Kenneth R. Thomas

A conjoint analysis of factors influencing American and Taiwanese college students' preferences for people with disabilities

Objective: To determine the effect of demographic variables on attitudes toward disability. Participants: Eighty-three female American and 89 female Taiwanese college students. Outcome Measure: A conjoint measurement of 16 stimulus cards (representing people with varying disability labels, severity of disability, age, gender, and education). Procedures: The participants were asked to sort the stimulus cards according to their personal preferences for working with people with disabilities. Results: Younger and higher educated women with milder disabilities were preferred by both Taiwanese and American students. Preference formation is affected by both disability-related variables and other demographic variables (e.g., educational levels). Conclusion: The use of conjoint analysis to examine multiple attributes of persons with disabilities may have higher external validity than single-attribute-design studies.

Social competence in Zimbabwean multicultural schools: Effects of ethnic and gender differences

S tudents’ social competence was investigated in relation to race/ethnicity and gender for a sample of 371 Zimbabwean students attending racially/ethnically integrated schools. About 42% of the students were black, and 58% white (mean age 12 years; SD=9 months). Peer and teacher sociometric ratings of childrens social behaviour, social responsibility, and friendliness comprised the social competence measures. Tests of empirical independence among these social competence measures supported their uniqueness in reliably assessing components of the general construct of social competence among Zimbabwean students. Multiple analysis of variance procedures were used to examine the relationship between social competence statuses and group membership (i.e., race/ethnicity, gender) while controlling for aggregate scores and classroom racial proportions. Superior academic achievement and racial/ehnic propinquity are social status levelling factors in multiracial school settings. Teachers rated white students higher...

Measuring Readiness to Change Among Individuals in Residential Therapeutic Community Programs for Treatment of Substance Abuse

The Stages of Change Scale—Substance Abuse (SCS-SA) was developed to measure readiness to change among individuals in treatment for substance abuse and was field tested with 457 participants in 7 therapeutic community programs in 4 different states. Factor analysis on SCS-SA items defined 4 subscales: Precontemplation, Determination, Participation, and Relapse. Using cluster analysis, 4 clusters of participants were identified, based on their profiles of SCS-SA subscale scores: (a) Indifferent, (b) Active Participation—Realistic, (c) Active Participation—Optimistic, and (d) Conforming. Finally, a discriminant analysis indicated significant differentiation among the clusters on the basis of sense of coherence scores. With continuing research to document reliability and validity, the SCS-SA appears to have potential in facilitating treatment planning and research to better understand readiness to change.

Classroom Racial Proportion: Influence on Self-Concept and Social Competence in Zimbabwean Adolescents.

The authors measured self-concept and social competence relationships in 372 Zimbabwean adolescents (41% Black, 59% White) who attended classrooms in which they were either a racial minority or a racial majority (M age = 12.95 years, SD = 1.47). The authors used self-, peer-, and teacher-rating scale sociometric measures of social competence and a multidimensional measure of self-concept. The regression analysis predicted self-concept from social competence measures. Teacher-rated social competence predicted physical appearance self-concept in the Black adolescents and reading self-concept in White adolescents in White-majority classrooms. Self-rated social competence and peer-rated social competence predicted school self-concept in Black adolescents attending Black-majority classrooms. The authors concluded that classroom racial proportions influence aspects of social perception of Black and White adolescents.

Cognitive-behavioural Therapies: Research and Applications in Counselling People with Physical Disabilities

The main principles and practices of cognitive-behavioural therapies are briefly outlined and discussed in terms of their relevance to counselling individuals with physical disabilities. The cognitive-behavioural therapies of Beck, Ellis, and Nezu to counselling persons with physical disabilities are specifically presented. A case study involving the application of cognitive-behavioural therapies to counselling a person with severe facial and hand burn injuries is also presented. The view is advanced that although cognitive-behavioural therapies have considerable potential in counselling of persons with physical disabilities, lack of conceptual clarity of some central constructs in cognitive-behavioral therapy is a limitation to practice in rehabilitation settings. The paucity of controlled research studies in this area of study is noted, and suggestions are offered for further research.

Counseling persons injured at work

Support and treatment programs for persons injured at work have expanded considerably since their early beginnings in Germany in 1884. Industrially injured workers must deal with problems in at least four major areas: 1) medical restoration, 2) temporary economic maintenance, 3) psychosocial adjustment to disability, and 4) vocational restoration. The counselors role in assisting such persons is a significant one. In fact, it could be argued that the counselor is the only professional who has been specifically trained to assist persons who must confront the psychosocial and vocational restoration problems commonly associated with work-related injury. Both individual and group counseling methods can be used to facilitate positive psychosocial adjustment. Essential elements of the vocational restoration process include vocational assessment, job analysis, treatment (including career counseling and possibly physical restoration and/or job training), job placement, and follow-up. Specific counselor interventions in all areas should be guided by both theoretical and practical considerations, and family members and employers should be involved in programming whenever feasible or appropriate. Employee assistance programs and proprietary rehabilitation companies are discussed as relatively recent developments in the United States which offer potential to reduce and/or treat work-related injury and disability.

PSYCHOSOCIAL ISSUES FOLLOWING TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY

The author contends that Dean, Colantonio, Ratcliff, and Chase in 2000 probably underestimated the importance of psychosocial factors in the very long-term adaptation to disability by 166 individuals with traumatic brain injury.

Rearing the disabled child: A framework for further research

Abstract This paper presents a framework which could be used by researchers to obtain descriptive and experimental data about the child-rearing practices of parents of disabled children. In addition, the authors suggest specific areas of research which might prove useful in assisting school psychologists to develop programs of counseling for the parents of such children.