Cyrus R. Williams

Retention of First-Year Community College Students.

Close to half of all community college students leave before obtaining their stated goals. In order to determine what student characteristics increase community college student retention, with a heightened interest on the predictive nature of taking a student success course, a post-facto quasi-experimental study was conducted to determine whether or not participation in a study skills course affects retention at a Southeast community college. Results indicate that successful completion of a study skills course increases fall-to-fall retention for students who enroll in the institution with an ACT COMPASS® (American College Test, 2006) score over those who do not participate in a study skills course. Results also show that while ethnicity/race and socioeconomic status were not significant, factors of retention, gender, age, and ACT COMPASS® Reading score significantly predict student retention. Recommendations for researchers and community college administrators and counselors are discussed.

Invited Commentary: Fostering Resilience Among Native American Youth Through Therapeutic Intervention

This article offers a comprehensive overview and understanding of the needs of Native American Youth for researchers, educators, and practitioners based on current research and practice. Strengths and protective factors are discussed in terms of Native strengths in context, the strengths and resilience of Native ways, Indigenous ways of knowing, the relationship between cultural identity and the tribal nation, the importance of family, the roles of the wisdom keepers, spiritual ways, and communication styles. Contextual influences are explored in terms of the relationship between history and healing from intergenerational grief and trauma, the influence of acculturation, as well as current social, economic, and political issues that affect Native youth. Implications for research and therapeutic intervention are explored in terms of healing from historical trauma and oppression. The authors offer an overview of common presenting issues and recommendations, practical tribally-specific interventions, and reflections on what it means to work from a social justice and client/community advocacy perspective with a focus on providing effective therapeutic, culturally-based interventions with Native children and adolescents that promote resilience and foster positive development with this population.

Path Analysis of the SCL-90-R: Exploring Use in Outpatient Assessment.

The Symptom Checklist–90–Revised (SCL-90-R) is a widely used assessment of mental health pathology; however, its factor structure has been called into question by numerous studies. This study assessed a community mental health outpatient sample (N = 336) with the SCL-90-R and analyzed the factor structure. The results indicated that the SCL-90-R measures one large factor, but the test items held together reasonably well when a nine-factor extraction was executed. A shorter 67-item variant, which was a by-product of this study, is hypothesized as having some key advantages over the original 90-item version. Implications for the assessment of the outpatient population with the SCL-90-R and its variants are discussed.

The Relationship between Attachment, Depression, and Anxiety in Juveniles with Sexual Behavior Problems

The face of treatment for juvenile sex offending is changing, with a movement away from approaches based inforensic models toward more relational, holistic models. This movement has highlighted the importance of attachment experiences in the evaluation, assessment, and treatment of juveniles with sexual behavior problems (JSBPs) along with other important etiological factors, such as depression and anxiety. The current research utilized a correlational design to explore perceptions of attachment relationships, depression, and anxiety in a sample of incarcerated male JSBPs. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients revealed several interesting relationships among the variables. By considering relationships between attachment and common etiological factors, clinicians may be better able to improve overall treatment outcome for youth and their communities.

The lived experience of the adolescent sex offender: a phenomenological case study

ABSTRACT Treatment for adolescents with sexually maladaptive behaviors is a continuing intervention that is changing and developing as greater understanding about this population of adolescents is obtained. The majority of treatment programs for adolescent sexually maladaptive behavior contain programming components that include cognitive distortions/thinking errors. Interviews including a conceptual mapping exercise were conducted with four adolescents adjudicated to a secure care program for sexual behaviors. All four boys completed an interview and a conceptual map of their perceived experiences as an adolescent with sexual maladaptive behaviors. All interviews were audio recorded. Analysis of the interviews and conceptual mappings yielded five themes present in the boys’ experience as well as a consideration of the role early trauma may have in the establishment of cognitive distortion development. Contributing environmental and familial factors also play an important part in sustaining cognitive distortion. Main themes include: loss of responsible father or father figure, inability to regulate emotion, lack of personal and parental boundaries, and early exposure to pornography. The contributing influence of responsible male father figures may play an even greater role in the lives of young males than originally thought. How the adolescent inaccurately perceives his environment—in essence what he tells himself and continues to tell himself to make sense of his world—are building blocks in the development and continuation of thinking errors/cognitive distortions used to commit and justify sexual offending behaviors.

Native American Adult Lifespan Perspectives: Where Power Moves

The purpose of this chapter is to present information summarizing research findings on strengths and challenges to mental health in Native adult populations. This will be accomplished by offering a comprehensive overview and understanding of this population through discussion of (a) basic demographic information, (b) strengths that contribute to the resilience of Native adults, (c) significant challenges Native adults face in maintaining mental health, and finally (d) a discussion linking strengths and challenges at the level of research and/or policy in order to better understand how the strengths and resilience of Native adults can be used for the betterment of this population.