Counselor and client ethnicity and counselor intake judgments.

Abstract

Archival research was used to compare intake judgments made by women counselors about women clients seen for an initial intake interview. Sociopsychological variables, which have been shown to influence counselor judgments, were controlled for in the research design. Forty-one African-American and 41 White female clients (17-38 years of age), matched on demographic and pretreatment variables, were seen by African-American and White female counselors. Chi-square analysis and analysis of covariance showed no significant differences in counselor judgments for the matched client groups. Results support the need to control for sociopsychological variables that may influence counselor judgments when examining potential bias as a function of ethnicity.Few studies examining the judgments counselors make about clients have included client ethnicity as an independent variable (Baum & Lamb, 1983;Bishop & Richards, 1987; Harrison, 1975). Even fewer studies have included counselor ethnicity as an independent variable (Atkinson, 1983). A meager body of research has examined the relationship of both counselor and client ethnicity and the judgments that counselors make about clients. Some researchers (Epperson, 1981; Fiester, 1977; Fiester & Rudestam, 1973) have suggested that the interaction of counselor and client variables has greater explanatory value in studies examining counseling process and outcome than does either the counselor or the client variable examined independently. June (1986) noted the importance of client ethnicity and gender in counseling Black clients. Moreover, Cheatham and Bell (1985) suggested that both ethnicity and gender of counselor and client are variables that may influence the qualitative functioning of cross-race and cross-gender counseling dyads. Brody (1987) specifically addressed the implications of White female counselors working with racial/ethnic female clients.

An Exploratory Study of Counselor Judgments in Multicultural Research

“…Therefore, the findings must be interpreted with caution. Less recognized variables may interact within the counselor-client relationship to moderate katment-related judgments (Tomlinson-Clarke & Cheatham, 1993). Several tentative explanations of the results are offered.…”

“…Counselor ethnicity was not included in the analysis because of the small number of African Americans as counselors, all of whom were women. Client ethnicity and client gender were also included as predictor variables because of potential mediating effects on the criterion variables (June, 1986Tomlinson-Clarke & Cheatham, 1993. Criterion variables were the counselor's ratings of (a) severity of current condition, and (b) severity of diagnostic category.…”

Counselors'-in-Training Perceptions of Gendered Behavior

“…Counselors tend to form their impressions fairly quickly (Sandifer et al, 1970) and these judgments have been found to influence the type and length of services made available to clients, which in turn affects the outcomes of counseling (Tomlinson-Clarke & Cheatman, 1993). Also, if a counselor has a particular opinion about the roles that men and women should assume, based on their own socialization, the counselor may tend to direct counseling in a different direction or form hypotheses and treatment goals that may not be related to the real concern or client issue.…”

Asian international students' ethnic identity, spirituality, acculturation, and experience of racism: relationship with attitude toward seeking professional therapeutic help

“…Research on attitudes towards seeking therapeutic or related professional mental help has consistently shown that people seeking such help do have socio-cultural characteristics that can be differentiated from those who do not seek help (Broman, 1987;Constantine, 2002;Hall & Tucker, 1985;Kaniasty & Norris, 2000;Sue & Kirk, 1975;Tanaka-Matsumi & Marsella, 1976). However, seeking and receiving therapeutic help are also influenced by multiple proximal variables associated with ethnicity such as cultural values, social network orientation, and context, which are not adequately addressed in research (Kaniasty & Norris, 2000;Tomlinson-Clark & Cheatham, 1993 (Broman, 1987;Hess & Street, 1991;Lopez, Lopez, & Fong, 1991). This limitation may be partly due to a lack of a coherent theoretical framework regarding ethnicity and race (Alvidrez et al, 1996;Phinney, 1996;Tanaka, Ebreo, Linn, & Morera, 1998).…”