Jeffrey L. Helms

Therapeutic Community Counselors: The Effects of Training and Personal Substance Abuse History on Job Stress and Professional Efficacy

ABSTRACT One hundred and fifty-four counselors working in an in-prison Therapeutic Community (TC) were surveyed. Participants were categorized according to previous personal history with substance abuse (history/no history) and formal training in substance abuse treatment (training/no training). The results indicated that prior training interacted with history of abuse such that formal training reduced both duty-related and interpersonal stress for those counselors with no history of substance abuse, but increased both duty-related and interpersonal stress for counselors who had a history of substance abuse. Both professional as well as interpersonal efficacy (i.e., the belief that one is competent in their treatment and interactions with clients) were significantly higher for those with formal training and a substance abuse history respectively. The implications for role ambiguity and role conflict in TC staffing and training are discussed.

Attitudes Toward Bisexual Men and Women

ABSTRACT To better understand attitudes toward individuals who identify as bisexual, especially in how they compare to attitudes toward individuals identifying as gay and lesbian, students who self-identified as heterosexual completed an expanded version of Hereks (1994) revised Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men Scale. The expansion involved the inclusion of the identifiers bisexual men and bisexual women as part of a revision to Hereks scale. Results revealed attitudes that were more favorable toward lesbian and bisexual women than either gay or bisexual men. Further, attitudes toward bisexual men were significantly more negative than attitudes toward the other sexual orientation minorities. Implications for individuals who identify as bisexual and future research are discussed.