Adult criminal offenders' perceptions of the effectiveness of three counseling techniques, 1981

Post, Gordon

1980-1989

Problem: The inherent problem in this study was that of assessing and analyzing adult criminal offenders' perceptions of the effectiveness of analytically-derived, passive-reflective and advice-giving techniques of counseling. Purpose: Investigating the three counseling techniques, analytically-derived, advice-giving, and passive-reflective, with regard to their perceived effectiveness by adult criminal offenders was the primary goal of this study Procedure: Sixty people, fifteen white males, fifteen black males, fifteen white females and fifteen black females, on probation with the Fulton County Adult Probation Department were the subjects used in this study. The instrument used to obtain the necessary data was designed by the writer and included twenty-five problem statements, reflective of those experienced by adult criminal offenders, and three counselor responses to each of the problems. Each subject ranked the counselor responses in terms of most effective to least effective. Analysis of data was achieved by computing individual and group total rank scores and by comparing the mean rank scores of each group and technique. The t test of significance was used to determine statistical significance. Findings:The results showed the following: 1. That adult criminal offenders perceived, at the .01 level of confidence, advice-giving as being more effective than the analytically-derived or passive-reflective responses in terms of effectiveness. 2. That there was not a statistically significant difference, at the .05 level of confidence, between the adult criminal offenders' perceptions of the analytically-derived and passive-reflective counseling responses in terms of effectiveness. Conclusions: 1. The advice-giving technique was perceived to be more helpful than the passive-reflective and analytically-derived modes of counseling. 2. Passive-reflective and analytically-derived techniques were perceived by the subjects as equally effective. 3. Adult criminals' sex or race had no significant effect on the perceived effectiveness of the three techniques. Implications: 1. Adult criminal offenders respond more favorably to advice-giving because they probably expect to be told what to do. 2. Advice-giving is effective for all racial and ethnic groups. Recommendations: 1. Counselor training programs provide a variety of counseling techniques to enable the trainee to become competent in adapting techniques to situational needs. 2. Researching the correlation between perceived helpfulness and actual change is also needed.

text

application/pdf

1981-07-01

dissertation

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Atlanta University

School of Education

Clark Atlanta University

Georgia--Atlanta

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:1981_post_gordon