Going from black and white to color: a truly multicultural perspective on the realitionship among multicultural counseling competence, general counseling competence, and client minority status

2004·5.9 MB·English

by  McKinney, Elizabeth Bernice

GOINGFROMBLACKANDWHITETOCOLOR:ATRULYMULTICULTURAL
PERSPECTIVEONTHERELATIONSHIPSAMONGMULTICULTURAL
COUNSELINGCOMPETENCE,GENERALCOUNSELINGCOMPETENCE,AND
CLIENTMINORITYSTATUS
By
ELIZABETHBERNICEMCKINNEY
ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL
OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT
OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF
DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA
2004
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Firstandforemost,ImustexpressgratitudetoGodformakingallthispossible.
Hissupporthas,attimes,beenthesolereasonthatcompelledmetocontinuewithmy
academicandprofessionalpursuits.
Iwouldliketothankmyadvisorandcommitteechairperson,Dr.CarolynM.
Tucker,forhercontinualsupport.Dr.Tuckeristheepitomeofprofessionalexcellence
andpersonalgrace.Shehasdonesomuchforme,andshedoessomuchforothers.I
hopethatIcanonedayshowherhowmuchhersupportandcaringhavemeanttome.I
willneverforgetherkindness.
Icannotthinkofabettersupervisorycommitteetohaveforadissertation.Ihave
theutmostappreciationandrespectforthemembersofmycommittee.IappreciateDr.
AndresNazario'sunwaveringsupportthroughouttheentireprocessfromstarttofinish.
Dr.GregNeimeyer'sguidanceonmethodologyandtheoryasitappliestoresearchwas
invaluable;hisinputunquestionablybolsteredthesoundnessofthestudy.Dr.Max
Parker'swealthofinformationaboutmulticuhuralcounselingandDr.RobertZiller's
abilitytoseeviablealternativeshavebeenconsistentresources.
IdonotknowhowIwouldhavemadeitthroughthelastsevenyearswithoutmy
family,especiallymysisters.Thoughtheyarethousandsofmilesaway,ourheartsare
close.Anyacknowledgmentwouldbeincompletewithoutincludingmyparents,William
andGenevaMcKinney.AnyachievementIhaveaccomplishedorwillaccomplishis
ii
becauseofallthelovetheyprovided.Theyhavebeengoneforyearsbuttheyarealways
inmyheart.
Iwouldliketothankmyfriendsandpeers,Ibelievethattotrulyunderstandand
flillyappreciatetheprocessofgraduateschooloneneedstoeitherhavebeenthroughit,
orbegoingthroughit.WehavespentmorehoursthanIcouldevercountinthepursuit
ofeducationandfriendship.Iconsidermyselfhonoredtohavehadtheopportunityto
knowyouall.Finally,Iwouldliketothankaveryspecialfriendforhelpingmethrough
perhapsoneofthemostdifficultphasesinmylife.Hiskindwordsandpatiencewere
exactlywhatIneededatthetime.
iii
TABLEOFCONTENTS
page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ii
ABSTRACT vii
CHAPTER
1 INTRODUCTION 1
StatementoftheProblem 1
NeedfortheStudy 5
PurposeandHypothesesofthisInvestigation 6
2 REVIEWOFTHELITERATURE 11
GeneralCounselingCompetence 11
HowisGeneralCounselingCompetenceDefined? 12
TheStudyofGeneralCounselingCompetence 14
TheAssociationBetweenClientMinorityStatusandOther-
RatedGeneralCounselingCompetence 16
MulticulturalCounselingTheories 21
TheNeedforaTheoryofMulticuhuralCounseling 21
Presentationof13TheoriesofMulticulturalCounseling 22
Sue,Ivey,&Pedersen's(1996)MetatheoryofMulticultural
Counseling 39
MulticulturalCounselingCompetence 43
WhatisMuhiculturalCounselingCompetenceand
howisitStudied'' 43
MulticulturalCounselingCompetenceandStudentCounselor
Characteristics 46
TheAssociationBetweenClientMinorityStatusandSelf-
RatedMuhiculturalCounselingCompetence 49
ClientMinorityStatusandOther-RatedMulticultural
CounselingCompetence 54
TheAssociationBetweenClientMinorityStatusand
CounselingOutcomes 58
TheAssociationBetweenMulticulturalCounseling
CompetenceandGeneralCounselingCompetence 62
iv
3 METHODOLOGY 69
OperationalDefinitionsoftheVariables 69
Participants 71
Instruments 73
Procedure 76
4 RESULTS 79
DescriptiveDataontheMajorResearchVariables 80
PreliminaryDataAnalyses 89
HypothesisOne 93
HypothesisTwo 94
ResearchQuestionOne 95
ResearchQuestionTwo 99
ResearchQuestionThree 101
ResearchQuestionFour 103
ResearchQuestionFive 104
ResearchQuestionSix 108
PostHocAnalyses 109
5 DISCUSSION 115
SummaryandInterpretationoftheResuhs 115
TheoreticalandPracticalImplications 121
Limitations 124
FutureResearch 126
Conclusion 128
APPENDIX
A COVERLETTER 130
B MARLOWE-CROWNESOCIALDESIRABILITYSCALE
SHORTFORM 132
C COUNSELOREVALUATIONRATINGSCALECOUNSELING
SUBSCALE 134
D COUNSELORDEMOGRAPHIC/PERCEPTIONSQUESTIONNAIRE 135
E MULTICULTURALCOUNSELINGINVENTORY 136
F COUNSELORCOMPETENCEQUESTIONNAIRE 140
G MULTICULTURALCOUNSELINGINVENTORY/GAY 141
V
H MULTICULTURALCOUNSELINGINVENTORY/LATINO
AMERICAN 143
I ADVERTISEMENT 145
REFERENCES 146
BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 158
vi
AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool
oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe
RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy
GOINGFROMBLACKANDWHITETOCOLOR:ATRULYMULTICULTURAL
PERSPECTIVEONTHERELATIONSHIPSAMONGMULTICULTURAL
COUNSELINGCOMPETENCE,GENERALCOUNSELINGCOMPETENCE,AND
CLIENTMINORITYSTATUS
By
ElizabethBerniceMcKinney
August2004
Chair;CarolynM.Tucker
MajorDepartment:Psychology
Mystudywasconductedtoexaminegraduatestudentcounselors'perceptionsof
theircounselingcompetenceandmulticulturalcounselingcompetence,andwhetherthese
perceptionsdifferinassociationwithclientculture.Participantsinmystudywere44
White(92%female)and24LatinoAmerican(96%female)master'slevelgraduate
studentsatcounseloreducationprogramsatfouruniversitiesinthesoutheasternUnited
States.Researchpacketsweredistributedtothedirectorsofthegraduatecounselor
educationprograms,whointurnrandomlydistributedthesepacketstostudents.The
questionnairesconstitutingeachresearchpacketassessedthefollowing:perceived
generalcounselingcompetenceandmulticuUuralcounselingcompetence;perceived
competenceforcounselingminority,gay,LatinoAmerican,andothervariouscultural
minorityclients;demographics;andhowtheterms"minority"and"muhicultural
counseling"aredefined.
vii
ForthemostlyfemaleWhiteparticipants,butnotthemostlyfemaleLatino
Americanparticipants,resultsrevealedasignificantpositiveassociationbetween
multiculturalcounselingcompetenceandperceivedcompetenceforcounselingclients
whoareraciallydifferent,andbetweengeneralcounselingcompetenceandmulticultural
counselingcompetence.TheLatinoAmericanparticipants,butnottheWhite
participants,perceivedthemselvesasdifferentiallycompetentatcounselingminority,gay,
andLatinoAmericanclients.Fortheentiresampletherewerenosignificantdifferencesin
generalcounselingcompetenceandmuhiculturalcounselingcompetenceinassociation
withlevelsofcounselortrainingandexperience.
QualitativecontentanalysesrevealedthattheWhiteparticipantsdefined
minoritiesasnotrepresentingthemajorityintermsofrace,economicstatus,andgender.
TheLatinoAmericanparticipantsdefinedminoritiesasbeingdisadvantagedrecipientsof
discriminationandbelongingtoagroup.TheWhiteandLatinoAmericanparticipants
definedmulticulturalcounselingascounselingwithsomeonewhoisdifferentintermsof
ethnicity,religion,orsexualorientation.
Itwasconcludedfrommystudythattheassociationbetweengeneralcounseling
competenceandmulticulturalcounselingcompetencemaynotbethesameforthemostly
femaleWhiteandLatinoAmericanparticipants.Resultsalsoindicatedthatthereare
significantdifferencesinhowtheWhiteandtheLatinoAmericanparticipantsperceive
theirabilitiesjocounselculturallydifferentclients,andinhowtheydefinetheterm
"minority."
viii
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION
StatementoftheProblem
Anincreasinglypluralisticsocietyrequiresthatthementalhealthfield,particularly
counselingpsychology,adapttoservediverseminoritypopulations.AlthoughWhites
comprised71.4%ofthepopulationin2000,theUnitedStatesCensusBureau(2000)
projectsthatbytheyear2060,Whiteswillcompriseonly49.6%oftheUnitedStates'
population,andLatinoAmericanswillcomprise26.6%ofthepopulation.The
diversificationofthepopulationcanbeattributedtounprecedentedhighimmigration
ratesanddecliningbirthratesamongWhites(Sue,Arredondo,&McDavis,1992).Along
withethnicdiversificationwillundoubtedlycomeculturaldiversification.Anincreasingly
pluralisticsocietydoesnot,inandofitself,presentaproblem.Howsocietyadaptsto
pluralismwillbetheindicatorofasuccessfialorunsuccessfiiltransitionintoanew,
culturallydynamicworld.Encounteringminoritiesandculturallydifferentpeopleisno
longer,andwilllikelyneveragainbe,theexceptioninthementalhealthfield.
PsychologyhastakennoteofAmerica'schangingdemographicsandmuch
progresshasbeenmadeintheefibrttoevolvethefieldawayfromitscharacteristic
monoculturalbias.Forthepastseveraldecadespsychologists,researchers,and
practitionershaveworkeddiligentlytoincreaseunderstandingabouttheplethoraof
issuessurroundingmulticulturalcounseling.Manybelievethatthetheoriesandtenetsof
traditionalWesternpsychologyarenotalwaysdirectlytransferabletothediverse
populationsthatcharacterizeAmericansociety.Notwithstanding,therehasbeensome
oppositiontothemuhiculturalmovement.Suchoppositioncouldleadtodiminished
importancebeingplacedonthepursuitofknowledgeregardingmuhiculturalcounseling
research,andagenerationofmentalheaUhproviderswhoarenotpreparedtohandlethe
complexitiesofamulticuUuralsociety.
Anotherpotentialproblemintheareaofmulticulturalcounselingresearchisthat
definitionsofcultureareoftenlimitedtoraceand/orethnicity.Sueetal.(1998),maintain
thatthetermmulticulturalcounselingis"conceptuallymeanttoincludeabroadrangeof
significantdifferencesthatsooftenhindercommunicationandunderstandingamong
people"(p.6).Theygoontostate,however,thatmulticuUuralcounselingismostoften
discussedintermsofethnicandracialdifferences.Accordingtosome,thebroad
definitionofmulticulturalcounselingshouldnotbelimitedtoethnicandracialdifferences
butshouldincludedifferencesbasedonsexualorientation,religion,socioeconomic
factors,gender,physical(dis)ability,andlevelsofaccuUurationandassimilation
(Atkinson,Morten,&Sue,1993;Lowe&Mascher,2001;Margolis&Runtga,1986;
Sue,Ivey,&Pedersen,1996).Thesetypesofdifferencesarerarelythefocusof
multiculturalcounselingresearch.Conversely,othersdisagreewithabroaddefinitionof
multicuUuralcounselingandbelievethatmeaningfixlnesscanbelostwhenthedefinUionis
expandedtoincludemorethanraceandethnicity(Locke,1990;SmUh&Vasquez,
1985).Clearly,amuUitudeofinformation islostwhendefinitionsofcuUurearelimited
toraceand/orethnicity.
Despitetheplethoraofresearchonmuhiculturalcounselingissuesandthe
widespreadacknowledgmentthatsuchissuesareexceedinglyrelevant,anironically