Hillary Mi-Sung Kim

Determinants of Lesbian and Gay Affirmative Practice Among Heterosexual Therapists

The current study tested a conceptual model based on social-cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986), highlighting the influence of attitudes toward sexual minority individuals, training hours, affirmative counseling self-efficacy, and beliefs about affirmative practice on therapist engagement in lesbian and gay affirmative practice. We recruited via the Internet 443 heterosexual psychologists (n = 270), clinical social workers (n = 110), and marriage and family therapists (n = 63) residing in various parts of the United States. The majority of participants identified as female (70%) and White (88%). A path analysis indicated that beliefs and affirmative counseling self-efficacy mediated associations between attitudes and therapist engagement in affirmative practice. Furthermore, self-efficacy mediated the relation between training hours and engagement in affirmative practice. Results suggest that more affirmative attitudes are linked with higher levels of affirmative counseling self-efficacy and more positive beliefs, which in turn positively influences therapist engagement in affirmative practice. Additionally, more hours of training influence affirmative counseling self-efficacy, which in turn correlates with higher levels of therapist engagement in affirmative practice. The discussion includes implications for affirmative practice training.

Therapist correlates of attitudes toward sexual minority individuals, affirmative counseling self-efficacy, and beliefs about affirmative practice

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of training in sexual minority issues, professional identification, and gender on attitudes toward lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals, affirmative counseling self-efficacy, and beliefs about affirmative practice among mental health practitioners in the USA. Method: We used the Internet to recruit a nationwide sample of 443 heterosexual psychologists (n = 270), clinical social workers (n = 110), and marriage and family therapists (n = 63) residing in the USA. Results: When controlling for years of practice experience and age, results from structural equation modeling analysis showed that training was associated with more affirmative attitudes, higher levels of affirmative counseling self-efficacy, and more positive beliefs. Female therapists reported more affirmative attitudes and higher levels of affirmative counseling self-efficacy than male therapists. Professional identification did not predict any criterion variables, when controlling for years of practice experience and age. Conclusion: Findings suggest that it will be important for educational and training initiatives to consider the effect of gender role socialization on attitudes and affirmative counseling self-efficacy, especially among beginning male therapists.

Developmental Disabilities in Children Involved with Child Welfare: Correlates of Referrals for Service Provision

Using data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW), this study explores the characteristics of child welfare involvement for children (N = 639; aged 3–17.5 years) with at least one developmental disability. In addition, a central focus of this exploration was to examine respective differences in how caregivers and caseworkers initiated referrals for services for children with disabilities. The sample was divided into three exclusive groups based on type of developmental disability: learning disability (weighted percentage 70.3%); Mental Retardation (now referred to as Intellectual Disability), Downs Syndrome, or; developmental delay (weighted percentage 1.8%); and presence of multiple types of disabilities, including autism (weighted percentage 27.9%). Results from the logistic regression analyses indicate children in this population who are placed in out-of-home care receive more referrals than those residing in-home with biological caregivers; older children and children with multiple disabilities are also more apt to obtain referrals to formal assessments. On the other hand, children who were considered in the “other” race category (includes children who identify as: multi-racial; Asian; Pacific Islander; Native American) were significantly less likely to be referred for a formal assessment. Regarding the association between specific maltreatment type and assessment referrals, children with reports of emotional maltreatment had significantly higher odds of being referred for formal assessments.

Views on National Security in East Asia

In modern times, state-centered and nationalistic ideas on security have become dominant in many parts of East Asia as several governments have pursued autocratic and repressive policies in the pursuit of securing regime and economic development. This state-centered security orientation follows the Machiavellian edict that the end justifies the means, and orders the relations between state and society (Alagappa 2003). Concerns with national security and related ideas concerning the relations between the state and the outside world were lacking in East Asia during the premodern period and emerged as a reaction to imperialistic violence imposed by Chinese dynasties, Japanese colonialism, and competitions within East Asia among Western imperialistic powers (Duara 2006). In order to provide a context for the thinking of East Asians concerning national, family, and individual security, this chapter first addresses East Asia’s historical, sociocultural, and economic backgrounds. Then, current issues in this region are addressed.

Definition of Peace and Reconciliation in China, Japan, and Korea

This chapter presents a brief history of China, Japan, and Korea with an emphasis on peace and reconciliation. This is followed by a discussion of definitions of peace and reconciliation from participants from these regions to the Personal and Institutional Rights to Aggression and Peace Survey. The most common type (49 %) of definition of peace focused on the prerequisites and outcomes of positive peace (a peace characterized by social justice and equality), whereas 38 % of the responses focused on negative peace (e.g., absence of war, conflict). Sixty-five percent of the definitions of reconciliation equated it with a process rather than an end state or achievement. Exploratory chi-square analyses for types of definitions revealed a few differences based on demographic characteristics such as gender, military service, having a relative in the military, and having participated in antiwar protest activity.

Achieving Peace and Reconciliation in East Asia

This chapter focuses on peace and reconciliation processes in East Asia. First, instances of peace treaties and agreements in the region are reviewed. Diplomatic, political, economic, sociological, and psychological factors relevant to peace and reconciliation are also reviewed. Then, qualitative and quantitative analyses of survey responses from East Asians on achievability of peace and strategies for achieving peace are presented. The results indicate that the majority of East Asians in the sample believed that peace is achievable through various actions. The majority of them also suggested that humanitarian engagement such as assuming responsibility and positive human attributes would promote peace. Many considered that promoting tolerance and cooperation and eliminating violence and hatred are particularly important ways to achieve peace. They also emphasized the important role that governments play in their diplomatic efforts for international peace. Challenges and issues that East Asians face in achieving peace are discussed.

Apology, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation in East Asia

This chapter focuses on apology, forgiveness, and reconciliation processes among nations in East Asia. First, instances of apologies and forgiveness in the region are reviewed. Political, economic, sociological, and psychological factors relevant to apology and forgiveness are considered. Then, we consider qualitative responses from East Asians to items concerning apology and reconciliation in the Personal and Institutional Rights to Aggression and Peace Survey. The results indicate that the majority of East Asians in the sample believed that an apology is helpful in promoting reconciliation following various forms of international aggression such as invasion and occupation. Participants also commented, however, that the success of an apology is contingent on factors such as the sincerity of the apology, recognition of wrongdoing, effort to repair damaged relationships, and the development of mutual understanding and respect. Challenges and issues that East Asians face in the reconciliation process, such as social identity, secondhand victimization, and group-serving bias, are discussed.

Perspectives on Protest in East Asia

The views of ordinary East Asians concerning individual rights to stage protests were investigated in the context of historical and political events in the region. A total of 321 participants from China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan (average age = 30 years old) were through snowball and convenience sampling. Both deductive analyses and grounded theory approaches were used to code their responses to the Personal and Institutional Rights to Aggression and Peace Survey (PAIRTAPS; Malley-Morrison, Daskalopoulos, & You, International Psychology Reporter 10:19–20, 2006). A majority of respondents affirmed the right of individuals to protest; the most common justifications confirming this right focused on human rights, socially sanctioned rights, general agreement with the rights, and nonviolence. Most respondents also indicated a willingness to support protestors in response to a hypothetical vignette. The most common themes in responses rejecting the right to protest were pseudo-moral reasoning, distortion of the consequences of protestor action, and denial of personal responsibility. Our findings also showed intraregional group differences by gender and military experience in views concerning individual rights to stage protests. Findings were discussed in their historical and political contexts as well as in relation to Bandura’s (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 71:364–74, 1996, Personality and Social Psychology Review 3:193–209, 1999) theory of moral disengagement.

Perspectives on Torture in East Asia

Several international agreements (such as the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) have banned the use of state-sponsored torture. Torture was also a major issue at the United Nation’s first Geneva Convention where they drafted the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Not only does the Convention against Torture require countries to make the use of torture illegal, but it also specifies that under no state of emergency, external threat, or orders from a superior officer or authority can a right to torture be justifiably invoked. As of June 1, 2011, 65 nations, including China and Japan, but not North and South Korea, had ratified the Convention against Torture.

East Asian Definitions of War, Torture, and Terrorism

East Asia is a regional designation represented by Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, and the two Koreas. Its states and territories are bordered by the Himalayas on the west, the Pacific Ocean on the east, Mongolia and Russia to the north, and the China Sea to the south. Although these countries differ among themselves politically, socially, and economically, they share strong cultural influences from Ancient China. This chapter is intended to provide a deeper understanding of East Asia by exploring the history of its inhabitants, their modern realities, and their mental constructions of war, terrorism, and torture.