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A Study Of The Effectiveness Of Group Counseling In Achieving The Goals Of Guidance In Education, Using Two Contrasting Formats
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A Study Of The Effectiveness Of Group Counseling In Achieving The Goals Of Guidance In Education, Using Two Contrasting Formats
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This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received ^ 1 0 ,7 5 5 BATES, Marilyn Mildred, 1921- A STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GROUP COUNSELING IN ACHIEVING THE GOALS OF GUIDANCE IN EDUCATION, USING TWO CON TRASTING FORMATS. University of Southern California, Ph.D., 1967 Education, guidance and counseling University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GROUP COUNSELING IN ACHIEVING THE GOALS OF GUIDANCE IN EDUCATION, USING TWO CONTRASTING FORMATS by Marilyn Mildred Bates A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Education) June 1967 UNIVERSITY O F S O U T H E R N CALIFORNIA THE GRADUATE SC HOOL UNIVERSITY PARK LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 9 0 0 0 7 This dissertation, written by .........t^ILY.H.MItERED.JA'EES............. under the direction of h.&x....Dissertation C o m mittee, and approved by all its members, has been presented to and accepted by the Graduate School, in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of D O C T O R O F P H I L O S O P H Y ..... Dean D ate..... TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I. II. Page INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM................. 1 Nature of the Problem The Need for the Study Statement of the Problem Plan of the Study Assumptions Limitations Delimitations Definition of Terms Hypothesis to be Tested Organization of the Remainder of the Paper REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON GROUP COUNSELING................................. 14 Historical Antecedents Group psychotherapy Group counseling in psychiatric social work Group counseling in the schools Objectives of Guidance in Education Group counseling defined Objectives of group counseling Objectives of guidance in education and objectives of group counseling Dynamics of Group Counseling Function of the counselor Working with adolescents Counselor behavior Content of Group Counseling Classification of topics Approaches to content Topics in counseling with adolescents Composition of Group Membership Selection of group members Underachievers as group members The acting-out student in group counseling Intensive Group Counseling ii Chapter III. iii Page Predicting Successful Membership Negative effects Theoretical Foundations of Group Counseling The self-concept Summary of Studies RESEARCH DESIGN .............................. 91 Setting of the Study Group counseling background Group counseling goals recapitulated General Hypotheses Operational Hypotheses Group counseling goal of cognitive knowledge Group counseling goal of behavioral change Group counseling goal of self evaluation Group counseling goal of decision making Group counseling goal of realistic goals Group counseling goal of conative knowledge Group counseling goal of socialization Group counseling goal of self- valuation Summary of Operational Hypotheses Group Counseling Format Setting Up the Study Interviews Counselors Academic potential scores Referral categories Assignment to groups The Group Counseling Procedures Traditional group procedures Accelerated group procedures Group membership Testing procedures Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values— High School Form The Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank— High School Form The Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test— a semantic differential technique iv Chapter The Tyler Vocational Choice Cards Teachers' grades The basic design IV. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY ................. The Goals of Group Counseling Cognitive knowledge Behavioral change Self-evaluation, decision making, and realistic goals through vocational choice and preparation Conative knowledge Socialization Self-valuation Self-Concept Hypothesis II Themes in Group Counseling Hypothesis III Chapter Summary V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ............... Summary Conclusions The goal of cognitive knowledge The goal of behavioral change Goal of self-evaluation, decision making and realistic goals through vocational choice and preparation Goal of conative knowledge Goal of socialization Goal of self-valuation Self-concept Themes in group counseling Implications for Guidance Recommendations for Further Study A Final Statement BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................... Page 176 247 283 APPENDIX 307 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Goals of Guidance and Group Counseling .... 27 2. Selected Studies of Group Counseling ......... 84 3. Goals of Guidance and Group Counseling .... 97 4. Research Design x Sex x Grade Levels............123 5. Mean Academic Potential Scores of Counseling and Control Groups ............. 129 6. Group Counseling Referral Categories ......... 130 7. Webb-Harris Word Meaning T e s t .................. 157 8. Factorial Loadings on Selected Semantic Profiles........................................161 9. Results of the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank Scores ...................... 178 10. Results of Group Counseling on Grade Point Averages................................. 180 11. Results of Group Counseling on Citizenship Grades .......................... 182 12. Results of Group Counseling on Effort Grades__.........................................184 13. Results of Group Counseling on Attendance Patterns— Mean Number by Days A b s e n t ................................... 185 14. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "School" ............................ 186 15. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "Obeying the Rules" ............... 188 16. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "People Who Make Me Behave" . . * . 189 v vi Table Page 17. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "Teachers" .......................... 190 18. Mean Pre-test: Post-test Differences of Tyler Vocational Choice Cards Minimum Stanines and Subjects Academic Potential..................................... 192 19. Mean Number of Choices Made on the Tyler Vocational Choice Cards .............. 193 20. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "Me in the Future"....................195 21. Results of Group Counseling on Shifts in Perceptions of self on Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values— "Self" Measure . . . 197 22. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "Love" .............................. 199 23. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "Hate” .............................. 200 24. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "Fighting" ..................... 201 25. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "Guilt" ............................ 202 26. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "Fear" .............................. 203 27. Results of Group Counseling on "Others" Measure of the Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values ................................... 205 28. Categorical Scores on the Bills’ Index of Adjustment and Values...................... 206 29. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "Mother".............................. 208 30. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "Father" ............................ 209 31. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "Brother" . .........................210 vii Table Page 32. Results of Group Counseling on Concept "Sister" ................................... 212 33. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "Boy" .............................. 213 34. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "Girl" .............................. 214 35. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "Family" ............................ 215 36. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "Adults" ............................ 216 37. Results of Group Counseling on "Self" Measure of the Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values ...................... 219 38. Results of Group Counseling on the Concept "How I Would Most Like to Be" . . . 221 39. Significance of Differences of Percentages of Time Spent on Main Topics in Group Counseling................................... 225 40. Total Number of Minutes Spent on Main Topics by Groups During the Thirteen Sessions..................................... 229 41. Total Percentage of Time Spent by Each Group on Main Topics During the Thirteen Sessions (Total time - 650 minutes) .... 230 42. Total Number of Minutes Spent on Society- Centered Topics by Group During the Thirteen Sessions ......................... 231 43. Percentage of Time Spent on Society- Centered Topics by Group During the Thirteen Sessions............................ 232 44. Total Number of Minutes Spent by Each Group on School Centered Topics During the Thirteen Sessions (Total=650 Minutes) . . . 236 V1X1 Table Page 45. Percentage of Time Spent by Each Group on School Centered Topics During the Thirteen Sessions (Total time=650 minutes)..................................... 237 46. Total Number of Minutes Spent by Each Group on Home-Centered Topics During the Thirteen Sessions ...................... 239 47. Percentage of Time Spent on Home-Centered Topics by Group During the Thirteen Sessions..................................... 240 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM Nature of the Problem The analysis of human interaction in pairs or in groups is always a fertile field for investigation in the behavioral sciences. But the group process holds a particular fascination for the researcher by its very complexity— a complexity compounded by the contradictory findings of published studies of group psychotherapy, group dynamics, sensitivity training and group counseling. It was with the latter, a relative newcomer to the educa tional scene, with which this study proposed to deal. There is some indication that group counseling slipped in analogically as an acceptable school counseling technique. That is: individual psychotherapy is to individual counseling as group psychotherapy is to group counseling. The transition has been such a natural one that its suitability has been almost unquestioned. Only recently an additional transmutation has occurred. The technique developed by psychotherapists of working one therapy group intensively over a period of many hours or days has been noted— and adopted— by 1 counselors. Counseling groups have been organized to meet in continuous session for one or more school days in an apparent effort to accelerate the effects of group inter actions . The technique of accelerating the group counseling process seems somehow symbolic of the current acceleration of-the use of counseling with groups in our schools. Interest is high, enthusiasm is contagious, and groups are proliferating. But if group counseling is not to be labeled a temporary educational enthusiasm, sound knowledge of the process and outcomes must be gleaned from careful research. It was with the outcomes that this study proposed to deal. The Need for the Study The increasing acceptance of group counseling as an appropriate technique for the school counselor signaled the need for an examination of the theoretical foundations, a reevaluation of the outcomes of the process and a dis section of the content, with special emphasis on the analysis of the accelerated model as opposed to the traditional model of group counseling. If we are to accelerate the process, there is obviously a great need to know just what it is we are accelerating Certainly the sine qua non of the group counseling process is attitudinal change through group interaction. But through what verbal content this change takes place has not been reported comprehensively in the literature. The mystique of group counseling will remain, like psychotherapy, a "self-taught art with few, if any, established or near established principles to guide it"'L unless a study is made to summarize and order the content of group counseling and relate this content to educational goals. Paralleling the need to analyze the content of group counseling was the need to examine the organizational format. Ironically, the original objective of group counseling was to save counselor time. Time and experience have demonstrated that this was a fallacy--that actually group counseling is an avid consumer of both counselor and counselee time. While it is true that group guidance with its emphasis on the efficient transmission of educational and vocational information in an instructional setting saves counseling time, group counseling with its emphasis on the slow and often painful developmental process requires at least as much time per student as does individual counseling. Is it possible to speed up this developmental process by concentrating the counseling process into two days of continuous interaction? If so, the benefits accruing from group counseling would be almost -^-Joseph D. Matarazzo, "Psychotherapeutic Process," Annual Review of Psychology, XVI (1965), 214. immediately available to counselees, and thus, in a back- side-of-the-coin sense, a saving of time would result, and full circle drawn to the original objective. A theoretical concomitant of accelerating the developmental process was the question raised concerning self-concept change. Combs and Snygg have indicated that a change of self-concept involves a slow process over a long period of time. Accelerating the counseling process raised theoretical implications by introducing the pos sibility of a rapid change of self concept. Is it possible that self-concept change is not a function of both time and process? Perhaps the process alone is the necessary and sufficient condition, with time an irrelevant factor. An excellent study suggesting this possibility was that of Williams who found a permanent change of self concept after extremely brief individual educational- vocational counseling. If changes of self-concept are not necessarily a function of extended time, then our counseling assumption that attitudinal changes are effected slowly may well be reevaluated. A most vital area needing study was the growing 2Arthur W. Combs and Donald Snygg, Individual Behavior; A Perceptual Approach to Behavior (New York; Harper & Bros., 1959), pp. 44-46. 3John E. Williams, "Changes in Self and Other Perceptions Following Brief Educational-Vocational Counseling," Journal of Counseling Psychology, IX, No. 1 (1962), 18-30. concern with the relationship of the goals of group coun seling to the larger goals of guidance in education. Are the two compatible? Smith, in writing a basic text on the principles and practices of a school's guidance program, felt that group counseling had no place at all in the school setting. He found it difficult to equate the con cept of group counseling with acceptable counseling procedures and stated that expecting a counseling rela tionship to be established through group processes “seems to suggest disregard for the cumulative experience of competent counselors."^ The need for this study of group counseling was seen as focused on measuring the effectiveness of group coun seling as it was related to educational objectives, on the comparison of the effectiveness of two differing group counseling formats and on the analysis of the content of the group counseling sessions. Statement of the Problem Volsky commented that more past failures to determine unequivocally the effects of counseling could be traced to the lack of agreement on desired outcomes than to any other source.^ ^Glenn E. Smith, Principles and Practices of the Guidance Program (New York: Macmillan Co., 1951), p. 19. ^Theodore Volsky, Jr., et. al., The Outcomes of Counseling and Psychotherapy; Theory and Research (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1965), p. 14. Patterson reinforced this position when he pleaded, "For some time now attention has been focused upon deter mining what happens in counseling, what the outcomes of various methods and approaches are with deliberate avoidance of consideration of goals. But the matter of f l goals cannot be evaded much longer." The responsibility to evaluate group counseling in terms of acceptable educational goals is particularly incumbent on the school counselor who works with a "captive" counselee and who works with time requisitioned from the classroom teacher. A statement of the problem ought properly to begin, then, with a restatement of the goals of group counseling as practiced in the school setting. Warters emphasized that the purposes of group counseling differed little from those of individual coun- seling--there being no group goals, only individual goals.^ Driver stated that the adolescent resolves his con fusion and conflicts regarding values, parent-child rela- Q tionships and life goals in the group counseling situation. £ C. H. Patterson, "Counseling," Annual Review of Psychology (Annual Reviews, Inc.), XVII (1966), 97. ^Jane Warters, Group Guidance: Principles and Practices (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1960), p. 173. 8Helen Driver, Counseling and Learning through Small Group Discussion (Madison: Monono Publications, 1958), pp. 17-19. Shaw and Wursten in reviewing the literature on group counseling found that studies could be grouped according to the purposes of group procedures: remedial or preventive. The remediation category included improvement of academic achievement, interpersonal relations and self- understanding. Preventive goals aimed at the early identification and treatment of maladjusted pupils.^ Some writers have compiled general goals such as developing group feelings, developing a sense of individual value, dignity and self-worth, developing a better under standing of reasons for behavior and attitudes and to giving the student an opportunity to express individual concersn, feelings and attitudes regarding himself and the school,while others have listed attitudes toward school, development of more adequate self-concept, reduction of truancy and drop-out frequency, attitude toward peers and reduction in acting-out behavior.H ^Merville C. Shaw and R. Wursten, "Research on Group Procedures in Schools: A Review of the Literature,1 1 Personnel and Guidance Journal, XLIV (September, 1965), 27-34. ■^Donald Robinett and Warren K. Waite, "Voluntary Group Counseling in a Junior High School," Journal of Secondary Education, XXXIX (May, 1964), 227. 11-Stanley W. Caplan, "The Effects of Group Counseling on Junior High School Boys' Concepts of Themselves in School," Journal of Counseling Psychology, IV (Summer, 1957) , 124. 8 One of the tasks of this study was to determine if the goals of guidance in education could be achieved through a traditional approach or an accelerated approach to group counseling. An additional problem was to determine if the verbal content of the counseling sessions could be ordered into some meaningful pattern, so that anticipations of the group counseling content could be transmitted to the profession. A third problem was to determine if a change in self concept could occur as a result of experience alone. Plan of the Study The plan of the study was to analyze in depth two counseling procedures carried out in a high school setting working with adolescents. One counseling procedure was a traditional approach wherein groups met on a weekly basis for a given length of time. The second approach was termed "accelerated interaction" and studied groups which met for two continuous school days in intensive inter action. The verbal content of both groups was analyzed through tape recordings of the sessions. The outcomes of the group counseling were measured in terms of educational goals in an effort to determine which, if any, of these goals could be achieved through the process of group counseling. Assumptions A major assumption on which this study was based was concerned with the self-concept— that the self-concept existed and could be measured. A summary of theoretical positions built around the self-concept was developed in the review of the literature. Another major assumption was that the adolescent consciously or unconsciously is engaged in the develop mental task of discovering his self-identity, and that this task is a major concern of these critical years. It is not to be expected that the young person is aware of the extent of his involvement in this process, but it is to be expected that the school counselor is acutely sensitive to the importance of the task to the adolescent and possesses the professional skills to assist him in this quest. It was further assumed that in each human being there is a drive toward a psychological homeostasis revolving around a nucleus of psychological health which could be utilized in the group counseling process. This self-actualization process was assumed to be facilitated through verbalizations. Limitations Since no particular training was provided to the group counselors, findings could only be generalized to groups handled by counselors without special training 10 beyond what is normally obtained when qualifying for the pupil personnel credential. Although the general approach of the counseling was unstructured in technique, no generalizations could be made to a particular technical group counseling approach, such as directive versus non directive or behavioral versus transactional. Delimitations Only tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade students participated in the study. Educable mentally retarded students were excluded. No student was coerced or "persuaded" to be a member of a counseling group, but each participated willingly. Regular counseling staff members participated in the study as volunteers who were interested in group counseling. No attempt was made to limit the study to counselors of a particular philosophical commitment. Counselors may or may not have worked with group members who were their regularly-assigned counselees, nor did the counselors alter their individual counseling procedures in any way because of the group counseling project. Definition of Terms The following terms were defined in accordance with the purposes of the investigation. 11 Traditional group counseling. A method of counseling wherein one counselor met with one group of from six to fifteen students for one school period once a week over an extended period of time. Accelerated group counseling. A method of counseling wherein one counselor met with one group of from six to fifteen students in continuous session through all class periods for two successive school days. Hypothesis to be Tested The problem of this study was to determine if the goals of group counseling could be systematically related to the parent goals of guidance in education; then, measured in this context, to determine if two different methods were effective in achieving these goals, and to determine if the content of group counseling tended to fall into a time pattern. A third problem was to consider if self-concept change is a function of both time and experience. The hypotheses were stated: I. Group counseling is an effective method of implementing the purposes of guidance in education. A. The traditional approach to group counseling is effective in reaching the goals. B. The accelerated approach to group counseling is effective in reaching the goals. 12 II. The same amount of time is spent on themes in group counseling both in the traditional approach and in the accelerated approach. III. The self-concepts of students who are in group counseling will be changed by both the traditional approach and the accelerated approach to group counseling. Organization of the Remainder of the Paper The importance of the study and the statement of the problem have been presented, accompanied by an expression of the assumptions, limitations and delimita tions contained in the design. Terms have been defined to insure a semantic commonality and hypotheses forming the framework of the study were stated. A review of the literature on group counseling is presented in the following chapter. The historical antecedents which root in group psychotherapy were traced, followed by a recapitulation of the objectives of guidance in education. The goals of group counseling were related to the guidance objectives before the dynamics of the group process were examined in detail. The literature was searched for clues to the possibility of the existence of an orderly content in group counseling, and the conclusion of researchers were consulted regarding the composition of group membership. Finally, the theoretical foundations 13 which provide the sub-structure of group counseling were built. Chapter III presenting the research design begins with a sketch of the setting of the study, followed by comments on the selection of the sample. A detailed discussion of the measuring instruments selected to implement the objectives of the study precedes an elaboration of the procedures used in testing. The statistical routines for handling the data are summarized in the concluding pages of Chapter III. Chapter IV directs attention to the findings of the study as they relate to the hypotheses. Chapter V summarizes the preceding expositions and hazards conclusions concerning the findings with the implications for guidance in education. The chapter concludes with suggestions for further study. A bibliography and appendix complete the dis sertation . CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON GROUP COUNSELING If Gibb's definition of a group as "two or more organisms interacting, in the pursuit of a common goal, in such a way that the existence of many is utilized for the satisfaction of some needs of each"^ is accepted, groups have been with us since time began. Man has always banded together one way or another; at times to defend his caves or to build his pyramids, on other occasions to write a code of law or to sing around a campfire. But the concept of a group interacting for the sake of the interaction is of recent vintage as time goes, it having developed in the past fifty years. Historical Antecedents It all began, according to Bennett, when Pratt, the founder of group psychotherapy, began working with groups of tubercular patients in Boston, in 1905, later expanding his work to other patients and his method to "Thought- 1-Cecil A. Gibb, "Definitions of the Group," in C. Gratton Kemp, Perspectives on the Group Process (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1964), p. 25. 14 15 Control classes."^ The permissive spirit of the turn of the century, so conducive to creative innovations, is well illustrated hy Pratt's title for his groups. A summary dismissal would certainly be the lot of today's school counselor who suggested labeling his group counseling a "thought-control class." Even "group therapy" would be a more acceptable term! Times being what they were, experimentation continued, and three years after Pratt began his work, Emerson began to try therapy through groups, working with children and their parents at the Boston Dispensary, still attempting, however, to treat physical ailments through the group process. Group Psychotherapy The recognition of group influences in the treatment of psychiatric disorders in a French mental institution was noted in 1904 by Camus and Fognies, but it was other workers such as J. L. Moreno who developed a planned and organized program of group therapy for psychological problems.^ Moreno began his work in Vienna with three differing approaches. The first approach, staging written ^Margaret E. Bennett, Guidance in Groups (New York; McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1963), pp. 23-24. 3Ibid. ^Ibid. 16 plays with children and juveniles, soon developed into spontaneous dramatic play— thus the psychodrama came into being. The second and third approach led to sociometry which developed from work with self-help groups of pros titutes in Vienna and with groups of Italian peasants who had been forcibly "relocated" by the Austrian government. Moreno brought his ideas to the United States in 1927 where his "therapeutic theatre" was a strong force in popularizing group psychotherapy. Moreno himself seems to have coined the term "group psychotherapy" in a conference on "The Application of the Group Method to the Classifica- tion of Prisoners." After fifty years of psychotherapy which centered on the individual it seemed inevitable that "someone had to feel that the advantages of individual psychotherapy should be extended to the greatest possible number of sufferers."^ The original purpose of group therapy was to save time, as workers wrestled with the problem of stretching their medical and psychological services to all the many patients needing their attention. Only later did experience illuminate the unique benefits available through the group approach. ^Joseph I. Meiers, "Origins and Development of Group Psychotherapy," Group Psychotherapy, ed. J. L. Moreno (New York: Beacon House, 1946), pp. 261-66. ^Ibid., p. 264. 17 Group Counseling in Psychiatric Social Work Almost four decades from the turn of the century this same search for efficiency of time was to lead psychiatric workers to experiment with groups in an effort to extend the trained skills of psychiatrists, psycholo gists and social workers— all of whom were trying rather desperately to meet the increased demands for their services after World War IX. Slavson and Redl, both work ers in the social welfare field, parallelled the discovery of their medical predecessors in also finding that time was not necessarily saved, but that results could be obtained through the group approach which were not 7 attainable through individual therapy. Group Counseling in the Schools Yet once again the drama of the search for time efficiency was to be played out— this time in an educa tional setting. Prior to World War II, group work, whether termed counseling or therapy, was limited to clinical and Q mental hospital settings. Although slow in getting started in using the technique, school and college 7 'Bennett, op. cit., pp. 23-24. ®E. W. Christensen, "Group Counseling: Its Use and Potential Value," Counseling and Guidance: A Summary View, ed. James F. Adams (New York: Macmillan Company, 1965), p. 353. 18 counselors were finding the group method useful by the late 1950's.9 Wright sounded the familiar note when he suggested that "greater efficiency in counseling might connote either a conservation of time and effort in seeing the same number of students or in being able to provide counseling for more students in the same period.He went on to suggest that the currently increasing enroll ments at most educational institutions were placing a considerable stress on counselor time and it might be desirable to look at group procedures as a means of solving this problem.^ Christensen, too, attributed the recent interest in group counseling and the growth of group procedures to pressures arising from demands for more school services. Although Christensen felt that using group counseling as an efficient substitute for individual counseling seemed legitimate in the face of burgeoning school registration, he reasoned, "the rationale for its popularity in the secondary schools of our nation must be based on a firmer 12 foundation than being able to reach more students." ^Leona E. Tyler, The Work of the Counselor (2d ed.; New York: Appleton-Century Crofts, Inc., 1961), p. 280. Wayne Wright, "Multiple Counseling: Why, When, How?" Personnel and Guidance Journal, XXXVIII (April, 1959), 555. Hlbid. , p. 556. -^-^Christensen, op. cit., p. 356. 19 It is this search for a firmer foundation which is often disheartening to a researcher. While it is true that a review of the objectives of group counseling as listed by various writers found little emphasis placed on saving time as a primary purpose, it was also true that seldom was there a clear-cut statement of objectives of any kind, particularly as these objectives directly related to education. Objectives of Guidance in Education The legitimate objectives of group counseling must be consistent with the objectives of guidance in education. While it was beyond the scope of this study to give ex tended consideration to the purposes of public school guidance, a brief recapitulation of generally accepted educational goals was indicated so that the relationship to counseling in groups might be drawn. Wrenn organized the purposes of guidance in education for the cultural and economic conditions of 1970 into four comprehensive categories: (1) a concern with the intellectual growth of the student, (2) a responsi bility for the vocational choice and preparation of the pupil, (3) a need to develop individually and simultan eously with socialization, and (4) a goal of educating to 20 live with people of other c u l t u r e s . ^ These four categories provided a framework within which to analyze the objectives of group counseling as advanced by various writers in the field, but before doing so it was vital that a clear distinction be made between "group guidance" and "group counseling." Group Counseling Defined Warters suggested that group guidance was the appropriate term when the group was large and the role of the counselor was somewhat that of a teacher. Shaw followed Warter1s lead when he separated his review of the literature into group counseling studies and studies which were concerned with group procedures in the classroom.On the other hand, Bennett labeled any phase of guidance carried on with groups of individuals as group guidance, making no operational distinction at all 16 between group guidance and group counseling. Driver took the unique position that group work could only be 1 ^ iJC. Gilbert Wrenn, The Counselor in a Changing World (Washington: American Personnel and Guidance Association, 1962), pp. 74-82. ■^Jane Warters, Group Guidance (New York: McGraw- Hill Book Company, 1960), p. 172. lS^erville C. Shaw.and R. Wursten, "Research on Group Procedures in Schools: A Review of the Literature,1 1 Personnel and Guidance Journal, XLIV (September, 1965), 28. l^Bennett, op. cit., pp. 2-3. 21 called group counseling (or multiple counseling, which was the term she preferred) , if individual counseling accom panied the group activity.^ Wright, who also preferred the term "multiple counseling," defined the process as a situation in which the counselor counsels with more than one individual at a time but each on a coordinate basis, conceiving multiple counseling as being concerned with helping each counselee make individual decisions within a 18 group situation. The search for definition is further compounded by the equating of the term "group therapy" with "group counseling." Bennett suggested that group guidance became group therapy when the process was operating at the deeper levels of personality, ^ but Ohlsen felt the two terms could be differentiated in terms of group members. He reserved the term group counseling for counseling in a group with clients in the normal range of adjustment in a 20 non-medical setting. Christensen did not dichotomize l-^Helen I. Driver, et. al. , Counseling and Learning through Small-group Discussion (Madison: Monono Publica tions, 1958), p. 19. •^Wright, Personnel and Guidance Journal, op. cit., p. 556. •^Bennett, op. cit., p. 3. 20j^erle M. Ohlsen, "Counseling Within a Group Setting," Journal of the National Association of Women Deans and Counselors, XXIII (April, 1960), 105. 22 but saw group counseling as lying midway between group therapy and group guidance, and basically the same as personal counseling on an individual basis, with the very important addition of the interaction of other members of the group.^ The search for agreement on the denotation and connotation of the terms "group guidance," "group coun seling," and "group therapy" was obviously futile, so somewhat arbitrarily, in this study group guidance was defined as group work in the school setting where the primary purpose of the counselor was to transmit specific information and/or to achieve group goals. As such, a consideration of group guidance was beyond the scope of this study which was limited to the counseling aspect of the guidance program. Group counseling was seen as a process involving the interactive aspects of group work which a skilled counselor used to assist individual members to arrive at those individual goals which are consonant with educational objectives. While it was recognized that there is a continuum between group counseling and group therapy, the latter, which requires the services of a therapist, was regarded as not appropriately available in the educational setting. 21-Christensen, op. cit., p. 356. 23 Objectives of Group Counseling In the context of above definitions the clarifi cation of the objectives of group counseling as they relate to guidance in education is continued. Wright followed the lead of his doctoral chairman, Clifford Proehlich, in seeing the objectives of group counseling as assisting the individual to evaluate himself, to gain knowledge for wise choices (i.e., learning), to grow in the ability to make decisions and to be responsible and to change his behavior as he translated learning into action. Wright felt that these same objectives applied to 22 individual counseling. Warters, too, found the objectives of group and individual counseling essentially the same. She listed the objectives of helping the counselees "achieve increased maturity in terms of integration, acceptance of reality, happiness, sociality, realistic goals, adapt- ability, and responsibility for self."*,J Gawrys and Brown, in stating that the primary objective of group counseling was the establishment of the intra-member-counselor relationships to help members function outside the group, also indicated that the objectives of group counseling were similar to the ^^Wright, Personnel and Guidance Journal, op. cit., p. 552. ^warters, op. cit., p. 173. 24 9 A objectives of individual counseling. The supplementary aspects of group to individual counseling was emphasized by Driver, who, as mentioned earlier, took the unique position that group work could not be called counseling unless individual counseling accompanied the group activity. She saw the objectives of the group process as learning skills in human relations, apparently viewing it essentially as a socialization 25 process. Ohlsen regarded group counseling as far more than a mere socializing adjunct to individual counseling. He presented a cogent analysis of the similarities of group and individual counseling, seeing both as helping the pupil identify and clarify problems which disturbed him, improve his understanding of himself and of his situation, and define, examine and test alternative solutions for 9 r his problems. In another publication Ohlsen reported a group counseling study of bright underachieving fifth graders and their parents, and he attributed the generally ^John Gawrys, Jr. and 0. B. Brown, "Group Counseling: More than a Catalyst," School Counselor,' XII (May, 1965), 206. 25nriver, op. cit., p. 19. ^Merle m . Ohlsen, Journal of the National Association of Women Deans and Counselors, op. cit., p. 104. disappointing results to inadequate definition of goals and criteria for evaluation. He strongly recommended that individual goals, tailored to individual clients, be established for evaluation purposes.2^ While Ohlsen's point is well taken, such a procedure assumes that the achievable goals for an individual through group counseling are a known quantity, which, unfortunately, is not the case. Christensen realistically recognized that "we are not yet sophisticated enough in our knowledge of group counseling to categorically state the situations and what reasons best justify the use of group counseling,"2® and advised the school counselor "to try it with many types of clients with various problems in a variety of situations and then systematically evaluate the results."2^ Which is a most desirable procedure] But systematic evaluation of group counseling in the school setting cannot be attempted until the goals are clearly related to the larger goals of guidance in education. 2^Merle M. Ohlsen, Appraisal of Group Counseling for Underachieving, Bright Fifth Graders and Their Parents, Cooperative Research Project No. 933, 1964, p. 12. 2®Christensen, op. cit., p. 351. 29Ibid. 26 Objectives of Guidance in Education and Objectives-of Group Counseling That the goals of guidance in education are also the goals of group counseling seems tacitly assumed by writers in the field of guidance, but the "why" of group counseling as it subsumes under the "why" of guidance in education has not been stated clearly. This relationship remains to be shown. Table 1 recapitulates Wrenn's Guidance in Education goals'^ in the left hand column, with the right hand column states the related group counseling goals. The group counseling objectives seen by the writer as most directly related to Wrenn1s four categories were placed opposite the appropriate guidance category, but no implication is intended that all guidance goals and group counseling goals are not highly interrelated. Even when consideration was given only to the major emphasis of each separate group counseling goal in relating that goal to the guidance category, it was necessary to place some group counseling goals opposite more than one guidance goal. It was reassuring to find the goals of group counseling so clearly consonant with the parent goals of education, and it was doubly reassuring to find at least some group counseling goals concerned with the non- -^Wrenn, op. cit., pp. 74-82. 27 TABLE 1 GOALS OF GUIDANCE AND GROUP COUNSELING Guidance in Education A concern with the intel lectual growth of the student. A responsibility for the vocational choice and preparation of the pupil. A need to develop indivi duality simultaneously with socialization A goal of educating to live with people of other cultures. Group Counseling Gain cognitive knowledge Change behavior Self-evaluation Self-evaluation Aid in decision making Establish realistic goals Conative knowledge Socialization Self-valuation Change behavior Gain cognitive knowledge Self-evaluation Socialization controversial development of cognitive functions, so traditional with our schools. Admittedly a degree of controversy is healthy and stimulating but a counseling procedure which engenders controversy because it is out of phase with what is appropriately the schools' context will not long remain in the guidance repertory. However, the process of relating the two sets of objectives remain an academic exercise until the operational translation is made, thereby rendering measurement possible. This task will be given attention shortly, but first the relevant literature on group counseling must be reviewed. 28 Dynamics of Group Counseling It was indicated earlier that there was some dis agreement concerning the dynamics of group counseling as opposed to individual counseling. The most obvious difference between the individual and the group situation — that of several persons interacting rather than one— is apparent, but Ohlsen refined the analysis by pointing out that in group counseling the counselor must concen trate his attention on trying to capture the feelings of each counselee and help him tell his story while observing how each speaker's comments affected other 31 members and help them to participate m the discussion. Thus in the individual situation the counselor can concentrate on one person, while in the group he must interact with several members, conveying to each his warmth, understanding and acceptance of them. As a matter of fact, Gordon conjectured that "it may be a basic principle that the amount of tolerance which a group lea der has for different kinds of behavior on the part of the group members is a direct function of the amount of faith . . . that the leader has in the positive forces contained in the group."22 It would seem that a major source of O * 1 xOhlsen, Journal of the National Association of Women Deans and Counselors, op. cit., p. 105. 32i>homas Gordon, Group Centered Leadership (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Company, 1955), p. 140. 29 power for the dynamics of group work lies in the group counselor's ability to communicate warm acceptance and accurate understanding en masse. Function of the Counselor Truax attempted to evaluate the effect of accurate empathy, unconditional positive regard and therapist genuineness on personality changes through the group process. He used four groups of patients who met twice a week for twenty-four sessions, and compared the effects of a personally-involved therapist and the effects of one who maintained a psychological distance. While Truax found moderate support for belief in the beneficial effects of the therapist's empathy, positive regard and genuineness in facilitating group progress, he also found that the maintenance of a "professional role" was most helpful in the less intimate relationship of group work, while not as helpful in individual counseling. An incautious extra polation of individual counseling principles to the group counseling situation is contraindicated until more knowledge can be accumulated concerning the unique dynamics operating in group interaction. •^Charles B. Truax, R. R. Chuckhuff, and F. Kodman, "Relationship between Therapist Offered Conditions and Patient Change in Group Psychotherapy," Journal of Clinical Psychology, XXI (July, 1965), 327-29. 30 Mainford contributed to our understanding of the forces at work in the group process when he studied thirty-six male schizophrenics who met one hour two times a week for three months. He compared a confrontation type of process with a diversionary technique wherein the patients were not allowed to discuss material which obviously caused anxiety. Although the subjects were uncomfortable in the confrontation situation for a short time, this soon passed, and there was a highly significant difference in change of behavior toward positive action in favor of the confrontation group.34 Apparently the process of group interaction should not be made too comfortable for real growth to take place, if the findings of psychotherapeutic work can be applied to work with adolescents in the school setting. Working with Adolescents That the world of the adolescent might be different from that of schizophrenic adults and perhaps from that of the adult world in general was implied by Christensen who felt that the experience of being in a counseling group was particularly vital for the teen-ager who needed •^Willard A. Mainford, H. Buck, and L. G. Colling, "Confrontation versus Diversion in Group Therapy with Chronic Schizophrenics as Measured by a Positive-incident Criterion," Journal of Clinical Psychology, XXI (April, 1965), 222-25. 31 the opportunity to test tentative solutions to problems in a non-threatening situation and to obtain from other members their reactions before translating verbalizations into action. The adolescent, neither adult nor child, has created his own clannish society, and it is this very clannishness which makes group counseling potentially effective with young people.35 Strang, too, felt that group work was particularly valuable for adolescents. She felt that in the group process the individual got the support of his peers and the benefit of their frank interpretation of his behavior and attitudes. As the counselee heard others discuss their problems, he extended his own experiences, and the experience of being in a group was in itself an experience in relating to others.36 Lafond tried to capitalize on the adolescent's concern for peer approval in his Master's Project when he worked with underachieving tenth graders in an unusual approach to group counseling. He stressed competition among members and between his experimental and control groups in an effort to improve the grade point average through weekly class period meetings which lasted one semester. Each week his experimental group reported to ■^^Christensen, op. cit., p. 356. 36Ruth strang, Group Work in Education (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1958), p. 8. 32 each other their week's progress and the total group's achievement was compared with the control group's achievement. He found that his experimental group had a high mean grade point average at the end of the semester while the controls had a lower grade point average. No measure of statistical significance was reported, so it was difficult to determine the effectiveness of this approach which used peer pressures.^ « Counselor Behavior Krumboltz and Thoresen did report statistically when they compared the effects of behavioral counseling in group and in individual settings. Using eleventh grade volunteers, a model-reinforcement format (which involved playing a tape recording of a model interview) and an individual reinforcement format (which involved rein forcement through a counselor only) were compared in educational and vocational counseling by measuring information-seeking behavior. They found the group setting was more effective for males, but they found that both male and female counselees felt more threatened by ^Lawrence E. Lafond, A Study of the Effect of Group Counseling as Applied to Underachieving Students (Unpublished Master's Project, University of California, 1962), pp. 19-23. 33 38 group counseling than by individual counseling. Apparently not only does the behavior of the counselor affect the dynamics of the group process, but there might be differential effects on sexes. To further complicate the picture Kemp found that a structured group counseling approach versus an unstructured group approach affected members differently. In working with ninety college students in a discussion group situation, he found that the students who had "open belief systems" furthered the activity of the group more than those who had "closed belief systems." The open-minded people had less difficulty in expressing their personal feelings and relating at a psyche process level while the closed-minded avoided the personal involvement which Kemp felt was necessary for beneficial results from group counseling.39 Chestnut, too, compared an unstructured group approach with a structured approach for eight sessions of work with male college underachievers. In the first method the counselor allowed the group to introduce the topics with no suggestions from him, while in the second 38john D. Krumboltz and Carl E. Thoresen, "The Effect of Behavorial Counseling in Group and Individual Settings on Information-Seeking Behavior," Journal of Counseling Psychology, XI (Winter, 1964), 324-33. 39c. Gratton Kemp, "Behavior in Group Guidance (Socio Process) and Group Counseling (Psyche Process)," Journal of Counseling Psychology, X (Winter, 1963), 376. 34 method the counselor structured the topics and guided group discussion. Chestnut compared grade point averages, study habits and achievement need, finding no significant differences between groups, control or treatments, although both treatment groups improved in grade point average while the controls did not.4® An extremely clear summary of the differences in counselor behavior was provided by Kemp as he analyzed the approach used in the unstructured or the structured situations. Kemp’s points are well worth quoting for they make the contrast very clear. In the structured approach (which Kemp termed "Socio”) the counselor: Is- Establishes the goal. 2. Supplies relevant information. 3. Stimulates thought related to the goal. 4. Listens to understand expressed ideas. 5. Encourages expression of problem-solving ideas. 6. Links together ideas associated with the goal. 7. Reflects and clarifies ideas when necessary. 8. Summarizes as required. 9. Endeavors to reach a consensus. In the unstructured approach (which Kemp termed "Psyche”) the counselor: 1. Leaves the situation unstructured. 2. Listens to understand the meaning to each individual of his expression. 3. Links together expressions of feeling for further consideration. 4®William J. Chestnut, "The Effects of Structured and Unstructured Group Counseling on Male College Students' Underachievement," Journal of Counseling Psychology, XII, No. 4 (1965), 388-94. 35 4. Reflects and clarifies feelings expressed, as necessary. 5. Avoids any attempt to reach a consensus. 6. Endeavors to further feeling-oriented responses rather than idea-oriented responses. 7. Proceeds at members' rate without encouragement or reward for verbalization. 8. Expects differences on both the ideational and feeling levels. 9. Accepts strong expressions of personal feeling as acceptable material and useful in the process.41 The apparent passivity of the counselor in the unstructured approach is misleading. Actually, the group counselor role is active and intense. Gordon described the process well when he remarked, "To listen intensively to all the contributions of members, to try earnestly to understand others from their frame or reference, and to test the accuracy of one's understanding by reflecting back the meaning of the speaker (to his satisfaction)— all this not only requires a great deal of energy but also results in an intense involvement of the leader in the process of communication going on in the g r o u p . "42 This intense listening requires much from the counselor for it involves his intellect, his knowledge of psychological processes and his ability to organize minimal cues in a dynamic, fluid situation which is moving at the rate of a high speed computer. 4lKemp, loc. cit. 42Qordon, op. cit., p. 193. 36 Content of Group Counseling That the dynamics of group counseling are incredibly intricate and only dimly understood has been demonstrated by the preceding review of the literature, but logic compels the thought that somehow a patterning of content into identifiable themes ought to be discernable which might provide at least some guidelines for group counselors. Brammer and Shostrom gave a clue to the possibility that themes do develop in the content of group counseling when they suggested that counselors give particular attention to the "life history" of topics— how they arose, how a particular group handled them and whether change A O occurred as the group worked on a topic. Talland and Clark, in searching for themes, found few systematic studies of topics of discussion, so they set about studying the relevancy of content as perceived by group members, who were both men and women. The group members listed the topics they had found helpful in therapy. No topic was seen as useless or hindering, whether it was disturbing to the group members or not, but childhood memories, shame and guilt, quarrels, sex, symptoms, anxieties and others in the group were topics reported as high in helpfulness; while people outside the ^3Lawrence M. Brammer and Everett L. Shostrom, Therapeutic Psychology (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1960), pp. 291-93. 37 group, money trouble and social position were seen as not helpful.^ Classification of Topics Contrasting highly with research on the classifica tion of group counseling topics, topics in individual counseling have been extensively researched and reported. For example, Callis classified discussion units in individual interviews into six categories: (1) interpre tation and discussion of test data, (2) interpersonal relations other than family, (3) family relations, (4) educational and vocational problems and planning, (5) self-references— discussion of client's attitudes, feeling and concepts about himself, and (6) study habits and skills.Unfortunately, it is doubtful if topics in group counseling can be so neatly classified, nor is it certain that the findings of individual counseling can be applied to group counseling, multiplied as it is in complexity. Bosdell and Teigland attempted to determine the types of problems adolescent underachievers discussed in different interview situations, comparing individual ^George A. Talland and David H. Clark, "Evaluation of Topics in Therapy Discussion Groups," Journal of Clinical Psychology, X, No. 2 (1954), 131-37. 45R0£>ert Callis, P. C. Polmantier and E. C. Roeber, "Five Years of Research on Counseling," Journal of Counseling Psychology, IV (Summer, 1957), 119-20. 38 counseling, group counseling and study-skills counseling in a group. They were interested in, among other things, whether the frequency with which problems were discussed differed among three secondary school groups. A pool of tapes was tapped as the resource material for eighteen interview hours of analysis in each treatment. Bosdell and Teigland used the classification scheme of: (1) school problems, (2) family relations, (3) relationship with others, (4) personal problems, (5) future problems and (6) activity problems. Using chi-square analyses, the authors reported significant differences for the various treatment conditions. In group counseling the under achieving adolescents spent the majority of their time discussing school problems. Future problems and activity problems were also discussed with some frequency, but problem areas of family, relationships with others, and personal problems were seldom mentioned. Students in the group counseling situation tended to resemble more closely students in study-skills groups than students in individual counseling, but all treatment groups tended to emphasize what was wrong with the school, or with parents, or with others, rather than consider their own responsibility for their difficulties. Lazy teachers, unfair teachers, 39 poorly-made tests, dull classes and lack of value in a subject were frequently topics of discussion Approaches to Content The difficulty of making the transition from focusing on others to talking about personal problems is a barrier in all counseling groups. Bonney and Foley presented a thoughtful discussion of this problem, sug gesting that it was the responsibility of the group counselor to aid group members in realizing that the discussion of personal problems was what differentiated this type of group from a social group. A frank recogni tion by the counselor of the anxiety and resistance which this transition created, and an equally frank discussion of the problem with the group was important to the success of group counseling. These writers felt that if topics were allowed to remain at a superficial level, it was doubtful if group counseling would be effective In another study Foley and Bonney analyzed group counseling tape material of counselors-in-training. Topics were classified as "self," "group," "significant 46 Betty J. Bosdell and John Tiegland, "Problems Discussed by Underachievers in Different Treatment Groups," School Counselor, XII (May, 1965), 222-26. 4^Warren c. Bonney and Walter J. Foley, "The Transition Stage in Group Counseling in Terms of Congruence Theory," Journal of Counseling Psychology, X, No. 2 (1963), 136. others," and "things and ideas." "Things and ideas" were superficial discussions of a defensive nature to avoid personal involvement. The "group" topic involved discussion of group goals. "Self" and "significant others," which the authors felt contained the most potential for gains in self-concept, were expressions of personal feelings, atti tudes and concerns about one self and others. The group members spent approximately fifty per cent of their verbalizations of the topic of "self" with the second largest percentage being on concerns of the group (29.3%). "Significant others" followed in frequency (18.9%) with "things and Ideas" being last (4.2%). Concerning the topic of "self" the group members tended to describe themselves positively at the beginning of the sessions, negatively toward the middle sessions and positively toward the end of the meetings.4® The counselors-in-training group just discussed left the situations completely unstructured, allowing the topics to be advanced by the group members themselves. An interesting contrast was provided by the approach reported by Rousseve in the counselor training program at Seattle University. Attempting to provide the counselor trainees with "live" experience in group work with high 4^Walter J. Foley and Warren C. Bonney, "A Developmental Model for Counseling Groups," Personnel and Guidance Journal, XLIV (February, 1966), 576-80. 41 school youth, the supervisor arranged to have four guidance majors meet with eight high school volunteers for an hour and a half "chat" sessions twice a week for four weeks. Although the supervisor deliberately had left the situation unstructured, this group, which contained four counselors- in-training, found it necessary during the first meeting to identify six themes which were to be the topics of discussions (1) conformity versus individuality, (2) communication with others, (3) relations with peers, parents and other adults, (4) drop-out problems, including general scholastic adjustment and occupational aspirations, (5) sex, and (6) building a pattern of values. As the group developed, however, a wide range of topics were discussed, far beyond the structure originally suggested.49 An even more structured situation was conceived by Robinett, a supervisor, and Waite, a principal. This team set up a voluntary group counseling program in a junior high school which called for weekly one hour meetings or twice a week half hour sessions with five to ten boys and girls in each counseling group. One requirement for membership was that all students who volunteered must be able to profit from participation in the program. (Since the evaluation was primarily subjective, it was reported 49Ronald J. Rousseve, "A Counselor Education Pilot Program in 'Guided' Group Interaction," Personnel and Guidance Journal, XLIV (September, 1965), 52-57. 42 that all members seemed to benefit.) Another naive requirement was that a planned topic be discussed at each meeting, and it was "suggested" that these junior high school students would be interested in: (1) unselfishness, (2) friendliness, (3) kindliness, (4) fairness, (5) coopera tion, (6) courage, (7) honesty, (8) confidence, (9) perse verance, (10) responsibility, (11) dignity, (12) reverence, (13) patriotism, (14) thoughtfulness, (15) patience, and (16) self=-worth. Whether or not the groups followed the administrative directive and remained on the topics was not cn reported by the authors. The counselors in McDaniel and Johnson's study on achievers and underachievers in a junior high school also suggested topics for their groups , but this was mainly in an effort to equate the experiences of the two groups whom they were comparing for differences in philosophy and attitudes. Counselors listened to the tapes of the preceding sessions and made suggestions for improving the next meeting or suggested questions of topics they felt needed more discussion or clarification, although the counselees were given complete freedom to discuss any topic which they might desire. Areas discussed in the twelve week, hourly sessions covered the qualities of being a good ^Donald Robinett and Warren K. Waite, "Voluntary Group Counseling in a Junior High School," Journal of Secondary Education, XXXIX (May, 1964), 226-29. 43 student, curriculum content, good teaching, home relation ships, boy-girl relationships, study habits, child growth and development, why kids "goof off,” the responsibilities of a good citizen, the nature of friendship, adolescent values versus adult values, why we like some people and not others, the nature of religion, discipline in the home, personal responsibility for acceptable conduct, and many others. Both achievers and underachievers felt the value of group counseling was in helping them realize that they were not the only ones experiencing problems with parents, schools, friends, and the meaning of life. All of the students reported less friction at home, greater ease of studying and most of them felt that their grades and citizenship marks were improving as a result of the sessions. The authors also believed that the group coun seling contributed to some improvement in academic 51 achievement and citizenship, but offered no data. Driver, an active writer in the field of "multiple counseling," also took the position that the group coun selor should suggest topics and steer discussions. Driver provided the prospective group counselor with a list of suggested springboards to discussion and added an appendix in which, among other things, she listed chronologically ^Harold McDaniel and Boyd A. Johnson, "Effect of Group Counseling on Achievers and Underachievers," Journal of Secondary Education, XXXVII (March, 1962), 137-39. 44 the topics discussed in fifteen multiple counseling projects. The meaning of security, the attractive person ality, defense mechanisms and racial discrimination were a few of the topics listed.^2 The discussions seemed to center primarily around the intellectual exploration of "ideas and things" found so sterile in Foley and Bonney's study,hut this may be an outcome of Driver's position that individual counseling must accompany group coun seling. 54 This could conceivably result in a "holding back" by group members until deep personal reactions could be explored in the safety of the individual interview. Topics in Counseling with Adolescents No study was located which compared the topics discussed by various age level groups, but Cohn, in working with underachieving junior high school boys found that this age level, at least, talked about very similar topics in the same order and in the same magnitude. All topics were not reported, nor was the amount of time spent on each indicated, but the information which was given was useful. First, the students talked about their teachers and the school problem in general, gradually focusing on specific ^Driver, op. cit., p. 178. 53Foley and Bonney, Personnel and Guidance Journal, op. cit., p. 578. ^Driver, pp. cit., p. 19. 45 teachers and specific areas of resentment toward school. Topics relating to the students' educational futures, emphasizing lack of abilities or inadequacies in this area, interspersed discussions about school and authority figures. As the group gained confidence in the counselor and in the other members, the talk veered to parents and the students’ inabilities to communicate their feelings to others. Problems with siblings and peers associated closely with parent problems. In general, the students felt that they had lost the battle for their parent's approval. Midway through the sessions, at about session thirteen, the group attempted to find new or different approaches to solving their problems, rather than continuing to vent f e e l i n g s . ^5 Collins also worked with junior high school age students, but he restricted his group counseling to ninth grade students. He compared group counseling with indi vidual counseling in three types of situations: traditional where the students were urged to improve; non-directive, where the situation was unstructured; and diagnostic, where test data were interpreted. Each group met six times every other week over the period of a semester. Collins reported that in the non-directive groups the topics generally ^ B e n j a m i n Cohn, "Effects of Group Counseling on School Adjustment of Underachieving Junior High School Boys who Demonstrating Acting Out Behavior," Cooperative Research Project No. D040, Board of Cooperative Educational Services (Bedford Hills, New York: [n.d.]). 46 included a venting of dislike for school, gripes about too much homework, a discussion of not doing homework, teachers not liking the student, student's dislike for teachers, smoking, closed campus, boring classes, strict teachers, adults not understanding teen-agers, and a desire for adults to leave the adolescents alone. In the exhoratory technique which Collins termed "traditional" the students discussed self-improvement, self-esteem, meeting graduation requirements, meeting college entrance requirements and preparing for entry into occupations. In the diagnostic group a study habits inventory was given and discussed and study methods were taught. The varying verbal content in the different groups did not seem to affect the outcomes on criteria, for none of the students,- counseled by any method, showed an improvement over their controls on grade point average, nor was there a change in behavior reflected in teachers' adjective check lists.56 When working with adult clients in group psycho therapy Winder also identified an orderly emergence of themes, usually one theme per session. He found that hostility toward authority figures, hostility toward peers and expression of a need for help were most frequently the 56John e . Collins, A Comparative Guidance Study; Group Counseling Methods with Selected Underachieving Grade Students (Unpublished Ed.DD. dissertation, University of Southern California, 1964), pp. 59-144. core of the content of the sessions.57 it does not neces sarily follow that findings gleaned when working with adults in therapy are applicable to work done with ado lescents in the school setting, although when Akerman worked with mixed groups of adolescents he found that again and again Winder's theme of conflict with parental authority occurred.^ Akerman also found that there was a shifting image of self regard and much discussion of peer relationships. This group work was termed therapy, C Q but it was done in a school setting. ^ Schutz, who also worked in a school setting, factor analyzed the topical content of work with adolescent girls and found three large clusters of themes: (1) a general feeling of personal anxiety and insecurity, (2) peer relations, and (3) home and family life. The basic data were obtained from the problems which the girls checked as f t 0 important on a youth problem inventory. u A relevant article, but not a study, was provided ^Calvin e . Winder, "A Thematic Analysis of Out patient Psychotherapy Group,1 1 International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, VIII (July, 1958), 293-94. 58Ibid., p . 294. 59Nathan Akerman, "Group Psychotherapy with a Mixed Group of Adolescents," International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, V (July, 1955), 250. ^Richard W. Schutz, "Problems of Adolescent Girls, Journal of Educational Psychology. XXXXIX (February, 1958) 2. 48 by Bates who analyzed themes in group counseling with adolescents, using tape recordings of high school groups. The categories were rather humorously titled: "My vices," "Outwitting the Adults," "Problem parents," "My brother the brat," "My public image," "Nobody loves Me," and "Let's change the rules." Although transcriptions were provided under the various topics, no information was given concerning the amount of time separate groups spent on each theme, nor was there any information about the order, C . * j if any, in which these themes developed. It is possible, of course, that the idiosyncrasity of each counseling group is such that there is no real commonality which can be traced in the topical content which would be helpful to others. On the other hand, there is just enough evidence in a review of relevant studies that "further research" could uncover a pattern in what Durkin called the "crazy q u i l t " ® ^ of group counseling. Composition of Group Membership The composition of group membership is another variable which introduces complexity into group counseling. ^Marilyn Bates, "Themes in Group Counseling with Adolescents," Personnel and Guidance Journal, XLIV (February, 1966), 575. 62fielen E. Durkin, Group Therapy for Mothers of Disturbed Children (Springfield: Charles C. Thomas, 1954), 19. 49 Here again, research raised many questions and provided few answers. Selection of Group Members Group work has been done with all age groups in many forms, but Ohlsen found group counseling was useful with adults, upper-grade elementary school pupils and, to some extent, primary school children. However, he found it particularly appropriate for the adolescent with his strong desire to be like his peers. Ohlsen conjectured that the adolescent, who is struggling for independence, may find it easier to accept help from other adolescents than from an adult. The reassurance which the young person gets from finding that others in his peer group have problems similar to his, and the security which the adolescent obtains from discovering that his peers understand and accept him parallels the value he obtains from a better understanding and acceptance of others in his age group. Ohlsen did say that very aggressive, extremely shy and seriously disturbed persons are poor risks for group counseling, and recommended that close personal friends not be assigned to the same group.^ ^Ohlsen, Journal of the National Association of Men Deans and Counselors, op. cit., 106. 50 The chronic monopolist. Warters recommended that the chronic monopolist be excluded from group counseling, for this type of counselee has a neurotic need to be the center of attention and becomes anxious as he becomes aware of the annoyance he causes others, yet finds himself unable to stop talking. Thus, "there is a circular pattern £>A of compulsive speaking and mounting guilt and anxiety."0^ The non-conformist. There is some danger in including the wildly non-conforming counselee in a coun seling group, for here he might have an opportunity to capitalize on non-conformity in a negative way. Leary pointed out that the person who avoids conventional adjustment is rewarded by a rebellious freedom, a retalia tory pleasure in rejecting the conventional and a delight in challenging the taboos, commitments and expectations which are generally connected with a durable affiliative relationship. Whereas in the individual counseling process the non-conformist gains none of these satisfactions, in the group situation his feeling of being different and unique may be most rewarding to him and he will continue 6 c his "rebellious adjustment.' ^Warters, p p . cit., p. 1 7 7 . ®^Timothy Leary, Interpersonal Diagnosis of Personality {New York: Ronald Press Company, 1 9 5 7 ), p. 2 7 0 . 51 The alienated child. Yet Frey pled for the incorporation of the "alienated" child into group coun seling as a means of providing him with at least one aspect of his school experience which was gratifying. Frey emphasized that a person’s responsible participation in society as an adult depended to a large extent on having achieved as a child some kind of stable relation- 6 6 ship with the school. The slow learner. Slow learners, too, might be appropriately included in a counseling group. Ladato, Sokoloff and Schwartz found the process successful in modifying the negative attitudes among slow learners of elementary and junior high school age. Criteria for selection included an intelligence quotient above 75, evidence of poor school adjustment and achievement below grade level. Criteria for improvement were teacher ratings, self-concept increases measured by figure drawing projectives and improved attendance. The writers reported f\7 significantly positive results measured by all criteria. ' ^Louise A. Frey and R. Kolodny, "Group Treatment for the Alienated Child in the School," International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, XVI (July, 1965), 321. ^Francis J- Ladato, M. A. Sokoloff and L. J. Schwartz, "Group Counseling as a Method of Modifying Attitudes in Slow Learners," School Counselor, XII (October, 1964), 29. 52 Volunteers. Whether or not to insist on volunteers as a criteria for group membership was another area of controversy. Presumably volunteers would possess motiva tion to change and thus would be likely candidates. Ofman in researching this area used the motivation to improve as a selection criteria, designing an elaborate study which used five groups and four control groups, basing his group counseling format around a study habits seminar. He concluded that group counseling did improve the grade point averages of college students who were motivated to improve and thus became involved in the group counseling process, ° Cleland and Carnes' highly involved group members also changed in a positive direction while group members with a low degree of involvement became more rigid in their defenses. This study used a population of student nurses, contrasting a "feelings" approach with an "ideas" approach, neither of which approaches was significantly different in obtaining results.^ Vocational groups. Forming groups on the basis of vocational planning, while common in guidance groups, is 6®William Ofman, "Evaluation of a Group Counseling Procedure," Journal of Counseling Psychology, XI (Spring, 1964), 153. 69R. S. Cleland, and G. D. Carnes, "Emotional versus Ideational Emphasis During Group Counseling with Student Nurses," Journal of Counseling Psychology, XII (Summer, 1965), 285. 53 rare in counseling groups, but this was Catron's criteria for selection. He worked with high school volunteers for vocational counseling, using ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth graders matched on sex, grade and academic poten tial scores. He attempted to replicate an earlier study of John Williams which reported positive gains from brief 7( educational-vocational counseling on an individual basis. Catron found, five weeks and fourteen sessions later, that his experimental groups had significant changes in self adjustment scores. Catron's most interesting comments involved an hypothesizing that a cycle of interaction may take place in group counseling which affected one's perception of others in different ways at different points of counseling. He felt it was possible that, after an early identification with the group members and their problems, this identification diminished and a student 71 could see himself more clearly in relation to others. Hewer also attempted to measure the effectiveness of group counseling in the area of vocational guidance. She worked with college students who were enrolled in a ^John E. Williams, "Changes in Self and Others Perceptions Following Brief Educational-Vocational Counseling," Journal of Counseling Psychology, IX, No. 1 (1962), 18-30. 71 ' •'■David W. Catron, "Educational-Vocational Group Counseling: The Effects on Perception of Self and Others," Journal of Counseling Psychology, XIII (Summer, 1966), 202-07. 54 class in vocations. Some members of the class received individual counseling while others participated in group counseling. The groups met for one quarter of the academic year and the criteria for evaluation was satisfaction of vocational choice, certainty of vocational choice and realism of vocational choice. There were no significant differences in the area of vocational choice between the individually-counseled students and the group counseled 7? students. Bilovsky and others used realism of vocational choice as rated by judges to measure the effectiveness of their group counseling with senior high school boys. A parallel group was given individual counseling. Again, no difference was found in results obtained by using either method. Either group counseling or individual counseling was found to be equally effective in assisting senior boys 73 to make realistic vocational choices. Group attendance. Attendance pattern is another variable which seems relevant to the composition of group membership. Spielberger, Weitz and Denny found that "high attenders" at their weekly sessions showed significantly "^Vivian H. Hewer, "Group Counseling, Individual Counseling and a College Class in Vocations," Personnel and Guidance Journal, XXXVII (May, 1959), 661-65. ^David Bilovsky, et. al., "Individual and Group Counseling," Personnel and Guidance Journal, XXXI (March, 1953), 363-65. 55 higher grade point averages than did "low attenders" at the end of the experimental period. These workers felt that group counseling arranged on the basis of volunteers was not satisfactory for underachievers, as students who subse quently became underachievers did not volunteer.^ Underachievers as Group Members Underachievement was frequently attacked through group counseling, usually with disappointing results. Clements, a recent researcher, rigorously attacked the problem of the underachiever in the public school setting using elementary, junior high and high school boys with disappointing results. He compared the results of indi vidual counseling with the results of group counseling through the use of the Butler Q-Sort, holding counselor time constant. Each counseling group met weekly sixteen times in an unstructured, permissive atmosphere. The individually counseled students received three hours of counseling in one hour sessions. The findings were not significant, but Clements indicated that this might be because of student resistance to the Q-Sort measure and because one semester did not allow sufficient time in which self-concept changes could be reflected. He did feel that ^Charles D. Spielberger, H. Weitz and J. P. Denny, "Group Counseling and the Academic Performance of Anxious College Freshman," Journal of Counseling Psychology, IX (Fall, 1962), 195-204. 56 the group counseling approach had great possibilities in the public school setting, but recommended that the process be examined further with other types of students and with 7 S other types of problems. Thirty-two eleventh grade underachievers were studied by Baymur and Patterson in comparing individual counseling, group counseling, one-session motivational counseling within a group, and no counseling. These researchers compiled a Q-Sort of fifty statements and developed a criterion sort for well-adjested adolescents as a reference measure to obtain an adjustment score. They also used the Brown-Holtzman Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes7^ and a questionnaire to measure the area of study habits and attitudes. Grade point averages were used as an indication of academic achievement. Using a t-test for matched samples, Baymur and Patterson found that the group counseled students showed less improvement than the control group on the adjustment score, although the individually counseled group showed a significant improve ment. On study habits and attitudes there were no 7^Thomas H. Clements, "A Study to Compare the Effectiveness of Individual and Group Counseling Approaches with Able Underachievers when Counselor Time is Held Constant" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Southern California, 1963), pp. 222-43. 76W. F. Brown and W. H. Holtzman, Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes (New York: Psychological Corporation, 1956). 57 significant differences among the groups, but when the individually counseled and group counseled students were combined, the t-test was significant at the .05 level, with most of the gain made by the group counseled students. Baymur and Patterson felt that the period and extent of the counseling', particularly the group counseling, was too limited to expect immediate and extensive results. Also they felt that the fact that the students in the counseling groups had not volunteered for or requested counseling or assistance implied little or no motivation for change, and thus the effectiveness of group counseling was minimized. They did feel that selecting students on the basis of underachievement leads to the identification of students having personal-social-emotional problems.^ The two studies just reviewed are representative of the studies attempting to solve the problems of the underachiever. While the results are disappointing, they are not discouraging for the door is left open for "further study" which might demonstrate positive results. Certainly there was no indication that any of the counselees were harmed by their experiences. Both studies reported some gains and the students themselves felt positive about the experience, stating that they were glad to find that ^Fertha Baymur and C. H. Patterson, "Three Methods of Assisting Underachieving High School Students," Journal of Counseling Psychology, VII (Summer, 1960), 83-89. 58 others had similar problems and happy to have an oppor tunity to learn to express feelings toward themselves and others. The Acting-Out Student in Group Counseling Perhaps breaking the underachievement syndrome is an unrealistic goal to set for group counseling, and as Tiedeman stated, "A science of counseling will eventually permit the counselor to designate what he cannot do as 79 well as to indicate what he can do." J Several workers in group counseling have indicated that helping the acting-out student to adjust to the demands of society was something they could do through the process. Caplan, in working with junior high school boys, gained positive results with acting-out students through group counseling. He selected twelve to fifteen year old students who had a history of long term misbehavior and divided them into two groups, matching on socioeconomic level, intelligence quotient, age and school record. He used the regular staff to meet weekly with the students for ten, fifty minute interviews. Individual counseling was available to both experimentals and controls. The 7ft Clements, op. cit., pp. 216-17. ^David Tiedeman, "Comment on Three Methods of Assisting Underachieving High School Students," Journal of Counseling Psychology, VII (Summer, 1960), 18. 59 Q-technique was used to measure change in self-ideal self correlations. An analysis also was made of academic achievement measured by teacher's grades and of changes in citizenship grades. Caplan reported that the coun selors tried to use group approval or disapproval as a major tool, while the counselors themselves served as non evaluating sounding boards which reflected the counselee's feelings. Apparently the efforts of the counselors were successful, for significant changes were found within each experimental sub-group as well as within the total experimental group in terms of self-concept, school p r j achievement and school behavxor.ou Webb and Eikenbery also used a group counseling approach to the acting-out preadolescent. In this study the students who were disturbing their regular classrooms were assigned to a Special Guidance Program conducted by a guidance counselor. While assigned to this counseling room, students participated in both individual and group counseling activities. It was hypothesized that the students would demonstrate more acceptance of authority when they were returned to their regular classes after the special counseling experiences. The Webb-Harris Word ®®Stanley W. Caplan, "The Effect of Group Counseling on Junior High School Boys‘ Concepts of Them selves in School," Journal of Counseling Psychology, IV (Summer, 1957), 124-25. 60 81 Meaning Test was used to measure changes of attitudes as well as congruence of a student's ideal and actual self concepts before and after counseling. Although no control group was used in the program, the results of the study indicated that those students who were assigned to the special guidance room and later returned to their regular classes were better able to accept school rules and showed more congruence in their identification with their parents and school authorities than before the experience. The self-ideal self concept changes were not significant. The authors indicated that they felt that one reason for significant changes which were obtained was the intensive nature of the group counseling, i.e. meetings held five p o days a week. Intensive Group Counseling Group counseling on an intensive basis also was reported by Waller who worked with young people at the Youth Opportunities Board in Los Angeles. Waller, who termed his approach "accelerated interaction group counseling" telescoped the traditional group counseling 8-*-Allan P. Webb and J. T. Harris, "The Webb-Harris Test: A Semantic Differential Approach to Psychodiagnosis with Adolescents," Unpublished monograph, 1961. S^Allan p. Webb and J. Eikenbery, "A Group Counseling Approach to the Acting-Out Preadolescent," Psychology in the Schools. XII (October, 1964), 396-400. 61 procedure of many short weekly sessions into two all day sessions of continuous intensive group interaction and claimed that, "Some of the gains made in two days duplicate those reached by months of hourly counseling sessions; other gains may even be impossible using the usual tech- 83 niques. Waller, unfortunately, has made no controlled study of the effectiveness of accelerated interaction group counseling and assessment must be made on the basis of subjective judgment--always an unsatisfactory procedure. Social work teams are working with a different type of intensive group work, termed "multiple impact therapy." In this situation a team of social workers counsel with an entire family in individual sessions and in group sessions where all members of the family are present. The time plan varies from long two-hour intake interviews to two- day continuous conferences. The main approach of the multiple impact therapy is through a team format, utilizing different therapists for different purposes. No evaluation in the way of objective data was reported, although the writers of the book presented successful case study reports.84 88Ronald C. Waller, "Accelerated Interaction: An Innovation in Group Counseling Technique," (Unpublished mimeographed material, May, 1967), pp. 1-7. 84Ritchie R. MacGregor, et. al.. Multiple Impact Therapy with Families (New York: McGraw Hill, 1964), pp. 58-76. 62 The only other source of information relative to accelerated interaction group counseling was from the "T-groups" organized through industry. These are behav ioral science laboratories designed to aid the partici pants in becoming more sensitive to human interactions. These "cultural islands" are usually organized on a two- week residential basis and members meet in T-sessions for about six hours out of the day, although not continuously. The groups are unstructured and seem similar in dynamics to group counseling. Because these training laboratories are so new, little has been published in the way of objective evaluation, although Schein and Bennis did 8 5 present an excellent subjective critique. Predicting Successful Membership The subjectivity involved in the selection of suitable members for group counseling would be lessened if a criteria could be designed which would predict the probability of any given member having a successful experience. The use of projective techniques for this purpose does not seem promising for when Ohlsen and Johnson tried to measure the growth of members of a group counseling 8 5 Edgar H. Schein and Warren G. Bennis, Personal and Organizational Change Through Group Methods (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1965), pp. 1-27. 63 group by blind analysis of picture story protocols the results were discouraging, since they could have occurred by chance.88 Some agreement can be found on the personality traits which might be changed through counseling or therapy, for experienced workers were in accord, according to Mensh and Watson, that immaturity, discontent, passi vity, insecurity, guilt feelings, indecision, frustrations, hostilities and emotion inhibitions should be the target for improvement.87 Unfortunately, to date no instrument has been developed which would predict which members would be most amenable to change in these areas. Ohlsen, working on this problem, tried to develop a satisfactory instrument to predict which members would benefit from group counseling. He termed his efforts "unsuccessful," 88 but felt that such a tool could be developed in time. Negative Effects The need for such an instrument is quite imperative for, although in the studies reviewed to this point there 88Merle Ohlsen and H. Johnson, "Group Counseling Evaluated by Blind Analysis of Projective Test Responses — A Brief," Journal of Counseling Psychology, IX (Winter, 1962), 359. 87Ivan Mensh and R. I. Watson, "Psychyiatric Opinions of Personality Factors in Psychotherapy," Journal of Clinical Psychology, VI (July, 1950), 240-41. 880hlsen, Appraisal of Group Counseling, op. cit., p. 11. has been little mention of any negative effects which resulted from group counseling, such was not always the case. For example, Winkler counseled with fourth grade students in a group arrangement, counseled other fourth grade students individually, and still others through reading instruction. He added the unique refinement of an "entertained" group to control for the Hawthorne effect. On his criterion for improvement there was no change, but teachers reported an increase in negative behavior in the 89 classroom on the parts of the group counseled students. Winborn and Schmidt, in studying the effectiveness of short term group counseling with college freshmen, found that the group counseled students, who had no significant difference in grade point average with the control group before counseling, had significantly lower 90 grade point average after counseling. It is possible that the many studies on group counseling with "inconclusive" results mask a host of negative effects obscured by Hathaway's "hello-goodbye" C. Winkler, et. al., "The Effects of Selected Counseling and Remedial Techniques on Underachieving Elementary School Students,” Journal of Counseling Psychology, XII, No. 4 (1965), 384-87. 9C*Bob Winborn and L. G. Schmidt, "The Effectiveness of Short Term Group Counseling upon the Academic Achievement in the Potentially Superior but Under achieving College Freshman," Journal of Educational Research, LV (December-January, 1962), 169-73. 65 effect.91 For example, Chestnut's group-counseled males in an unstructured approach reported themselves "satisfied" with the experience, but they were not willing to continue in a counseling group, while members of a structured group where the counselor introduced and guided the discussion 92 wished to continue in their groups. In this case, perhaps actions spoke louder than words. In an effort to avoid negative effects the group counselor always walks a tight rope between exerting too much influence and allowing the group to become a laissez faire situation, which can result in what Bach called an "insane" group atmosphere. The latter suggested that, after an initial period of "leadership by default" while the group establishes autonomy, it is the responsibility of the group leader to assume his role as an expert in inter personal relations, who can assist the group in their effort to communicate. The clue for recognizing when this moment has arrived is when group members begin speaking to each other rather than tending to address their remarks to 9 ^ the group leader. 9ls. R. Hathaway, "Some Considerations Relative to Non-directive Counseling as Therapy," Journal of Clinical Psychology, IV (July, 1948), 226-31. 92william J. Chestnut, "The Effect of Structured and Unstructured Group Counseling on Male College Students' Underachievement," Journal of Clinical Psychology, XII, No. 4 (1965), 388-94. 93eeorge Bach, Intensive Group Psychotherapy (New York: Ronald Press Co., 1954), pp. 36-49. 66 Strickler, who indirectly obtained negative results, studied group counseling as an adjunct to remedial reading, having one condition wherein students in a reading clinic met for two hours of direct instruction in reading and another condition wherein students met for one hour of direct instruction and one hour of group counseling. It was found that the elementary school students benefited more from the two hours of direct instruction, than from group counseling, while results were inconclusive for 94 secondary school students. The preceding studies emphasize the central thesis of this dissertation. If valuable time is taken from the school day for group counseling, then a responsibility rests on the shoulders of the group counselor to be certain that eventually, at least, students do profit from the experience in ways that are consistent with the goals of education. Theoretical Foundations of Group Counseling The amphorous qualities of the research on group counseling somehow leaves the reader with a feeling of ^Edwin Strickler, "Educational Group Counseling Within a Remedial Reading Program," (unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Southern California, 1964), pp. 123-55. 67 having drifted through a hazy fog. Yet there is the solid base of a distinct theoretical foundation undergirding group counseling— an epistomology with a respectable body of literature. Admittedly, this literature is a bit misty too, but it is there and generally is referenced under "self-concept." The direct line between self-theory and group counseling in education can best be expressed, per haps, by a quotation from self-theorist Moustakas. We cannot teach another person directly and we cannot facilitate real learning in the sense of making it easier. We can make learning for another person possible by providing information, the setting, atmosphere, materials, resources, and by being there. The learning process itself is a unique individualis tic experience. In the school setting, group counseling is one of the few educational experiences deliberately designed to provide for the learner, in the presence of his peers, the prerequisites of learning about himself in a completely non-evaluating, non-threatening atmosphere, created by the "being there" of the counselor. The basic assumption is that a change in self perception must precede a change of behavior, i.e., learning, on the part of the learner. Thus the "whys" of group counseling must give (albeit succintly) some consideration to the philosophical and theoretical positions of self-theory. QC JClark E. Moustakas, "True Experience and the Self," The Self; Explorations in Personal Growth, ed. Clark E. Moustakas (New York: Harper & Bros., 1956), p. 11. The Self-Concept Self theorists hold that what a person thinks and how he behaves are largely determined by the concepts he holds about himself and his abilities. The self is the most stable portion of an individual's phenomenological field and is the point of reference for all that he does. The phenomenal or perceived self includes everything an individual experiences as "self" in any given instant and the most crucial task of existence is the maintenance of an adequate phenomenal self. Thus man's basic need is a need for adequacy and the great driving force in each person is the need to be adequate to cope with life.^ Each individual has many concepts of self and the term "self-concept" is a shorthand approach to the generalized self. The self-concept is rather consistent within the individual's phenomenological field and strongly resists change. Once established, the perceived self has a high degree of stability, for our core of reality— our very anchor to reality— is our self-concept. Once established, the self is the framework from which all experiences are interpreted. According to Combs and Snygg the major development of the phenomenal self begins with birth, but, until language is developed, the process of ^Arthur w. Combs and Donald Snygg, Individual Behavior: A Perceptual Approach to Behavior (Revised Edition; New York: Harper & Brothers, 1956), pp. 44-46. 69 self differentiation proceeds slowly. Through vicarious experiences made possible by language and through inter actions with people, a child gradually develops his idea of self. Thus no experience in the development of a child's concept of self is as important as his earliest experiences in his family, for here he begins his dif ferentiation of self as adequate or inadequate. The family provides experiences of acceptance, identification and early expectancies which form an individual's level 97 of aspiration in later life. Although changes of self-concept may change rapidly in the very young child, the older child and the adolescent changes the important or fundamental concepts of self very slowly and very gradually. Engel found that the self- concept of adolescents over a two year period was remark- 98 ably stable. Shifts may occur so imperceptibly that they are unnoticed by the individual himself, who assumes his attitudes are what they have always b e e n . ^ 9 Lecky, who introduced the self-consistency model of personality in 1945, first pointed out how resistant to change the self-concept was. He wrote: 97Ibid., pp. 126-40. 9^Mary Engel, "The Stability of the Self-Concept in Adolescents," Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, LVIII (March, 1959), 211-15. 9^Combs, op. cit., pp. 162-63. 70 An idea formed as a result of a new experience to be immediately assimilated must seem to the individual to be consistent with the total organization of ideas, particularly ideas of self. Inconsistent ideas may be rejected, ignored, considered briefly, or may force reorganization or may force further disorganization. Learning must be understood not as a process of forming separate habits, but only in terms of the develop ment of the entire personality. When one value has been accepted, it opposes the acceptance of other v a l u e s . - ' - O l Lecky, a school counselor, pointed out that the aim of education was to bring about a re-examination of values which block the adjustment of a pupil. Academic diffi culties and social maladjustments are both conceived of as due to resistance arising from the student's conception of himself. If a student's self-concept can be changed, his attitude toward learning should change. The problem lies in making the student aware of his own inconsistencies, since each person's behavior is logical from his own point of view.^1 "^ The "naturalness" with which group counseling relates to self-theory is immediately apparent. The group counseling group with its warmth and safety from censure offers the counselee a parallel to the early family 100preScott Lecky, Self-Consistency: A Theory of Personality (New York: Island Press Corporation, Inc., 1945), p. 221. 101Ibid., p. 177. I02lbid., pp. 178-84. 71 constellation where once again he can differentiate his self, experience acceptance and bring up to awareness his self-expectancies, re-evaluating them in the process. Also, as Lecky pointed out, "the universal conception of oneself as a person who is useful to others, willing to hold up one's own end, plus capable of making a contribu- 1QO tion to a group to which he belongs" is a powerful force at work in a counseling group. Measuring the self concept. Self-concept theory is not a theory which lends itself readily to measurement, and thus research. Actually, since by definition, each individual's phenomenal world is idiosyncratic, it somehow seems at once a violation and contradiction in terms to attempt measurement. And, it is almost as if some sort of poetic justice were operating, because attempts at measurement have been most frustrating. Patterson, in his recent essay on phenomenalogical psychology, pointed out that the phenomenal field, being an inference, and thus a hypothetical construct, was not open to direct observation, but suggested that inferences concerning the phenomenalogical fields of individuals could be developed through an observation of their be havior. He suggested that this, being an objective method, was limited however and reminded his readers that 103ibid., p. 184. 72 inferences could be dangerous for "sufficient observation may not be possible, the observor may project himself into the situation, and his inferences may be interpretations which force behavior to fit a preconceived theory or system of behavior analysis. A second way to infer a phenomenal field, Patterson continued, was by asking an individual for a report. The limitations here are that the subject may not wish to communicate certain aspects of his experience, and/or he may not be able to report accurately, that conscious concentration on a field changes that field, and that some aspects of the field may not be capable of being expressed through verbalizations. A third means of studying the field is through tests and inventories, but, as Patterson pointed out, tests and interpretation have been studied in terms of external behavior, or, in the case of projective tech niques, through the external evidence of internal experience. This technique might be useful if we could convert the responses into information relevant to an individual's perceptual field. Patterson indicated that he believed that the most useful approach was the use of the free, unstructured ■*-°^Cecil H. Patterson, "Phenomenological Psy chology, 1 1 Personnel and Guidance Journal, XLIII (June, 1965), 1001. 73 interview, for this minimized the disadvantage of the self- report by less consciously directing attention to the field and it was less likely to impose the investigator's 105 structure on the subject's field. Crowne and Stephens took a different approach in critiquing the methodology of measuring self-acceptance as derived from the self-concept construct, operationally defining self-acceptance as the degree of self-satisfaction evidenced in self-evaluation. These writers decried the assumption that tests developed by different procedures and based on different construct systems were equivalent, without an empirical demonstration of their equivalence being given. A second problem stemmed from the failure of research studies to give adequate definitions of the self- concept construct, thus limiting generalizability. Social desirability, the third issue, concerned the extent to which self-evaluative measures are influenced by "social desirability." The authors felt it likely that any self-report device would be affected by the social desirability of items or available responses. The fourth issue raised in this critique was the question of the generality of self-acceptance, i.e., the consistency of an individual's self-acceptance from one 1Q5Ibid., p. 1002. 74 situation to another. Crowne and Stephens felt that the failures of self-acceptance research could be traced, at least in large part, to the neglect of psychometric and 106 methodological principles which they outlined. A landmark in the field, Wylie's book on The Self- Concept is a comprehensive review of pertinent research literature to 1961. She found that empirical research on constructs concerning the self could not be classified according to theoretically relevant categories because the theories are vague, incomplete, and overlapping; and because no one theory has received extensive, empirical exploration. Although there were some positive trends, Wylie found the total accumulation of findings disap pointing and suggested abandoning research on such constructs as self-actualization, self-differentiation, and self-consistency, working instead with constructs such as self-acceptance or self-esteem, when these attributes could be operationally specified. While she felt that theories which stress the self were concerned with important, unanswered questions concerning behavior, the evidence supporting the theories was limited, especially ■'•^Douglas P. Crowne and Mark W. Stephens, "Self acceptance and Self-evaluative Behavior: A Critique of Methodology," Psychological Bulletin, LVIII (March, 1961), 119. 107 Ruth Wylie, The Self Concept (Lincoln; University of Nebraska Press, 1961), p. 317. 75 when considered in proportion to the amount of effort expended. The self concept and the goals of counseling. One of the goals of group counseling is a change of behavior toward a more realistic acceptance by the rebelling student of the necessity for rules in a complex society. Unfortunately, as the review of the literature on the self-concept has demonstrated, a simple pointing out of errors in behavior seldom effects a change of behavior. If this were so, there would be little need for counseling, either individual or group. Apparently a change of behavior involves complicated cognitive and conative processes. For example, Sheerer's study supported the finding that a person's attitude toward others was related to a significant degree to the attitudes he held toward himself.Thus if students are to change their behavior, perhaps they must first change their attitudes toward self, i.e., there must be a change of self-concept. In this vein, Butcher, Newton and Melette worked with separate groups of mothers, fathers and bright underachieving boys and concluded that the underachievement 1Q8Ibid.. pp. 321-34. - * - 09Elizabeth Scheerer, "An Analysis of the Relationship Between Acceptance of and Respect for Self and Acceptance of and Respect for Others in Ten Counseling Cases, " Journal of Consulting Psychology, XIII (June, 1949), 174. 76 problem stemmed from the poor self-concepts of the boys, based on inconsistent family relationships."^® Perhaps Allport's analysis of motivation applies here. He believed that the individuation process which begins in the family setting may have been arrested in under achievers. If the child did not find the acceptance and security he needed at the time he needed it, the founda tion for later maturity may not have been laid, and the socializing process may have resulted in the layering in of feelings of aggression and hatred; reactive protests, which are aroused only when affiliative tendencies are thwarted. Involved in the change in perceptions of self is the widening of psychological horizons to include a real concern for others. Slavson felt that one of the most important values of group work was the "modification or elimination of egocentricity and psychological insu- 119 larity. " Through group interaction the student H®T. Butcher, W. B. Newton and R. R. Melette, "Scholastic Suicide: An Emerging Problem Area for Community Mental Health," American Journal of Ortho psychiatry, XXXV (March, 1965), 346-47. ^--^Gordon W. Allport, "The Trend in Motivational Theory," The Self: Explorations in Personal Growth, Ed. Clark E. Moustakas (New York: Harper & Bros., 1956), pp. 25-43. ^■*-^S. R. Slavson, An Introduction to Group Therapy (New York: International Universities Press, Inc., 1943), p. 1. 77 increased his ability to feel with other people, and to establish positive identifications with them. The movement from self-centeredness to responsiveness toward people outside oneself represents a great achievement in psycho- 113 logical and social evolution. A concern for others and an increased identification with them is a result that should accrue from group work. Even the seemingly passive, "adjusted" adolescent may need help in this area. Harrington and Stenson studied appar ently friendly, agreeable adolescent boys in group coun seling and discovered a high degree of latent hostility toward others. They felt that the academic difficulties of these bright underachievers were symptomatic of under- 114 lying individual and family pathology. Bonner wrote that learning to relate one's self positively to others involves a change in the cognitive structure of the individual and that one of the products of group counseling was the acquiring of new attitudes toward other people.Slavson supported the idea that ^•^Ibid., p. 2. I-*-^Robert c. Harrington and S. Robert Stenson, "Poor Academic Performance in Bright Adolescent Boys: A Study in Group Psychotherapy," American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, XXXV (March, 1965), 345-46. 115 Hubert Bonner, Group Dynamics: Principles and Applications (New York: Ronald Press Co., 1959), p. 468. 78 learning about others is a part of the re-educative process of group work. He observed that the antisocial adolescent with whom he worked demonstrated a deficiency in productive thought and verbal communication. Through group inter action the members could examine the adequacy of their feelings, their ideas and their actions— all of which aided them to develop ego strength. This reality testing allowed members to anticipate his actions and thus he learned to handle the "outside" world more adequately, having learned 116 "inside" what was expected of him in the normal milieu. It would seem possible that if behavior is to be changed, first a student's self-concept, his values and his attitudes towards others must be changed; and it also would seem possible that to do this he must somehow return symbolically to the setting where the original learnings took place— the family group. In the school setting, the small counseling group under the guidance of a competent counselor may provide this opportunity. Another goal of group counseling was to increase self-evaluation and self-valuation. The literature on measures of self-concept has generally assumed that high discrepancy scores on the self as perceived and the ideal 1 1 S. R. Slavson, The Fields of Group Psycho therapy (New York: International Universities Press, Inc., 1956), pp. 208-10. 79 self tended to be associated with poor adjustment scores.That is, if too high a degree of difference existed between the adolescent’s view of himself as he was and his view of what he would like to be, he was considered maladjusted. If he were to develop his full potential, this great discrepancy should be lessened. Thus his self- evaluation and his self-valuation would be more in harmony. However, there is some evidence that the ideal self may be a stereotype, possessing a high degree of 118 "socially desirable" qualities. For example, on an ideal self measure the neurotic's ideal self was not significantly different from the normal's ideal self, but the neurotic group gave significantly poorer real self ]iq appraisals than did the normals. Again, Friedman found the ideal self of neurotics, schizophrenics, and normals not significantly different, but only the normal 19 0 group reflected positive attitudes toward self. C. M. Smith, "Six Measures of Self Concept Discrepancies and Instability: Their Interrelations, Reliability, and Relations to Other Personality Measures," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XXII (April, 1958), 112. 118j0hn G. Martine and Robert H. Harnberger, "Self Congruence by Sex and Between the Sexes in a Normal Population," Journal of Clinical Psychology, XIII (July, 1957), 288-91. Joseph S. Hillson, P. Worchel, "Self Concept and Defensive Behavior in the Maladjusted," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XXI, No. 1 (1957), 87. l^Ojra Friedman, "Phenomenal, Ideal and Projected Conceptions of Self," Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, LI (1955), 614. 80 Unfortunately, the correspondence "between the real self and the ideal self does not seem to be linear. Chodorkoff found the correlation between the scores of adjustment and self-ideal correlation to be in a curvi linear relationship. The most poorly adjusted student will not necessarily show the least discrepancy in his 171 ideal self and his real self. 17 7 Thus it would seem, following Wylie, ^ that the self-evaluation and self-valuation group counseling goals can be achieved by focusing primarily on helping the student learn to see himself and others realistically and to learn to value what he sees. The major vehicle for this in the group process is the group counselor's trans mission of his high valuing of the students. The non threatening climate of the counseling group invites voluntary, responsible and independent changes of behavior by its removal of censure, for, consistent with self theory, changes in self are most likely to occur in situations which do not force a counselee to become 123 defensive. 121 Bernard Chodorkoff, "Adjustment and the Discrepancy Between the Perceived and the Ideal Self," Journal of Clinical Psychology, X (July, 1954), 266. 122Wyiie> The Self Concept, op. cit., p. 317. 123Qor(jon Allport, Becoming (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955), pp. 45-47. 81 Summary of Studies The counselee brings his self concept to the counseling group. The group counselor brings his coun seling skill and knowledge of group dynamics. Somehow through this juxtaposition, the process of verbalization is expected to cause a change to take place in the counselee— an attitudinal change which will be translated into a behavioral change. Is this a realistic expecta tion? An attempt to answer this question will be presented in the following chapters. Many studies raising many questions have been presented in the preceding review of the literature. For the reader's convenience, a table of studies particularly pertinent to group counseling with adolescents has been provided. The author, selection criteria, sex and group size, grade level, number of sessions, evaluation instrument, evaluation criteria, and reported results have been charted so as to present a summary statement of relevant group counseling studies. The selected studies of group counseling were mainly recent studies, and the inconsistency of results obtained by researchers is immediately apparent from an examination of the reported results. This is in contrast with the relative homo geneity of evaluation criteria which centered around school achievement, vocational choice clarification and/or 82 self concept changes. The search of workers in group counseling for a satisfactory evaluation instrument is reflected in the wide diversity of tools used. There is also a contrast in the number of sessions designed into the various studies, as well as a contrast in grade level, sex composition, group size and selection criteria. It would he inappropriate to anticipate that a formula for the most effective group counseling could be gleaned from the literature, but the remoteness of solid, consistent guide lines is somewhat distressing. A backward glance. Although group counseling has historical antecendents which have a written history of over fifty years, after half a century of accumulating knowledge concerning the dynamics of groups, our under standing of the intricacies of the process and our authority for the composition of group membership are tenuous. Self theory, which provided the theoretical structure for group counseling in this study, is based on constructs resistant to measurement in their very definition. A forward look. The Research Design is presented in Chapter III, beginning with a description of the set ting of the study. The operational hypothesis were presented, followed by a description of the group counseling formats, the procedures used, the population of the study, the instruments used in the study, and the statistical procedures applied in the analysis of the data. TABLE 2 SELECTED STUDIES OF GROUP COUNSELING TABLE 2 SELECTED STUDIES OF GROUP COUNSELING Author Selection Criteria Sex and Group Size Grade Level Number of Sessions Evaluation Instrument Evaluation Criteria Reported Results Baymur & Patterson3 Under achievers M & F 8 11 9 class periods wkly, School Records . Q-sort Brovm-Holtzman- SSHA Personal adjustment Study habits Academic per formance Not sig. Not sig. Ss in gp. co. less improved. Bilovsky1 3 Vocational M Rating of Realism of counseling No info. 12 No info. Counselor voc. choice Not sig. Caplanc Acting Out M 5-6 Jr. Hi. 10 fifty min. wkly. Q-sort Grades Citizenship Self-concept Sig* improve, change Academic perf. Sig. improve. School behavior Sig, improve. Catron0 * Volunteers M & F for college 5-12 & career plan. 9-12 14-lit hr. over 5 weeks Q-sort Self-concept change Sig, improve. aFertha Baymur and C. Patterson, "A Comparison of Three Methods of Assisting Underachieving High School Students," Journal of Counseling Psychology* VII (I960), 83-89. T _ David Bilovsky, et. al«. "Individual and Group Counseling," Personnel and Guidance Journal. XXXI (March, 1953)* 363-65. cStanley Caplan, “The Effects of Group Counseling on Junior High School Boys1 Concepts of Themselves in School,1 * Journal of Counseling Psychology. IV (Summer, 1957), 124-25. ^David W. Catron, et. al.. i r Educational-Vocational Group Counselings The Effects on Perception of Self and Others,1 * Journal of Counseling Psychology. XIII (1966), 202-07# G E z > W TABLE 2 Continued Author Selection Criteria Sex and Group Size Grade Level Number of Sessions Evaluation Instrument Evaluation Criteria Reported Results Chestnut® Underach. M Col. Fr, 8-la- GPA Academic perf. Not sig. No info. & Soph. weekly Brown-Holtz. SSHA Study habits Not. sig. Clelandi' All mbrs. nursing cl, F . 12 Young Adults 8 Attitudinal Scale Attitudes toward nurs ing & pa tients E!s less positive but involved Ss changed most in positive direc tion Clements, B.S Col. bound H.S. Srs. M & F 10 12 6-50 min. wkly. Self-concept inventory Modified Bills Index Less anxiety Less anxiety E*s had sig. less anxiety Clemgnts, T . Underach. M 8-12 Elem. Jr.Hi. Sr.Hi. 16—1 hr. weekly Q-sort School Records Congruency of self-concept Grades Not sig. Not sig. William J. Ghe5tnut, “The Effects of Structured and Unstructured Group Counseling on Male College Students1 Underachievement,l * Journal of Counseling Psychology. XII, No. 4 (1965), 388-94o f* R. S. Cleland and G. D. Carnes, "Emotional Versus Ideational Emphasis during Group Counseling with Student Nurses," Journal of Counseling Psychology. XII (Summer, 1956), 292-93. ^Barton E. Clements, "Transitional Adolescents, Anxiety, and Group Counseling," Personnel and Guidance Journal. XXXV (September, 1966), 67-71. ^Thomas Clements, UA Study to Compare the Effectiveness of Individual and Group Counseling Approaches with Able Underachievers when Counselor Time is Held Constant1 * (unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Southern California, 1963). o On TABLE 2 Continued Author Selection Sex and Grade Level Number of Sessions Evaluation Evaluation Criteria Reported Results Cohn1 Acting out M 7 & 8 25 class Grades & ach. Academic perf. No chg. or sig. 8 periods test worse weekly I.Q. test Higher scores Not sig. Rating scales Classrm0 be Efs less conform havior ing, less moti vated, more orig inal, less ac cepting of peers Parent survey Behavior in Not sig. home Acting-out Sig. gain in scale Self-concept self adequacy CollinsJ Underach. M & F 15 9 6 class per. every 2 wks. Grades Unsat. not. Coun. obser. Tchr. ck. 1st. Academic perf. Behavior Not sig. Not sig. Davis* Poor citiz enship M & F 10 12 20-50 min. bi-wkly Citizenship grades Classroom behavior Sig. 5% level. ■^Benjamin Cohn, et. al.. "Roles Played by Adolescents in an Unproductive Counseling Group,® Personnel and Guidance Journal. XXXVIII (May, I960), 724.-31. jjohn S. Collins, "A Comparative Guidance Study: Group Counseling Methods with Selected Underachieving Ninth Grade Students® (unpublished Ed.D. Dissertation, University of Southern California, 1964), pp. 1-145. ^D. A. Davis, "Effect of Group Guidance and Individual Counseling on Citizenship Behavior," Personnel and Guidance Journal. XXXVIII (October, 1959)# 142-45. TABLE 2 Continued Author Selection Criteria Sex and Group Size Grade Level Number of Sessions Evaluation Instrument Evaluation Criteria Reported Results Driver1 No voc. choice M & F No info. 12 12-1 hr. wkly. Self report Voc. choice stated All Ss reported a decision Froehlichm Volun.for more self knowledge M & F 4—6 12 One Self rating & Ach. tests Agreement betwn self-rtg. & test scores • Not sig. Hewer1 1 Vocation cl0 mem bers M & F 8 Col. 50 min. wk 1 quarter SVTB MMPI Eng. test Sat. voc. ch. Certainty co.ch. Realistic Vo.ch. Not sig. Not sig. Not sig. Krumboltz0 Volunteers Edo-vOoCo. M & F 4 11 2-1 hr. Counselor observation No. of info, seeking behav. Gp.co.more threat ening than ind. co.-both eff. LadatoP Slow lrnrs. M & F 7-8 7-11 3-5x wk. for yx. School records Figure drwngs. Tchr. ratings Schl, attd. Self-concept Behavior Sig. improvement Sig. improvement Improvement ^Helen Driver, et. al0. Counseling and Learning through Snail Group Discussion (Madison* Monono Publications, 1958), pp0 306-07. Clifford P. Froelich, “Must Counseling be Individual.1 1 Educational and Psychological Measurement. XVIII (Winter, 1958), 681-89. nV. Hewer, Personnel and Guidance Journal, XXXVIII (May, 1959), 660-6$. °John Krumboltz and Carl E. Thoreson, “The Effect of Behavioral Counseling in Group and Individual Settings on Information-Peeking Behavior,“ Journal of Counseling Psychology. XIII (Summer, 1966), 153-59. ^Francis J. Ladato, et. al., “Group Counseling as a Method of Modifying Attitudes in Slow Learners,* School Counselorf XII (October, 1964.), 27-29. TABLE 2 Continued Author Selection Criteria Sex and Group Size Grade Level Number of Sessions Evaluation Instrument Evaluation Criteria Reported Results Lafondl Under- achvrs. M & F 12 10 1 cl. per. wk.-l sem. School records Higher GPA Some improvement- no statistical sig. Qfman^ Undgr. Cole M & F No 0info. Col. 12-1 hr. biwkly. Total undrgr. grade record Academic performance Motivated stu dents improved Ohlsen3 Gifted Undrach. M & F 6-8 9 1 cl.per. biwkly. 8 wks. CAT GPA Picture Story Behv. Invent. Academic per. Academic per, Self-accpt. Social behv. No sig. imprrve. No sig. improve. Sig. improvement Sig. improvement Robinett^ Potential Dropouts M & F 5-10 Jr.Hie 1 hr. wkly 1 semester Observation School behav ior Improvement in observed behav. Sheldonu Students in M & F acad.diff. No info. Col.Fr. 1 hr. 3 x wkly.-I sem. School records Drop out of col• Sig. fewer E's dropped college ^Lawrence Lafond, "A Study of the Effect of Group Counseling as Applied to Underachieving Students* (unpublished Master's Project, University of Southern California, August, 1962). • ‘ •William Gfman, "Evaluation of a Group Counseling Procedure,* Journal of Counsel in? Psychology. XI (Spring, 1964), 152-59. sMerle M. Ohlsen, “Counseling within a Group Setting," Journal of the National Association of Women Beans and Counselors.* XXIII (April, I960), 104-09. ^Donald W. Robinett and Warren K. Waite, "Voluntary Group Counseling in a Junior High School," Journal of Secondary Education. XXXIX (May, 1964), 226-29. ^William D. Sheldon and Theodore Landsman, “An Investigation of Non-directive Group Therapy with Students in Academic Difficulty," Journal of Consulting Psychology. XTV (June, 1950), 210-15* c o - TABLE 2 Continued Author Selection Criteria Sex and Group Size Grade Level Number of Sessions Evaluation Instrument Evaluation Criteria Reported Results Spielber- gerv Highly anx ious stud M . 6-8 Col.Fr. 8-11 1 hr.wkly GPA Academic perf. High attenders— sig. Imp. GPA Webb Acting out M & F Under 12 Jr. Hi 20-30 min. daily for aver.25 d. Semantic Diff CPI Tchjttg .Scale Attitudes to authority Behavior Sig. improvement on all scales Winborn* Underach. M & F 8-10 Col.Fr. 6-1 hr. over 2 mo. GPA Academic perf. Counseled Ss had sig. lower GPA Winkler^ Underach. M & F No info. 4 8 wk0l hr. t 3 biwk. GPA CTP Academic perf. Adjustment No improvement No improvement Wright2 Freshmen M & F Col. 1-50 min. Rating of expert Self report Suitability of voc. choice Member's reac tion No sig. diff. Neutral of moderate vGharles D. Spielberger, et. al.f "Group Counseling and the Academic Performance of Anxious College Freshmen,'* Journal of Counseling Psychology, 3X (Fall, 1962), 195-204o wAllen P. Webb and J. Eikenberry, "A Group Counseling Approach to the Acting-out Preadolescent," Psychology in the Schools, I (October, 1964), 395-400. xBob Winborn and Louis G. Schmidt, ' ‘ The Effectiveness of Short Term Group Counseling upon the Academic Achievement of the Potentially Superior but Underachieving Gollege Freshman," Journal of Educational Research. LV (December-January, 1962), 169-73. yR. C. Winkler and Rogers A. Myers, , v The Effects of Selected Counseling and Remedial Techniques «n Underachieving Elementary School Students," Journal of Counseling Psychology. XII, No. 4 (1965), 384-87. ZE. Wo Wright, "A Comparison of Individual and Multiple Counseling for Test Interpretation Interviews," Journal of Counseling Psychology. X (Spring, 1963), 126-35* CHAPTER III RESEARCH DESIGN The review of the literature on group counseling in the school setting, especially as it related to the goals of guidance in education, has been presented in the pre ceding chapter to provide background for this study. Con sideration was given to the procedures, formats and topics which have been studied in group counseling. Chapter II also gave some attention to the philosophical foundations of self theory, providing the theoretical framework of the measurement instruments used in the study. Attention is now turned to the research design; the setting of the study, the sample population, the counseling procedures, the testing procedures, the instruments used and the statistical handling of the data. Findings are discussed in Chapter IV, followed by a Summary and Conclusions in Chapter V. Setting of the Study Western High School in the Anaheim Union High School District of Orange County was the setting of the study. Western draws students from two junior high schools which in turn draw from Los Alamitos, Anaheim, Buena Park, 91 92 Stanton, and Cypress Elementary Schools. Most of the stu dents are Anglo-American with a sprinkling of Mexican- Americans forming a minority group. The predominant socioeconomic level is middle class with the median income being $7,000. There is some tran siency, but the school population is comparatively stable for Southern California in the 1960's. The curriculum is divided into two tracks: college- preparatory and non-college preparatory. The latter has an active industrial education department, which enrolls 45.8 per cent of the student body. Thirty-two per cent of the students are enrolled in the business education de partment and 34.0 per cent in the foreign language depart ment. About 47 per cent of the student body go on to college, but less than 15 per cent leave the immediate community to do so. The majority of the 47 per cent attend local junior colleges. The soundness of the school's instructional program is demonstrated by achievement test norms which place Western at the 69 percentile on the composite school norm of the Iowa Tests of Educational Development.There may be above-average pressures on the students for academic achievement, however, for almost 60 per cent of the student ^E. F. Lindquist, et. al., Iowa Tests of Educational Development, 1952, [Grades 9-13, Short Form] (Chicago: Science Research Associates). 93 body received notices of unsatisfactory progress during the first quarter of 1965. Forty-one per cent failed one or more subjects during the spring semester of the preceding year. Nonetheless, there is less than a 5 per cent drop out rate, which is well below the national average. All teachers are fully certified with 69 per cent being tenured. The student-teacher ratio is 27:1, while the student-counselor ratio is about 450:1. Only one of the counselors teaches and all are fully credentialed. The student population of 2,130 tenth, eleventh and twelfth graders are assigned alphabetically to counselors, each of whom remains with his counselees throughout their three high school years. Each student is seen by his counselor at least once during the school year for educational-voca tional counseling, but a large percentage of contacts are student-initiated. Group Counseling Background Group guidance procedures are used frequently and routinely at Western, but group counseling was innovated during the preceding school year, 1964-1965. During that year, several formats were used. Groups met for the traditional weekly, one-class session, meeting for varying numbers of sessions; while other groups were organized to meet in continuous session for one day, followed up by weekly meetings. However, no objective measurement 94 instruments were used to determine the effectiveness of the group counseling, whatever the format, thus assessment was on a subjective basis. Also the goals of group counseling were not clearly defined as they related to the objectives of the total guidance program. Another area of concern which grew out of the group work of the previous year was the need to establish a com monality of verbal content indigenous to group counseling. It was felt that the counselor who was just beginning to counsel in groups would gain security (and thus competency) from anticipating the general topics which are of impor tance to the adolescent, and thus likely to occur in dis cussions. The verbal interchanges in groups are so rapid that the neophyte counselor often finds himself missing cue after cue. He needs to be previously alerted to antici pated content if he is to function with maximum effective ness. The writer's article on the subject of themes in group counseling generated much feedback from readers all over the United States,2 so apparently the need in this area is great, yet a glance back over the literature re viewing topics in group counseling demonstrates the paucity of material available on the content of the group process. ^Marilyn Bates, Personnel and Guidance Journal, XLIV (February, 1966), 568-75. 95 Group Counseling Goals Recapitulated The importance of the questions which have been raised by previous experience with group counseling con cerning the effectiveness of group work in meeting guidance goals, the topical content and a comparison of formats cannot be overestimated, for group counseling places a heavy demand on valuable school time— both counselor's and counselees'. As was pointed out in Chapter I group coun seling does not save time. On the contrary, it increases the counselor's work load both in its own right and through the demand it generates for individual counseling. Group counselors who have struggled to meet the increased re quests for their time often are tempted to take a hint from the little old librarian who refused to encourage children to patronize the library for fear they would check out all the books! Parenthetically, it must be pointed out that writers in the field do not agree on the relationship of group counseling to individual counseling; that is, whether the former supplements the latter, or replaces it. However, detailed consideration of this problem would be far afield from the major concern of this study— measuring the effec tiveness of group counseling in the school setting. The use of group counseling cannot be justified on the basis of its popularity, nor does an increased demand for individual counseling as an outgrowth of group 96 counseling seem a sufficient basis for its continued use, if this is the only outcome. Certainly, researchers in group counseling carry the responsibility of demonstrating to the profession that group counseling produces results which are consonant with larger school objectives if school counselors are to continue doing group counseling and if counselor educators are to continue to include training in the technique in required course work. In the review of the literature in Chapter II group counseling goals were organized as they related to educa tional goals, but the development of operational defini tions was reserved for this later section. A relisting of these goals as presented in Chapter II is placed on the following page for the reader's convenience. General Hypotheses General hypotheses were stated in the initial chapter: I. Group Counseling is an effective method of implementing the purposes of guidance in educa tion. A. The traditional approach to group counseling is an effective method of reaching the goals of guidance. TABLE 3 GOALS OF GUIDANCE AND GROUP COUNSELING Guidance in Education Goals I. A concern with the intellectual growth of the student. II. A responsibility for the vocational choice and preparation of the pupil. III. A need to develop individuality simul taneously with social ization. IV. A goal of educating to live with people of other cultures.a Group Counseling Goals A. Gain cognitive know ledge B. Change behavior C. Self-evaluation A. Self-evaluation B. Aid in decision making C. Establish realistic goals A. Conative knowledge B. Socialization C. Self-valuation D. Change behavior A. Gain cognitive know ledge B. Self-evaluation C. Socialization aGilbert Wrenn, The Counselor in a Changing World (Washington: American Personnel and Guidance Association, 1962), pp. 74-82. * 98 B. The accelerated approach to group counseling is an effective method of reaching the goals of guidance. II. The self-concepts of students in group coun seling will be changed by both the traditional approach and the accelerated approach. III. Both traditional groups and accelerated groups will spend equal amounts of time on themes which can be traced in the counseling process. Operational Hypotheses The first general hypothesis that group counseling is an effective method of implementing the purposes of guidance in education was made operational by considering each group counseling sub-goal individually, and by select ing a measuring instrument which would provide the neces sary information. Guidance Goal of Intellectual Growth The first large concern of guidance in education was with the intellectual growth of the student and this in cluded group counseling goals of cognitive knowledge, be havioral changes and accurate self-evaluations. 99 Group Counseling Goal of Cognitive Knowledge The first goal of helping the counselee gain cogni tive knowledge is seldom frontally attacked in the group counseling process. Rather, the rationale advanced in the literature is to reduce built-up tensions, thereby making the adolescent more available to the instructional program to which he is daily exposed. Evidence that group coun seling is effective in this respect is provided by Clements who found that a significant lowering of anxiety levels in high school seniors occurred after only six sessions of group counseling.^ By draining off the emotional anxieties of the adolescent which misdirect much of his energies, the group counseling process releases the learner to more fully attend to the intellectual challenges all about him. It seems reasonable to expect that, once emotional tensions and hostilities are reduced, the road is open for cognitive learnings. Therefore, in order to measure the indirect effect of group counseling on learning activities, a read ing of tension levels and hostility levels of the partici pants should be taken. Rotter's Incomplete Sentences Blank ^Barton E. Clements, "Transitional Adolescents, Anxiety, and Group Counseling," Personnel and Guidance Journal, XXXV (September, 1966), 67-71. 100 is designed to provide a sensitive way to do this.4 (Each measuring instrument which will be identified in this section will be more fully discussed in succeeding pages.) More direct measures of cognitive learnings such as changes in grade point averages and achievement test scores are usually extremely slow in responding to a change of learning behavior and do not seem likely to be reflected in a design which covers an eighteen weeks portion of the school year. Because of this, no attempt was made to include achievement test scores as a criterion. However, since so many studies have included teachers' grades as a criterion, and since these data were so immediately avail able, grade point averages were incorporated into the design. Hypotheses. The functional hypotheses concerned with the goal of cognitive knowledge can be stated: 1. There will be a significant reduction in ten sions and hostilities in students who are group counseled, either by the traditional method or by the accelerated method. 2. There will be a significant improvement in grade 4Julian B. Rotter and Janet E. Rafferty, The Incomplete Sentences Blank— High School Form (New York: Psychological Corporation, 1950). 101 point averages of students who are group coun seled, using either method. Group Counseling Goal of Behavioral Change A simple definition of learning is a change of behavior. Unfortunately, measuring this change is not so simple, but certainly this is a major goal of group coun seling, and rightly so. If the student is not able to translate his learnings in group counseling into some demonstrable change of positive behavior within the school setting, it seems futile to continue the process in an educational institution. It also seems reasonable to expect that receptivity to cognitive activities is increased if behavior is im proved and the student is attending to his lessons. The area where behavioral changes are most in evidence should be in the classroom, especially for those students who have been recommended for group counseling because of misbe havior. In the Anaheim Union High School District this classroom behavior is reported in the form of citizenship grades, issued quarterly, and this has been selected as one operational definition of change of behavior. Another operational definition of behavioral change involving consequent intellectual growth might be the grade given by teachers each quarter on the effort shown by the student. This is a very up-to-date yardstick, and although 102 probably somewhat affected by attitudinal sets on the part of the teachers, it seems fairly sensitive to a student's current attitudes. A behavioral change indicator not affected by teachers' subjectivity is the attendance record, and this, too, can be used as a measure of at least exposure to intellectual opportunities. A third, more subtle yardstick which might be ap plied to measuring changes in behavior, is provided by the Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test, a semantic differential device.5 The concepts which compare the student's view of himself in relation to "School," "Obeying the Rules," "People Who Make Me Behave," and "Teachers" were designed to measure meaning changes in these behavioral areas. If the student felt more involved in the educational process, it seemed logical that he would experience increased intellectual growth. (The theoretical constructs for the semantic differential will be presented in detail in succeeding sections of this chapter.) Hypotheses. The hypotheses dealing with a change of behavior may be numbered sequentially: 3. The students who are in group counseling will show an improvement in citizenship grades, 5Allen P. Webb and John T. Harris, Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test (Pasadena: Pasadena City Schools, 1962) . 103 whether counseled by the traditional method or the accelerated method. 4. The students who are in group counseling will show an improvement in effort, counseled by either method. 5. Students in group counseling will show an improvement on the semantic space of himself in relation to school-related areas. Self-evaluation. As pointed out in Chapter II several of the group counseling goals seemed to fall appro priately within the framework of two or more of the guid ance goals. To avoid unwarrented repetition, each group counseling goal will be handled only under one of the larger guidance goals. The first of the duplications is the goal of self-evaluation, which is considered under the next section: Vocational Choice and Preparation. Guidance Goal of Vocational Choice and Preparation The second large concern of guidance in education was with a responsibility for the vocational choice and preparation of the pupil. The first goal of group coun seling which related to this concept was also the last goal under the intellectual heading: self-evaluation. Since self-evaluation duplicates under both headings, it will be considered under Vocational Choice and Preparation. Group Counseling Goal of Self Evaluation That the process of vocational choice is a develop mental process has long been emphasized by Super and aiding the student to make wise vocational choices has long been a responsibility of the counselor in the school setting.® Group guidance is often employed to this end, but the use fulness of group counseling for the same purpose is less obvious. Once again, the approach is almost tangential, for it is felt that through the clarification of the self- concept, the group counseling process contributes to vocational maturity. The sub-vocational developmental tasks of crystalizing, specifying and implementing a voca tional preference develop from an idiographic dimension— the self-concept.^ As the self-concept develops during the five years of adolescence there seems to be a shift from idealism to realism in vocational choice, a decreasing concern with personal goals and an increasing concern with preparation for a job, a realistic consideration of the ®Donald E. Super, "Vocational Development: The Process of Compromise or Synthesis," in Counseling and Guidance: A Summary View, Ed. James F. Adams (New York: Macmillan Co., 1965), pp. 211-16. 7J o s e p h s. Zaccaria, "Developmental Tasks: Impli cations for the Goals of Guidance," Personnel and Guidance Journal, XLIV (December, 1965), 372-75. 105 ability required and the opportunity for advancement.® It may be that the clarification of the sense of self through the group counseling process contributes to vocational growth through self-evaluation and thus becomes a vital by-product of group counseling. If the development of the self-concept is arrested, a delayed or impaired develop mental pattern may be the consequence.^ The operational hypotheses for measuring self- evaluation interlocks with decision making and realistic goals so tightly that the statement of operational hypo theses will be reserved until all three sub-goals are discussed. Group Counseling Goal of Decision Making The process of vocational choice is only one small segment of the decision-making process that seems to be an increasingly important aspect of life in this complex and modern world. Tyler commented that choices have been re quired always in all periods of history, but felt it was new in our time that choices were being required of every one, whether or not he wished to make them. Tyler saw some of the major problems of our times as outgrowths of this 8Warren D. Gribbons and Paul R. Lohnes, "Shifts in Adolescents' Vocational Values," Personnel and Guidance Journal, XLIV (November, 1965), 251. 9Zaccaria, op. cit., p. 374. 106 demand— anxiety and conflict over identity in the indi vidual, blind conformity, apathy or delinquency."^ We know very little about the process of making choices, but it was convenient to follow Tyler's model and use career choice as a prototype of all the other choices, since career choice is relatively visible process and can be readily measured through the use of the Tyler Vocational Choice Cards.^ The importance of clarifying vocational choices through the decision making process cannot be over emphasized in our culture which labels a man not by where he lives, or by his family line, but rather by asking, "What does he do?" If group counseling is instrumental in clarifying the adolescent’s picture of himself, the results should be translatable into occupational choices— both in the number of choices and the realism of those choices. The young person should be able to focus on a narrower field of possible choices, demonstrating an increasing confidence in himself in relation to future plans. l^Leona E. Tyler and Norman D. Sundberg, Factors Affecting Career Choices of Adolescents, Cooperative Research Project No. 2455, Cooperative Research Program of the Office of Education, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (University of Oregon, 1964), pp. 1-4. •^Ibid., p. 152. 107 Group Counseling Goal of Realistic Goals The decision as to whether or not a vocational goal is a realistic one for a given counselee is always contro versial. Anderson and Olsen found that the results of their study indicated that a greater number of subjects showed a tendency to choose occupational goals above their aptitude level and in inappropriate occupational areas than the number who chose occupations below their aptitude level. This was attributed by these authors to the 12 subjects' faulty perceptions of self. It seems reasonable, however, to indicate in general a minimum level of academic potential required to succeed in a given occupation, for, as Baer and Roeber wrote, "The level of intelligence required of workers in different 13 occupations is an important factor in vocational choice." As these writers also pointed out, a person who enters an occupation in which the majority of workers have a much higher intelligence than he finds himself at a decided disadvantage. Conversely, if a person enters an occupation which demands an intelligence level well below his, he finds little satisfaction in either his work or 12Thomas B. Anderson and LeRoy C. Olsen, "Congruence of Self and Ideal-Self and Occupational Choices," Personnel and Guidance Journal, XLIV (October, 1965), 175. 13jMax Baer and Edward C. Roeber, Occupational Information; Its Nature and Use (Chicago: Science Research Associates, Inc., 1964), p. 190. 108 associations in his job. Although counselors are cautioned against arbitrarily categorizing a career choice as to its suitability for any given counselee, Baer and Roeber sug gested that studies which suggested the approximate occu pational level at which a person with a given level of intelligence is likely to perform satisfactorily in compe tition with others and in relation to job satisfaction might be useful to counselors.-*-4 The detailed procedures for approximating the aca demic potential stanine assigned to each occupation will be given later, but the present task is to arrange the opera tional hypotheses around the effectiveness of self-evalua tion, decision making and realism of goals— all subsumed under the goal of guidance which accepts a responsibility for the vocational choice and preparation of the pupil. One instrument selected to measure these areas was the Tyler Vocational Choice Cards.- * - 5 giving consideration to both the number of choices the student made and the appropriateness of the choices as they related to a stu dent" s academic potential. The other instrument selected was the concept "Me in the Future" from the Webb-Harris 14Ibid., p. 192. ^5Tyler and Sundberg, op. cit. , p. 152. 109 Word Meaning Test,- * - 6 which seemed to provide a measure of meaning change in the area of vocational choice. Hypotheses. The hypotheses continue to be numbered sequentially: 6. Students who are in group counseling will demon strate a trend toward a more realistic voca tional choice, whether counseled by the tradi tional method or by the accelerated method. 7. Students in group counseling will have a signi ficant reduction in number of vocational choices whether counseled by the traditional method or by the accelerated method. 8. Students who are in group counseling will have a closer relationship in semantic space between himself and himself in the future both in the traditional model and the accelerated model of group counseling. Guidance Goal of Individuation and Socialization Responsibility for the individuation process is the "eminent domain" of individual counseling, while the ac culturation process is the main concern of society-at- large. Only in the group counseling process do the two l^Webb and Harris, op. cit. seem to come fully together in the school setting. Here the student explores how he is uniquely individual, but he also tests reality through group reaction, for one of the major techniques employed in group interaction is the ex ploring of feelings concerning and perceptions of the world outside. Distortions, contradictions, selective tunnels— all are discussed in the group work. Encouraging coun- selees to express their real meaning about themselves and others and to be honestly "authentic" should lead to valuable conative knowledge. Destructive guilt feelings can be released through the desentization process, so that the door is opened for growth toward self-actualization. At the same time, the adolescents are learning that others have similar problems, feelings and attitudes and thus should be able to establish social reality through using each other's behavior as reference points. The group situation probably provides the only experience where the student will be able to so intensively explore the subjective internal world of interests, atti tudes and values and relate his "discoveries" to the ob jective external world of occupations, social mores, school life, peer relations— the cultural accumulation which is at once his heritage and his challenge. ■^George R. Bach, Intensive Group Psychotherapy (New York: Ronald Press Co., 1954), p. 356. Ill Group Counseling Goal of Conative Knowledge The group counseling goal of conative knowledge can be measured by the degree of changes on the "Self" measure of the Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values.1^ If group counseling has any impact on conative knowledge, there should be movement on this Index. Movement may be toward more or less self acceptance as measured by this self- report instrument. Movement may also be toward more honest reporting about self, which is certainly a desirable by product of the group process, although not amenable to measurement. The student should also demonstrate a closer rela tionship between himself and the concepts of familiar emotions. The Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test provides a measure of the meanings of love, hate, fighting, guilt, and fear, which seemed sufficiently representative of dimen sions of emotions to give adequate measurement in this area.19 Hypothesis. The hypothesis concerning the group counseling goal of conative knowledge which was subsumed under the guidance goal of individuation and socialization can be stated: l^Robert E. Bills, Index of Adjustment and Values— High School Form (Alabama: University of Alabama, [n.d.]). l^webb and Harris, op. cit. 112 9. Students in group counseling will demonstrate more shift in self-perceptions whether counseled by the traditional method or the accelerated method than students who are not in group coun seling . Group Counseling Goal of Socialization The group counseling goal of socialization may be measured by the "Others" score on the Bills' Index of Ad justment and Values, mentioned above. This seemed to pro vide a sensitive yardstick for any changes of attitudes toward peers which took place as a result of group coun seling. A categorical score, reflecting movement toward acceptance of others, is derived from the "Others" score and is a useful adjunct to it. It seemed logical that if the socialization process of group counseling is effective, members should become more acceptant of the mores of society, which, in turn, should be reflected in the direc tion of better attitudes toward others. The Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test provided several concepts which are designed to measure the socialization process. The concepts of "Mother," "Father," "Brother," "Sister," "Boy," "Girl,” "Family," and "Adults" pertain to interactions with significant others in the life space of 113 the counselee, according to the authors of the instru ment. 2 0 Another measure of socialization seemed to lie in the citizenship grades given as measures of classroom behavior. It seemed logical to expect that, if an adoles cent experiences growth in the area of socialization, he should be able to accept more readily the rules of the classroom, to demonstrate less resistive behavior, and thus to experience an improvement in citizenship grades. Hypotheses. The operational hypotheses which con cerned the group counseling goal of socialization can be stated in two parts: 10. Students in group counseling will be more accepting of others, whether counseled by the traditional method or the accelerated method. 11. Students in group counseling will show improve ment in social behavior in the classroom, as measured by citizenship grades, whether coun seled by the traditional method or by the accelerated method. Group Counseling Goal of Self-valuation Valuing self is an important goal of group counsel ing, which theoretically is achieved through the 20Allen P. Webb, Personal communication. 114 counselor's transmission of his regard and acceptance of the counselees. A measure of this process may be obtained from the Bills' Index on the "Self" measure. If there is an increase in self-valuation as the result of group counseling, this should be reflected by an increase in the "Self" score. The semantic differential instrument (Webb-Harris Test) already mentioned provided a measure of how an indi vidual sees himself in relation to how he would like to be— that is, a real self, "Me," is compared with an ideal self, "How I would most like to be." If group counseling is effective in increasing the counselees' self-valuation, there should be less distance between the two concepts after group counseling than before group counseling. Hypothesis. The hypothesis which concerned the group counseling goal of self-valuation may be formulated thus: 12. Students in group counseling will place more value on themselves as measured by the "Self" scores on the Bills' Index, after traditional or accelerated group counseling. 13. Students in group counseling will evidence smaller discrepancies in semantic space between themselves and themselves in the future, coun seled by either method. 115 Guidance Goal of Educating to Live with Other Cultures The guidance goal of educating to live with people of other cultures concerned the group counseling goals of cognitive knowledge, self-evaluation and socialization. These goals were also subsumed under other major guidance goals, as was the final goal of individuation and social ization: behavior change. Consequently additional con sideration need not be given here. Change of Self-Concept The second major task of this study was to determine if self-concept change might be a function of experience only, rather than a function of the interaction of both time and experience. The accelerated group counseling format provided an opportunity to gather evidence concern ing this theoretical construct. If counselees demonstrated as much change of self-concept through the intensive inter action method as through the traditional method, evidence could be submitted that experience may be the only neces sary and sufficient condition for such a change to occur. A useful instrument designed to measure self-concept change is Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values, derived from perceptual theory which holds that behavior is con sistent with the behaver's perceptions of the world. The 116 instrument as designed by Bills measures the self-concept 2 1 as a part of self-organization. If a change of self-concept occurred through both the traditional method and the accelerated method, such a change would seem to result from experience rather than from a combination of experience and time. If, on the other hand, a change occurred through the traditional model and not through the accelerated model, there would be indications that time was a necessary condition for the self-concept to change. If change occurred through the accelerated counseling and not through the traditional counseling, the implications, again, would be that time was not necessary for a self-concept change to take place. If no change came about in either condition, no evidence would be accumulated concerning self-concept change as a function of both time and experience. Hypothesis The hypothesis concerning self-concept change stated: The self-concepts of students who are in group counseling will be changed by both the traditional approach and the accelerated approach. ^Robert E. Bills, Manual for Index of Adjustment and Values— Adult and High School Senior Form, College of Education (Alabama: University of Alabama, [n.d.]), pp. 5-6. 117 Themes in Group Counseling The third general hypothesis which this study posited was to determine if the pattern of themes which could be traced in the group counseling process would consume the same general amount of time in the traditional approach and in the accelerated approach. Tapes of the counseling sessions provided the raw resource materials for this analysis, enabling the percentage of time spent on any topic to be calculated. Hypothesis The hypothesis concerning the time spent on themes in group counseling was: The percentage of time spent on each theme will not differ between the two groups: traditional or accelerated. Summary of Operational Hypotheses Since the hypotheses were grouped under related discussion content, a summary statement is in order. They are accordingly summarized below, with the relevant measur ing instrument directly under the hypothesis. Goals I. Group counseling is an effective method of implement ing the purposes of guidance in education. 118 A. Cognitive knowledge 1. There will be a significant reduction and hostilities in students who are group coun seled , either by the traditional method or by the accelerated method. a. Rotter's Incomplete Sentences Blank 2. There will be a significant improvement in grade point averages of students who are group counseled, using either method. a. Grade point averages. B. Behavioral change 3. The students who are in group counseling will show an improvement in citizenship grades, whether counseled by the traditional method or the accelerated method. a. Citizenship grades. 4. The students who are in group counseling will show an improvement in effort, group coun seled by either method. a. Effort grades. b. Attendance pattern. 5. Students in group counseling will show an improvement on the semantic space of himself in relation to school-related areas. a. Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test. 119 (1) Concepts: School, Obeying the Rules, People Who Make Me Behave, Teachers. C. Self-evaluation, Decision making and Realistic goals through Vocational Choice and Preparation 6. Students who are in group counseling will demonstrate a trend toward a more realistic vocational choice, whether counseled by the traditional method or by the accelerated method. a. Tyler Vocational Choice Cards. 7. Students in group counseling will have a significant reduction in number of vocational choices whether counseled by the traditional method or by the accelerated method. a. Tyler Vocational Choice Cards. 8. Students who are in group counseling will have a closer relationship in semantic space between himself and himself in the future both in the traditional model and the ac celerated model of group counseling. a. Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test. (1) Concepts: Me and Me in the Future. D. Conative Knowledge 9. Students in group counseling will demonstrate more shift in self-perceptions whether coun seled by the traditional method or the accelerated method than students not in group counseling. a. Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values "Self" measure b. Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test (1) Concepts: Love, Hate, Fighting, Guilt, Fear. Socialization 10. Students in group counseling will be more accepting of others, whether counseled by the traditional method or by the accelerated method. a. Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values (1) "Others" measure (2) Categorical scores b. Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test (1) Concepts: Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, Boy, Girl, Family and Adults 11. Students in group counseling will show improvement in social behavior in the class room, as measured by citizenship grades, whether counseled by the traditional or by the accelerated method. a. Citizenship grades F. Self-valuation 12. Students in group counseling will place more value on themselves as measured by the "Self" scores on the Bills' Index after traditional group counseling or after ac celerated group counseling. a. Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values "Self" measure 13. The student in group counseling will evi dence a smaller discrepancy in semantic space between himself and himself in the future, counseled by either method. a. Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test (1) Concepts: Me and How I Would Most Like to Be. Self Concept The self-concepts of students who are in group coun seling will be changed by both the traditional approach and by the accelerated approach. Instrument: Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values— "Self" measure 122 Themes III. The percentage of time spent on each theme will not differ between the traditional counseling groups and the accelerated counseling groups. Instrument: Tape recordings of the counseling sessions. Group Counseling Format When the review of the literature of group coun seling studies has been generally inconclusive as to re sult, it was not surprising to find little evidence which could be used as guide lines around which to build formats for group work. There is only modest evidence concerning the most satisfactory model for group counseling, whether it be the number of sessions, the time arrangement, the composition of group membership or sex selection. This study attempted to provide some intelligence concerning time arrangements, submitting to analysis two differing formats— the traditional model and the accelerated model. In the traditional approach the group counselees met once a week for thirteen weeks for class period ses sions. In the accelerated approach the groups met for two school days of continuous interaction, followed by one class period meeting. Table 4 clarifies the basic design 123 TABLE 4 RESEARCH DESIGN X SEX X GRADE LEVELS Traditional N=36 Groups Traditional N-36 Controls 10 11 12 10 11 12 Males 6 6 6 6 6 6 Females 6 6 6 6 6 6 Accelerated N=36 Groups Accelerated N=36 Controls 10 11 12 10 11 12 Males 6 6 6 6 6 6 Females 6 6 6 6 6 6 124 for the contrasting groups, each of which had its own control group. Setting Up the Study Since authorities in group work are in wide dis agreement concerning the composition of a counseling group, a study which drew from the student population which teachers, administrators and counselors saw as benefiting from group counseling seemed a sound approach. This heterogeneity had the advantage of enabling generalizations to be made concerning the wider population, rather than being restricted to conclusions concerning the effect of group counseling on only the underachiever, the behavioral problem or on a certain grade level or sex as is the usual procedure. Consequently, the teachers, administrators and counselors of all three grade levels, tenth, eleventh and twelfth, were asked to recommend students whom they be lieved would benefit from group counseling and to indicate the reasons for their choices. The administration was particularly cooperative in encouraging the faculty to submit names for the study. This "support" from the prin cipal resulted in a greater pool of names being accumulated than had been anticipated. Also, groundwork had been laid for the use of group counseling in the guidance program the previous year when the process was introduced into the school, and the counselors and administrators who worked 125 closely with the students who had had the experience were enthusiastic about increasing the number of pupils who could be involved. Consequently, 203 names {85 girls and 118 boys) were submitted. The students were matched in pairs on sex, academic potential as measured by the Henmon-Nelson Tests of Mental Ability^ which is reported in Anaheim Union High School District on a stanine scale. Although there is no conclu sive evidence in the literature concerning a differential sex or I.Q. reaction to group counseling, it was deemed wise to control for these variables through the matching process. Academic potential stanines were allowed to vary one stanine as pairs were matched. Sex was matched one to one. Subjects were also matched roughly on grade point average, grade level and type of problem. The grade point averages were allowed to vary within one grade range, that is, D-, D, and D+ would constitute one range which was moved up and down the grading scale. Therefore, a D grade point average could be matched with a C- but not a C or C+ average. The range of grade point averages of the stu dents was from D- to B with the distribution at each grade point average fairly normal. The types of problems were matched on the basis of behavior problems, occupational ^ Henmon-Nelson Tests of Mental Ability, 1957 Revision, [Grades 9-12] (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1957) . choice problems, personality problems and academic prob lems, as far as possible, although in some cases there was an overlap, that is, a behavior referral might also be having academic difficulties or personality problems. Since the research design called for a stratification of sexes and grade levels, pairs were separated by sex and grade level, then, following Campbell, assigned randomly to experimental conditions.^3 Names were placed on cards, shuffled, and alternately tossed into experimental condi tions. Members of the pairs were then assigned randomly by drawing cards to control or experimental groups. The design planned for an equal distribution of sexes and grade levels as was shown in Table 4, but, because of the problems of scheduling, some adjustment had to be made within a counseling group. However, the total groups of traditional or accelerated and their controls were kept evenly distributed. Interviews Controls' Interviews. All students who were in volved as controls were contacted and asked if they would be willing to participate in the study, which would involve ^Donald T. Campbell and Julian C. Stanley, "Experi mental and Quais-Experimental Designs for Research on Teaching," in Handbook of Research on Teaching, Ed. N. L. Gage (Chicago: Rand McNally & Co., 1963), p. 219. 127 taking some paper and pencil tests. All of the subjects indicated that they would be willing to do so. They were promised that, after the experimental period, the test which they took would be interpreted to them. This was done, as promised, after all post testing was completed. The controls were also promised the opportunity to partici pate in a counseling group after the experimental period, if possible. Not all were able to be included in a group during the experimental year, but their names were placed on a waiting list from which students would be invited to join counseling groups for the following school year--1966- 1967. A special effort was made to include seniors among those to whom group counseling was available for the last quarter of the school year, which was after the experi mental period. The controls were told that they had been recommended for group counseling and were given the reasons for the recommendation. Experimentals1 Induction Interviews. The students assigned to the two experimental conditions were inter viewed, told about the tests, and also invited to join a counseling group. Each was told why he had been recommended for group counseling, i.e. poor grades, uncertainty about future goals, misbehavior, apparent dislike for school, disinterest in school, poor attendance pattern, or whatever the case might be. The general purposes and process of 128 group counseling was explained. If the student asked, he was also told who recommended him for counseling, blanket permission having been previously obtained from the recom mending people. All students expressed a willingness to participate, which, while surprising, was understandable in view of the widespread acceptance of group counseling which resulted from the previous year's experience at this school. The induction interview always included the ex planation that the group counseling sessions would be tape recorded. No attempt was made to control individual coun seling for either the experimental subjects or for the controls. Counselors The two female and one male counselors were from the regular school staff. All had full pupil personnel creden tials and had had some experience with group work. The general orientation of technique was non-directive and all used an unstructured approach. No special training was given in group counseling, since the attempt was being made to keep the circumstances of the study as typical as pos sible to the usual school situation. Academic Potential Scores Western High School has a fairly homogenous school population, drawing from the upper lower and middle classes, with a consequent relative homogeneity in academic 129 potential, which facilitated the matching process. The intelligence quotient was taken from the Henmon-Nelson Tests of Mental Ability which is routinely administered to all students and served as the basis for matching on the academic potential.2 4 The mean distribution of groups is given in Table 5. The information is reported in stanines which is the procedure used in the Anaheim Union High School District. TABLE 5 MEAN ACADEMIC POTENTIAL SCORES OF COUNSELING AND CONTROL GROUPS Group Mean Stanine Traditional counseling group ............. 5.7 Controls for traditional group ........... 5.6 Accelerated counseling group ............. 5.7 Controls for accelerated group ........... 5.7 These means of the groups in the study are repre sentative of the school as a whole, where 40.7 per cent of all students fall into stanines five and below and 59.3 per cent fall into stanines six to nine. Referral Categories The types of problems which directed attention of the teachers, counselors or administrators toward the stu dent who might benefit from group counseling are common in ^^Henmon-Nelson, Science Research Associates. 130 most of the schools of our post-war world. The criteria for recommendations only asked for names of students who seemed in need of additional counseling help, beyond that which is routinely given. However, it was requested that the reason for recommendation be given, and, as stated, permission was obtained to inform the student of the reason for the referral. Table 6 summarizes this data. TABLE 6 GROUP COUNSELING REFERRAL CATEGORIES Reason for Referral No. of Students %* Poor citizenship ......... 53 39.5% Poor academic performance • * * 39 29.0% No future goals ......... 22 16.5% Personality problems . . . 20 15.0% Total . . . . 134 100.0% ♦Percentages have been rounded off to equal 100%. Poor Citizenship Category. The poor citizenship category included those students who were included because of acting out behavior in the classroom, fighting, truancy, tardies, failure to bring books and materials to class and a general pattern of misbehavior. It is interesting to compare the percentages selected for group counseling at 131 this school with the percentages of studies which used "Acting-out behavior" as the criteria for membership in groups. Approximately 24 per cent of the reports in Table 2 studied this population, while almost 40 per cent of the students in this study were referred because of acting-out behavior. Of the representative studies earlier summarized in Table 2 approximately 32 per cent attempted to correct underachievement through group counseling, while 24 per cent had as the purpose vocational explora tion . Needless to say, in the present study and in the studies previously summarized there is a great deal of overlap in the problems a student brings to group coun seling, but the most "visible" reason at the high school level seems to be the student who is non-conforming, and thus an annoyance in the classroom. Poor academic performance category. Poor academic performance, which accounted for almost 30 per cent of the referrals used in this study, included those students whose teachers or counselors indicated were doing little or no academic work in the classroom, but also included students who were referred because their academic perform ances were believed to be below expectancy level measured by past records and/or standardized test scores. 132 No future goals category. Those students with no future goals usually included pupils which the counselor identified as needing special counseling help in vocational exploration over and above that given routinely in indi vidual counseling. These students seemed to have no vocational identification or sense of future, or had an aspiration level which the counselor considered unreal istic, either too low or too high. Thus the problem which was to be attacked through the group counseling process was the clarification of self-concept. About 16 per cent of the students selected for group counseling fell in this category. Personality problems category. Personality problems, which accounted for 15.0 per cent of the students selected, were mainly mentioned as symptoms of insecurity, shyness, poor peer relationships and a generally poor self-concept. Assignment to 'Groups No attempt was made to form groups according to the problem categories labeled by the teachers, administrators and counselors who referred the students. The mere label ing of a problem does little to indicate the multiplicity of causes and the interrelatedness of symptoms, as was pointed out in the review of the literature on underachieve ment. The writer felt that all the students had a common problem— that of being an adolescent in a very complicated 133 society, and that each young person faced the developmental task of discovering who he was, that is, clarifying self- identity. The logical extension of this position, of course, would be that every adolescent would benefit from group counseling, if any would. This position may well be tenable. The Group Counseling Procedures Traditional Group Procedures The students who were counseled in the traditional manner met with their counselors in groups of twelve every week for thirteen consecutive weeks during the second and third quarter of the school year 1965-66. Each session was one class period in length and each was tape recorded for later analysis. At the beginning of the first session the counselor reviewed confidentiality, called attention to the tape recorder and reemphasized the points made during the induction interview, namely that this was their group and that they might discuss anything that was of real con cern to them. The counselors refused to take the respon sibility for suggesting topics, merely beginning each meet ing with, "What would you like to talk about today?" The meetings, which began and ended promptly, were held in a small conference room, which contained upholstered chairs arranged around a large walnut table. There were no win dows, and the meetings were rarely interrupted, so privacy 134 was complete. It was deemed especially desirable to avoid using a classroom, and the availability of this extremely private, elegant room established quite a different mind set from that associated with the regular classroom. Accelerated Group Procedures The students who were counseled in the accelerated design met for all class periods during two consecutive school days, followed by one class period session held the week following the intensive interaction. The extra ses sion was to separate testing periods so as to insure a minimum of recall. However only the one follow-up coun seling period was held to maintain the clear-cut dif ferences between the two procedures— the intensive, ac celerated model and the traditional model. In the accelerated format students were free to leave the room between periods, during the nutrition period and during the lunch hour. They reported directly to the counseling room and the attendance officer was notified of their presence. The physical setting was identical with that of the traditional group, and the counselor opened the first day of the intensive interaction with reviews of confidentiality, mentions of the tape recorder, and placing of the responsibility for topics with the counselees. Again, the only stipulation made was that the subjects brought up should be of real concern to the students. The 135 second day was begun with the brief question, "What would you like to talk about today?" Group Membership The traditional counseling group consisted of three sub-groups, with an approximately equal distribution by sexes and grade levels. As stated earlier, some adjustment had to be made because of scheduling problems. One tradi tional sub-group lost two members and the other two tradi tional sub-groups lost a member each during the thirteen week experimental period. Each sub-group was assigned to a different counselor. The same counselors who worked with the traditional groups also worked with the three accelerated sub-groups, which also originally contained twelve members each. Be cause of the brief span of time in which the intensive interaction took place, there was no attrition in the accelerated groups except for one girl who became ill and was out of school the week that her group met. The data of this counselee and of her control were removed before results were analyzed. Among the traditional members the attrition also was unexpectedly light, with only four pairs being lost, three boys and one girl, all of whom moved from the school dis trict. Their data were removed, and not used in the statistical computations. 136 Testing Procedures The pre-testing was conducted in the school cafe teria in groups of twenty or less and were carefully proctored by two counselors. Experimental and control groups were tested together. The tests were administered during the week immediately preceding the first counseling session in the case of the traditional model, and the first all-day session in the case of the accelerated groups. Post testing was completed the week following the final session. Every effort was made to stress the seriousness of the task, and the promise to interpret the tests after the experimental period seemed to provide good motivation and to enlist cooperation. The testing required a little over two and one-half hours. Students were encouraged to answer the questions with care yet not to dawdle. Before a student was dismissed, his test materials were inspected for completeness. Some resistance had been anticipated on the post testing, since alternate forms of the testing instruments were not available and the "surprise" value of the mate rials had been lost. However most of the students were quite gracious and cooperative. A few did complain, but seemed to respond to good-natured "kidding" by the coun selors and the testing task was completed. The experi mental period covered the second and third quarters of the 137 year, and interpretation was made during the fourth and final quarter of the school year. The test instruments used and the scoring procedures are described in detail in the following pages. The Test Instruments The rationale for the selection of the test instru ments in accordance with the purposes of the study have been described in the initial portion of this chapter, but a further elaboration of the individual instruments is indicated. Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values— High School Form-^ I The High School Form of the Index of Adjustment and Values consists of thirty-seven trait words which the stu dent is asked to rate on a five-point scale on a "Self" form and an "Others" form. (A copy of the test is provided for the reader's convenience in the Appendix.) The student is asked to tell three things about him self on the "Self" rating sheet: (1) how he i£ in respect to the trait words, (2) how he feels about being this sort of person, and (3) how he would like to be in respect to the traits. To complete the "Others" form, the subject is asked ^Bills, High School Form, op. cit. 138 to think of other people at his grade level and to fill out the form as he thinks the average member of this group would fill it out for himself. Only the scores for Column II were used from both the "Self" and the "Others" indexes, for there is a high degree of correlation between the discrepancy scores and the acceptance of self scores. Bills recommended in the 26 High School Manual that only this column be scored. Column II scores are the total scores obtained from the middle columns on the "Self" or the "Others" form. Each form was scored separately by adding the ratings in Column II of the appropriate sheet. The self score is a reflection of attitude toward or acceptance of self. The "Others" score reflects the attitudes a student holds towards others. The first trait word, Item "a," was used for purposes of illustration only and was excluded from the total score, which cannot be less than 37 (the score obtained if all items are given a rating of "1") or more than 185 (the score if all 37 items are given a rating of "5") . One of the most meaningful scores from the Index is the categorical score which places a subject in one of four categories: ++, -+, +-, or — . The first of these signs ^Robert E. Bills, Manual for the Index of Adjustment and Values: Elementary, Junior High School and High School Forms (Alabama: University of Alabama, [n.d.]). 139 of each pair designates attitudes toward self and the second sign shows the relationship of "Others" Column II score to the attitude toward self score. Thus a ++ person is one who is more accepting of himself than the average of the standardization population, and who believes that other people in his peer group are at least as accepting of themselves. A -+ person is less accepting of himself than the average of the population on which the Index was standardized and he believes that the average member of his peer group is at least as accepting of himself. A +- person has above-average self acceptance, but he believes that other people are less accepting of themselves. And a — person has below-average self acceptance and believes that other members of his peer group are even less self accepting. The obtaining of the categorical scores rests on the mean self acceptance scores of the standardization population of 1,635 high school pupils. The mean self acceptance score for the High School Index is 142.74. Thus a ++ person as measured by the High School Index has a Column II "Self" score of 143 or more, and an "Others" Column II score equal to or greater than the "Self" score. A -+ person has a "Self" Column II score of 142 or less and an "Others" Column II score equal to or greater than the "Self" score. A +- person on this Index has a "Self" score equal to or greater than the "Self" score. A +- 140 person has a "Self" score equal to or greater than 143 and an "Others" score less than the "Self" score. A — person has a "Self" score of 142 or less, and an "Others" score less than the "Self" score. From least to most desirable, the scores range from — to +- to -+ to ++ as the most desirable. The categorical relationships are expressed numeri cally by means of the following formulae: For ++ the score is "Others" Column II minus "Self" Column II For -+ the score is "Others" Column II minus "Self" Column II For +- the score is "Self" Column II minus "Others" Column II plus 50 For — the score is "Self" Column II minus "Others" Column II plus 50 Bills suggested that these categorical designations and scores were useful in comparing changes in experimental and control groups when the concern is with both the "Self" and the "Others" scores.27 Reliability and Validity Data. Bills reported cor rected split-half reliabilities of the "Self" form of the High School Index for Column II as follows: Column II: Grades 9, 10, 11 Grade 12 Grade 9 (N=35) .94 (N=36) .93 (N=50) .92 27ibid., p. 9, and Bills, Manual for Adult and High School Senior Forms, op. cit., p. 13. 141 Grade 10 <N=50) .90 Grade 11 (N=50) .88 Grades 9, 10, 11 (N=150) .90 Grades 9, 10, 11 (N=148) .7628 The corrected split-half reliabilities of the "Others" form of the High School Index was reported: Column II: Grade 9 (N=30) .96 Grade 10 (N=50) .96 Grades 9, 10 (N=100) .96 Grades 9, 10, 11 (N=99) .8829 Bills obtained word lists by visiting public school classrooms and asked 850 pupils in grades one through eleven to respond to questions about themselves. From this list of words, the trait words were selected for the Index. Thus the content validity is demonstrated through using words students used to describe themselves and other people.30 Murphy and Murphy studied the behavior of children in social situations and concluded that the use of traits are an excellent way to tape attitudinal dimensions. They wrote, "Traits have to be defined not as response elements, 29Bills, Manual for Elementary, Junior and High School Senior Forms, op. cit., p. 13. 29ibid. ^Ibid., p. 6. 142 but as aspects of responses of whole organisms to whole situations."31 In discussing concurrent validity of the instrument, Bills pointed out that to be valid, measures of self and others must tap different dimensions. Although attitude toward self and attitude toward others are normally correlated, the low correlations between the two measures demonstrate that the forms are, in a large part, inde pendent measures. Bills reported correlations of .50 for Grade 10, and .46 for Grade 11 between the "Self" and "Others" of Column II. In the normative data Bills tabu lated a mean of 142.74 for Column II on the "Self" form of the High School Index, with a standard deviation of 21.40 and a mean of 144.26, standard deviation 20.62 on Column II, "Others" form of the Index.32 Other writers have reported relevant data on the Bills' Index. Korner, et. al., studied Bills' self-accep tance score and the adjustment score relative to figure drawings and concluded that the adjustment rating was not significantly related to other variables. Thus the adjust ment score and the self-acceptance scores were seen as 3^Lois B. Murphy and Gardner Murphy, "The Influence of Social Situations upon the Behavior of Children, A Handbook of Social Psychology, Ed. Carl Murchison (Worchester: Clark University Press, 1935), p. 1093. 32bH 1 s, Manual for Elementary, Junior and High School Forms, op. cit., p. 15. 143 measuring different aspects of behavior.33 This research supported Bills’ position that the "Self" and "Others" measures do tap different dimensions.3^ In the same vein, Mitchell factor analyzed the Bills' Index and found that the college scale yielded six or seven separate factors which were clearly identifi able.3^ Fiedler, et. al., also found that adjustment could not be considered as a unitary trait when they studied the intercorrelations among measures of person ality adjustment.36 However, Crowne, Stephens, and Kelly found no exceptions to the relationship of self-acceptance and social desirability.37 33Ija N. Korner, et. al., "Some Measures of Self- Acceptance, " Journal of Clinical Psychology, XIX (January, 1965), 131-32. 3^Bills, Manual for Elementary, Junior and High School Forms, op. cit. 3^James V. Mitchell, "Analysis of the Factorial Dimensions of the Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values,” Journal of Social Psychology, LVIII (December, 1962), 331-37. 36pred Fiedler, et. al., "Interrelations Among Measures of Personality Adjustment in Non-clinical Populations," Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, LVI (May, 1958), 351. 37Douglas P. Crowne, Mark W. Stephens, and Richard Kelly, "The Validity and Equivalence of Tests of Self- Acceptance, " Journal of Psychology, LI (January, 1961), 110. Problem of Social Desirability. The problem of social desirability is always pervasive in any self-report measure, but it is little understood. Strong found, for instance, that various measures of the self-concept were influenced differently by social desirability,3® even though, as Cowen and Tongas demonstrated, the self-concept and the ideal self correlated with social desirability.39 However, there is evidence that the reports a subject places on paper correspond highly to what the person says about himself in an interview. Bills found a rho .85 significant at the .01 level when he scored verbatim a transcript of recorded thirty-minute interviews of thirteen people.4° This may not hold true for children, however, for Combs attempted to find the relationship between in ferred self-concepts from observation of children's behav ior and their self-reports and found no significant 38d . J. Strong, "A Factor Analytic Study of Several Measures of Self-Acceptance,” Journal of Counseling Psy chology;, IX, No. 9 (1962), 70. ^^Emory L. Cowen and Phoebus Tongas, "The Social Desirability of Trait Descriptive Terms," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XXIII, No. 4 (1959), 361-65. ^Robert E. Bills, "Acceptance of Self as Measured by Interviews and the Index of Adjustment and Values," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XVIII, No. 1 (1954) , 22. 145 relationship between the inferred self-concepts and the self-reports. Problem of Emotionality. Even though social de sirability is a problem in self-report measures which, to date, has not been solved, there is evidence that emotion ality influences the ratings on measures of self-accep tance. Bills found that changes in ratings of self from test to re-test were not accompanied by changes in emo tionality, which adds to reliability data, but differing degrees of emotionality can be measured validly by the Index.42 The relevance of emotionality to validity is based on the assumption that emotionality is involved in those traits in which there is a discrepancy between the concept of self and the concept of the ideal self, and this discrepancy is defined as personal maladjustment. Roberts tested the validity of the Bills' Index by using a reaction time in a free association test and found that reaction time was significantly longer for trait words on which the subjects indicated discrepancies between the concept of 4lArthur Combs, D. W. Soper and C. C. Courson, "The Measurement of Self-concept and Self-report," Educational and Psychological Measurement, XXIII, No. 3 (1963) , 494-97. ^^Robert E. Bills, "A Validation of Changes in Scores on the Index of Adjustment and Values as Measures of Changes in Emotionality," Journal of Consulting Psy chology, XVII, No. 2 (1953), 137. 146 self and the concept of the ideal self. He also found a significantly longer reaction time on words in which the subject disclosed a rejection of self.^ Cowen, et. al., supported these findings when analyzing the Index in its validity for groups with dif fering degrees of anxiety. These workers found that on the self-concept scores, the high anxiety (i.e. high emotionality) groups had less well-adjusted scores than did the low-anxiety groups. This did not hold true for mea sures of the ideal self in this study. Cowen, et. al., also worked with college freshmen and, using the Index, again found evidence to support the assumption that self-rating discrepancies are an indication of conflict.45 That the Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values has been well-researched is evident, and, although it suffers from the problems which beset all self-report and self- concept measures, the Index is convenient to use, and easy 43g . E. Roberts, "A Study of the Validity of the Index of Adjustment and Values," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XVI (1952), 302-304. ^Emory Cowen, et. al., "The Correlates of Manifest Anxiety in Perceptual Reactivity, Rigidity and Self-Con cept," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XXI, No. 5 (1957), 409. ^Emory l . Cowen, F. Heilizer, and H. S. Axelrod, "Self-concept Conflict and Learning," Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, LI (July, 1955), 245. 147 to score. In the High School Form only positive trait adjectives are used, thus eliminating negative approaches to self. The fact that Bills' Index is one of the rare self-concept measures which provided data from a norming population was, in itself, a strong recommendation for its use. The Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank— High School Form^b It was deemed desirable to use one semi-projective instrument in the study which would allow more freedom of response than the other measuring devices selected and for which the "good" or "bad" answers were not apparent even to the most sophisticated test taker— thus minimizing the socially-desirable, stereotyped response. At the same time, an instrument which could be scored objectively was essential. The Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank is such an instrument, and, although it is time-consuming to score, it offered a wide latitude of available responses. The Incomplete Sentences Blank consists of forty sentence stems which the student was asked to complete, expressing his real feelings. Thus it was an effective, almost direct measure, of the amount of tension and hos tility present in a subject. A copy of the form is pro vided in the Appendix for the reader's convenience. 46Rotter and Rafferty, op. cit. 148 Rotter has adapted the College Form for high school students by changing six sentence stems, and has used the scoring standards of the college manual. He pointed out that, although no separate research data are provided, the stem modifications of the new form are very slight, and he believes that the scoring principles and the present scor ing manual should be applicable. There are separate scor ing standards for males and females, although for both a numerical score from "0" to "6" is assigned to each sentence, according to the degree of conflict, positive, or neutral content of the response. A total overall score is obtained by adding the scores for the forty sentences. Rotter suggested that a cutting score of 135 provided an efficient separation of adjusted from maladjusted stu dents. ^ Theoretically, scores can range from 0 to 240; practically, they have been found to range from around 70 to 200 with scores of 110 to 150 being the most common.^® Reliability and Validity Data. To determine relia bility, the items on the Incomplete Sentences Blank were divided into halves, and yielded a corrected split-half reliability of .84 for males and .83 for females. The test 47julian B. Rotter and Janet E. Rafferty, Manual for The Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank: College Form (New York: The Psychological Corporation, 1950), p. 10. 48ibid., p. 7. 149 was validated on groups of subjects which did not include any of the cases used in developing the scoring principles or manuals. Scoring of the blanks was done "blindly" and validity data which were obtained for the sexes separately, included 82 females and 124 males classified as either adjusted or maladjusted. The biserial correlations co efficient between the classification of adjusted and mal adjusted and the Incomplete Sentences Blank scores is .50 for females and .62 for males, using a cutting score of 135.49 Rotter, Rafferty and Schachtitz published informa tion in the Journal of Consulting Psychology stating that by using a cutting score of 135 the test correctly identi fies 68 per cent of maladjusted females and 80 per cent of adjusted females, while for males 69 per cent of the mal adjusted and 89 per cent of the adjusted are correctly identified. They also found that avoidance answers were obtained from both the well-adjusted and the maladjusted testees.*9 Witson worked with the sentence completion test in trying to differentiate between adjusted and maladjusted 49Ibid. ^Julian B. Rotter, Janet Rafferty and Eva Schachtitz, "Validation of the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank for College Screening," Journal of Consulting Psy chology, XIII (October, 1949), 348-56. 150 high school pupils and felt that this device was a valuable aid in understanding adolescents, and useful in screening the maladjusted pupils who were in need of special help, or for identifying potentially well-adjusted leaders.51 Kimball analyzed the sentence completion technique in a study of scholastic underachievement and found it applicable to groups of school children above the third or fourth grade level. She felt that the test was flexible, easily administered and provided information not obtainable in other ways. She found a consistent evidence of aggres sive feelings on the incomplete sentence form in students who were making poor school adjustment.52 Although scoring is slow, it is more reliable than the test itself. Arnold and Walter found a reliability coefficient of .82 between two administrations of the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank when the test was given one week apart. The test scoring reliability was also 51-Isabell Witson, "The Use of a Sentence Completion Test in Differentiating between Well Adjusted and Malad justed Secondary School Pupils," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XIII (December, 1949), 400-402. ^Barbara Kimball, "The Sentence Completion Tech nique in a Study of Scholastic Underachievement," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XVI, No. 6 (1952), 353-58. 151 examined and, after being rescored four weeks later, a coefficient of .97 was r e p o r t e d . 53 Rotter and Willerman reported a little higher test reliability of .85 and a validity coefficient for pre dicting severity of disturbance at .61.54 Stephens wondered if some of the retest reliability variance which Rotter reported might be due to changes in the adjustment of subjects over a six month interval. He found this to be a tenable hypothesis and suggested that the reliability of the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank was higher than Rotter reported.55 The High School Form has been studied apart from the older form, by Rotter, Rafferty and Lotsof. They reported a cross validation study involving 400 high school students with equal representation from all four year levels. They administered a sociometric test and used this for calcu lating correlation scores. They found, again, that a cutting score of 135 correctly identified 78 per cent of 53prank c. Arnold and Verne A. Walter, "The Rela tionship between a Self and Other Reference Sentence Completion Test," Journal of Counseling Psychology, IV (Spring, 1957), 65-70. 54Julian B. Rotter and Benjamin Willerman, "The Incomplete Sentences Test as a Method of Studying Person ality," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XI (January- February"J 1947) , 43-48. 55Mark W. Stephens, "The Incomplete Sentences Blank; Sources of Variance in Retest Reliability," Journal of Clinical Psychology, XVI (July, 1960) , 333. 152 the normals and 85 per cent of the maladjusted students. They reported an inter-scorer reliability of .96 and assessed reliability of the test by setting up equivalent halves with a resulting reliability coefficient of .74 for boys and .86 for girls.56 The Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank was reviewed in the Fourth Mental Measurements Yearbook by Cofer, who reported that the test was useful as a gross screening instrument to detect maladjustment. ^" 7 Schofield, in the same reference, found the test to be "An excellent model for the conservative, objective standardization of instruments of this kind,"58 while Woltmann "warmly recommended to clinical psychologists and also psychiatrists and analysts who want to gain informa tion about their patients in a minimum of time” that they use the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank.59 56Julian B. Rotter, Janet E. Rafferty and Antionette B, Lotsof, "The Validity of the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank: High School Form," Journal of Consulting Psychology XVIII (1954), 105-111. c n 3'Charles N. Cofer, reviewing The Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank in the Fourth Mental Measurements Yearbook, Ed. Oscar Buros (Highland Park: Gryphon Press, 1953) pp. 130-31. 58William Schofield, Ibid., p. 131. 5^Adolph G. Woltmann, Ibid. 153 The test is easy to administer both individually and to a group, and the adolescents who were tested in this study seemed to find satisfactions in completing the form, demonstrating little or no resistance to the task. In the post testing, where the instrument was familiar to the students, the general response was an expressed delight once again to have a chance to "say what I really think." The Webb-Harris Word Meaning .Test— A Semantic Differential Technique^ The semantic differential technique is a systematic attempt to subject meaning to quantitative measurement. It is essentially a combination of controlled association and scaling procedures where the subject is provided with a concept to be differentiated and a set of bipolar adjec tival scales against which to do it. His task is to indi cate for each item the direction of his association and its intensity on the scale.61 By factor analysis three clearly identifiable factors have been identified: evaluative, potency and activity. In human judgment the evaluative factor accounts for approximately one-half to three-quarters of the ex- tractable variance, while the potency factor accounts for 60webb and Harris, op. cit. ^Charles E. Osgood, George J. Suci and Percy H. Tannenbaum, The Measurement of Meaning (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1957), pp. 1-72. 154 approximately one-half as much variance as does the evalu ative factor. The activity factor is only a little smaller than the potency factor. The evaluative factor concerns meaning variables in human thinking, primarily based on rewards and punishments; the potency factor is concerned with power and the things associated with it— size, weight, toughness and the like. The activity factor is concerned with quickness, excite ment, warmth, agitation. Osgood, who pioneered in the measurement of meaning, found that "the regularity with which this factorial picture repeats itself is impres sive. "62 The semantic differential is not a "test" with a definite set of items and a specific score, but a technique of measurement dealing with the multidimensionality of semantic space. The concepts and the bipolar adjectives are chosen in accordance with research needs. For the purposes of this research the Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test was chosen as the semantic differential instrument, as it was designed for use with school age populations and for use in a school s e t t i n g . 63 62ibid., p. 73. 63a.llen p. Webb and John Eikenberry, "A Group Coun seling Approach to the Acting-Out Preadolescent," Psy chology in the Schools, I (October, 1964), 397. 155 The Webb-Harris semantic differential instrument consists of twenty-two concepts measured by twelve scales related to the three major factors of evaluation, potency, and activity. The evaluation factor is measured by the scales: kind-cruel, true-false, wise-foolish and ugly- beautiful. The potency factor is measured by the scales: hard-soft, strong-weak, light-heavy, and small-large. The activity factor is measured by the scales: passive-active, calm-excitable, moving-still and fast-slow. The test contains an identification index which is obtained from the assessment of the similarity of meaning between a subject ("Me") and a model (i.e. "Father" or "Mother," etcetera). An ego identification assessment is provided by seven of the twenty-two concepts: "Me," "Me in the Future," "Father," "Mother," "Family," "School," and "Rules."64 The socialization concepts: "Family," "Adults," "School," "Teachers," "Reading," "Being Successful," "Obey ing the Rules" and "People Who Make Me Behave," are de signed to show the degrees of acceptance of social obliga tions and limits and meanings of social participation. The concepts of affect: "Love," "Fear," "Guilt," "Hate," and "Fighting," are used to measure a subject's 64Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test Score Profile (unpublished dittoed materials) (Pasadena: Pasadena City Schools, 1966), p. 1. 156 ability to accept these basic emotions as part of his self- concept.^^ The Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test is printed on programmed cards which are electronically scored. Each concept is placed on a separate card, with the adjectives divided into a six-scale continuum, eliminating the neutral position. A sample of the directions given with the test and the instrument itself is located in the Appendix. A summary of the concepts and the bipolar adjectives are presented in Table 7. Differences on the concept "Me" and each of the other concepts are assessed by means of the generalized distance formula D = d2. The smaller the "D" score, the greater the congruency of concepts. For example, if on the pre-test a subject had a score of 56.14 between the concept "Me" and "Mother" and on the post-test had a score of 45.13, more identification would have occurred between the subject's perception of himself and his concept of "Mother." The authors of the Webb-Harris Test have found it more efficient not to extract the square root in handling the data, as Osgood and Suci recommended.66 Rather, the 65ibid. E. Osgood and G. J. Suci, "A Measure of Rela tion Determined by Both Mean Differences and Profile In formation," Psychological Bulletin, XLIX (1952), 251-62. 157 TABLE 7 WEBB-HARRIS WORD MEANING TEST Concepts 1. School 12. Fighting 2. Reading 13. Me in the future 3. Being successful 14. Girl 4. Teachers 15. Boy 5. Obeying the rules 16. Sister 6. People who make me behave 17. Brother 7. Adults 18. Mother 8. Me 19. Father 9. Fear 20. Family 10. Guilt 21. Love 11. Hate 22. How I would most like to be Scales Kind Hard_ Passive Strong_ Calm True Light_ Wise Moving_ ugly. Small_ Past _Cruel Soft Active Weak Excitable False _Heavy JFoolish Still Beautiful _Large Slow 158 "D" score is the sum of the differences on the total "Me" concept card and the sum of the differences on the total card of the other concepts, scored separately.^7 Validity and Reliability. The Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test is still in the process of being refined, and, as yet, no manual has been published providing normative data. There are, however, relevant studies which consider the semantic differential technique. The elimination of the neutral position in the Webb- Harris format is believed by the authors not to impair the validity of the original technique and doing so does create a forced-choice situation. Green and Golfried analyzed the bipolarity of semantic space and apparently they would agree with the Webb-Harris procedure. They stated: It should be noted that though they (Osgood, et. al.) propose a thoery in which opposite pairs are reciprocally antagonistic, they really allow the sub ject to make a response through which he can try to indicate that he believes both sides of the scale are appropriate for his response to the concept. Ratings which reflect this tendency are assigned to the middle category, i.e. the "4" ratings. Unfortunately, a rating in the "4" category can also indicate that the subject considers the concept to be neutral on the scale or that he feels the scale is completely irrele vant to the concept being rated. Unless the subject is asked to indicate which of the three reasons his ^Allen P. Webb, personal communication, June, 1966. 159 particular "4" rating reflects . . - the meaning of a rating in this category is ambiguous.68 The selection of the concepts for a semantic dif ferential is done usually on the basis of "good judgment" on the part of the examiner according to Osgood, et. al.89 The selection of the adjectives is on the basis of their factorial composition, according to the loading on a par ticular factor, i.e. evaluative, potency or activity. Another criterion in scale selection usually is relevancy to the concepts being judged, although subtly-related scales often are selected which are relevant only via metaphor in order to obtain more valid data. Heise attempted to provide a resource of semantic profiles for 1,000 of the most frequent English words for the purposes of use in semantic differential methodology, and this dictionary provided some information on the ad jectives selected by Webb and Harris. Heise found that "beautiful," which is used as an evaluative factor in the Word Meaning Test, had a mean of .81 on evaluative factor, 0.34 on activity and -2.83 on potency. The adjective "Kind" has a mean of .59 on evaluative, "hard" 3.97 on potency and "soft" -1.35 on potency. "Strong" has a mean ' — — 68Russell F. Green and Marvin R. Golfried, "On the Bipolarity of Semantic Space," Psychological Monographs; General and Applied, LXXIX, No. 6 (1965) , 2 ~ . 690sgood, et. al., op. cit., p. 77. 160 of 2.21 on potency, "heavy" a mean of 1.85, "small" 0.76, and "large" .93. "Fast" has a mean of 1.65 on activity, while its opposite— "slow" has a mean of -2.09. In general, Heise' dictionary substantiates the means on evaluative, activity and potency which Webb and Harris selected as scales to represent these dimensions.^ Jenkins, Russell and Suci also formulated an Atlas of Semantic Profiles in which they reported the factorial loadings on 360 words. Their findings differed somewhat from Heise's data, but there was general agreement. Those scales reported by the Atlas which are used on the Webb- Harris Test are tabulated on the following page. These authors reported a test-retest reliability of .97 on the semantic differential, although the reliability of individual's scores was somewhat lower. They correlated mean scores and median scores and found a coefficient of .97; therefore, suggest the use of mean scores is the more 71 efficient procedure. Norman, too, found that the group means on the semantic differential had a test-retest reliability of .97, but that the individual scores were not too stable. He ^David R. Heise, "Semantic Differential Profiles for 1,000 Most Frequent English Words," Psychological Monographs; General and Applied, LXXIX, No. 8 (1965), 16. 71james J. Jenkins, Wallace A. Russell and George J. Suci, "An Atlas of Semantic Profiles for 360 Words," American Journal of Psychology. LXXI (December, 1958), 691-93. 161 TABLE 8 FACTORIAL LOADINGS ON SELECTED SEMANTIC PROFILES* Scale Evaluative Potency Activity Kind . . . .52 -.28 .00 Beautiful . . ugly .52 -.29 -.02 True . . . .50 .03 .01 Wise . . . . foolish .57 .06 .11 Hard . . . -.24 .97 .00 Strong . . . weak .30 .40 .10 Active . . . passive .17 .12 .98 Excitable . . calm -.15 .03 .26 Fast . . . .01 .26 .35 *Jenkins, Russell and Suci, American Journal of Psycho logy, LXXI (December, 1958), pp. 691-93. 162 concluded, "Group mean loadings, therefore, show very high stability over time in the absence of any systematic treat ment."^ He found that there was little sex difference in variability and that the most consistent scale was "beauti ful-ugly" which has a high loading on the evaluative factor.73 Miron suggested that memory might account for Osgood's high test-retest correlations, which were sub stantiated in the above studies. He used four groups of undergraduate psychology students, instructing one group to mark the semantic differential rapidly and on the retest to try to duplicate the original markings. Another group was instructed to mark slowly and carefully and to try to recall and duplicate markings from the first test. The third and fourth groups were instructed to try not to recall, with one group being told to mark rapidly and the other group told to mark slowly and carefully. The retest followed immediately after the first test with all corre lations uniformly high— from .99 to .85. There was a trend favoring the instructions to mark rapidly, although this did not reach a statistical level of significance. Miron felt that these results indicated that memory did not 72Warren T. Norman, "Stability Characteristics of the Semantic Differential," American Journal of Psychology, LXXII (December, 1959), 584. 73Ibid., pp. 583-84. 163 necessarily account for the high reliability correlations. However, he recognized that the close time proximity of the two tests created an artificial situation, and he also pointed out that instructing subjects not to recall did not eliminate the possibility that the instructions in them selves created an extraordinary mind set to recall.^ Rosenthal found, like Norman, that the evaluative factor was by far the most significant factor, which sub stantiated Osgood’s findings that the highest loadings were on this f a c t o r . ^ 5 Smith, too, found that the evaluative factor was the most significant and also felt that this was the domain implied by most writers when they referred to the self- concept. If this is the case, the evaluative dimensions on the Webb-Harris Test could be used to provide a measure of self-concept. ^Murray S. Miron, "The Influence of Instruction Modification upon Test-Retest Reliabilities of the Semantic Differential," Educational and Psychological Measurement, XXI {Winter, 1961), 883-93. 7^0scar a. Rosenthal, "A Semantic Differential Investigation of Critical Factors Related to Achievement and Underachievement of High School Students" (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Southern California, June, 1965), p. 305. 7^Philip A. Smith, "A Factor Analytic Study of the Self-Concept," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XXIV, No. 2 (1960) , 19T. 164 Engler found that the changes of potency meanings and activity meanings were significantly related to esti mated changes in self-concepts after therapy, but he, too, found the evaluative factor most sensitive to change.77 Osgood indicated also that the evaluative factor had the highest reliability among the factors identified. He reported a study on the semantic differential which used different time intervals between retests, using only a single concept. The concept selected was "Paper Clip" which Osgood felt was a stable concept semantically. The time intervals were three, six, twelve, twenty and thirty minutes, one day, one week and three weeks. The three general factors— evaluative, potency and activity— were measured, and it was found that the average error of measurement was no more than one scale unit.78 In reporting validity Osgood wrote that ideally the semantic differential scores should correlate with some independent criterion of meaning to establish validity, but that there is no commonly accepted quantitative cri terion of meaning. Therefore, he used "face validity.” To do this he asked subjects who had used the instrument if their discriminations made with the semantic differential ^^Norman S. Endler, "Changes in Meaning during Psychotherapy as Measured by the Semantic Differential," Journal of Counseling Psychology, XIII (Summer, 1961), 110. 780sgood, op. cit., pp. 133-34. 165 corresponded with judgments made without the aid of the instrument. Osgood, et. al., reported, Throughout our work with the semantic differential, we have found no reasons to question the validity of the instrument on the basis of its correspondence with the results to be expected from common sense. Although the above studies indicated that the Webb- Harris semantic differential is tangentially supported by research data, the designers of the Word Meaning Test have not, as yet, published a manual for their instrument. This limited the usefulness of the device. Also this particular semantic differential was expensive as compared with the cost of the usual psychometric instrument, both because of the purchase price of the tests themselves and because of the high cost of the electronic scoring service. On the other hand, the attractive format and the efficiency of administration were assets which recommended this particu lar semantic differential instrument. A sample card of the instrument is provided in the Appendix for the convenience of the reader. The Tyler Vocational Choice Cards" The Tyler Vocational Choice Cards consist of a set 79Ibid.. p. 141. "Leona E. Tyler and Norman D. Sundberg, "Factors Affecting Career Choices of Adolescents," unpublished Cooperative Research Project No. 2455 (Eugene: University of Oregon, 1964), pp. 27-28. 166 of fifty cards on which are printed fifty representative occupations. Tyler selected these particular occupations by tabulating the frequency with which the occupations were listed on a questionnaire which she used in working with American and Dutch adolescents. The vocational choice items which Tyler included were selected from among those listed by at least 10 per cent of the groups. Tyler instructed the students to separate the cards into three piles, one which he "Would Choose," one which he "Would Not Choose," and one for which he had "No Opin ion." The words "like" and "dislike" were avoided because Tyler wanted the subjects to make choices or rejections on any bases they wished. Tyler placed no limitation on the number of choices which the students could place in any one pile.81 The Tyler Cards were designed to be used primarily in individual counseling for vocational exploration, and, when used in this way, serve as a springboard for the clarification of concepts and attitudes concerning occu pations. When the cards are used in a group situation, individual analysis for statistical purposes is not pos sible; therefore, the vocational choices selected by the students in this study were tallied according to number of 8lLeona E. Tyler, "Research Explorations in the Realm of Choice," Journal of Counseling Psychology, VIII (Fall, 1961), 195. 167 choices and a comparison made of the numerical changes which occurred between pretest and posttest scores. It seemed tenable logic that, if the student gained in self- knowledge as a result of the group counseling process, he should be able to focus his vocational choices in the direction of fewer tentative choices, which he considered appropriate for him. The Vocational Choice Cards also were designated in this study by a minimum academic potential stanine which would be necessary to predict with a reasonable degree of probability success in a given occupation. Baer and Roeber's general grouping of occupations was used as the basis for the designated minimum-ability stanines.®^ This designation was not on the cards which were given to the students, of course, but were recorded after the selections were completed. The pre and post test means of the minimum stanines were calculated for each subject's choices, and then compared with his academic potential stanine. If the difference between his pre-test occupational mean selection was closer to his tested academic potential than his post test occupational mean selection he had a minus score for the difference. If his pre-test occupational mean selec tion diverged more from his academic potential than did S^Max F. Baer and Edward C. Roeber, Occupational Information: The Dynamics of Its Nature and Use (Chicago: Science Research Associates, 1964), pp. 190-200. 168 his post-test occupational mean selection, he would have a plus score for the difference. A move in the direction of more congruency between the mean of his occupational choices and his academic potential was considered as a change in the direction of more realism in vocational choices. Validity and Reliability of the Tyler Vocational Choice Cards. Although the Tyler Vocational Choice Cards are, like the Webb-Harris instrument, in the experimental stage, Tyler has published some statistical analyses. In attempting to assess the stability of the responses over time, she retested a group of students in a general psy chology class of about 150 members after a three months' period. The test-retest correlations were tabled for "Negative," "Positive," and "No Opinion" items and ran .69, .81 and .64 respectively. As Tyler commented, "While these figures are somewhat lower than we expect from well- designed mental tests, they are high enough to demonstrate that something other than chance is at work.1183 Tyler also studied the stability for the general categories: "Negative," "Positive," and "No Opinion" on two occasions. The percentages of occupations placed in the same categories were 83 per cent for negative choices, O Q 0- : > Tyler, Journal of Counseling Psychology, VIII (Pall, 1961), p. 197. 169 74 per cent for positive choices and 31 per cent for no opinion choices. Thus the only change of any significance occurred in the "No Opinion" c a t e g o r y . 8 ^ Tyler recognized that validity of the choice items was, of course, of paramount importance, but analyses are limited to date. She did find that choice behavior could not be predicted by having information about a student's selection of a major in college. Tyler found no trend of any sort in this a r e a . 8 ^ Tyler was mainly interested in the individual component which differentiated subjects, and in attempting to get at this dimension, she had each of thirty-six high school counselors attempt to identify his own descriptions taken from his protocol and the descriptions of others in the counselor group, all of whom were working closely together in a summer training institute. Of the thirty- four persons who responded, thirty-two or 94 per cent recognized his own sketch. The average proportion of cor rect recognition of other group members was 28 per cent in one of the four groups, 31 per cent in two of the four groups, and 32 per cent in the fourth group, the differ ences of which were significant at the .01 level of confi dence .26 84Ibid., pp. 197-99. 86Ibid., p. 200. 25ibid., p. 199. 170 The Tyler Vocational Choice Cards provide an easily administered measure of vocational choice. Used in an individual situation, it is an excellent tool for voca tional counseling. When used as a criterion to measure the effectiveness of group counseling in this study, analysis was restricted to the numerical changes reflecting the congruency of occupational choices and academic poten tial. However, in the follow-up conferences when the tests were discussed with the students, the vocational choices were explored on an individual basis. Teachers' Grades The grading period in the Anaheim Union High School District is reported on a basis of four quarters. A report of progress is sent home at the end of each nine-week period, with grades being given on academic progress, citizenship and effort. Academic Grades. Each subject in which a student is enrolled is graded by the teacher on the basis of letter grades of "A," "B," "C," "D" and "F," with "A” being excel lent and "F" indicating failure. The usual class load for the students is six subjects; therefore, the grade point average represents the progress the students have made in all six subjects, which includes physical education. The grades are issued at the end of the first and third quarter and again at the end of each semester. Only the first and 171 third quarter grades or the two semester grades are com parable, as the semester grades reflect the entire eighteen week's work and no second and fourth quarter grades are issued. The grades of the subjects were averaged on a point basis of "A" being given four points, "B" three points, "C" two points, "D” one point and "F" zero points. Citizenship Grades. Citizenship grades are issued at the same time as academic grades and reflect the be havior of the student in the classroom. The philosophy of the district is that all students begin the semester with an outstanding grade of "1" or excellent. The student is graded on a basis of 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 and these six grades were averaged for each student at the end of the first quarter for the pre-counseling score and again at the end of the third quarter for the post-counseling score. Effort Grades. Effort grades are issued on the same basis as citizenship grades (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5), with a grade of "1" being the highest grade possible. However, it is not assumed that all students begin the semester with outstanding effort grades. Usually the basis for this grade is the amount of homework turned in, attendance record, punctuality, bringing materials to class and class participation. As was done with citizenship grades, the 172 first quarter and the third quarter grades were used to compute the gain scores of each matched pair. Statistical Procedures The Basic Design The basic design of the study was Campbell and Stanley's Design Number 4, which they titled the "Pretest- Posttest Control Group Design," and which takes this form: R Oi X 02 R O3 O4 This design controls for history in that the sub jects and their controls were pre and post tested at the same time. Maturation and testing are controlled in that they should be operating equally in the experimental and control groups. Instrumentation is controlled by students' responses to the fixed instruments of the printed tests which were given to both experimental subjects and their controls, under the same conditions. Campbell and Stanley advised that in Design 4 matching was a useful adjunct to randomization, although not a substitute for it, recom mending that the total population be organized into care fully matched pairs of subjects, then members of these pairs assigned at random to the experimental or the control conditions. This was the procedure followed in this study, matching being done on the basis of academic potential, grade point average, sex, grade level and type of problem. 173 Thus regression is controlled as far as mean differences are concerned. Mortality, which was very slight, was not a factor in this study. When an experimental subject was lost, his control's data were also removed from the design. Every effort was made to insure that the sample population was representative of students believed by a review of the literature to be typically selected for group counseling in the high school setting, thereby extending generalizability or external validity, although the fact that, logically, we can never really generalize beyond the limits of a sample population was certainly recognized. ' Tests of significance. Campbell and Stanley recommended that for this design the most widely used acceptable test is to compute for each group pretest- posttest gain scores and to compute a "t" ratio between experimental and control groups on these gain scores.®® Accordingly, the differences were calculated for each subject, then the differences between matched pairs were computed. The statistical formula was: S^Donald t . Campbell and Julian C. Stanley, "Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research on Teaching," in Handbook of Research on Teaching, Ed. N. L. Gage (New York: Rand McNally & Co., American Educa tional Research Association, 1963), pp. 192-94, 219. 88Ibid., p. 193. 174 Guilford, in discussing matched pairs, "strongly recommends that this direct method be used whenever it could be con veniently applied."89 Changes in meanings on the Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test assigned to concepts before and after counseling in the case of the experimental subjects and before and after the experimental period in the case of the control subjects were assessed by means of the generalized distance formula D = d^, recommended by Osgood and S u c i . 9 0 in this formula d represented the difference between a subject's scale ratings on two concepts which were being compared (i.e., "Me" with "Mother"). Thus, the distance score, "D," between "Me" and any of the concepts served as an inverse index of identification with the smaller "D" value indi cating the greater identification. Changes in "D" values over time (pre and posttests) served as measures of changes in identification.91 The data were processed by the Statistical Tabulating Corporation in Los Angeles. The "t" ratio was used to assess the significance of the O Q J. P. Guilford, Fundamental Statistics in Psycho logy and Education (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1956) , p. 220. E. Osgood and G. J. Suci, op. cit., pp. 251-262. 91webb and Harris, Personnel and Guidance Journal, op. cit., p. 261. 175 differences between the pretest and posttest scores, as outlined above. To test the significance of the difference between the amount of time spent on themes in the content of group counseling tape recordings, the test for the significance of the difference between percentages was used: Data were processed at the Health Sciences Computing Facility, University of California at Los Angeles. Summary The chapter on the presentation of the research design has delineated the background against which the study was conducted. The group counseling goals were recapitulated, followed by the development of the opera tional hypotheses. The sample of the study, the design of the research, the group counseling procedures and the test instruments were discussed in detail. The statistical procedures used to analyze the data were reported in the final pages of Chapter III. Chapter IV contains the findings of the research, while the final chapter will present the Summary and Con clusions. A Bibliography and Appendix complete the report. CHAPTER IV FINDINGS OF THE STUDY The preceding chapter presenting the research design outlined the hypotheses in operational form. The major set of hypotheses were concerned with measuring the effective ness of group counseling as it relates to the goals of guidance in education. Two differing format approaches were compared in the design. The question of self-concept change as a function of time and experience was raised and the problem of determining the differing amounts of time spent on the content of group counseling on any given topic was discussed. The instruments used in the study were described in detail, followed by a review of the statistical procedures used to handle the data. The present chapter will be concerned with the find ings of the study. The Goals of Group Counseling The first major hypotheses questioned the effective ness of group counseling in reaching the goals of guidance in education, and was stated in thirteen minor hypotheses, grouped under the group counseling goals of cognitive 176 177 knowledge, behavioral change, self evaluation, decision making, realistic goals, conative knowledge, socialization and self valuation. These thirteen minor hypotheses under the major category of educational goals will be restated individually and the relevant findings reported. Cognitive Knowledge Hypothesis 1: There will be a significant reduction in tensions and hostilities in students who are group counseled, either by the traditional method or by the accelerated method. Findings. The Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank, a semi-projective technique, was used to measure this hypo thesis, and both the traditional and the accelerated group were statistically significant from their controls at the .001 level of confidence. The "t" ratios with the means and standard deviations of the test scores are presented in Table 9. Hypothesis 2: There will be a significant improve ment in grade point averages of students who are group counseled, using either method. Findings. The grade point averages of the coun- selees were recorded at the end of the first quarter as the pretest score and at the end of the third quarter as the TABLE 9 RESULTS OF THE ROTTER INCOMPLETE SENTENCES BLANK SCORES Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations 1 1 ^ .1 1 Ratios Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 140.03 23.85 117.71 17.91 Traditional Controls 135.65 19.35 135.18 16.80 3.85 .001 Accelerated Counseled 145.60 24.91 125.14 17.76 Accelerated Controls 129.82 18.84 127.97 16.36 4.27 .001 178 179 posttest score. The matched pairs formula, with the resultant "t" ratios, found the traditionally counseled group showing statistically significant improvement at the .01 level of confidence, using a one-tailed test. The Mt" ratio was 2.72. The accelerated counseling group showed no signifi cant difference from their controls in a comparison of gains made between pretests and posttests. The "t" ratio was 1.41. Table 10 presents this data. Apparently, the group counseling process can be used to improve academic performances only if the groups meet on a weekly basis, rather than on an intensive basis. Behavioral Change There were three hypotheses which dealt with be havioral changes, two measured by data obtained from school records and the third by a semantic differential technique. Hypothesis 3; The students who are in group coun seling will show an improvement in citizenship grades, whether counseled by the traditional method or by the accelerated method. Findings. The students who were in the traditional counseling group did show a significant improvement in citizenship grades over their controls, with a "t" ratio TABLE 10 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON GRADE POINT AVERAGES Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Ratios Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 1.69 0.84 2.08 0.81 Traditional Controls 1.79 0.70 1.77 1.01 2.72 .01 Accelerated Counseled 1.61 0.84 1.85 0.88 Accelerated Controls 1.65 0.69 1.78 0.81 1.41 NS 03 O 181 of 2.42 which is significant at the 5 per cent level of confidence using a one-tailed test. The students who were in the accelerated groups did not show a significant dif ference in citizenship grades ("t" = -1.17). The data are tabulated in Table 11. Hypothesis 4: The students who are in group coun seling will show an improvement in effort, as measured by effort grades and by attendance pattern, group counseled by either method. Findings. The effort grades of the students coun seled by the traditional method demonstrated a significant improvement when compared with the effort grades earned by their controls. The "t" ratio of 2.54 was significant at the .01 level of confidence. The effort grades of the accelerated counseling groups showed no significant difference over their con trols, with a "t" ratio of -1.50. The attendance pattern of the students counseled by the traditional method again followed the trend set in citizenship, effort and academic grades. The difference between the traditionally counseled students and their controls was significant statistically at the .05 level of confidence. The "t” ratio is 2.10. The accelerated counseled group and their controls did not evidence a statistically significant difference. TABLE 11 RESULTS OP GROUP COUNSELING ON CITIZENSHIP GRADES* Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations IT il Ratio Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 2.46 0.91 2.00 0.85 Traditional Controls 2.36 0.81 2.33 0.81 2.42 .05 Accelerated Counseled 2.26 0.73 2.18 0.68 -1.17 NS Accelerated Controls 2.47 0.74 2.55 0.71 *Since citizenship grades are reported as "1" being excellent and 115" being very unsatisfactory, the lower the mean, the more the improvement. o o to 183 This information concerning effort grades and attendance patterns is shown in graphic form in Tables 12 and 13. Hypothesis 5; The students who are in group coun seling will show an improvement on the semantic space of himself in relation to school-related areas. Findings. The concepts "School," "Obeying the Rules," "People Who Make Me Behave," and "Teachers" from the Webb Harris Word Meaning Test were used to measure school-related areas. Except for the traditional group's movement on the concept "Obeying the Rules" which was significant at the .05 level, all "t" ratios on all concepts of the semantic differential measuring instrument concerning school- related areas were well below the level of significance. There was little movement on the semantic space of the students as they viewed themselves in relation to "School," "People Who Make Me Behave," and "Teachers." On the concept "School" the "t" ratio for the traditionally counseled students and their controls was 1.64; and for the accelerated groups it was 1.43. The data are presented in Table 14. On the concept "Obeying the Rules" the "t” ratio of the traditional groups and their controls was 1.98 which is significant, while the ratio of the accelerated group and TABLE 12 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON EFFORT GRADES* Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations " t1 1 Ratio Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 2.83 1.02 2.35 0.69 Traditional Controls 2.68 0.80 2.76 0.96 2.54 .01 Accelerated Counseled 2.76 0.79 2.91 0.74 Accelerated Controls 2.57 0.69 2.74 0.73 -1.50 NS *A lower score indicates improvement. H CD TABLE 13 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON ATTENDANCE PATTERNS — MEAN NUMBER OF DAYS ABSENT Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Ratio Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 4.03 3 .34 4.08 4.03 Traditional Controls 4.43 3.43 5.86 3.96 2.10 .05 Accelerated Counseled 5.91 5.56 7.89 5.44 Accelerated Controls 3.90 3.34 6.85 3.78 .06 NS 185 TABLE 14 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "SCHOOL" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations M t1 1 Ratio Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 30.40 20.39 39.80 37.25 Traditional Controls 37.30 24.56 30.20 29.35 1.64 NS Accelerated Counseled 43.20 31.31 48.70 59.60 Accelerated Controls 31.00 20.52 28.70 23.00 1.43 NS 186 187 controls was 1.34, which was not significant. The results are presented in Table 15. On the concept "People Who Make Me Behave" the traditional group has a "t1 1 of .94, not significant, and the accelerated group has a "t" of .15, again not signifi cant. The data are given in Table 16. On the concept "Teachers" the traditionally coun seled students and their controls did not evidence a sig nificant difference with a "t" of .82, nor did the accel erated group and their controls evidence a significant difference with a "t" of .29. Table 17 shows these data. Self-evaluation, Decision Making, and Realistic Goals through Vocational Choice and Preparation Hypothesis 6; Students who are in group counseling will demonstrate a trend toward a more realistic vocational choice, whether counseled by the traditional or by the accelerated method. Findings. The students who were in the traditional format of group counseling demonstrated a significantly closer relationship between their vocational choices and their academic potential stanines after the counseling experience than did the controls. The "t" ratio was 2.42, which is significant at the .05 level of confidence, using a one-tailed test. TABLE 15 RESULTS OP GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "OBEYING THE RULES" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Ratio Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 38.80 32.66 44.60 31.84 Traditional Controls 47.90 35.21 30.30 26.71 1.98 .05 Accelerated Counseled 44.90 27.91 46.40 45.33 Accelerated Controls 31.90 21.94 28.60 23.48 1.34 NS TABLE 16 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "PEOPLE WHO MAKE ME BEHAVE" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Level of Ratio Significance Traditional Counseled 45.10 40.16 39.40 32.63 Traditional Controls 39.30 26.13 24.90 24.18 .94 NS Accelerated Counseled 48.70 47.41 44.80 49.16 Accelerated Controls 30.20 23.96 22.50 22.01 .15 NS 189 TABLE 17 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "TEACHERS" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Level of Ratio Significance Traditional Counseled 39.80 39.91 41.10 34.93 Traditional Controls 37.30 34.99 36.50 34.94 .82 NS Accelerated Counseled 51.50 38.78 48.60 57.20 Accelerated Controls 33.90 27.37 28.30 26.31 .29 NS H vo o 191 The students who were counseled by the accelerated method did not demonstrate a significant difference, with a "t" ratio of 1.32. This information can be located in tabular form in Table 18. The hypothesis can be accepted for the traditional group and rejected for the accelerated group. Hypothesis 7: Students in group counseling will have a significant reduction in number of vocational choices whether counseled by the traditional method or by the accelerated method. Findings. The mean number of choices made by each group on the Tyler Vocational Choice Cards is given in Table 19. It will be noted that the traditional group and their controls had a statistically significant difference at the .01 level of confidence, with a "t" ratio of 5.45. However, it will also be noted that the direction of change was in the opposite direction from that hypothesized; that is, the counseled groups had a greater number of choices after counseling than before, when compared with the controls. Thus in the traditional group the pretest mean was 14.78 number of choices, while the posttest mean was 17.31 number of choices. Their controls moved from 17.40, pretest, to 12.93, posttest. TABLE 18 MEAN PRE-TEST: POST-TEST DIFFERENCES OF TYLER VOCATIONAL CHOICE CARDS MINIMUM STANINES AND SUBJECTS ACADEMIC POTENTIAL Group Tyler Pretest Means & (Deviations) Tyler Posttest Means & (Deviations) Tyler & Mean Academic Potential Differences "t" Ratio Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 5.41 ( .87) 5.31 ( .67) 9.7 Traditional Controls 5.13 ( .60) 5.16 ( .56) 1.0 2.42 .05 Accelerated Counseled 5.07 (1.77) 5.26 (1.10) 4.3 Accelerated Controls 5.02 ( .60) 5.10 ( .60) -2.4 1.32 NS 192 TABLE 19 MEAN NUMBER OF CHOICES MADE ON THE TYLER VOCATIONAL CHOICE CARDS Group Pretest Means Posttest Means "t" Ratio Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 14.78 17.31 Traditional Controls 17.40 12.93 5.45 .01 Accelerated Counseled 11.00 16.45 Accelerated Controls 15.65 12.77 4.62 .01 194 The same pattern can be noted in the accelerated groups, where the pretest mean choices was 11.00 and the posttest mean number of choices was 16.45, while their controls changed from a pretest mean of 15.65 to a posttest mean of 12.77. This difference was significant at the .01 level of confidence, with a "t" ratio of 4.62. Thus the hypothesis was accepted for both the traditional group and for the accelerated group. Hypothesis 8: Students who are in group counseling will have a closer relationship in semantic space between himself and "Himself in the Future," both in the tradi tional model and the accelerated model of group counseling. Findings. The students who were in group counseling failed to evidence a significant difference in either the traditional groups (t = .18), or in the accelerated groups (t = .16). Thus the hypothesis that students who are in group counseling would have a closer relationship in semantic space between himself and "Himself in the Future" was not supported. Table 20 summarized these data. Conative Knowledge Hypothesis 9: Students in group counseling will demonstrate more shift in self-perceptions whether coun seled by the traditional method or by the accelerated method than students who were not in group counseling. TABLE 20 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "ME IN THE FUTURE" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Level of Ratios Significance Traditional Counseled 28.50 23.40 25.40 23.93 Traditional Controls 28.10 28.84 23.90 24.84 .18 NS Accelerated Counseled 31.30 27.28 27.90 29.23 Accelerated Controls 20.90 16.32 18.50 14.12 .16 NS 195 196 Findings. The "Self" measure of the Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values was used as one assessment of this hypothesis. The results are tabulated in Table 21. The shifts in perceptions of self were computed by calculating the total amount of changes on the "Self" Index of Bills' instrument, without taking into considera tion the direction of the changes. Thus a student might have been either more accepting of himself or less accept ing of himself after group counseling and only the total amount of change would have been considered. The tradi tional group demonstrated no significant differences in the total amount of change before and after counseling, with a "t" ratio of 1.09, which was not significant. The accelerated group, however, did demonstrate a statistically significant difference at the .01 level of confidence, with a "t" ratio of 3.11. That is, this group had a greater shift in perceptions of self, disregarding the direction of the change, than did their controls. The hypothesis can be accepted in the case of the students counseled by the accelerated method, and rejected for the students counseled by the traditional method. The second measure of Hypothesis 9 was provided by the Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test, using the concepts which involved conative areas: "Love," "Hate," "Fighting," "Guilt," and "Fear." TABLE 21 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON SHIFTS IN PERCEPTIONS OF SELF ON BILLS' INDEX OF ADJUSTMENT AND VALUES— "SELF" MEASURE Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Ratio Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 135.90 17.64 140.21 22.74 Traditional Controls 137.31 15.43 138.34 17 .08 1.09 NS Accelerated Counseled 134.71 20.79 143.57 20.31 Accelerated Controls 137.60 18.38 140.20 17.03 3.11 .01 198 On the concept "Love" neither the traditional nor the accelerated groups reached significance, with a "t" of 1.29 and .73 respectively. The same results were found on the concept "Hate" where none of the "t" ratios was significant. The tradi tional group had a "t" of .17, and the accelerated a "t" of 1.42. On the concept "Fighting" the traditionally coun seled group had a "t" ratio of 1.68 which was not statisti cally significant, and the accelerated group had a "t" ratio of .22, which was not significant. On the concept "Guilt" the traditionally counseled group had an insignificant 111" ratio of .43, and the accelerated group had an insignificant "t" ratio of .87. On the concept "Fear" the pattern changed somewhat. The traditional group failed to reach significance at .96, but the accelerated group reached the .05 level of signifi cance at -1.75. On the concepts measured by the semantic differ ential which was used to assess changes in conative know ledge, generally the changes were not significant statis tically; therefore, the hypothesis that students in group counseling will demonstrate more shift in self-perceptions as measured by semantic space was not supported conclu sively by the results of the experiment. TABLE 22 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "LOVE" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Ratio Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 47.40 32.78 40.80 25.39 Traditional Controls 48.50 23.25 37.10 26.94 1.29 NS Accelerated Counseled 60.20 47.76 56.00 44.72 Accelerated Controls 41.90 23.07 36.90 23.70 .73 NS 199 TABLE 23 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "HATE" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Ratio Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 67.30 48.11 75.10 37.64 Traditional Controls 62.50 45.41 66.80 47.97 .17 NS Accelerated Counseled 73.80 43.82 70.10 44.86 Accelerated Controls 60.40 44.44 57.40 36.20 1.42 NS to o o TABLE 24 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "FIGHTING" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations 1 1 t 1 1 Ratio Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 64.60 36.02 74.20 37.11 Traditional Controls 65.70 34.58 55.40 34.12 1.68 NS Accelerated Counseled 62.50 42.38 59.30 51.72 Accelerated Controls 60.70 39.00 53.50 30.96 .22 NS 201 TABLE 25 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "GUILT" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Level of Ratios Significance Traditional Counseled 58.70 47.15 71.30 40.41 Traditional Controls 52.20. 31.15 58.90 44.24 .43 NS Accelerated Counseled 67.80 40.65 60.30 38.65 Accelerated Controls 44.80 30.29 47.60 34.13 .87 NS to O to TABLE 26 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "FEAR" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Ratio Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 57.40 41.52 68.20 32.57 Traditional Controls 54.70 25.76 53.60 31.98 .96 NS Accelerated Counseled 68.80 41.09 61.80 35.49 Accelerated Controls 53.40 31.22 56 .60 30.63 -1.75 .05 203 204 Socialization Hypothesis 10: Students in group counseling will be more accepting of others, whether counseled by the tradi tional method or by the accelerated method. Findings. The Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values "Others" Measure was used to measure this hypothesis, while the Categorical scores, which are derived from the "Others" measure, provide a means of additional analysis of any trends which might be evidenced. Concepts from the Webb- Harris test were also used as a measure of this hypothesis. The data for the "Others" measure can be found in Table 27. The traditionally counseled groups were significantly different from their controls on the score they entered on the "Others" portion of the Index, at the .01 level of confidence ("t" = 3.86). The accelerated counseled groups were not signifi cantly different from their controls with a "t" of 1.62. Thus the hypothesis that students who were in group counseling would be more accepting of others was accepted for the traditional group and was not accepted for the accelerated group. The categorical scores are presented in Table 28. An examination of these data shows that the movement which resulted in a significant "t" ratio for the traditional TABLE 27 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON "OTHERS" MEASURE OF THE BILLS' INDEX OF ADJUSTMENT AND VALUES Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Ratio Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 135.90 17.64 143.40 22.74 Traditional Controls 139.78 20.55 139.34 17.08 3.86 .01 Accelerated Counseled 133.02 19.34 139.65 19.34 Accelerated Controls 137.97 18.94 140.05 16.31 1.62 NS 205 TABLE 28 CATEGORICAL SCORES ON THE BILLS’ INDEX OF ADJUSTMENT AND VALUES Groups Number and Percentages in Each Category No. ++ %++ No. -+ %-+ No. H — °M— No.— 56— Total Number Traditional Counseled-pre Traditional 7 21.8 9 28.1 9 28.1 7 21.8 32 Counseled-post 11 34.3 16 50.0 5 16.6 0 0.0 32 Traditional Controls-pre Traditional 7 21.8 10 31.2 6 18.7 9 28.1 32 Controls-post 6 r ~ - « 00 1 —I 10 31.2 8 25.0 8 25.0 32 Accelerated Counseled-pre Accelerated 3 8.5 13 37.1 12 34.2 7 20.0 . 35 Counseled-post 5 14.3 10 28.5 17 48.5 3 8.5 35 Accelerated Controls-pre Accelerated 6 17.1 12 34.2 9 25.7 8 22.8 35 Controls-post 6 17.1 11 31.4 11 31.4 7 20.0 35 206 207 group was from the — category after counseling to the ++ category. This group apparently tended to see others in a more favorable light as compared with themselves after the group experience. This was not true in the case of the controls of both groups and the accelerated group. In the latter cases, the number in each category tended to remain the same, before and after counseling. The concepts from the Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test which were used to measure socialization were: "Mother," "Father," "Brother," "Sister," "Boy," "Girl," "Family," and "Adults." On the concept "Mother" no group reached signifi cance. The traditionally counseled group's "t" ratio was .65; the accelerated group's "t" ratio was .95. The data are shown in Table 29. On the concept "Father" the "t" ratios again failed to reach significance in the case of the accelerated group, but the traditional group had a "t" of 1.89 which was significant at the .05 level of confidence. On the concept "Brother" no group was statistically significant. The traditional group had a "t" ratio of .39, and the accelerated group had a "t" ratio of .15. The data are shown in Table 31. The traditional group had a "t" ratio of .89 on the concept "Sister," and the accelerated group had a ratio of TABLE 29 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "MOTHER" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Level of Ratios Significance Traditional Counseled 42.60 24.24 38.80 25.63 Traditional Controls 46.60 40.45 38.00 42.83 .65 NS Accelerated Counseled 56.50 41.75 46.90 35.52 Accelerated Controls 34.00 32.45 29.20 25.70 .95 NS to o 00 TABLE 30 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "FATHER" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations I I ^11 Ratios Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 43.50 34.09 39.90 29.37 Traditional Controls 43.70 34.18 27. 90 22.11 1.89 .05 Accelerated Counseled 55.50 41.71 49.40 45.58 Accelerated Controls 32.10 21.58 25.00 15.61 .11 NS tv) O U3 TABLE 31 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "BROTHER" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Level of Ratio Significance Traditional Counseled 42.20 26.51 40.70 29.88 Traditional Controls 29.30 17.20 25.00 18.17 .39 NS Accelerated Counseled 45.30 41.79 39.90 35.31 Accelerated Controls 31.80 19.22 25.40 20.71 .15 NS 210 211 1.33 on this concept, neither of which was significant statistically. This is shown in Table 32. The results of group counseling on the concept "Boy" are shown in Table 33. No group was significant. The traditional group had a "t" ratio of .41, while the accelerated group had a "t" ratio of .12. The results of group counseling on the concept "Girl" are shown in Table 34. Again, there was no statis tically significant difference in any of the groups. The traditionally counseled group, when compared with their controls, had a "t" ratio of .61. The accelerated coun seled group, when compared with their controls, had a "t" ratio of -1.44. On the concept "Family" no group reached signifi cance. The traditionally counseled group compared with their controls at 1.66 "t" ratio. The accelerated coun seled group compared with their controls at .48 "t" ratio. The results are tabulated in Table 35. On the concept "Adults" there was no significant difference in semantic space movement between the acceler ated group and their controls ("t" = -1.18). However, the traditionally counseled group showed a statistically significant difference from their controls at the .05 level of confidence— "t" ratio, 2.15. The data are shown in Table 36. TABLE 32 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON CONCEPT "SISTER" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Ratios Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 37.10 21.09 38.40 23.97 Traditional Controls 35.30 30.18 30.30 24.09 .89 NS Accelerated Counseled 43.90 33.42 48.70 43.66 Accelerated Controls 36.10 30.48 30.40 28.47 1.33 NS 212 TABLE 33 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "BOY" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Level of Ratios Significance Traditional Counseled 39.30 28.18 34.40 23.38 Traditional Controls 40.30 26.30 31.80 24.91 .41 NS Accelerated Counseled 47.50 34.38 39.30 30.58 Accelerated Controls 30.00 22.89 24.70 15.24 .12 NS 213 TABLE 34 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "GIRL" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Ratios Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 46.90 33 .34 46.10 37.84 Traditional Controls 39.50 26.50 33 .80 17.89 .61 NS Accelerated Counseled 50.60 32.97 43.20 29.34 Accelerated Controls 35.70 28.30 38.70 28.54 -1.44 NS TABLE 35 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "FAMILY" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations n ^ n Ratio Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 26.60 20.58 29.70 23.20 Traditional Controls 31.90 21.86 23.30 21.29 1.66 NS Accelerated Counseled 41.70 36.61 37.10 30.53 Accelerated Controls 28.40 21.42 21.10 18.40 .48 NS 215 TABLE 36 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "ADULTS" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations »t« Ratios Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 32.50 26.24 43.60 35.21 Traditional Controls 42.50 29.80 35.90 31.68 2.15 .05 Accelerated Counseled 54.80 46.19 43.10 39.66 Accelerated Controls 33.30 33.01 31.30 32.87 -1.18 NS 216 217 The hypothesis that students in group counseling would be more accepting of others as measured by specific concepts in semantic space was not tenable with the excep tion of the traditional group on the concepts "Adult" and "Father." Hypothesis 11; Students in group counseling will show improvement in social behavior in the classroom, as measured by citizenship grades, whether counseled by the traditional method or by the accelerated method. Findings. The results of group counseling on citizenship grades is shown in Table 11, and have been discussed earlier. The traditionally counseled group had a significant difference of 2.42 "t," .05 level of confi dence, but the accelerated group did not show a significant difference. Therefore, the hypothesis was tenable for the tradi tional procedure, but not for the accelerated procedure. Self-valuation Hypothesis 12; Students in group counseling will place more value on themselves as measured by the "Self" scores on the Bills' Index after traditional group coun seling or after accelerated group counseling. 218 Findings. The results of group counseling on the "Self" measure of the Bills' Index is shown in Table 37. The reader will recall that in Hypothesis 9, reported on page 194 which was concerned with conative knowledge, the total amount of change in self-perception was computed, disregarding whether the students reported a more positive self-image or a more negative self-image. In Hypothesis 12 the concern was whether the students, as a group, re ported a trend toward a more positive self-image. Unlike the situation in Hypothesis 9, where the reported improve ment in self-image of one member of a group would not cancel out the reported deterioration in self-image of another member, in Hypothesis 12 the total amount of move ment of the group must be toward an improvement in self- image . The traditionally counseled group demonstrated such an improvement, at the 5 per cent level of confidence, using a one-tailed test. The accelerated group did not demonstrate a signifi cant trend with a "t" ratio of .81, which was not statisti cally significant. Therefore, no evidence was gathered to support the hypothesis that students in accelerated group counseling will value themselves more after their experience, but students who were counseled by the traditional method TABLE 37 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON "SELF" MEASURE OF THE BILLS • ' INDEX OF ADJUSTMENT AND VALUES Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Ratio Level of Significance Traditional Counseled 135.90 17.64 140.21 22.74 Traditional Controls 137.31 15.43 138.34 17.08 1.75 .05 Accelerated Counseled 134.71 20.79 ■ 143.57 20.31 Accelerated Controls 137.60 18.38 140.20 17.03 .81 NS 219 220 seemed to have a better perception of self as a result of the counseling experience. Hypothesis 13: The student in group counseling will evidence a smaller discrepancy in semantic space between himself and "Himself in the Future," whether counseled by either method. Findings. The Webb-Harris concept of "How I Would Most Like to Be" was used to measure this hypothesis. The results are presented in Table 38. The pattern which was established by the majority of the previous concepts of the semantic differential was continued on this concept. The traditional group had an insignificant difference of .69, and the accelerated group had an insignificant dif ference of .19. Therefore, again, the hypothesis was rejected. Self-Concept The second major task of this study was to attempt to gather data concerning the self-concept as it changes through experience and extended time. The "Self" measure of the Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values was selected to measure this hypothesis. TABLE 38 RESULTS OF GROUP COUNSELING ON THE CONCEPT "HOW I WOULD MOST LIKE TO BE" Group Pretest Means Standard Deviations Posttest Means Standard Deviations "t" Level of Ratios Significance Traditional Counseled 41.50 36.64 40.40 33.39 Traditional Controls 41.00 27.13 28.10 20.14 .69 NS Accelerated Counseled 45.10 31.67 40.60 35.28 Accelerated Controls 32.40 22.59 26.70 19.98 .19 NS 221 222 Hypothesis II Hypothesis II was stated as, "The self-concepts of students who are in group counseling will be changed by both the traditional approach and the accelerated approach." Findings. When the total amount of shifts in re ported self-concepts were compared for the significance of differences between the gain scores of pairs, disregarding the direction of change, but only taking into consideration the total amount of change, the accelerated group was significantly different from their controls at the .01 level of confidence, while the traditional group was not signifi cantly different from their controls. (The reader is re ferred to Table 21, where these findings were discussed in another context.) Therefore evidence was presented supporting the hypothesis in the case of the accelerated group and reject ing the hypothesis in the traditional group. Apparently a positive or negative change of self-concept which is statistically significant can occur after a very brief period of time, following an intensive group counseling experience. On the other hand, if a change of self-concept in a positive direction was of concern, the findings were some what different. Here the positive gains made by one member of a group would cancel out the negative changes made by 223 another member of the group. When the changes on the "Self" Index were computed in this way, the traditional group changed significantly, at the .05 level of confidence, while the accelerated group did not. (These findings were presented in Table 27.) Apparently a change of self-concept can be effected through experience only, although this change might be negative or positive. If, however, the concern is with a positive change of self-concept, the findings of this study indicate that both time and experience are necessary for such a change to occur. Hypothesis II which stated that the self-concepts of students who were in group counseling would be changed by both the traditional approach and the accelerated approach was accepted for both groups, but the reservation made that the changes which occurred, occurred in different dimensions, one of which was positive and one of which may be either positive or negative. Themes in Group Counseling The third and last major task of this study was to test whether the percentage of time spent on themes in the content of group counseling differed between groups. The tape recordings of the counseling sessions were analyzed for themes, and the time spent on each theme was recorded. Hypothesis III Hypothesis III was stated as, "The percentage of time spent on each theme will not differ between the tra ditional and the accelerated counseling groups." Findings. The significance of the differences in percentages of time spent on the main topics in group counseling are shown on Table 39. No statistically signi ficant differences were found; therefore the hypothesis that percentages of time spent on themes in different groups will not differ was accepted. According to the findings of this study, groups tended to spend approxi mately the same amount of time discussing the same general categories of topics, whether the groups followed the accelerated model or followed the traditional model. However, although the groups tended to spend the same general amount of time on main topics, there were some differences deserving elaboration, which are discussed in the following sections. Tape Recording. In this study each of the group counseling sessions was tape recorded to provide a record of the content which was later analyzed by the writer. The microphone was placed in the center of the large table around which the counselees sat, and the tape recorder was located on a table placed back of the group members. TABLE 39 SIGNIFICANCE OF DIFFERENCES OF PERCENTAGES OF TIME SPENT ON MAIN TOPICS IN GROUP COUNSELING Main Topic Traditional Counseled Accelerated Counseled Critical Ratio Level of Significance Society-Centered Topics 62.1% 73.3% .39 NS Home-Centered Topics 22.5% 18.8% .06 NS School-Centered Topics 11.1% 4.5% .04 NS 225 226 Students were told that the sessions would be recorded at the time of the induction interview. None objected. Occasionally, during the first sessions of each group one or two comments would be made indicating aware ness of the tape recorder, but the machine was quickly ignored as the groups began interacting. It is believed that recording the sessions did not alter the progress of the groups in a negative way, but, in the writer's opinion, the use of the recorder helped the students more quickly to become aware of what they were saying. Since one of the functions of the counselor seems to be to serve as a superego, it may be that the recorder was an adjunct to this role, doubling the impact of the counselor in this area. Just as the counselor listened intently, thereby enabling the counselee become aware of what he was saying, the tape recorder also was a listening post which helped to focus attention on verbal content, thereby serving as an extension of the counselor. Unfor tunately, there seemed to be no way to measure the effects of recording or of not recording except through the unethical procedure of hiding the machine and recording without the permission of the students. Since this study did not purpose to deal with the effects of tape recording, this ethical dilemma was avoided. The question which was submitted to analysis was whether the pattern of topics which could be identified 227 tended to absorb the same amount of time under the varying conditions. If such a pattern could be teased out of the content, the training of group counselors might be facili tated, for perhaps they could be trained earlier to pick up the cues which follow one another so quickly in the fast-moving pace of group work. Early sensitization to themes which are of concern to adolescents might telescope the experience needed by counselors to become effective early in group work. Procedure. The approach used in this study was to locate the themes through a complete "reading" of the thirteen tapes for each of the six subgroups. Thus a total of seventy-eight counseling sessions was analyzed, drawing on material from sixty-five hours of group counseling protocols. As the tapes were read the amount of time spent on the various themes was recorded. It was anticipated that some difficulty might be encountered in labeling the various topics, but such was not the case. The themes were remarkably easy to identify and the transition from one topic to another was far clearer than had been expect ed. Categories. The content of the various groups seemed to fall into three major categories: topics which centered around school, topics which centered around home, and topics which centered around the student out in the 228 larger society. Within each of these three major divi sions, subtopics could be identified which did not overlap. Society-Centered Topics. The main topic with the largest number of sub-divisions was the concern of the student as he functioned in society-at-large. In this main topic, the student explored his perceptions of himself as he moved about in the world beyond the immediate world of school and home. Tables 42 and 43 present the sub-themes of Society-Centered Topics. As the major topics were explored, the sub-theme of "Boy-girl Relationships" was easily identified, the dis cussions centering around the problems of dating, blind dates, sex, going steady, being engaged, problems of marriage and the "double standard." "Social Problems," another sub-theme, generally concerned religion, war, integration, riots, caring for the aged and caring for the poor and the handicapped. "Peer Relationships" was a topic of much interest to adolescents, and was many-faceted. On one occasion fight ing and the "right" clothes, speech, hair, and behavior might be discussed, while on other occasions the group might talk about "in" groups, "phonies," "two-faced" crowds, and the problems of being a teen-ager. "Social Activities" was not a topic of much interest to the adolescents in this group counseling study, perhaps TABLE 40 TOTAL NUMBER OF MINUTES SPENT ON MAIN TOPICS BY GROUPS DURING THE THIRTEEN SESSIONS Group Society-Centered Topics School-Centered Topics Home-Centered Topics Traditional I 399 68 158 Traditional II 435 67 115 Traditional III 377 82 165 Mean 403.7 72.3 146.0 Accelerated I 455 8 146 Accelerated II 550 10 70 Accelerated III 405 70 150 Mean 470.0 29.3 122 i 229 TABLE 41 TOTAL PERCENTAGE OF TIME SPENT BY EACH GROUP ON MAIN TOPICS DURING THE THIRTEEN SESSIONS (Total time - 650 minutes) Group Society-Centered School-Centered Home-Center ed Traditional I 61.3% 10.5% 24.3% Traditional II 66.9% 10.3% 17.7% Traditional III 58.0% 12.6% 25.4% Traditional Mean 62.1% 11.1% 22.5% Accelerated I 70.0% 1.2% 22.5% Accelerated II 84.6% 1.5% 10.8% Accelerated III 62.3% 10.8% 23.0% Accelerated Mean 72.3% 4.5% 18.8% GRAND MEAN (In percentage) 67.2% 7.8% 20.6% 230 TABLE 42 TOTAL NUMBER OF MINUTES SPENT ON SOCIETY-CENTERED TOPICS BY GROUP DURING THE THIRTEEN SESSIONS Group Boy-Girl Relationships Social Problems Peer Relationships Social Activities Vices Future Plans Occupations Conflict with Authorities "Me" as a Person— My Public Image Total Number of Minutes Traditional I 70 45 62 5 20 57 0 140 399 Traditional II 70 10 130 0 15 50 15 145 435 Traditional III 78 15 92 10 25 30 12 115 377 Mean 72.7 23.3 93.7 5.0 20.0 45.7 9.0 133.3 403.7 Accelerated I 123 91 40 0 78 60 5 58 455 Accelerated II 130 30 120 45 75 45 40 65 550 Accelerated III 30 45 70 0 95 85 15 65 405 Mean 94.3 55.3 76.7 15.0 82.6 63.3 20.0 62.7 470.0 GRAND MEAN (No. of minutes) 83.5 39.3 85.6 10.0 51.3 54.5 14.5 98.0 436.8 231 GRAND MEAN 12.8% 6.0% 13.2% 1.5% 7.9% 8.4% 2.3% 15.0% 67.2% if 3 > > o n n n o n C D (D n > i — i ( — j | — i n > < t > ( D 4 K H HI (U P J rt rt r+ (D (D ( D P-O-D) 3 ( D f U 3 t-3 H 3 i-3 H 3 h p j p j p j O i O . £ 2 j H- H' H- t+ r+ H- H- O O 3 3 . p j p j p i I —• l —1 I —• ft H- O 3 H H H H H H H H H H H H H to H M I-1 H H 4^ 4s- O 00 M to O O • • • « • * • • cn cs> o t £> to O 00 00 SR vp OV H 00 0's 4s> £» U> to h-> < T > • • • * • cn CD < T i O <Ti cj cn cO sp OV I-1 t —1 ( —* K-* H to )-> O 00 (7 4^ 4s - Q CO • • « « • • • » 00 00 cn to •vj to o cn *R vp OV to O 17 o H O • • • • * • • « u> 0 ^ 0 00 Cn O 00 <£ V P S P N P $V 0V $V 2R h-1 M H* M to 4^ M to co W W W • • • * • • • • vj cr» oi o 1 — 1 00 Co H \o 0s* v p v p V O t f N O N *R t— ■ KD U) CTi CO • ~ j 4^ vj 00 vj m to to o O' V 00 vp 0s* fcR^RSR vp O V isR^JR^JR U J to O' o M H to O H CO CO 00 4^ 00 cn O V P O V ' J 1 O ' ' liR<SR^R ] —1 to H to to O O 00 o ■vl to M • . . . • t t O O CD cn vj cn cn *R v O O V ^^R^R vj CTi 00 <1 cn cn O' O' to to 4^ O to oo cn m CO OJ (7 O t —1 O to w SR S B \ P \ p 0 s * O V ( J V vp O V ifR^R^iR Group Boy-Girl Relationships Social Problems Peer Relationships Social Activities Vices Future Plans-- Occupations Conflict with Authorities "Me" as a Person— My Public Image Total Amount of time in Percentages • X ) w w o M W 2 > O Q to M O a o a Se 5° 3 H W J s ; Q CD XI « W a o f f l 2 H jo cn a ° M O W H 2 to cn h | t o I w o cn to H 2 O t-3 2 C O to a K3 o no H o CO i 4 s - L O 233 because this area did not seem to be controversial. Oc casionally some time was spent in telling about various social activities however. The major task of the counselor here was helping to focus consideration on the behavior and reactions of the individual member who was relating the social activity, rather than allow the group to dwell on a narrative which mainly concerned others outside the group. The sub-theme of "Vices" usually began with a dis cussion of the problems of smoking, but frequently was followed by a discussion of drinking, and the use of drugs. Much of the conversation was in the nature of "tall tales," but a certain amount of information was exchanged concern ing marijuana, LSD, and drinking. This exchange of infor mation poses a real problem for a group counselor who is dealing with impressionable adolescents in a school set ting. Even though the group counselor could be sure that group members inevitably will explore the dangers involved in "vices," he must also be concerned with the possibility that some member's curiosities may be unduly aroused as a result of the group discussions, and that individuals might be led to unfortunate experimentation with illegal commodities. Yet the group counselor cannot, on one hand, open the door for adolescents to talk about "any topic which was of real concern to them," and, on the other hand "forbid" certain topics. While the wisdom of frankly dis cussing the dilemma with the school administrator seems 234 obvious, it is also obvious that counselors will never easily solve the problems created by their dual role of carrying a deep commitment toward fostering the individu ation of their counselees, while also functioning as a responsible representative of a cultural institution. Another theme which occurred under the major topic of society-centered explorations was that of discussing future plans and occupations. The discussion of future plans included exploring the merits of various colleges, problems (and values) involved in going away to college, the need for more education, relative values of various occupations and specific considerations of the occupations selected by individual members of the groups. As the future was discussed, group members frequently would ad monish other members to get to work now if they expected to succeed later, and these same members would often play the "if I could only start all over again" game. The "Conflict with Authorities" theme concerned a discussion of involvement with the police, curfew laws, police "picking" on teen-agers, and experiences in juvenile hall. Although groups seemed to feel the laws were not always fair to young people, seldom did they seriously indicate that there should be sweeping changes made. Rather, the spirit was that, since they had to put up with it, those younger than they should have to suffer the same experiences. 235 The "Me as a Person" theme was given much attention. The groups would explore extensively how other members saw them, how they behaved in public, what they valued as per sons, what they wanted out of life, how they should change, their fears, childhood memories and, in general, the pub lic image which they projected. This theme probably was the vehicle for much insight, and members seemed to enjoy talking about themselves at this intensive level. School-Centered Topics. School-centered topics was the second major theme and is presented in Tables 44 and 45. The sub-topics were categorized as dealing with extra curricular activities such as sports and school clubs, academic concerns which covered such comments as liking or disliking certain classes, report of progress in grades, reactions to homework, ideas on curriculum content with suggestions for improvement, and attitudes toward school in general. A discussion of teachers would occasionally occur, usually with a division of opinion on liking or disliking individual instructors. Conflict with school authorities usually concerned discussions of attendance and tardy problems or getting caught by an administrator for some misdeed. School-centered topics were seldom controversial and seemed relatively unimportant to the group members. It was almost as if they went through the motions of attending school because that is what was TABLE 44 TOTAL NUMBER OP MINUTES SPENT BY EACH GROUP ON SCHOOL CENTERED TOPICS DURING THE THIRTEEN SESSIONS (Total=650 Minutes) Group Extra-Curricular Activities Academic Concerns Teachers Conflict with School Authorities Total Number of Minutes Traditional I 25 21 13 9 68 Traditional II 10 20 17 20 67 Traditional III 10 20 16 36 82 Traditional Mean 15 20.3 15.3 21.7 72.3 Accelerated I 0 0 5 3 8 Accelerated II 0 10 0 0 10 Accelerated III 0 20 20 30 70 Accelerated Mean 0 10 8.3 11 29.3 GRAND MEAN (In minutes) 7.5 15.2 11.8 16.3 50.8 236 TABLE 45 PERCENTAGE OP TIME SPENT BY EACH GROUP ON SCHOOL CENTERED TOPICS DURING THE THIRTEEN SESSIONS (Total time=650 minutes) Group Extra-Curricular Activities Academic Concerns Teachers Conflict with School Authorities Total Number of Minutes Traditional I 3.8% 3.2% 2.0% 1.4% 10.5% Traditional II 1.5% 3.1% 2.6% 3.1% 10.3% Traditional III 1.5% 3.1% 2.5% 5.4% 12.6% Traditional Mean 2.3% 3.1% 2.4% 3.3% 11.1% Accelerated I 0.0% 0.0% .8% 1 0.5% 1.2% Accelerated II 0.0% 1.5% 0.0% 0.0% 1.5% Accelerated III 0.0% 3.1% 3.1% 4.6% 10.8% Accelerated Mean 0.0% 1.5% 1.3% 1.7% 4.5% GRAND MEAN (In percentage) 1.1% 2.3% 1.8% 2.5% 7.8% to u> 238 expected of them, but they themselves were not personally involved. They seemed only to begin to live when they escaped the school day. Home-Centered Topics. Home-centered topics, the third main topic, could be divided into discussions of problems with parents which involved serious, emotional interaction among group members, or a discussion of prob lems with siblings. The sub-topics are analyzed in Tables 46 and 47. In general, the students seemed to feel that their parents were doing their best and were right from an adult point of view, but, from the student's point of view, parents were only in the way, and it was preferred that they be seen and not heard. Parents were looked upon as necessary as a source of money supply and as providers of the comforts of home, but they did not understand the problems of teen-agers and hence teen-agers seemed to feel it was futile to try to communicate with them. Interest ingly, however, the group members generally felt that they would behave as their parents did when they, in turn, were parents. In the meantime, though, the young people pre ferred to be left alone and treated as non-paying guests in the home, above and beyond any criticism or comment from misunderstanding parents. Problems with siblings, the second home-centered TABLE 46 TOTAL NUMBER OF MINUTES SPENT BY EACH GROUP ON HOME-CENTERED TOPICS DURING THE THIRTEEN SESSIONS Group Parents Siblings Total Miscellaneous and Mechanics Traditional I 110 48 158 25 Traditional II 75 40 115 33 Traditional III 135 30 165 26 Traditional Mean 106.7 39.3 146 28 Accelerated I 100 46 146 41 Accelerated II 60 10 70 25 Accelerated III 135 15 150 25 Accelerated Mean 98.3 23.7 122 30.3 GRAND MEAN (In minutes) 102.5 31.5 134 29.1 to U) v i ) TABLE 47 PERCENTAGE OF TIME SPENT ON HOME-CENTERED TOPICS BY GROUP DURING THE THIRTEEN SESSIONS Group Parents Siblings Total Miscellaneous and Mechanics Traditional I 16.9% 7.4% 24.3% 3.8% Traditional II 11.5% 6 .2% 17.7% 5.1% Traditional III 20.7% 4.6% 25.4% 4.0% Traditional Mean 16.4% 6.0% 22.5% 4.3% Accelerated I 15.4% 7.1% 22.5% 6.3% Accelerated II 9.2% 1.5% 10.8% 3.8% Accelerated III 20.7% 2.3% 23.0% 3.8% Accelerated Mean 15.1% 3.6% 18.8% 4.7% GRAND MEAN (In percentages) 15.7% 4.8% 20.6% 4.5% to O 241 sub-topic, consisted of discussion of quarrels over clothes, disapproval of a sibling's behavior or reports of skirmishes between siblings, where the victor was deter mined by which person gained the support of the parent. The topic did not seem to be taken too seriously, but rather was treated lightly. Sequence of topics. No definite sequence of topics could be determined from the tapes— that is, a discussion of a social problem or an expression of future plans would be as likely to occur in the first session as in the last session. However, the topic of "Me as a Person" seemed to be touched in almost every session of every group. Another trend in the traditional groups was that topics seemed to be handled more briefly during the initial sessions, and, as groups learned to work together, were more thoroughly explored in later sessions. This did not seem to be true of the accelerated groups. Time Comparison. As stated earlier, the three main topics were statistically analyzed and presented in Table 39. To present a statistical comparison of the sub-topics within the main topics would be to imply a refinement of analysis which would be inappropriate, but a discussion of the general trends apparent in the sub-topics should be of interest to the reader. 242 As the tapes were read, the time spent on any one topic was recorded, then the total time per group was calculated and charted. The total number of minutes spent by each group is tallied in Tables 40, 42, 44, and 46. The total time available to each group was 650 minutes, that is, thirteen sessions of 50 minutes each. A certain amount of time was used with mechanics and topics not classifiable and this information was added to Tables 46 and 47. The remaining minutes were totaled according to sub-topics and according to the three main divisions of society-cen tered, home-centered and school-centered topics. The mean number of minutes spent by traditional groups and by the accelerated groups were also calculated, supplemented by a grand mean for all the groups. In addition to the total amount of time spent in minutes, the percentage of time was computed for each sub- topic for each group, again with means and grand means. This information is provided in Tables 41, 43, 45, and 47. The most noticeable trend in the amount of time spent in group counseling on any one topic was the minimal amount of time spent on school-related topics. Altogether, the groups spent less than 8 per cent of the available 650 minutes on this subject. The traditional groups tended to spend a little more time on topics dealing with teachers and academic concerns, for these groups spend about 70 243 minutes on this subject as opposed to the accelerated group's expenditure of about thirty minutes, but it seems rather obvious from these charts that the life of the adolescent as he discussed it in group counseling did not center around school. The majority of time in both groups was spent by a consideration of the individual in the world, but there were some definite differences between the accelerated groups and the traditional groups. The accelerated groups tended to spend more time discussing "Vices" than did the traditional groups— 13 per cent as opposed to 3 per cent. The process of continuous interaction may encourage an exploration of this topic, whereas in the groups which met weekly, the group members may have used the intervening interval to thoughtfully consider their attitudes, rather than being, perhaps, overstimulated. Another difference between the two groups was the extent to which they were able to explore themselves as persons. The traditional group spent more time on inten sive exploration of self than did the accelerated groups. Again, the difference in the time format may have accounted for this shift in emphasis. As the traditional group learned to work together, a group spirit seemed to develop. Also these group members had the opportunity to reflect on individual interactions between sessions, while in the accelerated format there was little opportunity for members 244 to think over their group experiences before the next session. In the latter group the strong group spirit of the traditional group did not seem to develop. Peer relationships were explored about equally by both groups, with the traditional groups spending slightly more time on this topic. The accelerated group, on the other hand, gave slightly more time to boy-girl relation ships . The three sub-topics of boy-girl relationships, peer relationships and views of self consumed about 40 per cent of the total time available which was 650 minutes. This seems most appropriate when the overall goal of group counseling is considered as assisting the adolescent in his developmental task of self-exploration, of discovering who he is and what he stands for. Both groups tended to spend almost equal time on discussions of problems relating to parents. This appeared to be a sensitive topic of great concern to the adolescent but one which he seemed very willing to discuss at length, publicly or privately. If the group members felt any sense of family loyalty, it was not expressed. In fact, there was little sense of family expressed at all. Group members gave evidence few geographical or emotional roots centering around the family constellation. However, there was evidence of acute conflicts between the significant adults in the adolescent's life and the adolescent.. The 245 struggle for independence seemed almost pathological, for, as the group members explored the growing edges of their lives, they did not seem to have an anchor of basic values to which to return. The general attitude toward parents and toward society seemed to be a spirit of "anything is all right if you can get away with it." The major problem concerning the young people was not getting caught. The evaluating of behavior involving adults in terms of "right" or "wrong" seemed irrelevant to these adolescents, although there was much concern verbalized about "right" or "wrong" behavior within a peer group. This latter value system did not involve morality, but only acceptance by peers. Topics and the goals of group counseling. The con tent of verbal material in group counseling dealt most directly with the goals of self-evaluation and self-valua tion. Much time was spent on topics concerning these areas. The themes of boy-girl relationships, peer rela tionships and "Me" as a person involved the evaluation of self and conative knowledge. The topics of academic concerns, social problems, future plans and occupations involved the area of cognitive knowledge. Whether the discussion was an aid in decision making or in the estab lishment of realistic goals could not be determined from the analysis of verbal content. Certainly the verbal content of the group sessions indicated much opportunity for the socialization process to be at work. Each group 246 tended to cover the same topics with the same general amount of time being spent on the three main divisions. The topics which were explored by the group members in an unstructured situation covered a wide range of themes and provided a picture of the concerns which seemed paramount in the world of the adolescent. Chapter Summary Chapter IV has presented the findings of the study. The hypotheses were restated and the results obtained from the selected measuring instruments were reported. The implications of the findings will be discussed in Chapter V, after a summary of the study is presented. Conclusions and recommendations for future study will be included in this chapter. An Appendix and Bibliography will complete the report. CHAPTER V SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS This study has been concerned with the effectiveness of group counseling in achieving the goals of guidance in education, using a traditional format and an accelerated format. The problem of whether group counseling has a legitimate place in the public schools' guidance program was the springboard for the investigation. Could the goals of guidance in education be achieved through the group counseling process? An attempt was made to answer this basic question in the preceding four chapters of this study. The second basic question which this study attempted to answer was whether a change of self concept was a func tion of both time and experience or a function of experi ence alone. If it could be demonstrated that the self concept could be changed through the group counseling process, perhaps the original goal of group work— to save time— could be gained by making the results of group counseling more immediately available to the student as far as his perception of self was concerned. The third basic question which this study posed was whether there was a commonality of content in the themes which might occur in various counseling groups which tended 247 248 to be dealt with for about the same length of time. If it could be demonstrated that the content of group counseling could be anticipated as far as the topics which would arise in relation to the time spent on each, the training of group counselors might be facilitated, for they could be alerted to pick up "cues" to areas of concern to adoles cents. Thus the effectiveness of the beginning group counselor might be accelerated. Summary The problems delineated above were approached by reviewing the literature on group counseling, and then by systematically relating the goals of guidance in education to the goals of group counseling. The goals of guidance were summarized as a concern with the intellectual growth of the student, a responsi bility for the vocational choice and preparation of the pupil, a need to develop individuality simultaneously with socialization, and a goal to educate to live with people of other cultures.! The goals of group counseling which related to the larger goals of guidance were seen as helping the student to gain cognitive knowledge, to change behavior, to gain ^Gilbert Wrenn, The Counselor in a Changing World (Washington: American Personnel and Guidance Association, 1962), pp. 74-82. 249 in ability for self-evaluation, to aid in decision making, to establish realistic goals, to grow in conative know ledge, to assist in the socialization process and to aid the student in self-valuation. These goals were translated into operational terms through the application of selected measuring instruments which seemed appropriate for the area with which the hypothesis was concerned. The instruments were described in detail as to validity, reliability and process of administration. The tests used were the Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values, the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank, the Tyler Vocational Choice Cards, the Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test, academic grades, citizenship grades, effort grades and attendance pattern. All were submitted to statistical analyses and the results were reported in Chapter IV. The setting of the study was Western High School in the Anaheim Union High School District which is in Orange County. The population is predominately middle class and chiefly Anglo-Americans. Preparation for the study had been made the previous school year— 1964-65— when group counseling was introduced into the school. The students selected for the study were chosen at random from a list of pupils whom teachers, administrators and counselors recommended for group counseling. Matched pairs were used and matching was done on the basis of sex, 250 grade level, academic potential stanine, approximate grade point average and general type of problem. Two differing group counseling formats were used. The traditional arrangement placed students in group coun seling sessions for one class period weekly for thirteen weeks. The accelerated arrangement placed students in group counseling in continuous sessions for two consecutive days for the entire school day. For this group one follow- up class period session was held the week after the two days of continuous interaction. All sessions were tape recorded and an analysis was made of the tape content. The students— experimentals and controls— were all tested before the experimental period and after the experi mental period. Results of the tests were interpreted to all the students following the experimental period. The group counseling sessions were left unstructured by the three counselors who participated in the six coun seling groups. Each counselor worked with a traditional group and an accelerated group. There were two female counselors and one male counselor involved— all of whom volunteered, and all of whom were from the regular school staff. No special training was given in group counseling techniques. The students who were in group counseling were from the tenth, eleventh and twelfth grades, and both boys and 251 girls were included in each group. All were invited to participate in the group counseling sessions by the coun selor who would be their group leader. Each group was designed to have twelve members, equally divided between sexes and among grade levels. The attrition of members who moved from the school reduced the traditional group to thirty-two members and the accelerated group to thirty-five members, from the originally planned thirty-six members— three groups of twelve members each. The content of the tape recordings of the sessions was analyzed for themes which seemed to occur and reoccur in each group's sessions. A statistical comparison of the amount of time each group spent on the three main cate gories was made. The question was raised as to whether a change of self-concept might be a function of only experience, rather than of a combination of time and experience. An attempt was made to gather data in this direction, basing the constructs on the theoretical positions of self theory. The data were analyzed at the Statistical Tabulating Corporation in Los Angeles and at the Health Sciences Computing Facility, University of California at Los Angeles. The "t" ratio, using a matched pairs formula, was the primary statistical procedure used. Findings were presented in Chapter IV. The conclusions which might be drawn from the experiment will be presented in succeeding 252 pages of this chapter, followed by a discussion of possible implications for future study. Conclusions The need for establishing the effectiveness of group counseling in attaining the goals of guidance in education is very real and it is hoped that the findings of this study will be helpful in gathering data in this respect. The two contrasting formats which were used in this design offered an opportunity to assess effectiveness through two different approaches, and an interesting contrast is pro vided by the findings concerning each. The goals of group counseling will be considered separately, then summarized in a final statement. The Goal of Cognitive Knowledge The first hypothesis which dealt with this goal of cognitive knowledge was that there would be a significant reduction in tensions and hostilities of students who are in group counseling. The rationale was that, if these tensions and hostilities could be reduced, the students would be more open to the learning process. The Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank was used to measure this hypo thesis . Group counseling as a means of reducing tensions and hostilities in adolescents seems effective, using either 253 method, for the results in both formats were statistically significant. Apparently the process of group discussion, of venting feelings and emotions in the safety of the group counseling situation was an effective means of providing release from internal pressures. Whether this is suffic ient reason for the inclusion of the group counseling pro cedure in the school setting is open to conjecture, con suming as it does a great deal of counselor and counselee time. If, for some reason, a reduction of these tensions is the only goal which is desired, either the traditional format or the accelerated format could be used with equal effectiveness. If, however, additional aims and purposes are involved, the similarity of the two differing formats in attaining these goals ends. The second hypothesis under cognitive knowledge questioned whether there would be a significant improvement in grade point averages of students who were in group counseling. Evidence in the literature presented differing conclusions. In the Selected Studies of Group Counseling it will be noted that Caplan2 and Spielberger^ reported 2Stanley Caplan, "The Effects of Group Counseling on Junior High School Boys' Concepts of Themselves in School," Journal of Counseling Psychology, IV (Summer, 1957), 124- "’ Charles D. Spielberger, H. Weitz, and J. P. Denny, "Group Counseling and the Academic Performance of Anxious College Freshmen," Journal of Counseling Psychology, IX (Fall, 1962), 195-204. 254 that their subjects who participated in group counseling demonstrated a significant improvement in grades. On the other hand Baymur and Patterson,** Chestnut,® Clements,® Cohn,^ Collins,® Ohlsen,9 Winborn,*-® and WinklerH reported **Fertha Baymur and C. Patterson, "A Comparison of Three Methods of Assisting Underachieving High School Students," Journal of Counseling Psychology, VII (1960), 83-89. C William J. Chestnut, "The Effects of Structured and Unstructured Group Counseling on Male College Students' Underachievement," Journal of Counseling Psychology, XII, No. 4 (1965), 388-9TI ^Barton E. Clements, "Transitional Adolescents, Anxiety, and Group Counseling,1 1 Personnel and Guidance Journal, XXXV (September, 1966), 67-71. ^Benjamin Cohn, Merle Ohlsen, and F. C. Proff, "Roles Played by Adolescents in an Unproductive Counseling Group," Personnel and Guidance Journal, XXXVIII (May, 1960), 724-31. O John E. Collins, "A Comparative Guidance Study: Group Counseling Methods with Selected Underachieving Ninth Grade Students," unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, University of Southern California, 1964, pp. 1-145. ®Merle M. Ohlsen, "Counseling within a Group Set ting," Journal of the National Association of Women Deans and Counselors, XXIII (April, 1960), 104-109. *-^Bob Winborn and Louis G. Schmidt, "The Effective ness of Short Term Group Counseling upon the Academic Achievement of the Potentially Superior but Underachieving College Freshman," Journal of Educational Research, LV (December-January, 1962), 169-73. ■^R. C. Winkler, et. al., "The Effects of Selected Counseling and Remedial Techniques on Underachieving Elementary School Students," Journal of Counseling Psy- chology, XII, No. 4 (1965), 3 -------- 255 no improvement in grade point averages or a deterioration in grade point averages. In the present study, while the accelerated model failed to effect an improvement in grade point averages, the traditional model was instrumental in improving the grades of these counselees at the .01 level of confidence. While the traditional group certainly demonstrated no dramatic elevation in grade point averages, the results were encouraging, particularly since the goal of assisting students to raise or to sustain grade point averages is so emminently acceptable in the school setting, especially for those students who fail to produce at an appropriate level. The Goal of Behavioral Change The group counseling goal of behavioral change was measured through three hypotheses. The first was that students in group counseling would show an improvement in citizenship grades, counseled by either method. Here again, the traditionally counseled group's improvement was significant at the .05 level of confidence, while the accelerated counseled group's performance was not statistically significant. Apparently the process of meeting on a weekly basis over a period of time was neces sary for the students to sustain his good intentions, as they were generated by the group process. The lack of 256 reinforcement given to the accelerated group may have resulted in a "letting down" once the experience faded from their minds. Also in the accelerated group there was no on-going opportunity to share "improvement victories" with the group and thus motivation to bhange may have been diminished. The second hypothesis under behavioral change was that students in group counseling would show an improvement in effort grades as a result of either counseling format. The traditional group were able to show a statistically significant improvement in effort grades at the 1 per cent level of confidence as a result of group counseling, but the accelerated group's difference with their controls was not significant. Again, the comments made in the above paragraph seem to apply. Apparently the accelerated group was not able to sustain any effect which the group coun seling process may have had on them, at least when trans lated into the amount of effort which they put forth in the classroom. On the other hand, the traditional group was periodically reinforced and thus apparently was able to sustain its efforts to improve behavior. The attendance pattern provided an additional way to measure the effectiveness of the group counseling process, and as was pointed out in the review of the literature, Ladato had indicated that his slow learners did have an 257 improved attendance pattern after group counseling.in the current study, the traditional group had a statisti cally significant difference from their controls in the sustaining of their attendance pattern, while the acceler ated group increased the number of days they were absent, paralleling the records of both control groups. The usual expectancy of attendance pattern seems to be for an increase in the number of days absent to occur as the school year progresses. Students seem to tend to stay out of school more days toward the end of the year than at the beginning, and this pattern was followed by the accelerated group and by both control groups. In the case of the traditional group, there was no great reduction in the number of days absent, but this group continued to show the same pattern of attendance late in the year after group counseling as they had evidenced earlier in the year before group counseling. Apparently, the group counseling process is effective in "holding" the students in school if the groups meet on a weekly basis rather than on an intensive basis. There seems to be some implications in these findings that attendance officers might find the group process useful in assisting with attendance problems. It is possible that meeting with peers weekly gives the ■ ^ F r a n c i s j. Ladato, M. A. Sokoloff, and J. L. Schwartz, "Group Counseling as a Method of Modifying Atti tudes in Slow Learners," School Counselor, XII (October, 1964), 27-29. ----------------- 258 adolescent something in the school setting which he par ticularly enjoys, and thus tends to improve the regularity of his attendance. The third hypothesis which dealt with the group counseling goal of behavioral change was that students in group counseling would show an improvement on the semantic space of himself in relation to school-related areas. The concepts of "School," "Obeying the Rules," "People Who Make Me Behave," and "Teachers" provided the measuring instru ment for this hypothesis. With two exceptions the results obtained by using the semantic differential technique failed to reach signi ficance in either the traditional group or the accelerated group. One can only speculate on the reason the students, who reflected a change in school-record data, failed to demonstrate consistently a change on the semantic differ ential. The format of the instrument was excellent, the students enjoyed completing the cards, and the theory behind the construction seems sound. Yet, with two excep tions, the pattern was consistent. Although students showed statistically significant results on instruments used to measure related areas, the results on the semantic differential, which was felt to be extremely sensitive to meaning changes, failed to support consistently the find ings of the other criteria. 259 Goal of Self-evaluation, Decision Making and Realistic Goals Through Vocational Choice and Preparation The measuring of the group counseling goals of improving self-evaluation, decision making and realistic goals by measuring vocational choices was modeled after Tyler, who used vocational choices as the prototype of all other c h o i c e s . 13 The Tyler Vocational Choice Cards was the instrument used to measure this- sixth hypothesis which stated that students in group counseling would demonstrate a trend toward a more realistic vocational choice, coun seled by the traditional method or by the accelerated method. Rationale was built that self-evaluation skill would be reflected in realism of vocational choices. The statistical procedure compared the means of the choices made on the Tyler cards with the subject's academic potential, using the gain scores procedures. The tradi tional groups were significantly closer in their mean choices and their academic potentials after group coun seling, while the accelerated groups did not show this significant difference. It is possible that the group counseling process l^Leona E. Tyler and Norman D. Sundberg, Factors Affecting Career Choices of Adolescents, Cooperative Research Project No. 2455 (Eugene: University of Oregon, United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Office of Education, 1964), pp. 1-4. 260 helped the students in the traditional model to gain or to accept a more realistic view of their abilities and to translate this knowledge into more realistic vocational choices. It is equally possible, however, that, through the weekly group experience, the students became less defensive, and were willing to report more realistic choices. In either case, a trend in the traditional group toward self-evaluation is evidenced. Although the Tyler cards provided a means of tracing thought processes concerning vocational choices if admin istered individually, this could not be realized through group administration, which was the procedure used in this study. Thus just how the group counseling process was instrumental in increasing realism of vocational choices on the part of the traditionally counseled group is un known, as no direct teaching concerning occupations was attempted, although both groups— traditional and acceler ated— did voluntarily discuss some aspects of the world of work. Perhaps the main contributing factor for the signi ficant difference demonstrated by the traditional group was the additional knowledge and positive feelings toward self which was gained as a result of the group experiences. The second hypothesis concerned with measuring the effectiveness of group counseling in achieving the goal of self-evaluation, decision making and realistic goals through the prototype of vocational choice was that the 261 students in group counseling would have a significant reduction in the number of vocational choices, counseled by either format. In the number of vocational choices made after their group experience as compared with the number selected be fore the group experience, both groups were significantly different from their controls. However, both groups tended to make more choices, rather than fewer as had been hypo thesized. Either group counseling was instrumental in widening the horizons of the members who saw themselves in an increasing number of occupational roles, or members became more indecisive as a result of the group experience. Perhaps the usual expectation that adolescents will begin to focus on specific vocational choices during the high school years does not hold true for these students who were recommended for group counseling. It is possible that a characteristic of this group is a rigid perceptual field with limited occupational boundaries. Perhaps as they expanded their perceptions of others, they also projected themselves into more occupational roles. Whatever the reason, the hypothesis that students in group counseling would have a significant reduction in the number of vocational choices was rejected for both the traditionally counseled group and for the accelerated group. Additional comment might be made concerning the curious characteristic of group counseling in being 262 effective in changing vocational choices when the topic of occupational roles was only slightly touched during the group sessions. Apparently the adolescent's search for identity is closely tied in with his occupational choices. Whatever the case, that there is a relationship between the unstructured group counseling process and vocational exploration seems to have been demonstrated by the findings of this study. The last hypothesis in this area was that students who were in group counseling would have a closer relation ship in semantic space between himself and "Himself in the Future," both in the traditional model and in the acceler ated model. Neither the traditional groups nor the accelerated groups demonstrated a statistically significant difference on the semantic space of this concept. Therefore, group counseling was not effective in reducing the semantic space of students between their perceptions of themselves and themselves in the future. Goal of Conative Knowledge The goal of conative knowledge was seen as the sine qua non of group counseling and two hypotheses were stated in this area. The first read that students in group coun seling would demonstrate more shift in self-perceptions whether counseled by the traditional method or by the 263 accelerated method than students who were not in group counseling. The "Self" measure of the Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values was used to assess this hypothesis. The traditional group showed no statistically sig nificant difference on this measure which took into ac count the amount of change between tests, disregarding the direction of the change. Thus a student might have seen himself as more or less valuable after counseling than before and the amount of that change would have been com puted. The traditional group failed to differentiate from their controls in this respect. However, as discussed earlier, the accelerated group had a significant amount of change after their intensive experience. Apparently the results of group counseling were reflected in a decided shift in self-perceptions, both toward and away from self-regard in the intensive inter action group. Catron's comments, reported in the review of the literature, may apply here. It will be recalled that he suggested that there was a cycle of interaction which took place in group counseling which affected perceptions differently at different points in the group process.^ Perhaps the accelerated experience resulted in a rapid l^David W. Catron, et. al., "Educational-Vocational Group Counseling: The Effects on Perception of Self and Others," Journal of Counseling Psychology, XIII (1966), 202-207. 264 reassessment of the counselees1 self-concepts, but whether this change held over a period of time cannot be determined from this study. It may be that the intensity of the experience resulted in immediate, radical changes in self perceptions, but that those changes were ephemeral; whereas in the case of the traditional group, there may have been an initial wide sweep of self-concept change, which later stabilized through the weeks of group counseling and was finally measured as an improvement in self-concept. The second measure of conative knowledge was through the semantic differential technique, using selected con cepts. Neither of the groups was consistently signifi cantly different from their controls on these concepts; therefore the hypothesis of self-perceptions' changing in semantic space as a result of group counseling was not tenable for either group. No group moved in semantic space from their original positions on the concepts dealing with the conative areas of love, hate, guilt, or fighting. On the concept "Fear" the accelerated group did have a signi ficant difference at the 5 per cent level but a consistent trend was not demonstrated in this area. Goal of Socialization The goal of socialization was measured by two hypotheses and by several instruments, the "Others" measure 265 of the Bills1 Index and the semantic differential tech nique . The first of the hypotheses stated that the students who were in group counseling would be more accepting of others after the experience. In the review of the litera ture it was noted that Slavson felt that one of the most important values of group work was the increase in a stu dent's ability to feel with other people and to establish positive identification with them.-^ Bonner also indicated that he felt that acquiring new attitudes toward others was involved in the group counseling process.In this study findings indicated that the students who experienced group counseling through the traditional format benefited through increased perceptions of others as Slavson and Bonner be lieved probable. However, the accelerated group did not demonstrate this reaction. Perhaps one of the products of the group counseling process is that a student can enlarge his perceptions of what others think, feel and believe. Possibly one of the strictures of adolescence is a "dim" view of other people and perhaps the students are able to become aware that 15S. R. Slavson, An Introduction to Group Therapy (New York: International Universities Press, Inc., 1943), p. 1. 16Hubert Bonner, Group Dynamics: Principles and Applications (New York: Ronald Press Co., 1959), p. 31T8. 266 there is actually a great commonality of attitudes and experiences. Over and over the students expressed relief that other peer members were experiencing the same problems as they. Somehow, they commented, this made things seem less lonely and easier to bear. And as they saw that others shared their experiences, apparently they became more accepting of their peer groups. A counselor can only hope that this feeling will generalize to include all "others" in the life space of the counselees, perhaps even adults. This trend was well illustrated by the categorical scores which are derived from the "Others" Index, and are another way of expressing the same data. A clear movement was evident in the traditional group from a negative view of self and a negative view of others to a positive view of self and a positive view of others. Even if a student placed little more value on himself, he still tended to place more value on others in relation to himself, if he were in the traditional counseling group. It seemed to the writer that, if this were the only by-product of group counseling, this alone would make the use of school time for group work well worth while. The accelerated groups did not experience this shift in perceiving others in a more favorable light, but tended to change only by chance. Perhaps the accelerated pace of the intensive interaction did not allow for the "settling 267 in” of any changes this group may have had in their ideas concerning the universality of human problems. It is also possible that the rapidity of the verbal interchanges did not allow the counselees to digest the import of the com ments, and to internalize a "new" view of their peers. The position that more counseling takes place between sessions than during sessions seemed supported by the results of this counseling study. On the categorical scores the accelerated group showed some movement toward a more accepting view of others, for there were fewer members in the " — 1 1 category after group counseling than were in that category before group counseling. However, as shown by Table 27, the differences were not significant. Perhaps over a period of time, this group, too, would have a more accepting view of other people, even if group counseling were not con tinued, but the study was not designed to answer this question. On the concepts of the semantic differential in strument which concerned the relationship of the counselee and significant others in his life, the only change which was significant was that of the traditional group on the concept "Adults." It jls difficult to place too much confidence in this statistic since, for the number of concepts measured by the semantic differential, at least one should have been significant on the basis of chance 268 alone. However, if a change in the adolescents' percep tions of adults occurred as a result of working in group counseling on a weekly basis, this would be a valuable gain since one of the ongoing struggles in the adolescent world is that of the acceptance, by the adolescents, of the "haves"— the adults, as opposed to the "have-nots"— the adolescents. It may be, too, that working with a group counselor who was non-evaluative and accepting increased the counselees' acceptance of adults in general. However, the accelerated group did not evidence this change. On the remaining concepts which dealt with others in the semantic space of the counselees, the results ob tained were disappointing, for none of these concepts was statistically significant between pretest scores and post test scores. It may be that the counselees reacted to the individualized stimuli inherent in the concept "Mother," "Father" and so on on a specific basis on the semantic differential instrument, while on the "Others" measure of the Bills' Index the instr\^|ions specifically stated to score in relation to the peer group, and thus the frame of reference was the adolescent world in general. Whether or not the subjects demonstrated different behavior at home as a result of the group counseling experience was not answered by the design of the study. The second hypothesis under the goal of socializa tion was concerned with the improvement of social behavior in the classroom as measured by citizenship grades. Again, the traditional group had a significant difference from their controls, while the accelerated group failed to reach significance. Perhaps the weekly reinforcement which the student gained from the counseling sessions enabled him to go back to the classroom and conform more satisfactorily to the rules set down by the teacher, whereas in the case of the accelerated groups, apparently no change took place. It is possible that, as the traditional groups became more aware of and accepting of others, they also felt less inclined to annoy others. They also might have become more aware of the effect of their inappropriate behavior on the perceptions their classmates held of them, and more in clined to control their actions in an effort to improve this perception. At any rate, the socializing process seemed aided by the traditional group counseling format, but not by the accelerated format. Goal of Self-valuation The last of the goals was the goal of self-valua tion, which is an important by-product of the group coun seling process. The counselor attempts to increase the value the counselee places on himself through the trans mission of an attitude of warm acceptance and genuine valuing of the counselee by the counselor. The measurement 270 of the process was through the "Self" scores on the Bills1 Index. If the counselors were able to transmit this valuing attitude to the counselees in the accelerated group, it was not reflected by the "Self" measure on the Bills' Index, for this group was not significantly different from chance on their scores. It is possible that a direct question to the counselees in this area would have elicited more information, for the subjective observations of the coun selors indicated that the counselees seemed to feel them selves to be of more value. The counselors felt that the traditionally counseled group also tended to place more value on themselves and this was born out by the statisti cal analysis. This group moved in the direction of more self acceptance, apparently as a result of the group counseling experience. These findings support the results obtained by other workers who measured self-concept changes. Caplan,!? Clements,Cohn,^8 Ladato,28 and Ohlsen2! reported significant improvement on self concept l^Caplan, loc. cit. l8Clements, loc. cit. l^Cohn, loc. cit. 28Ladato, loc. cit. 2-*-Ohlsen, loc. cit. 271 measures, which included Q-Sorts, figure drawings, picture stories, and a modified Bills1 Index. It might also be reasoned that better citizenship grades and a sustained grade point average indirectly in dicated that these counselees placed more value on them selves, both of which conditions occurred as a result of the traditional group counseling. The second hypothesis under Self-valuation was that the students in group counseling would evidence a smaller discrepancy of themselves in semantic space and themselves in the future in the same space. The differences which occurred could have occurred by chance; therefore, there is no evidence on the semantic differential that students in group counseling increased in self-valuation as stated in the hypothesis. Self-Concept Whether self-concept could be changed as a result of experience alone, rather than requiring time for such a change to occur, was the second question posed in this study. The accelerated group counseling format offered an opportunity to examine the theoretical position that for a change of self-concept to occur, time as well as experience was required. John Williams' study on brief vocational- 272 educational individual counseling raised questions con cerning this rather traditional position of self-theo rists. 22 The accelerated format used in this present study was effective in producing changes in reported self- concepts in the two week time span between pretest and posttest for this group when the amount of change was calculated. Thus, from the evidence gathered by this study, apparently changes of self-concept may well be a function of experience only with time an irrelevant factor. Unfortunately, this finding cannot necessarily be viewed with approval, for as many of the accelerated group demon strated poorer scores after their counseling as demon strated improved scores. It certainly would be undesirable to provide an experience for students who, as a group, already had a fairly poor self-concept, in which they would suffer a deterioration of this self-concept. It is always difficult to know, of course, whether reported changes are a result of increased honesty on the part of the student, or whether there was an actual change of self-concept as far as the amount of change was concerned. This, as was 22 John E. Williams, "Changes in Self and Other Perceptions Following Brief Educational-Vocational Coun seling," Journal of Counseling Psychology, IX, No. 1 (1962), 18-30. 273 discussed in an earlier chapter, is always a problem in a self-report measure. Themes in Group Counseling The final hypothesis concerned the percentage of time spent on themes in the group sessions. It was found that there was no significant difference between groups and the hypothesis was accepted. This finding could be useful in training of group counselors, for anticipating the content of any given group usually finds the beginning group counselor somewhat at a loss. A review of the topics which might be expected to arise with regularity for a distinct porportion of time should enable the counselor to pick up cues more rapidly, and thus the group process should be facilitated. Apparently, groups do tend to spend about the same amount of time on general topical areas. Whether this tendency would be evident with other age groups or other socioeconomic levels is unknown, but for the middle class adolescent the trend seems to hold. There are implications in this trend for the un desirability of structuring topics to be discussed in group counseling. Constricting the content area to prescribed limits might inhibit free interchange of ideas and prevent the spontaneous discussions of material which was of real concern to the adolescent. Apparently, given complete 274 freedom, adolescents will discuss vital matters which affect their adjustment to the mores of society. There are also implications in this trend for the necessity of the group counselor to be able to tolerate ambiguity. If he himself feels a strong need to "struc ture" the group counseling content, it is likely to result in a stilted, polite, surface exploration of intellectual postures. Over and over in the group counseling process the faith which the counselor has in the strength of the adolescents with whom he works to solve their own problems will be tested, and retested. It is hoped that the be ginning group counselor will gain some measure of confi dence from this analysis of more than seventy hours of group counseling content. If the counselees can be allowed to chart their own course, apparently that course will explore the intricacies of the adolescent world rather thoroughly. Implications for Guidance That the goals of guidance in education can be at least partially reached through the group counseling seems apparent. That group counseling, consequently, has a legitimate place in the array of tools which the counselor uses seems apparent, also. According to the findings of this study, which was concerned with middle class adolescents, the group 275 counseling process might be used in the school setting to make the student more available to the learning process through a reduction of his tensions and hostilities. As he avails himself of the educational opportunities all about him, apparently he is able to sustain his grade point average throughout the year rather than experience a deterioration of grades as he goes through the year's work, if he participates in a group counseling project which is organized on a weekly basis. Perhaps in the group counseling characteristic of enabling the student to sustain rather than dramatically improve his grade point average is a clue to the disap pointing results when workers have tried to break the underachievement syndrome through group counseling. Ac cording to the results of this study the best that can be done for the underachiever is to help him to maintain a grade point average, rather than hope to effect a decided improvement. As Tiedman commented, one of the things we must do in counseling is to determine what we cannot do as well as what we can do. Then and only then will counseling really be a profession.23 According to the findings of this study, another end of education which can be partially achieved through ^David Tiedeman, "Comment on 'Three Methods of Assisting Underachieving High School Students,'" Journal of Counseling Psychology, VII (Summer, 1960) , p. 18. 276 the group counseling process if it is organized on a weekly basis, is to help the counselees demonstrate better be havior in the classroom— both in his general attitudes and in the effort which he manifests. However, it is important to point out here that this statement was based on the findings of group data. If a counselor assured the teach ers that he could correct the non-conforming behavior of every counselee through group counseling, some unfortunate repercussions might result. Also, although the results which used teachers' marks as criteria were statistically significant, it is doubtful if the counselees were models of decorum as a result of group counseling. Again, to promise results beyond those which can be realistically achieved will only lead to disillusionment and disappoint ment. Another goal which is apparently abetted through the group counseling process when held on a weekly basis is the sustaining of an attendance pattern, preventing a deterio ration in that pattern as the school year evolved. Some how, through the weekly counseling process, the counselees seemed able to maintain enough interest in school to attend fairly regularly. Perhaps through his group work he began to "live" a little more at school, rather than "endure" the educational process. Another finding of this study was that the horizons of the counselees could be enlarged in the world of work if 277 counseling was held on a weekly basis. Apparently, through this group process the students were able to project them selves into more occupations— and these chosen occupations were more congruent with their tested academic potential. Thus as an adjunct to vocational exploration the group process seems desirable, even though information concerning occupations is not "taught" in these sessions. Acceptance of self seems to be a key which will open doors to a richer life and this self-acceptance seems in extricably bound up in the search for identity which has been termed a basic developmental task of the adolescent. That the traditional format of group counseling could con tribute to the successful accomplishment of this task of individuation was demonstrated by the findings of this study, for students who worked in a group on a weekly basis somehow came to place more value on themselves as unique persons. The last important goal of guidance in education which seems attainable through the group counseling process is that of assisting in the socialization of the adolescent, if the counseling is done on a weekly basis. The findings of this study indicated that the counselees who met weekly became more accepting of others and saw others in a more favorable light. When one of the major struggles of adoles cence is to adjust successfully through the acculturating process to the world about him, the apparent success of 278 group counseling in assisting the student to acculturate recommends its inclusion as an acceptable procedure in the guidance program. It seemed to the writer that the increased’ acceptance of others which some of the group counselees evidenced is, in itself, a sufficient reason for including a group counseling program as part of counseling methodology, even if no other goals of guidance could be reached through this process. In a world where communi cation is an urgent problem, and where suspicion and hostility are armed with a hydrogen bomb, anything which can be done in the schools to enlarge a student's awareness of others as fellow human beings is well taken. Recommendations for Further Study From the findings of this study, there seems to be a number of the goals of guidance in education which can be met through the group counseling process. A number of questions have been raised also. One question concerns group counseling with other age levels. Is this an appropriate counseling methodology for junior high schoolers or for elementary school children? And can the process be effectively used to achieve the goals of higher education? Another concern which arises out of this study is 1 the need to determine whether a continuation of the group process would be needed for counselees to sustain effort 279 the remaining weeks of the school year, or during following school years. Is this effect a temporary one, or can it be expected to last over a long period of time? Have atti tudes towards others been permanently changed? Or is this merely a temporary shift of viewpoints? There is an indication that group counseling work with the students with extremely poor attendance pattern might be helpful to those pupils. This is a possibility which might be explored, for one of the earliest signs of a student's later dropping out of school altogether is his poor attendance pattern. Questions have been raised concerning the process of vocational choice. It would be helpful if the measurement of occupational selection could be done on an individual basis and data gathered concerning how the student arrives at his choices before and after group counseling. The Tyler Vocational Choice Cards seem extremely useful as a tool in working with occupational choice and their use might be expanded for both individual counseling and for group work. Questions have been raised concerning the best for mat to ,use for group counseling in the school setting. Apparently the accelerated method has only limited results, but whether thirteen sessions is too many or too few was not studied by this investigation. Perhaps the groups could meet for fewer sessions and be effective. On the 280 other hand, perhaps year long groups would be optimum. Work needs to be done in this area if we are to continue to use group counseling in the schools. An important concern which faces group counselors is the provision within the school plant for adequate facili ties for group work. If this procedure is to become rou tine, adequate space is needed to carry on the work. The importance of privacy, freedom from interruption, and an appropriate environment cannot be overestimated. A final question which is raised by this study concerns the training of counselors. The counselors who participated in this study were not given special training for group work. Would the results have been different if this had not been the case? How much training does a group counselor require to become effective? How could this training be set up? Should schools organize in-service programs to train group counselors? Should this be the responsibility of the counselor education centers? Does the successful individual counselor necessarily learn to be a successful group counselor? All these are questions which concern the implementing of the group counseling process in the school setting. If the process is to func tion satisfactorily, the groups must be staffed satis factorily. 281 A Final Statement The process of group counseling is a fascinating one, only dimly perceived in its enormous complexity. Why results can be obtained is unknown. How the process functions is unclear. Yet apparently there is a common ality of content which tends to be similar in various counseling groups. And the process does seem useful when working with adolescents on a weekly basis in the school setting. We only vaguely understand the dynamics of the group process, are only tentatively aware of the potentialities of group interaction. It is hoped that some signposts have been marked by this study and that some paths to the future have been marked a little more clearly, for the few hints that we have concerning group counseling process and out come only indicate how little we know. 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"The Sentence-Completion Technique in a Study of Scholastic Underachievement," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XVI, No. 6 (19527"^ 353-358. Kline, Milton. "A Short Form Sentence Projective Tech nique," Journal of General Psychology, XXXIX (October, 1948), 273-287. Kogan, Leonard S. "Applications of Variance-Covariance Designs in Educational Research," Review of Educational Research, XXIV (December, 1954), 439-447. Korner, Ija N., et. al. "Some Measures of Self-Acceptance" Journal of Clinical Psychology, XIX (January, 1963) , 131-132. Krumboltz, John D. "Behavioral Goals for Counseling," Journal of Counseling Psychology, XIII (Summer, 1966) , 153-159. ________ , and Thoresen, Carl E. "The Effect of Behavioral Counseling in Group and Individual Settings on Informa tion-Seeking Behavior," Journal of Counseling Psy chology, XI (Winter, 1964) , 324-333. Lazowick, Lionel M. "On the Nature of Identification," Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, LI (July, 1955), 175-183. Levy, Leon H. "The Meaning and Generality of Perceived Actual-Ideal Discrepancies," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XX, No. 5 (1956), 396-398. Ladato, Francis J., Sokoloff, M. A., and Schwartz, L. J. "Group Counseling as a Method of Modifying Attitudes in Slow Learners," School Counselor, XII (October, 1964), 27-29. 295 Lifton, Walton M. "Group Therapy in Educational Institu tions," Review of Educational Research, XXIV (April, 1954), 156-165. Lorge, Irving. "Groupness of the Group," Journal of Educa tional Psychology, XLVI (December, 1955), 449-456. MacLennan, B., Morse, V., and Goode, P. "The Group Psychotherapy Literature of 1965," International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, XVI (April, 1966), 225-241. Madden, James E. "Semantic Differential Rating of Self and of Self-Reported Personal Characteristics," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XXV, No. 2 (1961), 18JT Mainford, Willard A., Burk, H., and Collins, L. F. 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Mensh, Ivan N. and Watson, R. I. "Psychiatric Opinions of Personality Factors in Psychotherapy," Journal of Clinical Psychology, VI (July, 1950) , 237-242. Miller, K. M. and Biggs, J. B. "Attitude Change through Undirected Group Discussion," Journal of Educational Psychology, XXXIX (August, 1958), 224-228. 296 Miron, Murray S. "The Influence of Instruction Modifica tion upon Test-retest Reliabilities of the Semantic Differential," Educational and Psychological Measure ment, XXI (Winter, 1961), 883-893. Mitchell, James V., Jr. "An Analysis of the Factorial Dimensions of the Bills' Index of Adjustment and Values," Journal of Social Psychology, LVIII (December, 1962), 331-337. Moustakas, Clark E. "True Experience and the Self," in The Self: Explorations in Personal Growth (ed. C. E. Moustakas), New York: Harper & Bros., 1956. Murphy, Lois B. and Murphy, Gardner. "The Influence of Social Situations upon the Behavior of Children," in A Handbook of Social Psychology (ed. C. 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"The Incomplete Sentences as a Method of Studying Personality," American Psychologist, I (July, 1946), 286. ________ , Rafferty, Janet, and Lotsof, Antionette, B. "The Validity of the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank; High School Form," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XVIII (1954), 105-111. Rotter, Julian B., Rafferty, Janet, and Schachtitz, Eva. "Validation of the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank for College Screening," Journal of Consulting Psychol- ogy, XIII (October, 1949), 349-356. Rotter, Julian B. and Willerman, Benjamin. "The Incomplete Sentences Test as a Method of Studying Personality," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XI (January-February, 1 9 4 7 ) , 4 3 - 4 8 . ------ ----------------------------------- Rousseve, Ronald J. "A Counselor Education Pilot Program in 'Guided' Group Interaction," Personnel and Guidance Journal, XLIV (September, 1965) , 52-57. Scheerer, Elizabeth T. "An Analysis of the Relationship between Acceptance and Respect for Self and Acceptance of and Respect for Others in 10 Counseling Cases," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XIII (June, 1949), 169-175. Schofield, William. "Test Review of the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank," in Fifth Mental Measurement Yearbook (ed. Oscar K. Buros), Highland Park: Gryphon Press, 1953. 299 Schulman, Irving. "Transference, Resistance and Communica tion Problems in Adolescent Psychotherapy Groups," International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, IX (October, 1959), 496-503. Schutz, Richard E. "Problems of Adolescent Girls," Journal of Educational Psychology, XXXIX (February, 1958) , 1-5. Seegars, James, Jr., and McDonald, R. L. "The Role of Interaction Groups in Counselor Education," Journal of Counseling Psychology, X, No. 2 (1963), 156-162. Semans, Catherine B. "Use of the Semantic Differential with Lobotomized Patients," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XXI, No. 3 (1957), 264. Shaw, Merville C. and Bell, H. M. "The Self-concept of Bright Underachieving High School Students as Revealed by an Adjective Check List," Personnel and Guidance Journal, XXXIX (November, I960), 193-196. Shaw, Merville C. and Wursten, R. "Research on Group Procedures in Schools: A Review of the Literature," Personnel and Guidance Journal, XLIV (September, 1965), 27-34. Sheldon, William D. and Landsman, Theodore. "An Investiga tion of Non-directive Group Therapy with Students in Academic Difficulty," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XIV (June, 1950), 210-215. Sines, J. 0. "An Indication of Specificity of Denotative Meaning on the Semantic Differential," Journal of General Psychology, LXVII (July, 1962), 113-115. Singer, Robert D. "A Note on the Use of the Semantic Differential as a Predictive Device in Milieu Therapy," Journal of Clinical Psychology, XVII (October, 1961), 376-378. Slavson, S. R. "Interaction and Reconstruction in Group Psychotherapy,1 1 International Journal of Group Psycho- therapy," XVI (January, 1966), 3-12. i Smith, G. M. "Six Measures of Self Concept Discrepancies and Instability: Their Interrelations, Reliability and Relations with other Personality Measures," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XXII (April, 1958) , 101-112. 300 Smith, Philip A. "A Factor Analytic Study of the Self- Concept," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XXIV, No. 2 (1960), 19T: Smith, Raymond. "Development of a Semantic Differential for Use with Speech Related Concepts," Speech Mono graphs , XXVI (November, 1959) , 263-272. ________ . "Validation of a Semantic Differential," Speech Monographs, XXX (March, 1963), 50-55. Spielberger, Charles D., Weitz, H., and Denny, J. P. "Group Counseling and the Academic Performance of Anxious College Freshmen," Journal of Counseling Psy- choloqy, IX (Fall, 1962), 195-204. Stephens, Mark W. "The Incomplete Sentences Blank: Sources of Variance in Retest Reliability," Journal of Clinical Psychology, XVI (July, 1960) , 331-335. Strasser, W. C., Jr. "An Analysis of Interactive Behavior in a Practicum in Personnel Relationships," Journal of Experimental Education, XXXI (March, 1963) , 241-248. Strong, D. J. "A Factor Analytic Study of Several Measures of Self-Concepts," Journal of Counseling Psychology, IX (1962), 64-70. ________ , and Feder, D. D. "Measurement of the Self- Concept: A Critique of the Literature," Journal of Counseling Psychology, VIII, No. 2 (1961), 170-176. Super, Donald E. "Vocational Development: The Process of Compromise or Synthesis," in Counseling and Guidance: A Summary View (ed. James F. Adams), New York: Mac- millan Co., 1965. ________ . "Transition from Vocational Guidance to Counsel ing Psychology," Journal of Counseling Psychology, II (1955) , 3-9. Talland, George A. and Clark, David H. "Evaluation of Topics in Therapy Discussion Groups," Journal of Clinical Psychology, X, No. 2 (1954), 131-137. Tiedeman, David. "Comment on 1 Three Methods of Assisting Underachieving High School Students,'" Journal of Coun- seling Psychology, VII (Summer, 1960), 89-90. 301 Tindall, Ralph H. "Relationships among Indices of Adjust ment Status," Educational and Psychological Measure ment, XV (Summer, 1955) , i ' 5 ' 2 ' —'162. ~ Truax, Charles B., et. al. "Relationship between Therapist Offered Conditions and Patient Change in Group Psycho therapy," Journal of Clinical Psychology, XXI (July, 1965), 327-329. Tyler, Leona E. "Research Explorations in the Realm of Choice," Journal of Counseling Psychology, VIII (Fall, 1961), 195-201. ________ . "Research on Instruments used by Counselors in Vocational Guidance," Journal of Counseling Psychology, IX, No. 2 (1962), 99-lOin Webb, Allen P. and Eikenberry, J. "A Group Counseling Approach to the Acting-out Preadolescent," Psychology in the Schools, I (October, 1964), 395-400. Webb, Allen P. and Harris, John T. "A Semantic Differ ential Study of Counselors in an NDEA Institute," Personnel and Guidance Journal, XLII (November, 1963) , 260-263. Williams, John E. "Changes in Self and Other Perceptions Following Brief Educational-Vocational Counseling," Journal of Counseling Psychology, IX, No. 1 (1962), 18-30. Wilson, Isabell. "The Use of a Sentence Completion Test in Differentiating Between Well-adjusted and Maladjusted Secondary School Pupils," Journal of Consulting Psycho logy, XIII (December, 1949), 400-402. Winder, Alvin E. and Hersko, Marvin. "A Thematic Analysis of an Outpatient Psychotherapy Group," International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, VIII (July, 1958), 293-300. Winborn, Bob and Schmidt, Louis G. "The Effectiveness of Short Term Group Counseling upon the Academic Achieve ment of the Potentially Superior but Underachieving College Freshman," Journal of Educational Research, LV (December-January, 1962), 169-173. Winkler, R. C. and Myers, Rogers A. "Some Concomitants of Self-Ideal Discrepancy Measures of Self-Acceptance," Journal of Counseling Psychology, X, No. 1 (1963), 83-86. 302 Winkler, R. C., et. al. "The Effects of Selected Counsel ing and Remedial Techniques on Underachieving Elemen tary School Students," Journal of Counseling Psycholo gy, XII, No. 4 (1965), 384-387. Woal, S. Theodore. "A Project in Group Counseling in a Junior High School," Personnel and Guidance Journal, XLII (February, 1964), 611-613. — Wright, E. Wayne. "A Comparison of Individual and Multiple Counseling for Test Interpretation Interviews," Journal of Counseling Psychology, X (Spring, 1963), 126-135. ________ . "Multiple Counseling: Why, When, How?", Personnel and Guidance Journal, XXXVIII (April, 1959) , 551-557. Zaccaria, Joseph S. "Developmental Tasks: Implications for the Goals of Guidance," Personnel and Guidance “ Journal, XLIV (December, 1965), 372-375. Zuckerman, M. and Monashkin, I. "Self Acceptance and Psycho-pathology," Journal of Consulting Psychology, XXI (1957), 145-148. Unpublished Materials Butler, John J. "Differential Factors in the Self-Concepts of Overachieving, Underachieving and Expected-achieving Adolescents." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Univer sity of Southern California, 1957. Clements, Thomas. "A Study to Compare the Effectiveness of Individual and Group Counseling Approaches with Able Underachievers when Counselor Time is Held Constant." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Southern California, 1963. Collins, John E. "A Comparative Guidance Study: Group Counseling Methods with Selected Underachieving Ninth Grade Students." Unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, University of Southern California, 1964. Fairchild, Richard E. "The Stability of the Self Concept in Junior College Students." Unpublished Ed.D. dis sertation, University of Southern California, 1964. 303 Garbielson, James B. "Development of the Small Group Project in the Montebello Unified School District." Unpublished Master's Project, University of Southern California, June, 1961. Lafond, Lawrence. "A Study of the Effect of Group Counsel ing as Applied to Underachieving Students." Unpublished Master's Project, University of Southern California, August, 1962. Lefeber, James A. "The Delinquent's Self-Concept." Un published Ed.D. dissertation, University of Southern California, 1965. Muntrean, Olivia S. "The Effectiveness of Group Counseling in Bringing about Positive Changes in the Able Under achiever." Unpublished Master's Project, University of Southern California, 1964. Murphy, Eleanor Betty. "Group Counseling with Nine Able Underachieving Boys." Unpublished Master's Project, University of Southern California, 1964. Perez, Patricia A. "Semantic Differential Measurement of Attitudinal Changes for Students on Scholastic Proba tion." Unpublished Master's Project, University of Southern California, 1964. Rosenthal, Oscar A. "A Semantic Differential Investigation of Critical Factors Related to Achievement and Under achievement of High School Students." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. University of Southern California, 1965. Strickler, Edwin. "Educational Group Counseling within a Remedial Reading Program." Unpublished Ph.D. disserta tion, University of Southern California, 1964. Waller, Ronald C. "Accelerated Interaction: An Innovation in Group Counselings Technique." Unpublished mimeo graphed material, May, 1965. Webb, Allen P. and Harris, John. "Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test Score Profile." Unpublished dittoed material, Pasadena: Pasadena City Schools, 1966. 304 Public Documents Cohn, Benjamin. Effects of Group Counseling on School Adjustment of Underachieving Junior High School Boys Who Demonstrated Acting Out Behavior. Cooperative Research Project No. D040. New York: Board of Coop erative Educational Services. Undated. Guidelines for Future Research on Group Counsel- ing in the Public School Setting. Cooperative Research Project No. F-029. New York: Board of Cooperative Services, 1964. Ohlsen, Merle M. Appraisal of Group Counseling for Under achieving Bright Fifth Graders and Their Parents. Washington: Cooperative Research Project No. 933, 1964. Tyler, Leona E. and Sundberg, Norman D. Factors Affecting Career Choices of Adolescents. Cooperative Research Project No. 2455, Eugene: University of Oregon, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Office of Education, 1964. Manual and Tests Bills, Robert E. Manual for Adult and High School Form of the Index of Adjustment and Values. School of Educa- tion, Alabama: University of Alabama. Undated. Brown, W. F. and Holtzman, W. H. Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes. New York: Psychological Corporation, 1956. Henmon-Nelson Tests of Mental^Ability. 1957 Revision. Grades 9-12, Houghton-Mifflin Co., Boston. Lindquist, E. R., et. al. Iowa Tests of Educational Development. Science Research Associates. Grades 9-13, Short Form, Chicago, 1952. Rotter, Julian B. and Rafferty, Janet E. Manual: The Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank— High School Form. Psychological Corporation, New York, 1950. Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1955. 305 Webb, Allen P. and Harris, John T. The Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test. Pasadena: Pasadena School District, 1962. APPENDIX TYLER VOCATIONAL CHOICE CARDS WITH DESIGNATED ACADEMIC POTENTIAL STANINES Occupation Stanine 1. Contractor ......... 2. Actor ............. 3. Lawyer ............. 4. Pharmacist ......... 5. Architect ......... 6. Baker ............. 7. Professional athlete 8. Bookkeeper ......... 9. Farmer ............. 10. Bus driver ......... 11. Manager ........... 12. Doctor ............. 13. Minister ........... 14. Electrician .... 15. Factory worker . . . 16. Traveling salesman . 17. Watchmaker ......... 18. Engineer ........... 19. Journalist ......... 20. Office worker . . . 21. Ship's Captain . . . 22. Barber or hairdresser 23. Cook........... 24. Rancher ........... 25. High school teacher 26. Plumber ........... 27. Sailor ............. 28. Milkman ........... 29. Bricklayer ......... 30. Mechanic ........... 31. Scientist ......... 32. Grade school teacher 33. Pilot ............. 307 v ] C J l 0 0 0 0 u n C O 0 0 C T i O ' ! N J U 1 “ - J V O U 1 ip.'vJVI 0 0 ' - J 0 0 l _ n Cl 308 Occupation Stanine 34. Policeman ........... 35. Mail carrier .... 36. Professor ........... 37. Painter ............. 38. Writer ............. 39. Secretary ........... 40. Steward or stewardess 41. Dentist ............. 42. Taxi driver ......... 43. Draftsman ...... 44. Carpenter ........... 45. Typist ............. 46. Fisherman ........... 47. Garbageman ......... 48. Storekeeper ......... 49. Singer ............. i n o o r o c o r~ - vooom r-- ^ m rg c n i n n 309 Directions Webb-Harris Word Meaning Test - 20 Minutes BE SURE TO USE A MACHINE SCORING PENCIL. Words mean different things to different people. We want to know what certain words mean to students. Each card of this packet has a word in large print at the top, and beneath it are twelve pairs of words with six spaces between each pair. You are to rate the word at the top of each card in the spaces between the pairs of words. If you feel that the word at the top of the card belongs at either end of the row of spaces or somewhere between, place a heavy dark mark in the space which best tells what the word at the top means to you. Please work quickly on this test. Do not spend too much time on any item. We want your first idea, but think each answer over carefully. Do each card and don't forget to put a mark between each pair of words. 310 x S C H. 0 0 L ! k i ® 0 0 0 0 0 0 c r u e l haro 0 D 0 0 0 0 scft p»ssive 0 0 0 0 0 0 flCTive s t r o n g o o o o n n w e a k c a l m 0 0 0 0 0 0 e x c i t a b l e t r u e 0 0 0 0 0 0 f a l s e 0 0 0 0 0 0 h e a v v «ise 0 0 0 0 0 0 F00usH i MOVING 0 0 0 0 0 0 STILL u g l y 0 0 0 0 0 0 b e a u t i f u l 13»i I small 0 0 0 0 0 0 LA|® (M FAST 0 0 0"0 0 0 su>» INCOMPLETE SENTENCES BLANK - HIGH SCHOOL FORM Name............................................. Sex........ Age........... School............................... Grade.............. Date.............. Complete these sentences to express your real feelings. Try to do every one. Be sure to make a complete sentence. 1. I like.................................................................... 2. The happiest time .........................................................- 3. I want to know ........................................................... 4. At home ................................................................. 5. I regret .................................................................. 6. At bedtime ............................................................... 7. Boys ........................................................................ 8. The best ................................................................. 9. What annoys me ..................... ..................................... 10. People ............................. ..................................... 11. A mother ................................................................ 12. I feel .................................................................... 13. My greatest fear ........................................... ................ 14. In the lower grades ................................ -....................... 15. I can’ t ............................. ...............-....................... (TURN PAGE OVER AND CONTINUE) C o p y rig h t 1950. A ll rig h ts reserved as stated in th e test m an u al a n d C atalog. T h e P sychological C o rp o ratio n , 30 4 E ast 4 5 th S treet, N ew York, N. Y. 10017 P rin te d in U .S.A . 6 5 -1 5 1 AS JU L IA N B. R O T T E R , A U T H O R 16. Sports ...................................... 17. When I was younger .......................... 18. My nerves ................................... 19. Other kids .................................. 20. I suffer ..................................... 21. I failed ..................................... 22. Reading ..................................... 23. My mind .................................... 24. The future .................................. 25. I need ...................................... 26. Dating ..................................... 27. I am best when .............................. 28. Sometimes ................................... 29. What pains me ............................... 30. I hate ...................................... 31. At school ................................... 32. I am very ................................... 33. The only trouble .............................. 34. I wish ...................................... 35. My father ................................... 36. I secretly .................................... 37. I .......................................... 38. Dancing .................................... 39. My greatest worry i s .......................... 40. Most girls ................................... 312 "SELF" INSTRUCTIONS FOR HSIAV There is a need for each of us to know more about ourselves, but seldom do we have an opportunity to look at ourselves as we are or as we would like to be. On the next page is a list of terms that to a certain degree describe people. Take each term separately and apply it to yourself by completing the following sentence: 1 AM A _ PERSON. The first word in the list is jolly, so you would substitute this term in the above sentence. . It would read- "I am a jolly person." INSTRUCTIONS FOR COLUMN I: (next page): Then decide how much of the time this statement is like you and rate yourself on a scale from 1 to 5 according to the following key: 1. Seldom, is this like me. 2. Occasionally, this is like me. 3. About half of the time, this is like me. 4. A good deal of the time, this is like me. 5. Most of the time, this is like me. Example: Beside the term "JOLLY" number 2 is inserted to indicate that occasionally I am a jolly person. INSTRUCTIONS FOR COLUMN II: (next page): Now go on to Column II. Use one of the statements given below to tell HOW YOU FEEL about yourself as des cribed in Column I. 1. I very much dislike being as I am in this respect. 2. I dislike being as I am in this respect. 3. I neither dislike being as I am nor like being as I am in this respect. 4. I like being as I am in this respect. 5. I like very much being as I am in this respect. You will select the number beside the statement that tells how you feel about the way you are and insert the number in Column II. Example: In column II beside the term "JOLLY" number 1 is inserted to indicate that I dislike very much being as I am in respect to the term "JOLLY." Note that being as I am always refers to the way you described yourself in Column I. 313 INSTRUCTIONS FOR COLUMN III (Next page): Finally, go on to Column III, using the same term, complete the following sentence: I WOULD LIKE TO BE A PERSON. Then decide HOW MUCH OF THE TIME you would like this trait to be characteristic of you and rate yourself on the following five-point scale. 1. Seldom, would I like this to be me. 2. Occasionally, I would like this to be me. 3. About half of the time, I would like this to be me. 4. A good deal of the time, I would like this to be me. 5. Most of the time, I would like this to be me. You will select the number beside the phrase that tells how much of the time you would like to be this kind of person and insert the number in Column III. 314 NAME "SELF" II III II A. JOLLY __ ■ - ______ 19. Kind 1 . Active 20. Loyal 2. Alert 21. Neat 3. Carefree 22. Obedient 4. Cheerful __ 23. Patient 5. Considerate 24. Playful 6. Cooperative 25. Polite 7. Courteous _ _ 26. Quiet 8. Dependable _ — 27. Sharing 9. Democratic 28. Sincere 10. Faithful 29. Studious 11. Friendly 30. Sociable 12. Generous 31. Tactful 13. Happy — — _ ___ 32. Thoughtful 14. Helpful _ 33. Thrifty 15. Honest _ _ _ 34. Trustworth 16. Humorous 35. Truthful 17. Intelligent ______ - 36. Understanding 18. Interesting 37. Unselfish III 315 "OTHERS" INSTRUCTIONS FOR HSIAV We would like to gain a better idea of what you think other people are like. To do this we would like you to: (1) think of other people who are in general like you, for example,* other freshmen, sophomores, juniors, or seniors and (2) complete the IAV as you think the average person in this group would complete it for himself. Take each of the 37 words and use it to complete the following sentence for the average person in your reference group: He is a ____________________ person. INSTRUCTIONS FOR COLUMN I (next page): Then decide how much of the time this statement is like this average person and rate him as he would himself on the following scale: 1. Seldom, is this like he sees himself. 2. Occasionally, this is the way he sees himself. 3. About half of the time, this is the way he sees himself. 4. A good deal of the time, this is the way he sees himself. 5. Most of the time, this is the way he sees him self. Select the number beside the phrase that tells how much of the time he sees himself this way and insert it in Column I on the next page. Example: Beside the term JOLLY, number 2 is inserted to indicate that this average person in your reference group sees himself occasionally as a JOLLY person. INSTRUCTIONS FOR COLUMN II (next page): Now go to Column II. Use one of the statements given below to tell how he usually feels about himself as described in Column I. 1. He very much dislikes being as he is in this respect. 2. He dislikes being as he is in this respect. 3. He neither dislikes being as he is nor likes being as he is in this respect. 4. He likes being as he is in this respect. 5. He very much likes being as he is in this respect. Select the number beside the statement that tells how the average person in your group feels about the way he is and insert the number in Column II. Example: In Column II beside the term JOLLY, number 1 is inserted to indicate this person dislikes very much being as he is in 316 respect to the term JOLLY. Note that being as "he is" always refers to the way he was described in Column I. INSTRUCTIONS FOR COLUMN III (next page): Finally, go to Column III. Using the same term, complete the following sentence: He would like to be a ___________ person. Then describe how much of the time this average person in your group would like this trait to be character istic of him and rate him on the following five-point scale: 1. Seldom he would like this to be him. 2. Occasionally, he would like this to be him. 3. About half of the time, he would like this to be him. 4. A good deal of the time, he would like this to be him. 5. Most of the time, he would like this to be him. 317 NAME “OTHERS" I II III A. JOLLY __ __ __ 1. Active________ __ __ 2. Alert_________ __ __ 3. Carefree __ __ __ 4. Cheerful __ __ __ 5. Considerate __ __ __ 6. Cooperative __ __ __ 7. Courteous __ __ __ 8. Dependable __ __ __ 9. Democratic __ __ __ 10. Faithful __ __ __ 11. Friendly __ __ __ 12. Generous __ __ __ 13. Happy __ __ __ 14. Helpful __ __ 15. Honest __ __ __ 16. Humorous __ __ __ 17. Intelligent __ __ 18. Interesting __ __ __ I II III 19. Kind __ __ __ 20. Loyal__________ __ __ 21. Neat __ __ __ 22. Obedient __ __ __ 23. Patient________ __ __ 24. Playful __ __ ___ 25. Polite __ __ __ 26. Quiet __ __ __ 27. Sharing ___ 28. Sincere __ __ 29. Studious __ __ __ 30. Sociable __ __ __ 31. Tactful __ __ __ 32. Thoughtful __ __ __ 33. Thrifty __ __ __ 34. Trustworthy __ __ __ 35. Truthful __ __ __ 36. Understanding __ __ 37. Unselfish
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Bates, Marilyn Mildred
(author)
Core Title
A Study Of The Effectiveness Of Group Counseling In Achieving The Goals Of Guidance In Education, Using Two Contrasting Formats
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Degree Program
Education
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University of Southern California
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Tag
education, guidance and counseling,OAI-PMH Harvest
Language
English
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Carnes, Earl F. (
committee chair
), Harvey, Herman M. (
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education, guidance and counseling