significant does indicate a trend. Those who view their social status as higher than their parents are more inclined to place education first. An examination of the relationship of sex, age, edu- cation, and status concepts with reaponses to alternative five in the case of Katrina reveals that sex and education are significantly associated with responses. Age and status concepts, while not significant, tend in that direction. 1 x2 2X2 7.04 with 2 D.F. 3.87 with 2 D.F. 84 The case of BiLl. In this case is presented the sit- uation of a "Gang" code in apparent opposition to the code of the larger society. The student is seen as worried over a crisis situation. The case is as follows: Bill came to the counselor and stated that he had a problem on his mind. He stated that he was a member of a local "gang". The gang had its own codes of con— duct and rules of behavior. They prided themselves on never "squealing" on a buddy. He said that he had lived up to this code but felt that a situation had arisen that he wanted to know what to do about. He had seen a buddy of his threaten a classmate with a pistol that he had hidden in his locker. He felt that the matter was serious and he didn't want to see anybody get shot. The alternatives are designed to test the counselors reaction to the crisis situation. The interest here is in how they view Bill's loyalty to the gang code. The responses to the alternatives are found in Table X. Of the forty-nine counselors responding to alterna- tive one, not one feels that Bill should remain loyal to the code of his gang. The seriousness of the situation may possibly influence the direction of counselor thinking some— what. At any rate, counselors would have him reveal what he has seen. Alternative two is the key alternative for this case. Although the majority of respondents agree that there is no other proper course for Bill, there are some counselors who TABLE 85 X DISTRIBUTION OF COUNSELOR RESPONSES TO THE ALTERNATIVES CONTAINED IN THE CASE OF BILL Alternatives 1. It is wrong for Bill to violate the code of his group which has taken him into their confidence. 0 2. There is no other pos- sible prOper course for Bill than to tell the proper au- thorities what he has seen. 33 3. This is a serious matter and Bill shouldn't have any hesitation in telling the proper authorities what he has seen. #6 4. Bill should forget the matter and remain loyal to his code. 0 5. Bill should be encour- aged to work this matter out without any outside help. 0 Counselor Responses U. N.R., Totals 46 3 lb 63 13 8 9 63 63 49 o in 63 45 3 15 63 disagree, or are undecided. The absoluteness of the state— ment might possibly explain the disagreement of some of the counselors. 86 Most counselors agree with alternative three that this is a serious matter. Of the ten counselors who disagree or are undecided, three mention the fact that it is understand- able that Bill would hesitate. The forty—six who agree apparently look upon the situation from the viewpoint of the larger society. Alternative four is the same as alternative one, only expressed differently. In alternative four all the counse- lors responding disagree with the alternative. Here is found one—hundred per cent agreement among the respondents. No counselor feels that Bill should remain loyal to his code and forget the matter. Alternative five is the uniform alternative for all the cases. It is, again, consistent with counseling philo- sophy and finds most counselors disagreeing with it. The case of Bill and the case of Mary are the two cases in which not one counselor agrees with the alternative. It is pos- sible that the urgency of the situation acts to make counse— lors feel that in these two cases the crisis is impossible of solution without some sort of outside help. The relationship of responses and sex was examined. The probability of .8O—.9O1 is not significant. Sex is not associated with reSponses to this alternative. 1x2 = .27 with 2 D.F. 87 In the case of age and responses, a probability of .80-.901 was obtained. This, again, is not significant. The age of the respondent is not related to responses in the case of alternative two. Education and responses are not significantly asso- ciated. The probability obtained was .50-.702. Education is not associated with responses to this alternative. It is in- teresting to note, however, that the more educated counselors are more positive in their reaponses. The relationship between responses to alternative two and the status concepts of the connselors is not significant. The probability obtained was .95-.98. Any thought that sta- tus concepts and the answers to the alternative are associated must be rejected. Not one of the four characteristics examined for as- sociation with this alternative are significant. The only point of note is that the lesser educated counselors are in- clined to be less positive about their response to the altern— ative. Summary. This chapter was concerned with the reaponses of the counselors to the alternatives contained in the test cases. The characteristics of sex, age, education, and status concepts were examined for association with the response 1‘x2 = .33 with 2 D.F. 2x2 = 1.28 with 2 D.F. 88 typology to the "key" alternatives in the several cases. The responses of the group were pointed out and probability IPVels were preSented. Group trends. The cases of Jack, Marvin, Leslie and Katrina are similar in that they all present a situation in which education is presented along with some other value, in most cases, family desires. This conflict seems to disturb counselors somewhat. However, most counselors see education as more important when it is one of the conflicting desires and tend to support education against another value a case presents. It is possible that the counselor is superimpos- ing his own values on the student in these cases. This, it is reasonable to presume, is a consequence of the counselors demonstrated allegiance to education. The cases of Jacqueline and Booker are similar. They both present a situation in which the equilibrium of the school is threatened. Despite this fact, counselors tend to be non-uniform in their responses. No trend is indicated' for the group in either case. The cases of Mary andBill present situations where some immediate course of action seems to be required. Both cases represent a conflict with the "moral" code of the larger society. In both cases the counselors, in the main, 89 Show a tendency to desire conformity to the accepted code of the larger society and at the same time to protect the lives and futures of Mary and Bill. \ ,The association of social characteristics with responses 39 the cases 9; g§23‘_Marvin, Leslie, and Katrina. Again, the four social characteristics examined for association with responses were sex, age, education, and status concepts. There is one "key" alternative in each of these cases that puts the value "education" in opposition to some other value. The question becomes do these "key“ alternatives find the counselors differing in response in terms of these character- istics? There is some evidence to indicate that there is an association between the sex of the respondent and his re- sponses. The sex of the respondent is significantly associated with responses in the case of Katrina and tends toward signi— ficance in the case of Leslie. However, no significance is found in the cases of Jack and Marvin. There is a So some evidence to indicate the associa— tion of age with responses in these four cases. The age of the respondent is significantly associated with responses in cases, but it does tend toward significance in the cases of Katrina and Jack. 90 The amount of education the counselor has seems to be associated with responses. Education is significantly re— lated to responses in the case of Katrina and tends toward significance in the case of Jack. The most impressive evidence is that found in the re- lationship of status concepts and responses. The way in which the counselor views his social status, in relation to that of his parents is found significantly associated with reSponses in the cases of Jack, marvin,.and Leslie. It also tends toward significance in the case of Katrina. There seems little doubt that in the instance of these four cases re- sponses are related to the status concepts of the reSpondent. The association _1 responses with social characteristics ig,§h§,9g§:§ g; Booker and Jacqueline. These two cases repre- sent situations in which the equilbrium of the school is threatened. In neither case were any of the four character— istics found significant. The only positive evidence was in the case of status concepts. Here it was found that those counselors who view their social status as higher than that of their parents are, in the case of Booker, less inclined to be sure of the right answer. In the case of Booker also the males were more apt to support institutional equilibrium than the females. This latter may be related to the admin- istrative orientation of males. 91 The association Q£_resoonses with social characteris- tics in the cases Qf_Bill and Mary. None of the four charac— teristics examined were found to be significantly related to responses in either of these two cases. The only point of note is that there is a tendency (.10-.20) for a rela— tionship between responses and age of the respondent in the case of Mary. It has been suggested that, possibly, younger counselors are inclined to be more sympathetic with her plight. A final conclusion as to the significance for behavior of these selected social characteristics cannot be based upon the findings presented in this chapter alone. The decision must rest upon an examination and summary of the findings re— ported in both chapters four and five. Chapter VI is based upon the findings presented in both Chaoter IV and V. This chapter will contain not only a summary and conclusions, but also, suggestions for training and further study. CHAPTER VI SUHEARY AND CONCLUSIONS This study was concerned with a description and analysis of the social characteristics of counselors. The use of the social characteristics for description and analysis was prompted by Linton's "role theory" (44:263-66). The reason for the study was the lack of research con- cerning the characteristics of counselors or the association of these characteristics with behavior. As the field is moving toward certification and the establishment of minimum standards of competency a knowledge of the influence of these characteristics becomes essential. Selection and training can be conditioned in the light of this information. The sample selected was high school counselors who were members of the Michigan Counselors Association. The data were gathered by way of a mailed questionnaire and a series of test cases. TheSe data provided the basis for the ensuing description and analysis. The method of description was, mainly, in terms of the association of selected social characteristics with responses to the questionnaire and test cases. The association of. characteristics with behavior relied on Chi—Square analysis. 93 A minimum probability of .05 was established as significant for this study. Probabilities of .05-.20 were not treated as significant but indicating a trend toward association. A preliminary analysis of the data suggested that sex, age, education, and status concepts might, possibly, be signi- ficantly associated with responses to the alternatives con- tained in the test cases. These test cases each contained one or more "key" alternatives that were used to measure the contingency of these selected characteristics. The working hypotheses for this study were: (1) Since counselors are a homogeneous group with respect to education and occupation they can be expected to react in similar ways to the same case data; (2) Counselors will tend to sublimate their own motivations and personal biases in the counseling U) ituation; (3) Counselors in a conflict of the individual and institutional equilibrium, will tend to support the in— dividual, and (u) the way in which a counselor views his social status is related to the way in which he reacts to case data. The acceptance, rejection, or revision of these hypotheses is based upon the findings presented in Chapters IV and V. This chapter is concerned with a summary of the find— ings, conclusions, and recommendations for training and further study. 94 I. SUMMARX Description 9; counselors. Counselors in the study were found to be of a mature age, the mean age of the group was 45.37 YsarS. They enter the field of counseling from teaching. Counseling is not an entry occupation for the majority. In most cases, counseling is a part—time function and is assigned to the counselor some time after the original duties of the position had been assigned. Counselors are occupationally stable. Over 67 per cent have been in their present position five years or more, and a similar percentage have a like number of years counseling experience. Over 85 per cent of the sample have a masters degree or better. Some were in school at the time of the study and the general education level can be expected to rise even higher. If the amount of education the counselor has is com- pared with that of his brothers and sisters, 81.2 per cent of the sample have more education than any other sibling in the family. Typically, Michigan counselors are born in Michigan or migrate to Michigan from other mid-western states. For the most part counselors have lived in many different size com- munities. However, seventeen counselors out of the eighty-six have only lived in one size dwelling area and five of these 95 are counseling in their home town. There is a tendency for more counselors to have lived in cities and large industrial areas. Counselors in the study are home owners and church goers. The group show a home ownership rate of 75.9 per cent. They belong to the protestant religious sects, 59.2 per cent belong to either the Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregational, or Baptist church. There were no Jewish counselors found and only five out of eighty-six were Catholic. The counselors in the study came from a family that' had at least a minimum of economic security. Their parents owned their own home in 81.7 per cent of the cases. That counselors came from families that fairly high level occupa- tions can be seen from the fact that skilled and semi-skilled (36.4 per cent), farmers (31.1 per cent), and professionals (18.9 per cent) are the largest occupational groups repre- sented by the counselors' fathers. There is a decided gap educationally between the coun- Jselors and their fathers. 0f the fathers, 54.4 per cent haVe only a grammar school education and all the counselors are college graduates, with over 85 per cent having a masters degree or better. The counselors' contacts, for the most part, are limi- ted to students and other professionals. His contacts with other groups of peOple are very limited. 96 His contact with Negroes is also very slight. Of the counselors responding, three—fifths have had little or no contact with Negroes. Michigan counselors are seen as not having enough experiences and contacts with Negroes to fa— cilitate their counseling with them. The counselors responding participate in community affairs. Over 78 per cent reported having taken part in one or more community activities during the last month from the date of the questionnaire. Over 75 per cent of the counSe— lors belong to one or more civic cigznirations, and all be- long to two or more professional organizations. In about fifty per cent of the cases the counselors stated that they took the role of leader in the community activities in which they participated. The greater proportion of counselors want to make some changes in their present position. The’main changes desired are more time for counseling and more clerical help. The more time for counseling is coupled with the fact that counseling is a part-time assignment for most. Over seventy per cent spend twenty hours or less per week in counseling. Although the majority of counselors would stay in their present community, Chi-Square analysis reveals a sig- nificantly greater proportion of males would move to another community to take a counseling job. The main reasons for moving are money, chance for advancement, better community, etc. These reasons are seen as social and economic, as well as professional. Eighty four out of the eighty-six counselors intend to remain in the field of counseling, but a Chi-Square analy- sis reveals that males tend to want to stay in the field as administrators and the females as counselors. Although all the counselors were employed in high school, 34.7 per cent of the males and seventeen per cent of the females chose college counseling as an ultimate profes- sional objective. I Counselors would go back to college if given the chance. All but one of the eighty-six counselors had some type of additional training in mind. The fields mentioned most frequently were guidance, psychology, and sociology. The respondents stated that participation in the approved manner, in profession and community, were the ways to improve their status in the community: and they do parti- cipate. Some counSelors in the study see their social status as higher than that of their parents and some don't. It is the male counselors who are more apt to see their social status as higher than that of their parents. 98 When counselors were compared as to their ultimate professional objectives; those counselors who saw their social status as higher than that >f.their parents choSe~adminis- tration. Those who did not view their social status as higher than that of their parents chose counseling more often. Thus, administration is seen as a status choice. Reactions tg_the test cases. The counselors were pre— sented with a choice in every alternative in each case. When the value conflict is between education and some other value, as a group, the respondents chose education first. Social characteristics and behavior. The major inter- est of this study was the determination of the association of selected social characteristics with behavior. Preliminary analysis revealed that possibly sex, age, education, and status concepts might be significantly related to behavior. These were measured for association with responses to the test cases, community satisfaction, ultimate professional objectives, and status viewpoints. This subsection is con— cerned with the results of theSe examinations. Sex was found to be significantly associated with re- sponses in one key alternative for one case and tended toward significance in two other cases. A significant difference was found in the willingness of the counselors to take a counseling position in a different community. Males were 99 more willing to take a new position. Sex was measured against ultimate professional objective and the probability (.01) was significant. Male counselors chose administration or supervision as an ultimate professional objective and fe— males chose to remain as counselors. Sex measured agains;the educational level at which the counselor preferred to work. The probability (.lO—.20) was not significant. However, it did indicate direction. Males were more inclined to choose college and females high school. There seems to be concrete evidence of sex differences in the responses to the situations tested in this study. It would have to be said that the sex of the respondent is as- sociated with his responses. In the case of education, the amount, and not subject fields, was measured for contingency. Education was found to be significantly associated with responses in one altern- ative and tended toward association in one other. The over- all evidence is not strong enough to indicate that the amount of education is related to responses in this study. With the overwhelming proportion (85 per cent) already possessing the masters degree, however, it is rather difficult to draw any conclusive inferences from this comparison. 100 The most fruitful findings were in the area of status concepts. Here those counselors who viewed their social status as higher than that of their parents were com— pared with those counselors who did not view their social status as higher than that of their parents. There were significant differences found in the re— sponses of the two groups to the alternatives in three of the cases and a tendency toward significance in two others. In the four cases where education is one of the choices, status concepts are significant in three and tend toward significance in the other. Next, the status concepts of the counselors were ex- amined for relationship to choice of ultimate professional objective. In each comparison the probability was signifi- cant at the .05 leVel or less. Those counselors who viewed their social status as higher than that of their parents chose administration as an ultimate professional objective. The results seem to offer strong evidence that the way in which a counselor views his social status is related to Judgments in the test cases and his choice of a profes- sional future. The evidence is particularly strong in those alternatives that find education in opoosition to some other value. Those counselors who View their social status as higher than that of their parents consistently chose educa- tion in opposition to other values. 101 II. CONCLUSIONS As a group, the Michigan counselors included in the study have entered counseling indirectly. They were teachers first and counselorseecond. Even so, they have had several years of counseling experience. Counseling, for the most part, takes on the aSpect of an addition or change in the duties for which they were originally employed. They represent a group which has attained their pre- sent occupational positions largely through the means of formal education. Regardless of the sibling position, the counselor is the sibling in the family that gets the most education. This raises an interesting question for consid- eration. Since education is the most used means of social mobility, is the counselor the sibling in the family that is the most status conscious? Counselors do not come from the lowest social and economic levels in American society. The evidence shows that they come from families that enjoy at least a minimum of economic security. Counselors can and do think in terms of social status. About one-half the respondents stated that their social status is higher than that of their parents. The reason for the basis for this higher status is their greater education 102 and professional position. That they know and employ the techniques for status imprOVement is evidenced in their re- sponses to the questions in the area of social status. There is a great disparity between the educational level of the counselor and his father. Also, there is some disparity in the occupational levels attained. These facts raise another ouestion. Is this disparity possibly explained on the basis of the counselors' interest in upward status mobility? Counselors are satisfied with the field of counseling and intend to remain in the field. They would, in most cases, like to increase the time they devote to counseling. That they have had many years experience in the field and are a "middle-age“ group is further evidence they will re— main in the field. The respondents' contacts with minority groups and segments of society other than his own are limited. The per- sonal associations of the counselors in the study were limi- ted lnd might be regarded as a limiting factor for effective counseling. For those counselors who were working in their own home town or had lived in only one sized community all their life, the lack of broader social experiences might be con- sidered to be a handicap since social experience and a know- ledge of the multiple social variants operative in American society increases the potential for effectiveness in counsel— lng with a wider range of cases. 103 Although the counselors wanted to remain in the field, they desired to make changes in their present positions. Some would take different counseling jobs, and move to new loca— tions. Some wanted college Jobs or to move into administra- tion. The evidence suggests that college level and adminis- tration choices were connected with the way in which the counselor viewed his social status in relation to his parents. This raises an additional question. Is it possible that those counselors who are interested in college and adminis— trative positions are interested from the point of View of status mobility? The questionnaire and case data suggests that the sex of the respondents was associated with responses to the questions. Males were more inclined to view their social status as higher than that of their parents, were interested in administration, and were more willing to move to a new community or position. Also, tales were less positive in their responses, at least in the case of the alternatives tested. All these factors support the inference that the sex of the counselor does affect his reSponses in the situa- tions presented in this study. Age has not been demonstrated to be associated with the responses of the counselors studied. No significance was established between age and responses and the conclusion 104 is inevitable that, as far as this study is concerned, age is not significantly associated with responses in the situ- ations presented in this study. The amount of education was not significantly asso- ciated with responses to the situations employed in this study. It was found significant in only one situation and tended toward significance in two others. The amount of education the counselor has doesn't reveal itself as signi- ficantly associated with responses. The way in which a counselor views his social status was found to be significantly associated with responses. Those counselors who viewed their social status as higher than that of their parents tended to choose administration as an ultimate professional objective, desire to work on the college level, and were found to be willing to move to a new community to take a new position. Also, those counselors who viewed their social status as higher than their parents responded significantly different in three test cases and a tendency toward significance was found in two others. The way in which a counselor viewed his social status did affect his reaponses. The characteristics that are significant are sex and status concepts and are more apt to be significant in situa— tions involving choices of a professional future and the 105 choice of education, as opposed to some other value. The‘hypothesag developed for the study. If the hy— potheses developed for this study are examined in the light of the evidence certain changes and conclusions are inevit- able. The first hypothesis was “bince counselors are a relatively homogeneous group with respect to education and occupation they can be expected to react in similar ways to the same case data." The evidence seems to indicate other- wise. True, in some of the alternatives there is agreement among counselors; but in most situations and alternatives counselors reaponding to the alternatives did not react in similar ways. This hypothesis must be rejected on the basis of the evidence. The second hypothesis was "Counselors will tend to sublimate their own motivations and personal biases in the counseling situation". There was found considerable evidence to disprove this hypothesis. Certainly in the case of the alternatives in the test cases the evidence does not support the hypothesis. Counselors tended to inject their own drive for education into the case situation. They also appeared to feel their codes of social conduct were the one's operating for the counselee. This hypothesis is not supported by the evidence presented in this study. 106 The third hypothesis was "Counselors, in a conflict of the individual and institutional equilibrium, will tend to support the individual". The evidence here is somewhat contradictory. In the case of Jacqueline counselors are seen to support institutional eouilibrium, while in the case of Booker they are split between individual and institution. The only conclusion that can be arrived at is that the evi— dence neither proves nor disproves the hypothesis. Further study may provide the answer. The last hypothesis was "The way in which the coun- selor views his social status is related to the way in which he reacts to case data". The evidence in this study seems to support this hypothesis. Certainly the resnonses of the group vary according to concept of their social status. This is particularly true in those situations where educa— tion was in conflict with some other value. It must be con- cluded that the evidence presented supports this last hypothesis. Though these counselor responses have been paper re— sponses to "closed" alternatives,the consistency of responses suggests that the values and orientations of the counselor will enter into his behavior in the counseling situation. That this will effect his counseling outcomes is highly probable. 107 III. RLCOL-ihibJNDATIONS res TBAlNING There is shown the fact that counselors' social con- tacts and experiences may be limited in some areas. The training program should include exposure.to as many differ— ent segments of our culture as is possible. In connection with this an apprenticeship program is needed that would move the counselor into communities and situations which are different than those he has experienced. Training in some of the fundamental areas in sociology would be helpful. Counselors would benefit from a study of collective behavior and social attitudes. These areas are helpful in an understanding of the personal and social factors motivating behavior. A course in the understanding of his own attitudes and their effect upon behavior would be valuable for the neophyte counselor. The data studied suggest that the at— titudes of the counselor are associated with his responses. Perhaps some technique, such as used in this study, would prove a good point of departure. The data gathered for this study indicated that the more educated counselor was somewhat inclined to be more cau- tious in his decisions. Therefore, it seems that more train— ing would lead to increased competency. It is suggested 108 that no one be certified to counsel in the public schools of Michigan who has not had two years of teaching experience, worked in the business world, and completed a masters degree in the field of counseling. IV. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY The situations employed in this study were necessarily limited. There is a need for testing the association of the characteristics studied in many different situations. They could be tested by using recordings of actual interview situations or situations could be constructed using socio- drama techniques. There is need for a study of the counselors' behavior as his training and facility increase. This type of study would be of great significance in the training of counselors. The results and outcomes obtained by counselors from various social backgrounds should be examined and evaluated. It may be that the differences are important to consider in the original selection of counseling trzinees. Finally, there is a need to repeat this study, or a similar one, in different geographic areas and on a national basis. The findings of this study may or may not apply in different regions and localities. lO. BIBLIOGRAPHY Anderson, C. Arnold, "Social Class Differentials in the Schooling of Youth Within the Regions and Community Size Groups of the United States," Social Forces, 25:434-40, May, 1947. Bailey, Richard J., “The Preparation, Certification, and Selection of Personnel Workers for the Secondary School of the United States". Unpublished Doctor's Disserta- fion, New York University, New York, New York, 1940. +78 pp. "Preparing, Certifying and Selection Public School Counselors," Educational administration and Supervision. 26:415-23, September, 1940. 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"Social Class and Color Differences in Child—Rearing," American Sociological Review, 9:698-710, December, 1946. Davis, Kingsley, "A Conceptual Analysis of Stratification", American Sociological Review, 7:309-21, June 1942. Davis, Kingsley and W.L. Moore, "Some Principals of Strztification," American Sociological Review, 10: 242—49, April, 1945. Deegs, M.E., and D.G. Peterson, "Changes in the Social Status of Occupations," Occupations. 25:205-08, January, 1947. ancan, Otis D., "Some froblems of Stratification Re— search", Rural Socioloa , 16:17~29, harch, 1951. Edgerton, Allison H., Vocational Guidance and Counseling. New York: The Macmillan Comoany, 1926: 213 pp. Elliot, William G., "Characteristics of Counselors in a Project with Adolescents and the Relation of Certain Characteristics to Performance, "Unpublished masters Thesis, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1941. 100 pp. Erickson Clifford E. and Glenn E. Smith, Orggnization and Administrztion cf Guidance Services. New York: Lc- Grew-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1947, 276 pp. Fisher, R. A. and F. Yates, Statisticalpifibles for Biological, Agriculturtl end Aedical Research. London: Oliver and Boyd, 1938. Table IV. Foote, Nelson N., "Destratification and Restratification an Editorial Forward, " American Journal of Sociology. 58:325u26, January, 1953. Ginsberg, S11 and others, Occupational Choice: An Approach to a General Theory. New York: Columbia University Press, 1951 271 pp. Green, Arnold w., "The Middle—Class hale Child and Neurosis," American Sociolovical Review, II:31-41, February, 1946. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 1+3. 44. 112 Hsgood, hargaret J., Ststistics_§g§ Sociologists. New YOrk: Henry Eolt and Conpzny, 1941. 934 pp. Hatt, Paul K., "Strrtificstion in the Less Society," Americrn Scciological Review. 15:216—22, April, 1950. , "Occupation and Social Stratific:tion", Americag_ Journal of Sociologx, 55:533-43, May, 1950. Hollingshead, August 8., :lntown's Youth: The Ihpsct g§_Socisl Class on Adolsscsnts. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1949. 450 pp. Kinsey,A.C., :.B. Pomeroy, and C.L. Lartin, Ssyual Behavior in the Human gels. New York: W.B. Saunders, Kobrin, Solomon, "The Conflict of Values in Delinouency Areas", Americsn Sociolo icsl Review, 16:653-61, October, 1951. Kriedt, aul H., "Differential Interest Patterns of Psychologist," Unpublished Doctor's Dissertation, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis,hinnesota, 1949, 132 pp. Landis, Paul, Man in Environment. New York: Thomas Crowell Company, 1949. 684 pp. Linton, Ralph, The Study of Man. New York: Apoleton— Csntury-Crofts, Inc., 1936. 503 pp. , "Concepts of Role and Status," in Swanson and others, Readings in Social Psychology. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1952. 2o3-bo pp. Lowie, Robert H., Are We Civilized? New York: Harcourt and Brace Company, 1929. 305 pp. Msclver, R.M., and CthlPS H. Page. Society: an In- troductory Analysis. Revised Edition: New York: Harbourt and Brace Company, 1937, 604 pp. McConnel, John 9., The :volution of Social Clxss s. Washington, D.C.: The American Council on Public Affairs, 1942. 228 pp. 48. 49. 50. 51. 113 Miller, Delbert C. and William H. Form. Industrial Sociology. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1951. 896 pp. Mead, Margaret, The School in the American Culture. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard UniVersity fress. hills, C. Wright, White Collrr. New York: Oxford University Press, 1951. 378 pp. Norris, Willa, editor. “The Michigan Counselor", Michi- gan Counselors Association, East Lansing, Michigan. May. 1953. 4 pp. Parsons, Tatcott, "An analytical Aoproach to the Theory of Social Stratification," American Journal of Sociology, 35:841-62, May 1940. , Pearson, Karl. Gremnyr of_Scieng§. 3rd ed., London: A and C Black, 1911. 624 pp. Pfautz, Harold N., "The Current Literature on Social Stratification: Critique and Bibliography", American Journal of Sociology, 58:391-418, January, 1953. Porter, L. H. Jr, “The Development and avaluation of a Measure of Counseling Interview Procedures", Unpub— lished hasters Thesis, Columbus, Ohio, Ohio State University, 1 41. 72 pp. Baths, Louis b., and Stephen Abrahamson, Student Status and Social Class. Bronxville, New York, Modern adu- cation Service, 1951. 16 pp. Reid, Dorothy K., and William V. Snyder., "hyperiment on ‘Recognition of Feeling' in Non-Directive Therapy", Journalof Clinical Psychology, 3:128-35, April 1947. Robinson, Frances P., Principles and Procedures in Stu- dent Counseling, New York: harper and Brothers. 1950 321 pp. ‘ . "Guidance for All: In Principle and Practice", Guidance and Personnel JOU?R81, 313500-504» Kay, 1953- Rothney, John, and Bert A. Roens, Counseling_the Indi- vidual Student. New York: William Soane Associates, 1949. 351 DP. 0\ \J\ 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 114 Rogoff, Natlie, "Social_Stratification in France and the United States", American Journal of Sociologx, 58:347—57, January, 1953. Shostrom, Everett L. and L. M. Brammer, The Dynamcis of the Counseling Process. New York: thraw-hill Book, Company, 1952. 213 pp. Sibley, Blridge, “Some Demographic Clues to Stratifica— tion"., Am rican Sociologicrl Review, 7:?22-30, June 1942. Sims, V.N., "The Social Class Affiliation of a Group of Public School Teachers,“ School Review, 59:331-38. Stendler, CeCElia Burns, Children of Brasstown: Their Awareness of the Symbols of Social Class. Urbana, Illinois, University of Illinois Press, 1949. 103 pp. Sutherland, Edwin H., “White Collar Criminality," Amer— ican Sociological Review, 5:1-12, February, 1940. Vordenberg, Wesley, "The Impact of Personal PhiloSOphies on Counseling," Guidance and Personnel Journal, 31: 439-40. April, 1953. Warner W.L., Robert J. Havighurst, and Martin B. Leb, Who Shall Be :ducated: The Challenge of Unequal Opoortunities. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1944, 190 pp. Warner, W. L., and Paul S. Lunt, The Social Life of a Modern Community. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1941. 460 pp. , The Status System of a Ngdern Conmunity. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1942. 246 pp. Welch, M. K., "The Ranking of Occupations on the Basis of Social Status", Occupations. 27:237-41, January 1949. Wheeler, Wayne, Social Stratification in a Plains Community. Minneapolis: Wayne Wheeler, 1949. 123 pp. William, Robin N., Jr., American Society: A Sociological Interpretation. New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1951. 598 pp. 115 74. Whyte, William Foote, Street Corner Scciety. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1943. 284 pp. 75. Young, Pauline V. Scientific Social Suryeys and R3: search. Second Lditicn: New York: frentice-hall, Inc., 1949. 621 pp. APPENDIX A 116 PART I OF QULSTIONNAIRE AGE SEX bfiPLOYLD IN? hLEH? H.S.? COLL? 1. How many years in present position? 2. Number of years experience as a counselor? 3- a. D0 You have other duties in addition to counseling? b. If so, what are they? 4. a. How many hours a week are devoted to counseling? b. Other duties? 5. Other positions held previous to present one? 6. a. What high school did you graduate from? b. State? County? __ 7. Colleges Attended Major Fields Minor Fields When Degrees 8. Where were you born? State? County? 9. Have you lived for more than one year in: aq____0pen country b.____Town (up to 2,500 population) c.________City (2,500 to 25,000) d.____Large metropolitan area (25,000 and over) 10. Did your parents own their own home when you were in high school? 11. a. Are your parents still living? b. Are you still living with your parents? c. (if one or both parents are dead) How old were you when your (father or mother) died? 12. 13. l4. 15. 16. 17. 18. 3. Brothers and Sisters Ages bducation Occupations Father's age b. Occupation Education 117 Birthplace Mother's age b. Occupation Mother work before marriage? If so, at what occupation? lbther's birthplace? Marital status? b. Number of children? Children's ages? Spouse's education? Spouse's occupation? Spouse work before marriage? g. occupation? If so, at what Club and group memberships I Offices held How long a member From which of these memberships do you derive the greatest satisfaction? Why? What are the community activities you have participated in during the last month? 18. 19. 20. 118 b. Which ones did you organize or help to organize? 0. Which ones did you take the role of a leader in? d. Which ones did you attend as a member of the group and not as an organizer or leader? a. Are you a church member? b. Denomination? c. How many of the church services do you attend in a month? All Most Half Some but not half None a. If you hsd your choice would you continue to live in this neighborhood? b. (if yes) Why do you like to live in this neighborhood? c. (if no) What are your reasons for wanting to leave? d. (if no) Where would you like to move to? e. How did.you happen to choose this place? 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 119 f. What would it take to get you to accept a counseling Job elsewhere which would necessitate your moving out of this community? a. What size community do you prefer to live in? a. ____Small (under 10,000 population) b. ___Medium (10,000 _ 25,000) 0. ____Large (25,000 and over) b. What size school system would you prefer to work in? a. ____§mall (under 10 teachers) b. _______Medium (10 - 25 teachers) 0. ____Large (25 and over) For the most part what kinds of jobs do people in this neighborhood have? a. Do you own your own home? b. If yes, how long have you owned your own home? Have you had any contact with Negroes? a. Continuous contact b. A great deal 0. ____Not very much d. None- If you have had some contact with Negroes, where have you come in contact with them? a. In clubs or groups I belong to b. In school c. In the shops and stores in town d. In my neighborhood e. Friends' homes f. by home 26. 27. 28. 120 a. How did you happen to get into the field of counseling? b. Are you getting the satisfaction out of the field that you had hoped to? c. (if not) Why do you feel you are not? d. (if not) Is there possibly some other field you might get more satisfaction from? a. How do you feel that possibly a different position in the field from your present one might give you more satisfaction? b. (if yes) What kind of position do you have in mind? c. (if respondent has a position in mind) How do you expect to try and obtain this other position? (if no) Are there any things that you would like to change about your present position? (if yes) What are the changes you would like to make if it were possible? (if changes are suggested) How are you trying to affect these changes at the present time? 29. 30. 31. L21 What is your ultimate professional objective? a. Counseling with peOple b Teaching of counseling c. Administration of counseling services d. Research e. Other What education level would you like to eventually work at? a. ____filementary school b. ____fiigh school 0. ____College d. Other a, What do you think are the most important goals in life for an individual? b. Do you feel that you have a chance of achieving these goals? c. What stands in the way of your achieving these goals? a. What kinds of people do you feel you can counsel with most effectively? b. What are the hardest kinds of people for you to counsel with effectively? c. In your personal life what kinds of people do you associate with most of the time? 33. 31+. 35. 36. 37. 38. 122 If you could go back to college what additional types of training would you feel you especially need as a counselor? What types of training you have had do you feel have been most helpful to you as a counselor? What parts or areas of your training background do you feel have been the least helpful to you as a counselor? What do you feel are the best ways for a person to improve his status? a. In his community? b. In his profession? c. In his relations with his superiors? Which of these do you feel that you have used to improve your own status? Do you feel that your social status is higher than that of your parents? Why? 123 PART II OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE Date AGE SEX hMPLOYED IN? hLbM? H.S.? COLLhGfiZ_____ ON THL FOLLOWING PAGES YOU WILL FIND SOME PROBLEHS FOR YOU TO SOLVE. Note: This is not a test but an attempt to get the judg- memts of professional counselors regarding some problems we are all apt to be confronted with in the practice of our pro- fession. Indicate before each response whether you agree, disagree, or are undecided. As follows: A. AGREE U. UNDECIDED D, DIsAsaEE SAMPLE ITEM: (a) 1. Bill should be allowed.to go to college. MARK hVERY RESPONSE 124 l. Jack's mother and father are legally separated. His mother has custody of Jack and his younger sister Mary. Jack is 17 an average student and in the first semester of his Junior year. He wants to quit school and help support his mother and younger sister. His father has disappeared from the local community and does not contribute to the support of the family. Jack feels that he is the "man of the family“ and should be the breadwinner. He feels that a part-time job offers no solution to his problem. His mother although feeling the strain of the financial burden is willing to go along with anything that Jack and his counselor decide, ( ) 1. Jack is right in assuming that he should be the breadwinner and he should be encouraged to quit school. ( ) 2. Jack should be helped to see that he would be better able to support the family if he graduates from high school. ( ) 3. Jack's education comes first and his role as bread— winner is secondary. ( ) 4. Jack should be encouraged to work this matter out without any outside help. If there are additional alternative courses of action pos— sible in this case, what are they? How do you think this case will work out? How would you like to see this case work out? What are the most important features in this case? 125 2. Booker is the only Negro student in an all-white school. He is an average student and tries hard to get along with the other students. He is accepted socially by large segments of the student population. He wants to run for treasurer of his class, Several students have encouraged him to do so. Others have been violently antagonistic. Booker came to the counselor and asked for his Opinions. Booker feels that he has every right to run out that he does not want to start any "trouble" that will eventually reflect back on him. ( ) l. Booker should avoid trouble and not run for office. ( ) 2. Booker should run for office after the approval of the school staff has been gained. ( ) 3. Booker should be encouraged to work this matter out without any outside help. ( ) h. Booker should run for office without asking the school staff to intercede for him. If there are additional alternative courses of action pos- sible in this case, what are they? How do you think this case will work out? How would you like to see this case work out? What are the most important factors in this case? 126 3. Marvin is an honor student in his senior year. He comes from a fairly well—to—do family. The family is highly respected in the community. He agrees with the family's desire for him to go to the University after graduation. This term Marvin's grades have begun to slip and he has be— come quite nervous and irritable. He and a girl from another community have fallen in love with each other. Marriage has been discussed and they plan to marry after he graduates from high school. She is Catholic and he is hethodist. Both fami- lies are opposed to the marriage, her father on religious grounds and his because the girl is not of his group and is a country girl. ( ) 1. Marvin should be encouraged to work this matter out without any outside help. ( ) 2. The religious differences make this a difficult situation. ( > 3. They come from different social groups and couldn't readily adjust. ( ) u. If they are in love they should be permitted to get married. ( ) 5. If this marriage will Jeopardize Marvin's educa- tion, it should not be encouraged. If there are additional alternative courses of action pos- sible in this case, what are they? How do you think this case will work out? How would you like to see this case work out? What are the most important factors in this case? 127 4. Leslie comes from a family of professional people. All are college graduates and are well known in their fields. His older brother and sister are college graduates. Leslie doesn't want to go to college even though tests and reports indicate that he is capableof it. He wants go to an automotive training school and become a certified mechanic. His aptitude and interest patterns indicate that he is capable of succeeding in this field. His parents are deeply hurt by this decision on Leslie's part. They insist that since he has the ability and comes from a family of professional people it is his duty to go into a profession. Leslie is determined to go to the automotive train— ing school and his family insists that the school must show him how important it is for him to go to college. ( ) 1. Leslie comes from a family in a social status that makes it necessary that he go to college. ( ) 2. The counselor should try to make Leslie see how important it is he go to college. ( ) 3. Leslie owes certain obligations to his family and he should follow their desires in this matter. ( ) 4. Leslie has his own life to live and he should be allowed to go to the automotive training school if that is what he wants. ( ) 5. Leslie should be encouraged to work this matter out without any outside help. If there are additional alternatives of action possible in this case, what are they? How do you think this case will work out? How would you like to see this caSe work out? What are the most important factors in this case? 128 5. Jacqueline is a girl of 16. She comes from one of the wealthiest families in town. Her father is president of the school board. H-r grades have been good despite a lack of effort on her part. Recently she was assigned to two extra study-hall periods for being habitually late to class. She refused to attend the extra study-hall periods. She says that no one from her family has to do anything like that. ( ) l. The rules are made for everyone and she should be made to attend the assigned study-halls. ( ) 2. Her father should be consulted and his decision should be adhered to. ( ) 3. There is not much that can be done to a girl from ‘ her social position. ( ) 4. If the girl refuses to conform she should be suspended. ( ) 5. The administration should move cautiously as there is the possibility that their positions might become Jeopardized in this situation. ( ) 6. The girl should be encouraged to work the matter out without any outside help. If there are additional alternative courses of action pos— sible in this case, what are they? How do you think this case will work out? How would you like to see this case work out? What are the most important factors in this case? 6. Mary is a girl of 17. She is considered by her classmates to be a "fast" number. She has had several brushes with the law for petty-theft and shop-lifting. Her mother is dead and her father is a truck driver for a transcontinental trucking company and is away from home for three or four days at a time. One day in class she suddenly fainted. The school nurse was called and discovered that Mary was pregnant. The girl re- fuses to name the boy involved and refuses to discuss the matter with anyone. ( ) 1. Her father is to blame for leaving her unsupervised. ( ) 2. From her past record this sort of eVent was quite apt to happen. ( ) 3. This is more or less typical of people from her walk of life. ( ) 4. The girl should be punished and placed in a deten- tion home. ~ ( ) 5. This matter should be given as little notoriety as possible and the girl should not be punished but helped. ( ) 6. The girl should be encouraged to work this matter out without any outside help. If there are additional alternative courses of action pos— sible in this case, what are they? How do you think this case will work out? How would you like to see this case work out? What are the most important factors in this case? 130 7. Katrina is an "A" student in high school. She has an I.Q. of 146. She has displayed a keen aptitude for the natural sciences andwants to go to the state university and study physics. Her family are first generation immigrants and feel that a college education is not needed by a girl. They feel that she ought to work after high school until she gets married and settles down. Katrina was offered a scholarship to the state university and the wants to go but she feels she doesn't dare to go against the wishes cf her family. ( ) 1. Katrina should obey her parents on this matter. ( ) 2. The counselor should attempt to change the parents' minds. ( ) °. Katrina should be encouraged to work this matter out without any outside help. ( ) 4. Her immigrant parents don't look at things the way we do here in the United States. ( ) 5. Katrind's education is more important than her parents' desires. ( ) 6. In the long run the relationship with her parents is more important to Katrian than her going to college. If there are additional alternative courses of action pos- sible in this case, what are they? How do you think this case will work out? How would you like to see this case work out? What are the most important factors in this case? 131 8. Bill came to the counselor and stated that he had a problem on his mind. He stated that he was a member of a local "gang". The gang had its own codes of conduct and rules of behavior. They prided themselves on never "squealing” on a buddy. He said that he lived up to this code but felt that a situation had arisen that he wanted to know what to do about. He had seen a buddy of his threaten a classmate with a pistol that he had hidden in his locker. He felt that the mat- ter was serious and he didn't want to see anybody getting shot. ( ) 1. It is wrong for Bill to violate the code of his group which has taken him into their confidence. ( ) 2. There is no other possible proper course for Bill other than to tell the proper authorities what he has seen. ( ) 3. This is a serious matter and Bill shouldn't have any hesitation at all in telling the proper authorities. ( ) a. Bill should forget the matter and remain loyal to his code. ' ( ) 5. Bill should be encouraged to work this matter out without any outside help. If there are additional alternative courses of action possible in this case, what are they? How do you think this case will work out? How would you like to see this case work out? What are the most important factors in this case? APPENDIX B 132 LETTER OF EXPLANATION THAT ACCOMPANIED FORMS Room 17, Morrill Hall Michigan State College East Lansing, Michigan January 26, 1953 Mr. John Doe Smith High School Smith, Michigan Dear Counselor: All the members of the Michigan Counselors Association are béing asked to cosperate on a study designed to determine the backgrounds of Michigan Counselors. This study is being carried on in conjunction with the research work of the Certification Committee of the Michigan Counselors Association and is endorsed by the Department of Guidance and Counselor Training at Michigan State College. It is hoped that the results will yield two things, (1) a better understanding of the composite backgrounds of Michigan Counselors, and (2) a reliable basis for the improvement of Coun~ selor training programs. Only if a large percentage of replies is received will the study be of value. This represents an oppor— tunity for Michigan Counselors to make a contribution to furthering our profession. The findings will be summarized in a future issue of the Michigan Counselor. We akpreciate how busy you are, but a prompt reply will very materially aid in making the results available at the earliest possible date. A self-addressed stamped envelope has been enclosed for your convenience. Sincerely yours, /8/ Allen C. Erickson 133 FOLLOW-UP LETTER Rm. #17, horrill Hall hichigan State College March 2, 1953 Mr. John Doe Smith High School Smith, Michigan Dear Counselor: Some time ago you received a questionnaire for counselors. Although we have returns from a majority of the members, we have ' not received yours. We can appreciate how busy you are and that this is an imposition on your time, however, if there is a way in which you can find time to complete it in the next week or two it would be much appreciated. You can be assured that your reply will be held in the strictist confidence. If, by chance, you have mislaid the questionnaire would you please so indicate on the enclosed postcard. It is felt that this study can make a real contribution to the counseling pro- fession in Michigan. Sincerely yours, /s/ Allan G. Erickson FOLLCWwUP POSTCARD The questionnaire has been mislaid please send another copy. The questionnaire has been sent or is on its way. I have been busy and expect to com— plete it soon. I will be unable to complete the questionnaire. I have no counseling duties at pre- sent—hence the questionnaire does not apply. Signed 13# Room USE ONUL lun All, ‘15 ,2 i... E) R0133 ’uset ééfii 31293 03056 2015 MI]! "I "I "ll L" H H H I II I E“! All' III S” H "- “I