Chapter 21: A Commentary on the Integration of EAPs

Abstract

This article addresses the notion of integration-past and present. The author discusses his earlier experiences and research in the field when the dominant model of service delivery was occupational alcoholism programs and counselors of the day sought to integrate these programs into the personnel management function as a means of more effectively serving the employee and the employer. This article also reviews the evolution of this earlier model into employee assistance programs and points out the success and continued growth of these programs was the direct result of empirical research that demonstrated the cost-effectiveness of EAPs. The author reminds the reader to be mindful of the need to maintain the core technology ascribed to EAPs as the range of workplace human service programs continues to expand. Lastly, the author reiterates the necessity of empirical research to demonstrate the value of adding of work-life and wellness services to the broadening scope of programs aimed at maximizing human capital.     

Sex Role Stereotyping and Marriage Counseling*

Evidence that sex role stereotyping (SRS) reflects a strong negative valuation of women and is a factor in clinical evaluation raises the question of its affects upon evaluation and treatment in marriage counseling. The counseling literature was reviewed and although data on SRS was found, it seldom was related specifically to marriage counseling. The purpose of this paper is to consider the implications of SRS for marriage counselors in the light of current research findings on this issue. Suggestions for assisting counselors to deal with SRS in themselves and as professionals in the field of marriage counseling are presented.     

提升辅导员队伍建设实效的途径探讨

高校辅导员集教育、管理与服务于一体的职责决定了其在高校学生管理与大学生思想政治教育中具有举足轻重的地位。文章从辅导员角色的定位，辅导员应具备的职业素质，辅导员考核体系的完善方面进行了阐述，旨在提高人们对辅导员角色及辅导员职业素质的认识，以便更好地开展辅导员队伍的选配、培养与考核方面的工作，提升辅导员队伍建设的实效。     

Staff Development as a School Climate Intervention to Support Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students: An Integrated Research Partnership Model for School Counselors and Counselor Educators

ABSTRACT

This article posits that an integrative research partnership model can assist school counselors in addressing the marginalization of transgender students in schools through staff development. A methodological integration of action research and program evaluation through quantitative and qualitative data collection is explained, and a collaborative process is highlighted. A case example is provided to demonstrate the use of the design.     

The use of participant observation in evaluation research

In the last several years considerable interest has developed in the use of qualitative methods in evaluation research. Recent works indicate that the tradition of qualitative research has much that will be useful to evaluation researchers. This paper does not seek to cover the range of qualitative methods available to the evaluation researcher but rather is concerned with one methodology in that tradition, participant observation. The paper describes the methodology of participant observation for those who are interested in its characteristics and for those who would like to consider it for evaluation or other types of research. Examples are given of how it has been used and references to additional sources of information are included as well. The paper is organized into three sections: characteristics of participant observation, when it is appropriate to use it, and specific techniques of the method.     

Q methodology in social work research

This article examines Q methodology as an empirical method for use in social work research. Q methodology applies statistical analysis to the qualitative study of human subjectivity such as attitudes, beliefs, feelings and opinions. Q methodology is effective for obtaining data from small samples, and it offers respondents a concise and valid way of expressing their viewpoints with minimal researcher interference. The article provides an overview of Q methodology and presents an actual example of a small‐scale Q study to facilitate a better understanding of the method. We conclude that Q methodology is especially suitable in social work research with respondents who may have difficulties in expressing themselves when more conventional research methods are used. Q methodology is an efficient tool in research involving the exploration and comparison of different points of view.     

Divorce and Emerging Adult and Young Women: Building Foundations for Self-Development

Informed by consensual qualitative research methodology, the experiences of nine divorced emerging and young adult women were analyzed. Prior to marriage, themes of feeling unmoored, in transition, and without an anchor shaped their narratives. Lack of self-reflection and evaluation predisposed the participants to making decisions based on partial and “convenient” truths. Unfolding processes led the majority of the women to revisit their premarital selves, engage with the emotional work that was deferred, and build foundations that were growth enhancing. Implications for counselors and related professionals are discussed.     

Whose Project is it Anyway? Sharing and shaping the research and development agenda

The NHS and Community Care Act 1990 (NHSCCA) requires that local authorities should consult with service users in their review and planning of services. This requirement is open to various levels of interpretation. The exercise becomes more complex when planning and review are based on a funded research project, in which the voice of users can easily be lost or their participation only nominal. This article examines some of the key issues and dilemmas in partnership research, through critical evaluation of a research project in which the authors were involved. Paradoxically, it is issues of power, control, expertise, authority and accountability which emerge as recurrent themes in examination of the practice of partnership.     

Job and Employee Support Groups: Past and Prologue

This article explores the nature and scope of support groups that focus on job and career issues. A review and analysis of such groups in single organizations, on the Internet, and in other venues is presented, as well as related writings drawn from both the support group and career development literature. Implications for career development practice and research are then offered. Although the purposes, structure, formats, and outcomes of these groups vary, when viewed collectively, they represent potentially helpful adjunctive support for clients who are receiving assistance from professional career counselors and developers.     

The LivePerson Model for Delivery of Etherapy Services: A Case Study

ABSTRACT

There are several models for the delivery of etherapy on the Internet. This article presents a case study of one model, the LivePerson website. The model is based on a privately owned infrastructure through which etherapy is practiced by licensed counselors using chat or e-mail for service delivery. A content analysis of the website is presented, including policies, number of consumers, consumer ratings, and therapists’ degrees, licensure, age, sex, race, fees, and languages offered. In addition, the experiences of one LivePerson practitioner are presented to highlight methods, processes, and ethical concerns. This case study of the LivePerson model for service delivery highlights many of the benefits and concerns previously discussed in the literature related to etherapy. In addition, concerns are raised that there may be some conflict of interest when ethical standards of practice are delivered within the context of a profit-making company.     

Accountability in Action?: Program Evaluation in Nonprofit Human Service Agencies

Program evaluation can be used as an excellent tool to promote nonprofit human service organizations' accountability. This article lays out several conditions that need to be met before evaluation achieves its potential. Application of this framework to nonprofits in Dallas, Texas, indicates the usefulness of the approach. Results show that considerable numbers of evaluation are being conducted but that the quality of the research methods and measures is low. This indicates that evaluation cannot currently be said to be providing the level of accountability possible. Additional efforts by all stakeholders to promote the use of evaluation to hold agencies accountable for efforts and results are necessary.     

What the Practitioner Knows Versus What the Client is Told

This article revisits the question, pursued in an interchange between Thomas (1978) and Gambrill and Barth (1980), on whether conflicts exist between service goals and research goals in the use of single-system experimental designs (SSDs) for practice evaluation. The authors approach the issue through an analysis of how informed consent is handled in one widely used textbook promoting the SSD model of practice evaluation. They argue that the text’s suggestions for what to tell the client about reasons for using SSDs ignore knowledge acquisition goals emphasized elsewhere in the text, thus obscuring possible conflicts between the needs of the client and the requirements of SSD methodology. These failures of informed consent reveal largely neglected conflicts between practice and evaluation goals within the SSD model commonly taught to social work students.     

Lessons from a comparative study of user involvement

Abstract

Grounded in the context of the significant differences in service user involvement in social work education and research between the UK and Israel, a joint project between Anglia Ruskin University in the UK and Tel-Hai College in Israel was developed. Its aim was to develop a comparative research methodology to evaluate the outcomes of service user involvement in social work education. A main tenet of our research methodology consisted of partnering with a group of older people who used health and social care services as co-researchers from each country. This co-researching methodology together with the evaluation tools worked effectively in the two respective countries. The key findings highlight that while students in both countries valued the involvement of service users in their training, this occurred more so in Israel, where this is a very new development. Students in both countries developed rich concept maps illustrating the complexity of such an involvement. Yet, while the responses of both groups to vignettes describing user involvement scenarios reflected the positive impact of such an involvement, the UK students focused on the negative impact of potential risk more so than the Israeli students.     

Supporting Ally Development with Families of Trans and Gender Nonconforming (TGNC) Youth

This article is a call to the field of counseling to bridge the research on trans and gender nonconforming (TGNC) youth identity development, family acceptance, and ally development to promote TGNC-affirming family, school, and community environments for TGNC youth. Opportunities and challenges counselors face in supporting ally development of families of TGNC youth are described. Interventions and strategies are described and recommendations for counselors working with the family members of TGNC youth are provided.     

Teaching graduate-level evaluation sociology through a departmental evaluation

The Department of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin conducted an internal evaluation of its graduate program through an applied methodology graduate course. This article reports on the effectiveness of the format for teaching research methods, the utilization of the evaluation's findings, and the conditions that need to occur for a similar study to take place. Through the course, graduate students gained experience using multiple methods in evaluation research as well as acquiring an inside perspective on the department and the profession. Although some problems of conducting an internal evaluation are discussed, we found that with departmental support the evaluation was an effective method of promoting internal discourse and change.     

Enlisted Service Members' Transition Into the Civilian World of Work: A Cognitive Information Processing Approach

For many enlisted service members in transition, securing new jobs or careers is among their top priorities (B. Litz & S. M. Orsillo, 2004; U.S. Army Garrison Vicenza, n.d.). The complexity of enlisted soldiers' transitions combined with the significant number of 1st‐term enlisted soldiers returning to civilian life calls for career counselors to heighten their awareness of the specific needs of enlisted service members' entering or reentering the civilian sector. This article presents cognitive information processing theory as a foundation for working with enlisted military personnel who are transitioning into the civilian world of work.     

Counselors’ and Counseling Students’ Attitudes toward Transgender Persons

Issues related to persons who are transgender have gained large interest in recent years, but discrimination and differential health outcomes for persons who are transgender continue. This article reviewed the 14 existing studies on attitudes toward persons who are transgender, none dealing exclusively with counselors and/or counselors in training. This study involved investigation of those attitudes with a sample of 95 counselors and counselors in training. Findings indicated that counselors tend to have positive attitudes. Greater personal familiarity and multicultural competence as well as being female were associated with more positive attitudes, whereas quantity of diversity training was not related and professional experience was related to more negative attitudes.     

COMPENDIUM

ABSTRACT

A conceptual framework and methodology to design and implement clinical information systems to support direct practice is described. This article presents an analysis of the information needs of clinicians in human service organizations. Three main uses of information are identified: monitoring/tracking, communicating/ reporting and learning from experience. In order to meet these needs, practitioners have to gather informatioE_s store it and process it. The article demonstrates the methodology and conceptual framework with a series of examples of applications.