CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
THE ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED STUDENT IN A
COMMUNITY COLLEGE
A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in
Education,
Educational ·Psychology,
Counseling and Guidance
by
Violet L. Hamilton
January 1985
The Thesis of Violet L. Hamilton is approved:
Dr.
Chair
California State University, Northridge
].].
,, .
DEDICATION
I thought that I would never see
A thesis that would set me "free"
Set me "free" from books and classes
Free to go and see new places.
A thesis that would be all mine
And change the ra1n into sunshine.
A new world waits for my M.A.
After all these years I say horray!
By:
Violet L. Hamilton
I dedicate this thesis to my husband Richard Melvin Hamilton,
to my sons Richard Melvin Hamilton II, Michael Glenn Hamilton and
Robert Mark Hamilton and their families whose never-failing love,
patience, encouragement and support sustained my hopes and desires
to complete my thesis.
111
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Hy grateful appreciation goes to Dr. Loren Grey, my Committee
Chair, for his genuine interest, support, guidance and easy accessibility.
I feel especially fortunate for his encouragement and his
dedicated efforts throughout the preparation of my thesis.
Hy deepest thanks, gratitude and earnest appreciation are felt
toward Dr. Hargaret H. Thompson, a committee member, for her suggestions, guidance and patience
My
s~ncere
~n
my COI!tpletion of my thesis.
appreciation and thanks also go to Luis F. Hernandez,
Associate Dean, School of Education, and member of my committee, for
his constructive critique of my thesis, for his kindness and his
assistance.
Many friends contributed to my support in the completion of my
thesis; and to them, I want to express my hearty thanks for their
confidence in my concept of panic and crisis counseling for the
economically disadvantaged student in a California community college.
To a large extent, the development of the essential concept of
panic and crisis counseling may be attributed to the needs of the
economically disadvantaged and non-traditional students who presented
the challenges and provided the opportunities to examine my concepts.
I acknowledge my sincere gratitude to them.
~v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
THESIS APPROVAL
l.l.
DEDICATION
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
l.V
TABLE OF CONTENTS •
v
ABSTRACT
vii
Chapter
I
INTRODUCTION
1
Statement of Purpose
Background and History of the Study
The Economically Disadvantaged Re-Entry Woman
Career Education Goals
II
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
21
Definition of Terms
III
CASE HISTORIES
Case
Case
Case
Case
Case
33
I
II
III
IV
v
IV
METHODS
48
v
RESULTS
51
v
Page
Chapter
VI
SUMMARY, LIMITATIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
. . . . . .
53
Summary
Limitations
Conclusions
Recommendations
REFERENCES
67
APPENDICES
69
Appendix A
Appendix B
ABSTRACT
THE ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED STUDENT
IN A COMMUNITY COLLEGE
by
Violet L. Hamilton
Master of Arts in Education,
Educational Psychology,
Counseling and Guidance
January, 1985
The purpose of this thesis was to investigate, compare and record
the distinctions and differences between traditional student counsel~ng
and counseling of the economically disadvantaged student at a
California community college.
The hypothesis was that, traditionally and customarily, there
have been some confusion and little distinction between the counseling
process used for the traditional student and the counseling process
used for the economically disadvantaged student.
An investigation and literary research will demonstrate the
obvious as well as some of the subtle differences between these two
counseling processes.
vii
The premise '"as that a study of this kind would provide vital
information and be very useful to the specialized counselor working
with the non-traditional students who have unique counseling needs.
The case histories were selected to illustrate the non-traditional
methods necessary to counsel the economically disadvantaged student in
panic or crisis counseling situations.
In this thesis, "crisis" counseling means consistent, daily or
weekly student support, encouragement, motivation, reinforcement, goal
setting or whatever else the student needs in counseling for as long
as the need exists.
Some examples of the panic or crisis situations
are suicide, anger, depression, withdrawal, aggression, low self-esteem
due to the frustrations of trying to move into the mainstream of
getting an education.
The method used for this thesis was personal observation of the
students, their progress reports and counseling sessions.
In some instances, the hypothesis was supported by the literature.
Since each person has individual differences, the economically disadvantaged student, especially, cannot be grouped into a traditional
technique of counseling but must be counseled with an awareness of all
or any technique, style, or method that meets the counseling needs.
The electic approach becomes the most obvious.
viii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This study is an outgrowth of some nine years of work with the
economically disadvantaged student 1n a California community college.
With the conviction that some college counselors should continue their
required efforts in counseling, a whole new approach to the economically disadvantaged student in the college setting is needed.
Such an
approach should consist of a focus on revisions that explore the many
aspects of a student's experience including student achievement, aptitude and related cultural, social, psychological and economic factors.
Nearly all of the material presented in the study was tried in
practice.
basis.
Basic concepts were tried and observed on an individual
This was accomplished largely through a gradual unfolding of
the counselor-student roles.
counselor-student role.
This permitted constant revisions in the
New insights and new successes experienced 1n
trying out basic concepts and functions required modifications.
Further, as more and more educationally disadvantaged students
were observed and counseled within their struggle to search effective
roles as a college student, a unique identity emerged.
Some of the students contributed outstanding insights and new
shifts in thinking and practice were required in the counseling of
the students.
That is, the economically disadvantaged students were
not likely, in all instances, to behave according to accepted patterns
and generalizations.
1
2
The task facing the community college counselor or the independent
professional counselor in counseling the economically disadvantaged
student is much more complex and varied than that of the traditional
counselor.
This specialized counselor for the disadvantaged must
comprehend the behavior that many disadvantaged students have regarding
their diverse traditions, parent modeling, and other stressful
conditions of poverty.
Further, this counselor must recognize that
many of the motives the students attribute to others are really
reflections of their
O\~
counselor is the crux.
needs and values.
The integrity of the
The essence lies in counseling methods through
which the students perform and experience the success of learning.
The economically disadvantaged students are generally but mistakenly identified as minority with distinctive patterns of family life,
language and customs which set them apart from other ethnic groups.
This study represents an accumulation of theory and practice for
a period of nine years of actual experience and work with seven hundred
and twenty-three economically disadvantaged students in a community
college setting.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
The purpose of this thesis is to explore the effectiveness of
counseling the disadvantaged student in a California community college.
The Assembly Bill 1031 expressed an intent to encourage California
community colleges to establish programs and support services directed
to the identification, recruitment, retention and intellectual stimulation of students affected by language, social or economic disadvantages.
,, .
3
The special counseling of the economically disadvantaged student
in a community college may well be (and very often is) the key to the
success or failure of the student.
The community college counselor
addresses the problem of the educationally neglected, the culturally
different, and the financially disadvantaged.
My purpose includes stating the qualifications that are necessary
for counseling the disadvantaged student as well as pointing out some
of their unique needs -- special counseling for special students.
Continued successful enrollment of the economically disadvantaged
students as well as their ultimate success in the community college
depends upon many factors which I will enumerate in my thesis.
NON TRADITIONAL STUDENT
vs.
TRADITIONAL STUDENT
1.
Students learn by
observation and performance
1.
Students learn by
listening, review and reciting
2.
Role-modeling 1s essential
to academic success
2.
The majority of counselors
are role models for the
traditional student
3.
Cultural differences affect
communication skills
3.
Cultural differences are
frequently not taken into
account
4.
Different learning styles
require different counseling
techniques
4.
Different learning styles are
often not considered
The purpose of this thesis is also to inform about the availability, value and effectiveness of the Extended Opportunity Program
and Services (EOPS) program for the economically disadvantaged student
in a community college.
These EOPS students are the disadvantaged
students for which the specialized counseling is needed.
4
BACKGROUND AND HISTORY OF THE STUDY
In 1907 the California Legislature passed legislation establishing
public junior colleges.
These colleges were to provide for the
instruction of "postgraduate" coursework by high schools.
On May 6,
1910, the Fresno Board of Education, acting within the scope of the
1907 Caminetti Bill, authorized the establishment of a two year postgraduate course.
Instruction began in the fall semester of 1910 with
between 15 and 28 students.
In 1915, the California State Attorney
General ruled that the attendance of students enrolled in "postgraduate"
conrses could not be counted in making apportionments.
When the legislature met in 1917, there were 16 high schools giving
postgraduate courses.
On July 27, 1917, a bill introduced by Senator
John Ballard of Los Angeles, California, went into effect.
The measure
authorized apportionment for Junior College programs, provided that the
school had secured program approval from the Department of Education.
In 1919 the Legislature created a special committee on education,
with three members from each house.
After extensive study the committee
recommended that junior colleges should provide civic, liberal arts,
scientific and technical courses.
(Chancellorls Office, Sacramento,
CA., January 1977).
The decade of the 1960's was a decade of constant national cr1s1s.
The persistence of national poverty, its related pathologies of
increased crime, delinquency, riots and manifestations of economic and
racial discrimination demanded the development of new approaches to
solving these shocking social problems.
5
President Lyndon Johnson declared the War on Poverty:
With the growth of our country has come opportunity
for our people; opportunity to educate our children,
to use our energies in productive work, to increase
our leisure; opportunity for almost every American
to hope that through work and talent he could create
a better life for himself and his family. The path
forward has not been an easy one. But we have never
lost sight of our goal: An America in which every
citizen shares all the opportunities of his society,
in which every man has a chance to advance his welfare to the limit of his capacities. We have come
a long way toward this goal. We still have a long
way to go. The distance which remains is the measure
of the great unfinished work of our society. To
finish that work I have called for a national war
on poverty. (State of the Union speech of 1964).
One of the most significant changes in the State of California 1n
1969 was, and is, the Extended Opportunity Program and Services (EOPS)
1n a California community college.
The Extended Opportunity Program and Services was created at a
time when Californians were committed in a unified fashion to principle
of educational opportunity for impoverished residents.
EOPS, as many
other social reform programs of the era, was an attempt to rectify a
long history of educational neglect for disadvantaged people.
In 1969,
Senate Bill 164 sought to encourage California community colleges to
develop programs and/or support services which were" ... over, above
and in addition to, the regular educational programs of the colleges."
(Title V- Section 56222).
Senate Bill 164 had as its purpose the
provision of "positive encouragement directed to the enrollment of
students handicapped by language, social and economic disadvantages."
It also provided for" ... facilitation of their successful participation in the educational pursuits of the college."
6
In the mid 1970's Assembly Bill 1031 replaced Senate Bill 164 as
the legislation governing EOPS.
The scope and objectives of Assembly
Bill 1031 remained the same as the original Senate Bill 164 legislation.
The intent of the law is to put California community colleges at the
forefront of student affirmative action by extending educational
opportunities to persons affected by language, social and economic disadvantage.
(Chapter 2.5 of Dividion 7, Part VI of Title V of the State
of California Administrative Code).
The Extended Opportunity Program and Services (EOPS) student (one
that is economically disadvantaged and non-traditional) must be a fulltime student in a California community college.
These students may be minorities, non-high school graduates, single
parents, non-English speakers, limited English speakers, re-entry
students, or a combination of these.
Many of the economically disadvantaged students are considered by
the community college system to be "high risk 11 students in terms of
their success in a community college.
The economically disadvantaged students need special assistance in
coping with situations that arise and in building and preserving selfesteem because the academic environment in which these students enter
is new and overwhelmingly different.
Selection Criteria:
A.
All fully completed and documented EOPS student financial aid
application will be
eligibility.
s~reened
by the EOPS Director for EOPS
7
B.
Eligibility Requirements
An EOPS applicant must meet all of the following requirements:
(a)
Be enrolled as a full-time student in a community
college for any EOPS assistance and/or services.
Full-
time student, for the purpose of this article, means a
student who is enrolled in a minimum of 12 units in
community college courses or a combination of no less
than 9 units in community college courses plus sufficient
additional hours in programs or services to total 14
directed student contact hours-per week and who is making
continuous progress toward a goal, degree or certificate
as determined by the governing board.
NOTE:
Authority cited:
Education Code.
Sections 69648, 69652 and 71020,
Reference:
Chapter 2, Article 8
(Commencing with Section 69640) of part 42, Education
Code.
(b)
Apply for the Pell Grant (Basic Educational Opportunity
Grant, formerly called BEOG).
Those students receiving financial assistance from EOPS must
also submit an application for the Pell Grant program and the
college application for financial assistance.
In those cases
where an EOPS grant recipient is not receiving a Pell Grant,
the community college must certify that the student is
ineligible, with a copy of the rejected Student Eligibility
Report (SER) or from information on the institutions Pell
Grant Roster.
8
In instances where an applicant does not meet the criteria
specified in this section, and/or the parents refuse to
provide financial information, the student may not be
considered for an EOPS grant or work study.
NOTE:
Authority cited:
Education Code.
Sections 69648, 69652 and 71020,
Reference:
Sections 69640 and 69648,
Education Code.
B.
Eligibility Requirements
1. (c)
Have completed the application process with all supporting documents as determined by the financial aid officer
(FAO).
(d)
Be eligible for Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant
(SEOG) guidelines as determined by the financial aid
officer (FAO).
(e)
Maintain a grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 (grade of "C")
or higher.
2.
The student's dependency* or independency** family income (and
personal income) along with the size of the household membership may not exceed the levels of income in Figure 1 to be
eligible for any EOPS grant and/or EOPS work study assistance.
*DEPENDENCY - Dependent Student's Eligibility
Section 56236 - Title V
To participate and receive financial assistance under EOPS a dependent
student shall meet all the following criteria:
(a)
Must be eligible under all of the following Extended Opportunity Programs and Services guidelines.
9
(1)
Is a national of the United States, in the United
States for other than a temporary purpose and intends
to become a permanent resident thereof, or is a
permanent resident of the Trust Territories of the
Pacific Islands.
(2)
Is of exceptional need
(A)
A student has exceptional financial need if his
or her excepted family contribution does not
exceed 50 percent of his or her cost of education.
(B)
Notwithstanding subparagraph (A) of this paragraph,
an institution may determine that a student has
exceptional financial need if the student FAO and
EOPS Director determines the financial need.
(3)
Is of exceptional need
(B)
Believe it is impracticable for the student with
financial need to meet that need from loans,
employment or grants other than an EOPS grant.
(C)
If an institution determines that a student has
exceptional financial need under subparagraph (b),
it must include the rationale for that decision as
part of its records.
(4)
Would not, but for an EOPS grant, be financially able
to pursue a course of study at the institution.
(l
'
10
(b)
The family's (student's parents or legal guardians) prev1ous
year's gross 1ncome shall not exceed $9,999 for a family of
four with an additional $1,000 for each additional dependent.
A dependent student from a family of three would qualify if
the family's previous year's income does not exceed $8,999,
and a family of two would qualify if the family's previous
year's gross income does not exceed $7,999.
District student
financial aid policies must be followed for income verification.
District financial aid policies involving EOPS funds
must also insure that students with the lowest incomes receive
first consideration for EOPS grants and services.
(c)
Residence.
If the portion of the expected family contribution
which is derived from residence equity 1s the sole reason for
a student not meeting "exceptional financial need" then that
student may be considered to have exceptional financial need
for EOPS eligibility purposes.
(d)
Enroll as a full-time student at a community college as per
Section 56224 of this article.
EOPS financial aid shall be
withheld if the student drops below full-time status.
(e)
Those students receiving financial assistance from EOPS must
also submit an application for the Pell Grant program and the
college application for financial assistance.
In those cases
where an EOPS grant recipient is not receiving a Pell Grant,
the community college must certify that the student is
ineligible, with a copy of the rejected Student Eligibility
Report (SER) or from information on the institutions Pell
Grant roster.
11
**
INDEPENDENCY - Independent Student Criteria
Section 56237 - Title V
(a)
For purposes of determining whether or not a student is independent, an institution shall not consider the income of an
applicant's parents in the determination of an applicant's
financial rieed if the applicant meets all of the following
requirements:
(1)
Has not and will not be claimed as an exemption for state
and federal 1ncome tax purposes by his or her parent in
the calendar years 1n which aid 1s. received and in any
of the three calendar years prior to the award period
for which aid is requested.
(2)
Has not and will not receive more than one thousand
dollars ($1;000) per year in financial assistance from
his or her parent in the calendar years 1n 'tV'hich aid is
received and in any of the three calendar years before
the award period for which aid is requested.
(3)
Has not lived and will not live for more than s1x weeks
in the home of his or her parent during the calendar
year aid is received and in any form of the three calendar years before the award period for which aid is
requested.
(4)
Has been a part of an extremely adverse home situation
which is documented and supported by school or responsible community personnel such as a minister or social
worker, which situation has led to estrangement from
12
the family under circumstances where the student has not
received a contribution in case or kind from his family
for the preceding 12 months.
Public postsecondary
educational institutions and the Student Aid Commission
shall develop a procedure to allow students to appeal
decisions on w·hether the student has been part of an
adverse home situation.
(5)
Is 30 years of age or older, unless there is substantial
evidence of parental support of such applicant.
**NOTE:
Authority cited:
Code.
Reference:
Sections 69648, 69652 and 71020, Education
Chapter 2, Article 8 (Commencing with
Section 69640) of Part 42, Dividion 7, Education Code.
13
THE ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED
RE-ENTRY WOMAN
The economically disadvantaged re-entry women have overwhelming
frustrations in their attempt to better their education.
The economi-
cally disadvantaged re-entry women in the EOPS program are mostly on
Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), and often feel guilty
about taking time away from their home and their families even though
all of the tasks have been completed; and the demand, in some cases,
for their being home has decreased.
Occasionally, family members have
become aware of the new interests on the part of the returning women
and make increased demands and build upon their guilt feelings.
Opportunities for the returning woman to discuss her concerns or
problems with a counselor who has experienced similar changes in life
style seem to be an essential ingredient of a successful transition.
The economically disadvantaged re-entry women perceive the counselor as
a friend to whom they often talk over their concerns or problems
repeatedly and in great detail in order to have the courage to cope
with their transition.
This illustrates the students' finding action
as a step in solving their concerns or problems that were difficult to
solve.
For this reason, identifying with a counselor who has experi-
enced similar changes in life style, the re-entry women can recognize,
affirm and develop their confidence, skills, and boundless capacities
which is often followed by dramatic changes in their personal lives.
There have been many conjectures and assumptions about the
economically disadvantaged women returning to school -- conjectures
about who they are, where they come from, why they re-enter, and what
14
they
~vant
to achieve.
Some persons may postulate that most re-entering
women are bored housewives who have nothing better to do with their
time, while others may suggest that the economically disadvantaged
women are low-income persons who are seeking a means of improving their
socioeconomic status.
The incomplete, inconsistent and often contra-
dictory assumptions about the re-entry economically disadvantaged women
have required EOPS re-entry specialized counseling.
Hany women are removed for periods of time from the labor force
for varying reasons, but marital commitment as a housewife and childbearing seem to be the main reasons for women's extended absences from
the educational and economic mainstream.
The general feeling of the general public will be indicated with
the
~vord
"we".
We have traditionally assu!lled that homemaking and child-
bearing take place in the fully developed nuclear family with a husband
present.
We are finding, through many surveys, that there is also
extensive variation in the conditions within which women perform these
functions, and the increase in \vomen as heads-of-household is one
example.
In addition to maintaining a home and caring for children,
some women are sole supporters of their families, and some supplement
an otherwise inadequate family income.
Because of thwarted educational
aspirations, limited family resources, family responsibilities, or
cultural backgrounds, many of the re-entry women had their educational
opportunities reduced.
In addition, these same factors reduce the
educational alternatives available to them.
The educationally and
economically disadvantaged women are often unable to schedule or
finance additional education.
15
Increase in divorce rates, widowhood, and the precentage of women
remaining single, along with the increase of female heads-of household,
are very important factors in considering the present school population
of the economically disadvantaged women and their needs.
In addition,
for many women, cultural background and lack of basic language skills
impose additional barriers.
Most problems which the economically disadvantaged women face can
be placed 1n two categories:
(1)
Those problems which originate in
the student, (2) and those problems which stem from the procedures of
the .?cademic system.
A list of concerns which originate in the student would include,
but would not be limited to:
(1) child care needs, (2) family
responsibilities, (3) lack of academic skills, (4) lack of knowledge of
how or where to begin and (5) those concerns which stem from the
procedures of the academic system.
However, in addition, the two ma1n concerns and problems are
financial need and personal attitudes towards being a successful
learner.
Many re-entry women who have experienced few successesusually
do not see themselves as achievers, nor do they have the self-confidence
or motivation to explore or to seek out possible educational alternatives.
Often these women see themselves as not really being students,
but rather view education for themselves as a luxury.
They do not ask
for assistance from the instructors, believing that such assistance
from the instructors should only be for other students rather than
themselves.
They seem to have little confidence in their ability to
study, organize their time, or even totally remember the material that
was presented.
16
Many of the educational disadvantaged returning women need special
counseling, as well as encouragement ln learning how to proceed through
the academic system
assistance in familiarizing themselves with the
community college environment, the procedures, and community college
policies.
The re-entry women that has returned to higher education,
have done so in many cases without clearly delineated goals for themselves.
The absence from the educational and economic mainstream,
combined with the pressure and the stress of performing the traditional
female functions, will often cause the re-entry women to be reluctant
to even think in terms of a career or aspirations until they are
exposed to and receive support from special counseling.
Even with the presence of significant commitment to high academic
standards and achievement, a lack of confidence and self-esteem is
the most common problem of the economically disadvantaged re-entry
women.
Combined with and adding to this lack of self-esteem is what
can be termed the woman's guilt syndrome.
The family attitudes toward a wife and mother who is attempting to
return to school may range from deep resentment to strong support.
The
women who do not receive needed emotional support from their families
have strong feelings of guilt for "neglecting" their traditional homemaking roles in order to study and attend classes.
Although the economically disadvantaged women re-enteringeducation
may initially be unclear on career goals, the re-entry women are serious
students.
They tend to start their college experience on a part-time
basis because of family or job responsibilities, in addition to lack of
confidence.
Q .
17
In the last nine years of my doing special counseling I have
found that the retention rates of re-entry women 1s significantly
higher than those for entering traditional freshmen.
The non-
traditional students, by virtue of their maturity and life experiences,
tend to be serious learners who are concerned with academic quality
and who provide significant contributions of life experiences to the
classroom situation.
~fuen
counseling the re-entry economically disadvantaged women,
counseling practices differ in variables of setting, function and
process.
To consider counseling only in the traditional school setting
serves only to reduce the special counseling function and process.
One major function in the economically disadvantaged re-entry
women counseling process is to establish and maintain a "trust"
counseling relationship, because the "trust" relationship has unique
characteristics, one being that it can be non-threatening to the
re-entry women.
The non-threatening relationship provides a vehicle
for growth in the re-entry women, necessary for adequate decisions and
for plans, goals to be made, and interpersonal adaptions to beachieved.
The most common concerns or problems of the re-entry economically
disadvantaged women are:
(1) lack of confidence, (2) lack of finances,
(3) lack· of family support, (4) lack of career options, (5) fear of
failure and (6) need for child care.
The objectives set for the economically disadvantaged re-entry
women are:
18
Personal Development:
(1) to establish positive self-concepts, (2) to
develop tolerance and acceptance of differences in others, (3) to
develop an awareness of the women's role in today's changing society.
Academic Development:
(1) to develop an understanding in management
of time in relation to school and home responsibilities, (2) to
I
establish a schedule, (3) to learn to understand and deal with the
educational system.
Special counseling
~s
oriented toward meeting the affective and
emotional needs of the re-entry women.
The re-entry women benefits
from special counseling when she can set her goals and career alternatives.
The ideal counselor, a female counselor who has experienced
s~m~-
lar changes in life styles, empathic and sensitive counselor to the
special problems and concerns of the economically disadvantaged
re-entry women, and a bi-lingual and bi-cultural female counselor for
the re-entry women from an ethnic minority background.
The economi-
cally disadvantaged re-entry women are a varied group of women with a
unique set of concerns, problems, goals and expectations.
Life is what happens to us
while we are making other
plans.
Rex Shoaf
19
CAREER EDUCATION GOALS
The following career education goals provide a foundation for the lowincome student in a California community college.
A.
Attitude Development:
Develop positive attitudes toward learning,
work, leisure, individual and cultural differences.
B.
Basic Skills:
Develop the basic skills of reading, writing, compu-
tation, speaking, and listening which are essential to successful
preparation for and application to a constructive and satisfying
career.
C.
Career Awareness and Exploration:
Develop an early and continuing
awareness of career options and opportunities and explore them in
relation to maturing personal values, interests and aptitudes.
D.
Career Planning and Decision-Making:
Engage in a career develop-
ment process designed to increase knowledge of self, work, leisure
and society and apply this knowledge in making wise decisions along
the career development continuum.
E.
Career Preparation:
Develop competencies needed for progress1on
or entry into the next educational and/or occupational level.
F.
Consumer and Economic Awareness:
Understand the contribution of
work to the economic system and acquire the consumer competencies
needed to make wise decisions in the use of individual resources.
G.
Educational Awareness:
Recognize that all educational experiences
are integrated with the total career development and preparation.
H.
Self-Awareness:
Acquire positive attitudes toward learning, self
and others, a sense of self-worth, and the motivation to accomplish
personal goals.
20
Career Programs at community colleges:
1.
Business and Office Careers
2.
Allied Health Careers
3.
Career Potential for the Liberal Arts
4.
Public and Human Service Careers
5.
Science and Industry-related Technologies
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Definitions
"Counsel, mutual exchange of ideas, etc; discussion or advice."
"Counselor, an advisor," are the definitions given by Webster's
Dictionary.
Description and function of a counselor
The counselor advises the students to arrive in making decisions
which bear on their life course and assist them through those situations
or crisis which are impeding their progress, either academic or
personal.
The functions of a counselor are (1) to evaluate the status trends
of a student's development, (2) to assist a student to work through
obstacles, (3) to assist a student to make and implement decisions abcut
goals or objectives for their academic or personal course.
Definition
"Humanistic, any system of thought based on the interests and
ideals of man," is the definition given by Webster's New World
Dictionary.
The humanistic approach of Alfred Adler, Abraham Maslow, and Carl
Rogers seem most congenial and meaningful to counseling the economically disadvantaged and non-traditional student in a community college
setting.
In addition, Erik Erikson's theory emphasized the identity
crisis and Erich Fromm's theory included the philosophy of man.
21
22
Alfred Adler's theory was socially oriented and humanistic.
He
asserted that people have shortcomings that lead to an inferiority
complex which may be overcome through compensation, and that man has
a social interest which can be compensated for personal shortcomings
by contributing to a better society.
(Adler, 1959).
Abraham Haslow asserted a holistic point of v1ew - the person is
one functioning unit.
In his emphasis on motivation, Maslow stressed
inborn needs which differ largely from the instincts found in animals,
and that man has higher needs:
to belong, to be part of a socialgroup,
to love, to achieve esteem, actualize the self, find pleasure in
knmvledge and beauty.
Maslow believed that most individuals have a capacity forcreativeness, spontaneity, caring for others, curiosity, continual growth, the
ability to love and to be loved, and of all other characteristics found
1n self-actualized people.
A person who is behaving badly is reacting
to the deprivation of his basic needs.
If his behavior improves toward
greater health as a human, then he begins to develophis true potential.
(Maslow, 1954).
Maslow's approach was that if person's have resolved and somehow
adequately worked out their primary needs then the primary needs are
not deficiency-motivated and are motivated mainly by their growth
need~.
Maslow referred to the activating of these capacities as a
process of self-actualization.
A self-actualizing person feels at
ease with his body, with his ideal-self, with his self-identity, with
his psychological health, and is basically "good".
(Maslow, 1962).
23
Carl Roger's approach was non-directive or client centered in
which feedback is emphasized.
Roger's theory also emphasized the
importance of interpersonal relations and self-actualization as key
components.
He had a strong faith in people and respect for the
integrity of the individual.
Carl Roger did not believe 1n over responsibility for a person
but felt, rather, that a person must understand himself and make his
own decisions.
Rogers called his therapy non-directive psychotherapy.
Later he called it "client-centered" psychotherapy.
(Rogers, 1951).
The six major considerations for counseling the economically disadvantaged and the non-traditional students are:
1.
Alfred Adler's Theory
Adler's theory may be described as social and humanistic.
He emphasized that man is basically a social being, that
he strives to achieve a higher state of perfection, seeks to
be constructive and creative, and seeks to interact in a
healthy way with society.
In addition, he emphasized the
struggle for superiority; superiority in the sense of
achieving mastery over one's limitations so that by achieving
mastery, a person may develop to his fullest potential; and
by developing to the fullest potential, a person becomes
what he is capable of becoming.
2.
Erik Erikson's Theory
Erikson's theory emphasized the identity cr1s1s, a condition
stemming from frustration of certain achievements during
24
various stages of development which he labeled periods of:
a.
Autonomy vs doubt
b.
Generativity vs. self-absorption
c.
Identity vs. role confusion
d.
Industry vs. inferiority
e.
Intimacy vs. isolation
f.
Initiative vs. guilt
g.
Trust vs. mistrust
(Erikson, 1968)
3.
Erich Fromm's Theory
Erich Fromm's theory included the philosophy of man, and he
was particularly concerned with the following:
a.
Ethics
b.
Morality
c.
Rightness
d.
Values
e.
Wrongness
Erich Fromm asserted that to improve man we must first improve
society, arid he stressed brotherhood of man and the imperativeness
of people to love one another.
He also stressed that in a wholesome
personality there is the ability to love.
Love being the highest and
ultimate form of social behavior of which man is capable.
Love being
a necessary aspect of self-actualization; it probably is indispensable
if civilization is to survive.
Love allows and provides a person a
deep satisfying, spiritual sense.
person.
The experience of love enriches a
Love reduces the feeling of isolation or aloneness and love
25
adds to a person's sense of completeness and of personal fulfillment.
(Fromm, 1956).
4.
Group Interaction
A controlled group sounseling sess1on may be successful with
some economically disadvantaged and non-traditional students.
In a group interaction counseling session the counselor can
assist or guide students in discussions that are designed to
lead to self-understanding or to a resolution of problems,
stress, and crisis.
5.
Maslow's Theory
The counselor must be aware of the students hierarchy of
needs.
The most basic needs must be satisfied, at least to
a minimal degree before the higher needs can be attended to.
Maslow asserted that the creative, ,self-actualized person 1s
able to interact constructively with other people, has
established his own identity and finds satisfaction 1n supporting other individuals.
6.
(Maslow, 1962).
Carl Rogers Non-Directive Approach
The counselor must accept, recognize and clarify feelings,
and must allow each person to talk their way through their
personal problems or crisis, so they can move successfully
from a phase of "blowing off steam" to a phase of better
self-understanding.
(Rogers, 1961).
26
Human adjustment is a never ending process of dealing with
frustration, which may be environmental or personal in nature or may
involve a conflict of motives.
Four kinds of conflicts are possible:
(1) approach-approach, (2) avoidance-avoidance, (3) approach-avoidance,
and (4) double approach-avoidance.
Frustration and the resultant stress often play an important role
~n
the motivation of the student, adding to the original drive, and
sometimes the best solution is to withdraw from the frustrating
situation.
The literature supports that the most painful frustrations and
stress are usually those which are ego involving.
27
DEFINITIONS OF TERMS
Application For Financial Aid - The packet of materials prepared at
the institution which contains the instructions for applying for
financial aid, the need analysis form, the necessary supplemental
forms and information on the program available at a community
college.
Award Letter - The official notice of an aid award mailed by the
institution to the student who applied for financial assistance.
The award letter lists the programs offered and contains information on disbursement dates, and information on student rights
and obligations.
ACT
- American College Testing Program
AFDC - Aid to Families with Dependent Children
BEOG - Basic Educational Opportunity Grant Program
BIA
- Bureau of Indian Affairs
COG
- College Opportunity Grant.
The name of this aid program has
been changed to Cal Grant B.
CWSP - College Work Study Program
DREW - Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
A federal cabinet
level agency that includes the United States Office of Education
(USOE)
Eligible Program - A college program which is at least s1x months long
and leads to a certificate of degree 1n a community college
recognized program.
28
Enrollment Status - Defined as the number of units or hours in which
the student is enrolled.
For institutions with standard academic
terms, full-time is 12 units, three-quarter time is 9 to 11 units,
and half-time 6-8 units.
EOPS -Extended Opportunity Program and Services.
ETS
- Educational Testing Service.
Provides technical expertise to
the College Scholarship Service.
FAF
- Financial Aid Form of the College Scholarship Service.
This
form is utilized in California for financial need analysis.
Federal Register - Government publication which provides notice of
proposed regulations and the final regulation which will govern a
federal program.
Financial Aid Package - The one or more awards made to students to meet
their determined financial aid.
FISL OR GSL - Federally Insured Student Loan/Guaranteed Student Loan.
A loan secured through a bank or other approved leader to assist
students with college expenses.
Fiscal Records - The record which shows receipt of financial aid funds
and the disbursement of the funds to students.
The record must
provide a clear audit trail.
Full-Time Student - A student enrolled in 12 units or more during the
semester, tri-semester or quarter.
Half-Time Student - A student enrolled 1n 6 to 8 units during the
semester, tri-semester or quarter.
29
Information Dissemination - The procedure and materials by which
students are informed of financial aid programs available on the
college campus.
LEEP - Law Enforcement Education Program
Maintenance of Effort - The funds contributed to the student aid
program by the institution.
This amount must always be equal to
the average contribution of the past three years.
Maximum Awards - The amount of money which would not exceed the
difference between the cost of education and the expected contribution from the family and/or student.
NDSL - National Direct Student Loan.
Formerly the National Defense
Loan.
Need Analysis - The process by which the financial strength of a family
and/or student is evaluated to determine the financial contribution
which can be expected to defray educational costs.
Program Review - The procedure by which the student financial aid
operations are examined by an official from the United States
Office of Education (USOE).
Recruitment - The effort by the institution to identify and encourage
persons with financial need to continue their education beyond the
secondary school.
Regulations - The set of rules appearing
~n
the federal register which
govern the operation of a financial aid program.
Satisfactory Progress - Refers to the academic progress toward a degree
or certificate.
Progress is defined by the institution forpurposes
of continued eligibility for financial aid.
30
Scheduled Award - The amount of financial aid provided to a student,
based upon enrollment for a given year.
Student Budget - The allowances provided in order for the student to
meet the cost of education.
Student Eligibility Report - The document received by the student which
shows the eligibility for the Basic Grant.
Three-Quarter Time Student - A student enrolled in 9 to 11 units during
the semester, tri-semester or quarter.
Truth-In-Lending - The document provided to an N.D.S.L. recipient which
specified the total funds borrowed, interP.st rate, principal and
interest to be paid on the loan, and the number and frequency of
payments.
Validation Report - End of the year institutional report on the amount
paid each student who received a financial aid grant.
Adult Program- Vocational education for, (1) persons who have
completed or left high school and who are described in the definition of postsecondary program; (2) persons who have already entered
the labor market or (3) persons who are employed.
Career Education - All activities and experiences through which one
learns about work.
Cooperative Vocational Education - An instructional program that
coordinates formal vocational classroom instruction with regularly
scheduled, paid, on-the-job learning experiences to help students
develop and refine the occupational competencies they need for
31
entry-level employment or advances training in occupational fields
not generally considered professional or requiring a baccalaureate
or higher degree.
Disadvantaged Person - A person with, (1) an academic and/or economic
handicap whose educational neglect may be the result of poverty,
isolation produced by linguistic, cultural and/or age bias and
(2) who requires special services, assistance and/or programs to
enable him/her to enter into, progress within, or successfully
complete a program in a community college.
English As A Second Language (ESL) - The instructional method whereby
an instructor teaches students of limited English speaking ability
how to use standard English in order to become functional in the
world of work and in their daily activities.
Entry-Level Job Skills - Those occupational skills that job applicants
must have in order to qualify for initial employment.
Handicapped Person - A person who is mentally retarded (developmentally
disabled), hard of hearing, deaf, speech impaired, visually handicapped, emotionally disturbed, orthopedically impaired, or other
health-impaired persons such as those with multiple disabilities,
communication disabilities, learning disabilities, neurological
limitations, and biochemical limitations and who by reasons of the
above, (1) requires special educational services and/or modified
programs.
32
DEFINITIONS OF TERM.S - ETHNICITY
Black- Persons who have origins
~n
any of the black racial groups.
American Indian or Alaskan Native - Persons having origins in any of
the original peoples of America.
Asian or Pacific Islanders - Persons having origins in any of the
original people of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Pacific
Islands.
This Geographical area includes, for example, Korea
and Samoa.
Filipino - Persons originating from the Phillipine Islands.
Hispanic - Persons of Mexican, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central or South
America, or other Spanish cultures or origins, regardless of race.
Non-Resident Alien - Persons \-lho are citizens of the United States and
who are in this country on a temporary basis, but who do have
permanent status to remain in the United States indefinitely.
Resident Aliens - Non-citizens who have been lawfully admitted to the
United States for permanent residence.
CHAPTER III
CASE HISTORIES
The names of the students have been altered in order to respect
the confidential nature of the counseling process so that there can
be no identification with actual persons.
However, the change in the
names did not affect the significant events, influences and learning
outcomes given in the case studies.
33
34
CASE HISTORY
CASE I
Alice was a thirty eight, single parent and mother of four children who had been abused and battered by her husband.
Alice and her
four children had gone to a "retr.eat" until her divorce became final.
Alice was referred to crisis counseling by a former EOPS student.
She wanted to attend college to become an LVN (Licensed Vocational
Nurse), but her only source of income was AFDC (Aid to Families with
Dependent Children).
Alice met for crisis counseling once a week, for one or two hours
for a period of two years.
During the first sessions she expressed
anger, guilt, resentment, and had periods of depression.
However, as
time progressed, Alice related that she was still feeling sadness in
regard to her marital separation.
She wanted to find a life for her-
self, for her four children, and get off AFDC.
After several crisis counseling sessions she started making better
use of her time, setting priorities in her school schedule, and her
home life.
When the discussion of disappointments in her role expectations
were being discussed, Alice focused on the many positive and negative
circumstances which had led her to set career goals.
On further exploration it became apparent to the crisis counselor
that Alice was a dedicated student, 4.0 Grade Point Average (GPA),
received two scholarships, and because of crisis counseling she
regained her self-confidence and her self-esteem.
35
Alice graduated from the LVN program and she 1s now enrolled in
the RN (Registered Nurse) program.
36
CASE HISTORY
CASE II
Janet \vas an attractive thirty-six year old, single parent with
two children, one of which was physically handicapped.
Janet was on
AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children), and had returned to
school after having been a homemaker for many years, to seek a career
1n Computer Science.
Janet met in the crisis counseling sess1ons for two years, with
sess1ons from half and hour to one and one-half hours.
Janet came to
crisis counseling because of depression of three years duration since
her divorce.
Her husband was an alcoholic, and he had no interest or
commitment to the marriage or to the children.
He, she said, was self
centered, selfish, and detached from the responsibilities of a father
and a husband.
Janet functioned well in school, evidenced by her progress reports.
She had many friends and outside interests, and related easily and
warmly to people.
For the first s1x sess1ons Janet focused on her friends and outside interests, and took pleasure in describing each friend and outside
interest in detail.
After the sixth session she discovered that she
had many unresolved conflicts about her role as a mother and as a
student.
Janet also discovered that she had been punishing herself for the
divorce and that her feelings of anger, guilt and feelings of
depression were intensified when she became aware of mild annoyances
0
37
with her male friends.
In addition, she also became aware that she
was able to focus on the part she played in the difficult interactions
with her male friends and how benefitted (consciously or unconsciously)
from the type of a relationship she and her male friends had together.
The crisis counseling was essential for Janet in understanding
her role as a friend, as a student and as a mother.
•
38
CASE HISTORY
CASE III
Bob was an eighteen year old young man who was referred to crisis
counseling by a college instructor for his lack of attention during
the class.
Bob was a freshman at a community college and the situation that
had percipitated the immediate stress involved his lack of selfconfidence, self-esteem and his ability to recall under stress.
Bob met in the crisis counseling sessions for one hour every other
week for a period of ten montlts.
Bob indicated that his parents were
very proud of him attending college and that he felt a responsibility
to them rather than to himself to succeed.
From the initial crisis counseling session and from the initial
information, the initial phase of crisis counseling was focused on the
hostile dependent relationship that Bob had established with his
parents.
Bob had no desire to attend college, instead he wanted to work
with animals, preferably in a Veterinarian Hospital.
He frequently
expressed anger and resentment that his parents were altering his life
and he frequently related his feelings in an angry manner.
Bob often expressed severely depressed feelings of guilt and
suicidal thoughts.
His depressed feelings of guilt often interfered
with the increasing demands for adjustment to college and for his lack
of attention during a class
sess~on.
39
After ten months of crisis counseling, Bob indicated his awareness
to succeed in college, not because his parents wanted him to attend but
because he wanted to get a college degree.
During the ten months of crisis counseling sessions, Bob also
became aware of his anger toward and resentment of his parents and of
his feelings of guilt.
40
CASE HISTORY
CASE IV
Barbara was twenty-four years old, she had been previouslymarried
and John was twenty-three years old and his marriage to Barbara was his
first marriage.
Both Barbara and John were college students and had been referred
to
cr~s~s
counseling by a friend.
Barbara and John had been married
only four months when Barbara saw traits in John she had not seen
before their marriage.
John was extremely jealous, he often expressed angry feelings and
he had acute neurotic depressions.
John, however, felt that Barbara was not the "ideal" wife or the
"ideal" homemaker and he equated her to his mother and he also referred
her to his mother.
John often resented being questioned by Barbara
about his outside activities.
During the hour counseling sessions, once a week for two years,
both Barbara and John discussed the many concerns and conflicts they
had over money and individual responsibilities.
Tensions and stress
in the marriage were compounded by the feelings of anger that John
would display and the tensions and stress resulted from the disappointments in lack of communication between Barbara and John, distortions
of perceptions
seeing each other as they would like each other to
be rather than as they really were.
Barbara and John were living out unresolved conflicts from their
childhood and they each had a need to be dominated and to play the
long suffering person.
41
The two years of crisis counseling helped both Barbara and John
to interpret destructive behavior in a positive way, to restructure
their relationship and to start to have very positive feelings and
trust with each other.
42
CASE HISTORY
CASE V
David was a twenty-six year old young man who was economically
disadvantaged, \vas receiving a BEOG, COG, EOPS grants and College
~.J'ork
Study and by virtue of his financial circumstances was entitled to
crisis counseling.
David was a freshman when the crisis counseling sessions began and
was counseled for a period of two years.
David and the Crisis
Counselor established a close relationship in the inintial session,
which was a one-hour session.
David stated that he trusted the Crisis
Counselor and felt comfortable in expressing his feelings ... perhaps he
vie•.;red her as a mother image.
David was separated from his wife, whom he cared for very deeply.
He spoke warmly of her, saying that she was a remarkable woman without
major fault.
He could think of nothing she had done before they
separated that had made him angry.
He stated that his estranged wife was dating a younger man and
that she no longer cared for him.
He claimed that his estranged wife
had stated that she would probably stay with the younger man and that
she also planned on seeing other men in the meantime.
David said that he felt angry, confused, irritated and upset with
his estranged wife for leaving him.
He felt that he needed her 1n
order to live, and without her he could not stand being alive.
also felt solely responsible for caring for her personal needs.
He
43
David had many acquaintances, but very few close friends and he
would spend little time socializing and/or relaxing.
He did not have
any hobbies or outside interests, including books and television.
Hhen David came to crisis counseling he complained of feelings of
depression and expressed suicidal thoughts.
He stated that while at
school sometimes he felt fine and would function at a high level, but
at home "things" were constantly "falling apart".
The crisis counseling sessions allowed the Counselor to evaluate
the degree of suicidal danger that David would be experiencing because
his life was at risk.
The Counselor also discussed at length the
dependency needs that David had.
The Counselor concluded that the cir-
cumstances that revolved around his depression and stress stemmed
directly to his feelings of rejection throughout his life.
During the crisis counseling sessions, David periodically stated
that he really believed that without his wife life would be completely
empty and that he was very disappointed, hurt and angry that she no
longer loved, or cared about him.
had happened to their relationship.
David was unable to comprehend what
Although he thought about suicide,
during stressful times, he felt it was his duty not to take his life.
David was sending two different messages, (1) he felt it was not
his duty to commit suicide, (2) but when he felt depressed he would
use excessive alcohol and drugs, which placed him as a high risk for
suicide.
David was placed at a high risk for suicide because of the
depressive effects of the addictive substances and the loss of judgment
while under its influence.
The risk of suicide was also great for him
44
because he tended to act impulsively, not giving much thought to the
consequences of his actions.
The Crisis Counselor identified the symptoms of suicidal tendenc~es
of David early in the crisis counseling sessions.
David was
referred to the Olive View Medical Center in Van Nuys, California, as
an out-patient.
He attended two counseling sessions and the reason
he stopped attending the counseling
sess~ons
Psychiatrist) thinks I'm crazy", he said.
was because, "He (the
David was very defensive
about the deep rooted problems that created his periods of anger,
anxiety and depression.
David continued to display warning signs and he began threats of
suicide and his changes of moods and behavior were very significant.
He frequently became extremely depressed, withdrawn and displayed marked
decline in his self-esteem, accompanied by a profound loss of interest
in his school studies.
He often
~vished
he could get away (suicide)
from all his pressing stress and problems and he had a feeling of helplessness about finding a suitable solution.
Objectives
The Crisis Counselor could not ignore the suicidal thoughts that
David would express because to ignore his suicidal thoughts was to
disregard his plea for help and his expressions for hopelessness and
his expressions of depression and rage.
The Crisis Counselor's objective was to assist David to find an
independent meaning in his life in order for him to feel secure enough
to communicate his deep rooted anger and to trust significant other
45
persons.
The relationship between the stressful, life changing situa-
tions of his early rejection by significant persons and his present
stressful change in his life (his wife's potential absence) was related
to the onset of his suicidal thoughts, the Crisis Counselor concluded.
The Crisis Counselor used Hypno-Therapy with David, and under
Hypno-Therapy David recalled that at a very early age he had been
abandoned by his mother during a war, perhaps in Africa.
He did not
recall ever seeing a father in his home or a man that he would associate as a father.
His childhood memories, four and/or five years old
were of living in a home somewhere which he thought might have been
Africa.
He also recalled living in France, as a foster child, when he
was about nine and/or ten years old.
punished by his foster parents.
He recalled being severely
He said that when he would do some-
thing that his foster parents would disapprove and/or object to that
he would be beaten and tied to the chicken coop.
trusting any person(s), and/or authority figures.
He had difficulty in
He cried when he
stated that he had missed the emotional support from a mother or a
father, the emotional support that most persons would receive.
He
said, "I believe that God, in His wisdom, had reasons for His ways."
David stated also under Hypno-Therapy that most of his life he
had been disappointed and rejected and that no one cared about his
painful feelings nor would anyone miss him or even would care if he
died.
He would recall the many persons who had disappointed him, the
persons who had created feelings of anger, sadness and hopelessness
and who he claimed were directly responsible for his multi-stressful
situations.
46
The Crisis Counselor concluded that the emotional stress that
David 'vas experiencing generally occurs when a person is experiencing
a lack of love (Fromm, 1956), and 1s also express1ng a situation that
provokes anxiety.
(Adler, 1959).
Therefore, if the stress is resolved
the anxiety level is lowered and then David would respond with feelings of security and trust.
However, David viewed his physical self
and his mental self as separate.
During the crisis counseling sessions the Crisis Counselor learned
that David was not a deeply religious person, and that he hardly ever
attended church.
However, David did believe in God, and David's
philosophy was that God had reasons for His ways.
As the crisis counseling sessions progressed, David shared his
early childhood experiences on a conscious level.
Previously, he had
shared his experiences only in the Hypno-Therapy counseling sessions.
David was able to understand that he was not responsible for his early
childhood experiences and began to psychologically integrate his fear
of being alone.
As he accepted the responsibility of being alone, he
no longer passively accepted his wife's behavior.
He expressed his
anger and his disappointment to her when she continued to date the
younger man and/or other men.
It was during this period of time when David had made some
progress, that he was confronted by his estranged wife and he became
very depressed and angry that he slit his wrists with a razor blade
in the bathroom of his apartment.
The Crisis Counselor was called to
the scene, the Paramedics >vere called, and as Davis was being taken
to the ambulance he repeatedly kept saying, "Let me die".
47
Dealing with a suicidal person is one of the most difficult
problems and situations confronting any Counselor.
The complexity of
the suicidal threat and the actual act of suicide requires a thorough
understanding of the dynamics of suicide, in order to capably handle
a suicidal attempt and/or a suicidal act.
Results of Counseling Sessions
After two years of crlsls counseling, David was able to understand
and accept his personal needs (Maslow, 1962), self-actualization.
David began to establish a trusting relationship with other
students, teachers and friends.
He was able to identify and focus on
the central problem, which, in the observation by the Crisis Counselor,
was the rejection by his mother and the rejection of other significant
persons at a very early age.
He developed a climate of trust and car-
ing ... understanding himself was the key in making the changes he
wanted to make for a successful and happy life.
David divorced his wife, graduated from a California community
college with a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 4.0 (A), and received a
scholarship to UCLA.
After attending UCLA for one year he dropped out to start his own
business, and recently he informed the Crisis Counselor that in 1983
he had netted from his business $70,000.00.
David was able to understand the many stages that helped him to
turn out of control feelings and emotions into feelings and emotions
that he was able to cope with.
David has nmv found "himself" and has
established trusting relationships.
CHAPTER IV
METHODS
The hypothesis of this thesis was that, traditionally and customarily, there has been some confusion and little distinction between
the counseling process used for the traditional student and the
counseling process used for the economically disadvantaged student at
a California community college.
Using observational methods, this study was to compare the traditional counseling methods with the non-traditional methods necessary
to counsel the economically disadvantaged student in panic or crisis
counseling situations.
The economically disadvantaged and non-traditional students of
the study were both male and female students at a community college.
Each student was counseled several times each school semester,
from once a week to twice a week, from one-half hour to one to two
hours, as the student need for the counseling session arose.
The
students were counseled for a period of one year to a period of two
years.
The median age of the students was twenty-six years of age.
The observational methods used were based on the theories of
Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, Erich Fromm, Abraham Maslow and Carl
Rogers.
The theories were all incorporated in the panic and crisis
counseling sessions and the study became more focused and detailed to
the growth and development of each student with the students falling
into two main groups.
48
49
In Group I, the
ma~n
concern of the student centered on immediate
survival (books, child care, clothes, college fees, food, school
supplies, transportation and tutors).
In Group II, detailed observations was made on long-range goals
of the students (Associate Degree or Vocational Certificates).
Each
of these groups was subdivided to provide panic and crisis counseling
on immediate concerns or problems or emotional conflicts of each
student.
General observations followed by the student ventillating feelings
(catharsis), and the observation was made durinb each counseling
sess~on.
To the general observation of the counselor the personal
growth and the increased self-confidence and self-esteem of the student
are a sound measure of individual self-actualization.
The economically disadvantaged and non-traditional student seeks
out the crisis counselor for assistance in decision-making.
The stu-
dent is supported by the crisis counselor, not because the counselor
may or may not agree with the decision made by the student, but because
the counselor perceives each student as a person of worth and dignity.
The crisis counselor and the student form a nurturing lifting relationship based on trust and the student's self-understanding reduces the
anxiety in decision-making.
The crisis counseling sessions were on a one-to-one sessions, in
a private office, behind closed doors, and the time allowed for
counseling was measured by the need of each individual student.
50
The students were in a process of personal transition, they were
attempting to find a better understanding of their needs, striving to
achieve individualization and to be more self expressive.
Crisis counseling has several dimensions which can vary or interrelate:
(1) the counseling sessions must be one-to-one; as the one-to-
one setting creates "trust", (2) the students must want or need to
communicate their feelings, (3) the crisis counseling function is
primarily to assist in making the students aware of their negative or
positive feelings in their personal relationships and to themselves.
The three counseling dimensions interact
wi~h
one another.
How-
ever, to counsel economically disadvantaged or non-traditional students
varies greatly in comparison to counseling the traditional student.
The crisis counseling session can be triggered by ser1ous problems
"suicidal feelings" or can be triggered by very simple ones -- finding
a textbook.
The open door policy is of the utmost importance 1n either case.
~vith
the open door policy, a student can feel free to drop 1n at any-
time for crisis counseling without an appointment and the crisis
counselor will be there to respond with skill, training and understanding of the problem.
The method used 1n this thesis was personal observation of the
students, their progress reports and individualized counseling
sess1ons.
CHAPTER V
RESULTS
The literature supports my hypothesis that in order to counsel
the economically disadvantaged students, a counselor must be extremely
sensitive to the whole person as these students have unique problems of
major significance.
The theories and techniques of Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, Erich
Fromm, Carl Rogers, and Abraham Maslow all consider the whole person
and teach the humanistic approach to counseling.
The personal experiences and the skill of a
cr~s~s
counselor are
the keys and the major factors in counseling the economically disadvantaged and the non-traditional student.
The sensitivity of a
crisis counselor to the needs of each individual student is vital to
the academic learning and to the growth stimulation of these students.
The crisis counselor establishes a positive relationship with
each student and the student assumes responsibility for his or her own
behavior.
The
cr~s~s
counselor expresses acceptance, respect and deep under-
standing of all concerns, conflicts, problems of each individual
student with an emphasis on the here and now of the student's existence.
The crisis counselor must disregard the traditional counseling
techniques and place emphasis on flexibility and versatility and be
totally aware of the nature of the difficulty, conflict, or problems
the student is experiencing.
The final result is that the student
increases self-awareness and experiences living more fully.
51
52
The crisis counselor must have the ability to reveal personal
experiences which enables the student to become aware of similar condit-ions and qualities in himself or herself and accept responsibility.
If the crisis counselor is a female, she may share that she also
was a re-entry woman; she also had children; she also had difficulty
with English, Math., etc.: she also had a handicapped child; she also
was from a low-income family; she also was from a single parent home;
she also is a single parent; she also is from a minority group; but
that despite all of these variables, she did meet her objectives and
goals.
In my personal experience, to reveal oneself, is to take a risk;
but the economically disadvantaged student in a community college, must
identify with someone with similar experiences.
The final result is
that the student aspires to be like the model.
The student then can
relate his or her experiences .to the crisis counselor in a comfortable
manner because someone had similar experiences which creates credibility and trust.
Then the student proceeds towards actualization
of his or her objectives or goals by removing obstacles.
The crisis counselor establishes a long-term relationship with
the students because the counselor has assisted the students in
removing their high levels of anxiety, their anger, fear, frustration,
resentment, hostility and depression.
Sensitivity and empathy allow the cr1s1s counseling to transcend,
\vhile the economically disadvantaged student maintains his or her m.m
individuality.
CHAPTER VI
SUMMARY
Hy hypothesis is that, traditionally and customarily, there have
been some confusion and little distinction between the counseling
process used for the traditional student and the counseling process
used for the economically disadvantaged student.
The investigation and the literary research have demonstrated the
obvious as well as some of the subtle differences between those two
counseling processes.
The purpose of this thesis was to explore the possibilities and
effectiveness of counseling the economically disadvantaged nontraditional student and the counseling for the traditional student.
Fortunately, the demand to educate everyone up to
the level of his ability and the demand for excellence
in education are not incompatible. We must honor
both goals. We must seek excellence in a context
of concern for all. (The Rockerfeller Report on
Education, 1958).
Note:
Authority cited:
The Rockerfeller Report on Education.
Excellence.
The Pursuit of
Garden City: Doubleday, 1958.
The Extended Opportunity Program and Services (EOPS) has as its
purpose the provision of positive encouragement directed to all
students in a California community college, handicapped by language,
social, and
econom~c
disadvantages.
An interesting point concerning the EOPS program
~s
that in many
California community colleges, it serves EOPS students in highly
affluent communities where the majority of the economically dis-
53
54
advantaged students are not minority students but Anglo students.
To
be economically disadvantaged does not have any color bounds.
The word ''disadvantaged" is defined by Webster as, "underprivileged".
Our society tends to identify a "disadvantaged" person
as a person from a minority group, i.e., Black, American Indian, Asian,
Mexican American, etc.
In effect, our society
~s
totally unaware that
a person that is not from a minority group can be and is handicapped
by language, social and economic disadvantages.
Because of the economic dilemma in which the economically
disadvantaged and non-traditional students find themselves in a community college, their attitudes toward education are apparently
different than the traditional students from more favored economic
situations, middle-class and affluent status.
As a consequence, the
academic and social self-image of the economically disadvantaged
student may be quite impaired.
There is a famous anecdote about Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott
Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald is reported to have remarked to Hemingway,
"The rich are different".
money".
And Hemingway replied, "Yes, they have
Fitzgerald understood that being rich was not a simple fact,
like a large bank account, but a way of looking at reality, a series
of attitudes, a special type of life.
However, if this is true of
the rich, it is one hundred times truer of the poor and disadvantaged.
Everything about the poor and disadvantaged is suffused and permeated
by the fact of their poverty.
And this is sometimes a hard idea for
a Hemingway-middle-class and affluent American society to comprehend.
55
The one-to-one panic and crisis counceling with the economically
disadvantaged and non-traditional students tends to alleviate the poor
academic and social self-image, and provides these students the opportunity to prove that they are just as capable of fulfilling their
goals and objectives as is the student from more favored circumstances.
The community counselor that counsels the economically
disadvantaged and non-traditional student must perceive themselves as
the facilitator (Perls, 1951), the listener (Rogers,
1951)~
however,
the non-traditional student needs the humanistic approach of Adler,
Erickson, Fromm and Maslow.
The Gestalt techniques (Perls), if applied on a one-to-one
counseling session, is successful ••• "closure" ••• the initial Gestalt
method.
The reality theory (Perls) "here and now" is unrealistic for
the non-traditional student who is primarily concerned with the possibilities of growth and financial survival.
Alfred Adler's theory is socially oriented and humanistic, and
the community college counselor can apply Adler's theory to assist the
non-traditional student to develop a unique personality which the
student may recognize in his or her personalized style of life, which
corresponds with self-actualization.
Further, Adler asserted that man
has social interests, by which he or she bas the tendency to compensate
for personal shortcomings by contributing to a better society.
Carl Roger's "non-directive" therapy is effective in community
college counseling, especially in the initial counseling sessions, as
the non-traditional students need to ventilate their feelings.
56
Any effort to understand the feelings, behaviors, and motivations
of the economically disadvantaged and the non-traditional student must
be based upon two types of knowledge.
the history of the student.
First, the counselor must know
Such information makes the counselor aware
of the events shaping the student's perceptions of himself or herself
and of social reality.
Second, it is essential 1n understanding the
non-traditional culture and to be aware of the social position of each
culture.
That is, the counselor must be aware and sensitive of the
culture's position relative to the community college social group.
These defensive strategies and behaviors of the community college
social group have a profound effect upon the hopes, behaviors and
aspirations of the economically disadvantaged and non-traditional
student in a community college.
The single basic need that all people in all cultures possess
from birth to death is the need for an identity; the belief that we
are someone in distinction to others.
The two basic need pathways are those of love and self-worth.
In
order to feel that we are a success in the world one must feel that at
least one other person loves us, and that we also love another person.
He must feel that at least one person "out there" feels that we are a
worthwhile being.
Through accepting responsibility for one's own behavior, and acting maturely to constructively change behavior, individuals find that
they are no longer hopeless or powerless; and begin to gain maturity,
respect, love and that most important success identity.
57
All personalities are un1que, to be sure, but individuality is
emphasized in whomesome personality.
Erich Fromm stressed that 1n a
wholesome personality there is the ability to love.
I shall pass through this world but once.
Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness
that I can show to any human being, let me do it
now.
Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not
pass this way again. (Author Unknown).
v '
58
LIMITATIONS
No statistical information was compiled as to the number of
economically disadvantaged students needing non-traditional counseling
as opposed to the number of traditional type students 1n a comparative
situation.
However, to me, it 1s self-evident as to where the preponderance
of evidence lies in serving the needs of the most students - disadvantaged.
Definition
"Disadvantaged- underprivileged", 1s the definition given by
Webster's New World Dictionary.
The recommended availability and awareness on the part of the
economically disadvantaged student's crisis counselor is needed, dire
consequences can be prevented when that need is met with empathy,
sensitivity and trust.
The availability and awareness of the crisis
counselor can assist many more economically disadvantaged students to
move into the mainstream of society better educated, more responsible
and with higher self-esteem.
59
CONCLUSIONS
The major difference in crisis counseling the economically disadvantaged and non-traditional student is in the process of the
counseling sessions where the counselor can uncover and work hidden
emotions of the students.
The students seeking crisis counseling
express a long-standing dissatisfaction with life, accompanied by longstanding lack of self-esteem and unwanted behaviors.
The crisis counselor assists the disadvantaged student to make
immediate decisions, to make short or long range plans and to move on
in life.
The crisis counselor evaluates the stages of a student's
development, assists the student to work through obstacles in growth
development and situations that have caused many dissatisfactions.
The counselor provides the student an awareness of the problems, and
the student implements decisions and plans for a life course.
The crisis counselor provides as much time as the student may need
to discuss any problems (open door policy), and the counselor finds
closure in each session.
The traditional community college counselor
only provides one-half hour for each counseling session.
Counseling
the economically disadvantaged student is one of commitment and of an
open communication process.
Historically the economically disadvantaged and non-traditional
student has been labeled a non-achiever, and the label conflicts with
the values that a student is experiencing.
The label classifications
tend to deter or hinder the growth and the development of the student,
60
unless a counselor with sensitivity to the labels can make the disadvantaged student aware that labels are useless in the functions of
objectives and goals and in developing competencies with a sense of
satisfaction about themselves and life.
The crisis counseling for the disadvantaged student can besuccessful when the counselor sets objectives and goals for the student on a
short term and long term range.
The student then becomes aware of his
or her character traits, as evidenced in such characteristics as
integrity, initiative and responsibility.
The student can then find
an emotional balance, evidenced in self-esteem, self-confidence and a
mature level of adjustment in a community college, family, and personal
relationships.
The student is perceived as one functional unit - holistic point
of view.
The student realizes the need to belong, the need to love,
to achieve self-esteem, to actualize the self and to find pleasure in
knowledge and beauty.
(Maslow, 1962).
The crisis counselor must emphasize the student's strengths rather
than the weaknesses, and the student can then find personal growth and
life fulfillment.
The crisis counselor must also be aware of his or
her own personal limitations, and become knowledgeable to the community
professional resources for referrals as needed.
The following are some of the community professional resources
that may be available to provide services for the economically disadvantaged student at a community college:
61
1.
Child Care Centers -many charge the low-income student on a
scale rate
2.
Churches of all dominations - provide moral, religious
support, special services (food, clothes, etc.), and
immediate assistance
3.
Community Centers - provide food, clothes and para-legal
serv1.ces
4.
Neighborhood Centers - provide food, clothing and counseling
serv1.ces
5.
Health Centers -provide health serv1.ces
6.
Psychologists and Psychiatrists - provide long term professional assistance and counseling for long and deep rooted
problems, many provide these services for the low-income
students on Medi-Cal
Another purpose for the crisis counseling is to provide the
students with information needed for their decisions, plans or
adaptions and transition to a community college.
Crisis counseling is distinctively a communication method and 1.s
the observable method of the counselor
each phrase and sentence, or
each silence have a purpose related to the crisis counselor's immediate
and long range goal for the economically disadvantaged student.
The crisis counselor is a partner with the students in planning
·and fulfilling their purpose in life.
The counselor is the nucleus
for the economically disadvantaged student seeking individuality 1.n a
~vorld
1.n which individuality can be readily buried.
{.I
'
62
RECOMMENDATIONS
The academic and vocational education offered in a community
college is secular, practical, objective, highly competitive,
materialistic and strongly motivated by a future orientation.
It is secular in the very fact that it is tax supported and this
non-sectarianism de-emphasizes the spiritual aspects of life and
emphasizes the material.
The learning of the three "R's" are not
enough, there is also a constant emphasis on the practical application
of all learning.
The objectivity of our educational pursuits starts
at the elementary level and extends through the post-secondary level.
Competition in our educational system is the key to all achievement and to "success".
The spirit of competition is not only
encouraged 1n all areas of life, but is also expected at a community
college and in our society.
However, competition for the economically
disadvantaged student creates an intense fear of failure -- which is
commonly interpreted as not making enough money or attaining
sufficiently high status.
There is generally acceptance of an ethics based on hard work,
respectability and getting ahead on the basis of one's own efforts.
This scheme of values virtually guarantees a high degree of frustration for the economically disadvantaged and non-traditional student in
a community college.
An area relatively new to many community colleges and controversial because of its late recognition as a unique, effective, yet
integral to the personal counseling component is panic and crisis
counseling.
63
Since behavior
ar~ses
essentially from feelings, then these unique
feelings must be totally understood by the traditional community
college counselor.
Recommendation #1
The traditional community college counselor must be aware of the
economically disadvantaged and non-traditional students' needs, which
are totally different from most affluent traditional student, he or
she must be totally objective and non-judgmental.
The panic and crisis counseling is emphasized
~n
the counseling
of the economically disadvantaged and non-traditional student because
these counseling services are needed in the introduction of the nontraditional student to the traditional institutional environment.
Recommendation #2
The community college should insure that crisis counseling is
available for the economically disadvantaged and non-traditional
student because of the immediate conflicts, problems, concerns and
turmoil created by one or more of the following:
A.
FAMILY PROBLEMS
1.
Death
2.
Divorce
3.
Family decisions
4.
Housing
5.
Parental conflict
6.
Pregnancy
7.
Problems with ex-spouse
64
B.
B.
PERSONAL PROBLEHS
1.
Alcoholism
2.
Drug addiction
3.
Family violence
4.
Financial problems
5.
Guilt
6.
Health problems
7.
Legal problems
8.
Low self-esteem
WORK PROBLEMS
1.
Loss of job, unemployment
2.
Other work related problems
3.
Underemployment
Recommendation #3
The traditional community college counselor must utilize the
disadvantaged student's culture, whatever it may be, to enhance the
possibility of self-motivation, as every student has three distinct
educational levels.
The three distinct educational levels are:
1.
The attained knowledge level
2.
The educable level
3.
The frustration level
Re-commendation #4
The community college should insure that the economically disadvantaged and one-traditional students have access to reliable
65
information on all the school's programs, included but not limited to,
occupational programs.
Recommendation #5
The community college should provide each low-income student with
the financial aid services available on each campus.
Recommendation #6
The community college should provide each low-income student
information of the counseling and support services available on each
campus.
Recommendation #7
A study should be made as to the job opportunities available for
the economically disadvantaged and non-traditional college graduate.
Recommendation #8
Follow-ups and surveys should be made after each graduating class.
The follow-ups and surveys should be done for a period of three years
after graduation.
On the basis of these recommendations, it is pertinent that the
traditional counselor in a community college become totally aware of
the unique personality of the economically disadvantaged student.
The relation between the non-traditional student and the community
college counselor and the college environment must be considered in
terms of the non-traditional student conception of himself or herself,
and the extent to which each of these students is supported in a
California community college.
66
Our society has open doors for the non-traditional student to
attend a community college and for the non-traditional student to
enter the "mainstream", however, our society can either shut out or
lock out the non-traditional student.
The traditional community college counselor must have experience
~n
working with
var~ous
groups, including low-income persons, single
parents, minority populations, refugees or recent immigrants, exoffenders, re-entry students, students with abuse problems, the
unemployed and the underemployed.
It is vital that the traditional counselor be sensitive to the
needs of the economically disadvantaged and non-traditional student.
It would be extremely important and helpful if the traditional
counselor was able to understand the world of the economically disadvantaged, the world of the non-traditional student, have a positive
view of diverse cultures and hold a multicultural perspective.
The primary recommendation
~s
for the traditional counselor to
allmv more than half an hour for the counseling
sess~ons
for the
economically disadvantaged student, in order to insure that the student
can make decisions, build trust and for the student to increase his or
her self-esteem.
REFERENCES
Adler, A. "Progress in Individual Psychology", British Journal of
Medical Psychology, 1924.
Adler, A. What Life Should Mean to You.
1958.
New York:
Capricorn Books,
Adler, A. The Practice and Theory of Individual Psychology.
Ne\v Jersey: Littlefield, Adams, 1963.
Adler, A. Social Interest:
Capricorn Books, 1964.
Adler, A.
A Challenge to Mankind.
Understanding Human Nature.
Adler, A. The Science of Living.
1969.
New York:
New York:
Becoming.
Byrne, R.H.
1963.
The School Counselor.
Erikson, E.
Identity, Youth and Crisis.
Fromm, E.
New Haven:
New York:
Premier Books, 1959.
Doubleday Anchor Books,
Allport, G. Pattern and Growth in Personality.
Rinehart and Winston, 1961.
Allport, G.
Paterson,
New York:
Holt,
Yale University Press, 1955.
Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company,
New York:
Norton, 1968.
The Art of Loving.
New York:
Bantam Books, Inc., 1956.
Reality Therapy.
New York:
Harper & Row, 1965.
Glasser, W.
Hansen, J.C., R.R. Stevie and R.W. Warner, Jr.· Counseling Theory and
Process. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1977.
Harrington, M.
The Other America.
New York:
The Macmillan Co., 1962.
Lewis, 0. Five Families; Mexican Case Studies of the Culture of
Poverty. New York: Science Editors Incorporated, 1962
Maslow, A.H. Toward a Psychology of Being.
Norstrand, 1962
Maslow, A.H.
Motivation and Personality.
New York:
New York:
D. Van
Harper, 1954.
May, R. Man's Search for Himself. New York: W.hT. Norton, 1953.
Chapter 3: "The Experience of Becoming a Person."
67
68
O'Banion, T., and A. Thurston.
Community Junior College.
1972.
Student Development Programs in the
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall,
Parker, C.A. "Student Development: What Does It Mean?"
College Student Personnel, July, 1974.
Journal of
Patterson, C.H. Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy.
Harper and Row Publishers, 1980.
(3rd Edition).
New York:
Paul, G.L. "Behavior Modfication Research: Design and Tactics." In
C.S. Franks (ed.), Behavior Therapy: Appraisal and Status, New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1969.
Pietrofessa, J.J., A. Hoffman, H.H. Splete and D.U. Pinto. Counseling:
Theory, Practice and Research. Chicago: Rand McNally Publishing
Co., 1978.
Rogers, C.
Client-Centered Therapy.
Rogers, C.
On Becoming a Person.
Rogers, C.
Freedom to Learn.
Boston:
Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 1951.
Houghton Mifflin, 1961.
Columbus, Ohio:
Merrill, 1969.
Ruch, F.L. Psychology and Life (6th edition), Chicago: Scott,
Foresman and Co., 1963. Pages 62-68 (Psychosocial Development).
Sexton, P. Spanish Harlem:
Hacmillan Co., 1962.
Anatomy of Poverty.
New York:
The
Spirnthall, N.S. "Humanism: A New Bag of Virtures for Guidance?"
Personnel and Guidance Journal, September, 1972.
Stefflre, B. "Function of Theory 1n Counseling". In B. Stefflre and
W.H. Grant (eds.), Theories of Counseling, New York: NcGrawHill, 1972.
Warnath, C. New Nyths and Old Realities: College Counseling 1n
Transition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1971.
Webster, S.W. Knowing the Disadvantaged.
Publishing Co., 1966.
San Francisco:
Chandler
Williamson, E.G. Student Personnel Services 1n Colleges and Universities. New York: NcGraw-Hill, 1961.
Wrenn, C.G. Student Personnel Work in College.
Press, 1951.
New York:
Ronald
,,
'
APPENDICES
69
70
APPENDIX A
EOPS INCOME ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Figure 1
ACADEMIC YEAR 1983-1984
NO. IN
FM1ILY
DEPENDENT*
Student
$1,505 (167)
"1d<
$2,395
(266)
2
7,999
3,315
(368)
3
8,999
3,765
(418)
4
9,999
4,215
(468)
5
10,999
4,665
(518)
6
11 '999
(568)
7
12,999
5' 115
5,565
8
13,999
6,015
(668)
9
14,999
6,465
(718)
10
15,999
6,915
(768)
Each additional
family member
*
INDEPENDENT **
Add
$1,000
Add
(618)
$450.00 ($50)
Based on Actual prior year income
Projected income for academic year, September 1 to June 30, figures
in parenthesis are income per month.
71
APPENDIX B
GLOSSARY
Adjustive Behavior - Activities by which men/women or the lower
animals attempt to meet the demands made upon them by biological and
social needs.
Anxiety - Generalized feelings of apprehension:
A symptom of many
neuroses and psychoses.
Approach-approach conflict - Form of conflict frustration 1n which
the individual must choose between two desirable but mutually exclusive
goals.
Approach-avoidance conflict - Form of conflict frustration in which
the individual is at the same time attracted and repelled by the same
goal.
Attitude - A relatively stable, learned, emotionalized predisposition to respond in some consistent way toward an object, person or
situation.
Avoidance conditioning - Instrumental aversive conditioning 1n
which the organism can prevent an unpleasant stimulus by making an
appropriate response in time.
Avoidance - avoidance conflict - Form of conflict frustration in
which the individual cannot avoid one alternative without encountering
the other.
Behavior - Isolated reactions and organized goal-directed patterns
of reaction which can be observed objectively and internal processes
such as thinking and emotional reactions, which can only be observed
introspectively or inferred from external behavior.
72
Catharsis - The discharging of emotional tension by "talking out"
or otherwise expressing troubled emotions; important 1n most psychotherapy.
Client-centered therapy - A nondirective technique of psychotherapy
based on the theory that many individuals can work through their own
problems by "talking them out" in a permissive and supportive atmosphere.
Compulsion - Bizarre action which the individual does not understand but nevertheless feels impelled to perform; usually symbolic in
nature.
Counsel -To g1ve advice to; to recommend (an action, etc.).
Counselor -An advisor.
Crisis - Any crucial situation.
Directive counseling - Least complicated type of psychotherapy,
1n which the therapist/counselor supplies reassurance, suggestions,
or direct solutions.
Displaced aggression - Transfer of hostility from the object or
person actually causing frustration to some other object or person
or to the self.
Ego - In psychoanalytic theory, the rational aspect of the personality; regulates the impulses of the id in order to meet the demands of
reality and maintain social approval and self-esteem.
More generally,
the individual's concept ;f self.
Emotion - Complex state of feeling involving consc1ous experience,
internal and overt physical responses, and power to motivate the
organism to action.
73
Empathy - Ability to understand and to some extent share another
person's feelings.
Environment - The totality of conditions within and surrounding
the organism that serve to stimulate behavior or act to bring about
change of behavior.
Existentialism
~
Philosophy which emphasizes the importance of
existence as pr1mary, with man himself responsible for the kind of
person he shall be; a personality theory which emphasizes a sort of
self-actualization, although not generally optimistic.
Extraversion - Orientation toward the external world of things
and people; the extravert tends to enjoy social contacts.
Fantasy - Withdrawal reaction in which the individual escapes
from frustration through daydreaming.
"Free-floating" anger - Chronic reaction pattern in which hostility
becomes generalized so that even neutral situations are met with
hostility.
Free-floating anxiety - Chronic reaction pattern 1n which anxiety
becomes generalized and an individual feels a sense of impending doom
for no specific reason; may become fixed on specific objects in the
form of probias.
Gestalt psychology - A school of psychology which teaches that
psychology should study the whole pattern of behavior instead of
analyzing it into elements, s1nce the whole is more than the sum of
its parts.
74
Goal - Some substance, object, or environmental condition capable
of reducing or temporarily eliminating the complex of internal conditions which initiated action on the part of an organism.
Also called
reward, incentive, or reinforcement.
Group therapy - Form of psychotherapy ln which a group of persons
discuss their problems under the guidance of a therapist; usually
nondirective.
Guidance Center - Clinic or agency where individuals may be helped
with problems of adjustment.
Hallucination - Sensory impression of external objects ln the
absence of any appropriate stimulus in the environment.
Holistic theories - Cognitive learning theories, so-called because
of their emphasis on the importance of the whole in shaping the parts.
Hypothesis - Statement or proposition, often based on the results
of previous observations, which is tested in an experiment; it may be
denied or supported by the results but never conclusively proven.
Id - In psychoanalytic theory, the primitive part of the unconscious, composed of instinctive organic cravings and characterized by
unrestrained pleasure-seeking impulses.
Individualization - Pattern of development from general to specific
characteristic of the maturation process.
Information theory - The study of communication systems and the
principles that make for understanding, control, and predictability in
communication.
75
Insight - In Gestalt theory, the apparently sudden appearance of
the solution to a problem.
In psychotherapy, the understanding of
one's mvn behavior, motives, feelings, and attitudes.
Awareness of
key relationships, not always sudden.
Insight therapies - Forms of psychotherapy which seek to enable
the patient to find his/her underlying conflict or problem and gain
insight into it.
Integrated therapy - Psychotherapy based on an electric approach,
stressing no particular theory or procedure but using whatever methods
of therapy seem appropriate to the individual case.
Learning - The process which brings about a change
~n
the indivi-
dual's way of responding as a result of contact with aspects of the
environment.
Life style - In Adlerian theory, the unique manner
~n
which each
individual strives for the basic goal of superiority.
Manic-depressive reactions
Psychotic reactions characterized by
alteration between periods of extreme elation (manic episodes) and
periods of extreme depression.
Maturation - Process of development and bodily change resulting
from heredity acting over a period of time; independent of learning
but may be hampered by a subnormal environment.
Mood - An emotional state that is drawn out over a period of hours
or days and is usually less intense than an "emotional outburst" such
as anger.
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Neurosis - Abnormal reaction pattern which lowers efficiency but
seldom requires hospitalization; the neurotic usually retains contact
with reality.
Objective observation - Observation of overt behavior and the
conditions under which it occurs.
Obsession - Persistent and irrational idea, usually unpleasant,
that comes into consciousness and cannot be banished voluntarily.
Obsessive-compulsive reaction - An abnormal reaction characterized
by the presence of anxiety, with persisting unwanted thoughts accompanied by the compulsion of repeat ritualistic acts over and,over.
Overcompensation - Extreme or socially unacceptable attempt to
counterbalance actual or felt inferiority.
Overt behavior - Activities which can be observed by an external
observer.
Paranoia - Psychosis characterized by systematized, intricate
delusions.
Person-oriented dependency - Dependency upon other persons for
support, approval, affection, etc.
Personali!Y - The whole person, including his/her external
appearance and behavior (social stimulus value), his/her inner awareness of self as a permanent organizing for in his/her life, and his/
her particular pattern of measurable traits.
Phobia - Irrational fear resulting from the displacement of freefloating fear onto some environmental object or situation other than
the original cause of the fear.
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Primary reinforcement - Reward which directly satisfies some need
of the organism.
Projection - Defense mechanism by which the individual unconsciously convinces himself/herself that others have the undesirable
thoughts and motives which the individual has.
Psychotherapy - A general term to describe treatment of personality and behavior disorders by psychological methods.
Rationalization - Defense mechanism by which seemingly logical
explanations are devised to explain and justify behavior which might
otherwise result in loss of social approval and self-esteem; a form of
intellectualization.
Regression - Defense mechanism in which the individual seeks to
return to an earlier, more secure period of his/her life.
Reinforcement - In classical conditioning, the process of follow1ng the conditioned stimulus by the unconditioned stimulus; 1n
instrumental conditioning, the rewarding of the learner for adequate
responses.
In both cases, the response to a stimulus is strengthened.
Repression - Defense mechanism in which painful or guilt-producing
thoughts, feelings, or memories are excluded from conscious awareness;
such repressed material may remain active at an unconscious level,
resulting in a bizarre behavior.
Respondent behavior - Behavior which 1s elicited or evoked by
events in the environment.
Schizophrenia - Psychosis characterized by \oJithdrawal from
reality, emotional blunting and distortion and disturbed thought
process.
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Self-actualization - An individual constant striving to realize
his/her full inherent potential, regarded by Goldstein, Rogers,
Maslow, and others as the msot fundamental goal of the human
personality.
Self-concept- The individual's awareness of his/her continuing
identity as a person; develops gradually from an infant's discovery
of the parts of his/her own body and comes to include an individual's
thoughts, feelings, attitudes, values and aspirations.
Stress - Unpleasant emotional upheaval which the individual
experiences in response to frustration; and adverse condition such as
extreme cold, heat, loud noise, etc.
Superego - In psychoanalytic theory, that part of the personality
which guards the ideas of right and wrong learned as a child; in
constant conflict with the id; corresponds to the "conscience".
Trait - A characteristic which can be observed or measured.