UMD Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item Exploring Couple and Family Therapist Involvement in Social Justice Praxis(2023) Golojuch, Laura; Mittal, Mona; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)As the nation becomes more diverse, multicultural competence and social justice are being increasingly recognized as essential components to effective therapy practice (Hays, 2020; Ratts et al., 2016; Vera & Speight, 2003). While some scholars in the field of Couple and Family Therapy (CFT) have urged the importance of infusing social justice into training and clinical practice for years (see Hardy, 2001; Knudson-Martin et al., 2019; McDowell et al., 2019; McGoldrick, 2007), this topic is understudied and underprioritized by the field at large. Recent CFT scholars also acknowledge the importance of advocacy as an accompaniment to therapy (J. M. Goodman et al., 2018, Jordan & Seponski, 2018a, 2018b). Counseling and social work fields have prioritized social justice advocacy and codified it into mission statements and ethical codes (Ratts et al., 2016; Ratts & Greenleaf, 2018; Toporek & Daniels, 2018). Although CFTs are trained systemically, and may be enacting micro-level advocacy intervention in the therapy room, they do not always view themselves as advocates or enact macro-level advocacy interventions (J. M. Goodman et al., 2018; Holyoak et al., 2020; Jordan & Seponski, 2018b). This study utilized a sequential transformative mixed methods design to assess multicultural competence, social justice commitment and self-efficacy, and advocacy competence in a nationally representative sample of CFTs (n = 101) using survey methods. A subsample of 22 participants were interviewed to further explore their practices as multiculturally competent and socially just clinicians. Three complementary frameworks were utilized to ground the study: The Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC), critical consciousness, and Public Health Critical Race praxis. Overall, multicultural competence, social justice commitment, and social justice self-efficacy scores were high in this sample, while advocacy competence scores were lower. Results showed that identifying as Black or African American and completing additional training in multicultural competence and social justice were associated with multicultural competence. Results also showed that working in an agency setting vs. other settings was associated with lower levels of multicultural competence. Results showed that identifying as female compared to male, having a higher level of oppression, a higher level of civic engagement, and more additional training in multicultural competence were all associated with social justice commitment. Results showed that being older, completing more additional training, and having a higher level of oppression were all associated with higher levels of social justice self-efficacy. Finally, results showed that identifying as non-binary compared to male, completing more hours of additional training, and experiencing higher levels of oppression were all associated with advocacy competence. Additionally, receiving more post-graduate hours of training in multicultural competence, social justice, and advocacy competence was associated with higher multicultural competence, social justice, and advocacy competence. Qualitative findings revealed ways in which CFTs developed and embodied socially just clinical practice and explored recommendations for training.Item THE INFLUENCE OF MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING TRAINING ON SCHOOL COUNSELORS' SELF-PERCEIVED MULTICULTURAL COMPETENCE(2008) Sweeney, Samantha Courtney; Strein, William O; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)With the changing demographics of the school population, the multicultural competence of school counselors has become increasingly important. This study examined the influence of formal training and exposure to persons different from the school counselor on multicultural competence. A demographic questionnaire and the Multicultural Counseling Inventory (MCI) were mailed to a random sample of American Counseling Association (ACA) members. Overall, formal training was not correlated with multicultural competence. However, working with and exposure to people who were different than the school counselors in terms of race/ethnicity, disability status, and sexual orientation was correlated with multicultural competence. When asked to comment broadly on important multicultural experiences that influenced them as professionals, school counselors mentioned race/ethnicity most frequently. Implications for training school counselors includes the importance of exposing trainees to people who are different than them and examining the content and style of school counseling multicultural courses.Item Multicultural Events in Supervision and Counseling and Trainee Multicultural Competence(2007-04-25) Teasdale, Anthony Charles; Hill, Clara E; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The current study qualitatively examined the moments when multicultural issues were discussed explicitly in two supervision dyads and two counseling dyads, and explored these events in relation to trainees' multicultural competence. Therapy outcome, satisfaction with counseling and supervision, and other variables were explored. There were few multicultural events in all the dyads except the second supervisory dyad. Multicultural events in supervision were generally brief and shallow, had no noticeable effect on the session, and more frequently involved discussion of culture, as opposed to gender, race/ethnicity, or other multicultural issues. Generally, multicultural events in counseling were moderately deep and lengthy, had a positive effect on the session, and most often involved discussion of gender as a multicultural issue. The client's interpersonal relationships were a consistent theme among the multicultural events. Limitations of this study as well as implications for practice and research are discussed.Item A GROUNDED THEORY STUDY OF THE MULTICULTURAL EXPERIENCES OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS(2005-08-11) Mewborn, Kenya Noreen; Strein, William; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The changing population of public schools demands that school psychologists have the ability to work with diverse students, parents, and teachers. The current project used qualitative methods to explore the experiences of school psychologists working in racially/ethnically diverse schools. Interviews with ten school psychologists and surveys from eight staff members who worked with these psychologists were analyzed using grounded theory methodology. A theory was developed that explains how psychologists manage racial/ethnic differences in the diverse school context. Results indicate that psychologists' efforts focused on bridging cultural differences in the communication styles, beliefs, and behaviors of students, parents, and school staff members. The techniques psychologists used to bridge gaps involved reliance on particular characteristics and strategies. Knowledge, self awareness, cultural empathy, and multicultural interest were the key characteristics psychologists relied on when working in multicultural situations. Related to these characteristics were the main strategies of relationship building, information gathering, and information sharing. Variables that impacted how psychologists responded in diverse settings included multicultural training experiences, life experiences, and issues related to the school systems within which the psychologists worked.