Cindy L. Juntunen

American Indian perspectives on the career journey.

This exploratory qualitative study was conducted to examine the meaning of career and related concepts for adult American Indians. Eighteen Northern Plains American Indians were interviewed, and the resulting data were analyzed using consensual qualitative research strategies (C. E. Hill, B. J. Thompson, & E. N. Williams, 1997). Five major topic areas emerged from the data: the meaning of career, definitions of success, supportive factors, obstacles, and living in 2 worlds. Within these domains, several categories emerged, with differences noted between those participants with postsecondary education and those with secondary education in 3 of the domains. Following discussion of and comparison of the categories across the 2 groups, implications for future research and theory development are presented.

The Vocational Development of Non-College-Bound Youth: Counseling Psychology and the School-to-Work Transition Movement

Due to inadequate preparation for employment and lack of assistance in making the transition to work, many youth struggle entering the labor market, are unemployed, or flounder in jobs without opportunities for advancement. The school-to-work transition movement, exemplified by the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994, is designed to address the career development needs of non-college-bound youth. However, despite the fact that counseling psychology has been intimately involved with career development since its inception, attempts to link counseling psychology and the school-to-work movement are almost nonexistent. Given that the school-to-work movement will directly affect the vocational outcomes of potentially 75% or more of youth, it is imperative that counseling psychologists begin to take an active role in the movement. This article attempts to provide an impetus for counseling psychologists to become involved in the school-to-work movement through theory building, research, training, and practice.

Work hope: Development and initial validation of a measure

Hope is a core construct of positive psychology that has received only minimal application to work and vocational situations. C. R. Snyder (2000) conceptualized hope as a cognitive process with 3 primary components: goals, agency, and pathways. This article presents the development and validation of the Work Hope Scale (WHS), which was rationally based in Snyders hope theory and designed to assess the presence of work hope in diverse populations. The 3 studies (N = 79, N = 224, and N = 31) presented here provide evidence of both convergent and discriminant validity for the WHS, establish the stability of the WHS, and demonstrate the criterion validity of the WHS by its ability to distinguish among groups that can be expected to have more or less hope about their work situations on the basis of their access to economic resources. The results, based on a diverse sample that includes welfare recipients, economically disadvantaged youth, college students, and community members, support the usefulness of the WHS for both research and interventions in vocational psychology.

Culture and Self in Career Development: Working With American Indians

The career development concerns of American Indians continue to receive limited attention in the vocational or career literature. To address this deficit, the current article will apply the cultural formulation approach to career counseling with American Indians. This article presents information on factors related to cultural and self-identity for American Indians, followed by a discussion of a culturally informed perspective on career concerns. A discussion of therapeutic issues and a case study of a young Lakota woman are provided. The article concludes with suggestions for how to approach the case using the cultural formulation approach.

Non-Traditional Teaching Methods That Promote Social Justice Introduction to the Special Issue

This brief article serves as an introduction to the special issue of The Counseling Psychologist devoted to non-traditional teaching methods that promote social justice. We introduce the historical importance of social justice in the field of counseling psychology and discuss current events that maintain the need for further work in this area. We introduce the need for a focus on pedagogy that promotes social justice. We briefly summarize the manuscripts in the two special issue volumes and discuss the broad categories into which they fall. Finally, we call for further scholarship and action related to innovative teaching that promotes social justice.

Reflections on the Opportunities and Challenges of Disaster Response

This reaction article applauds the authors of the Major Contribution for their thoughtful and thorough consideration of the myriad issues that accompany disaster mental health work. The reaction highlights three themes that emerged in the articles of the contribution: opportunities for collaboration, opportunities for the application of social justice, and opportunities for bioecological research and interventions. In addition, suggestions are made for future exploration of prevention opportunities, separating the reality of disaster response from popular media images, and ethical considerations for counseling psychologists working as disaster responders.

Women and anger: A structured group

Abstract A structured group designed to consider anger and its impact on womens lives is presented, including a facilitators manual. Suggestions for future groups are provided.