Counseling Psychology Trainees' Perceptions of Training and Commitments to Social Justice

• Published in: Journal of counseling psychology 2012-01, Vol.59 (1), p.120-133
• Main Authors: Beer, Amanda M., Spanierman, Lisa B., Greene, Jennifer C., Todd, Nathan R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acculturation; Activists; Adult; Attitude; Biological and medical sciences; Career Choice; Commitment; Commitments; Computer based; Counseling - education; Counseling Psychology; Counselling psychology; Counselor Training; Curriculum; Data Collection; Ethnic Groups - psychology; Female; Graduate Psychology Education; Graduate Students; Health staff related problems. Vocational training; Human; Humans; Intention; Mail Surveys; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Minority Groups - psychology; Mixed Methods Research; Models, Educational; Perceptions; Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data; Phenomenology; Predictor Variables; Principals; Program Attitudes; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometrics; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Resistance (Psychology); Social Environment; Social Identification; Social Justice; Social Justice - education; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Spirituality; Student Attitudes; Students - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Trainees; Training; Training Methods; United States; Work Attitudes; Work Ethic; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0022-0167; 1939-2168
• DOI: 10.1037/a0026325

This mixed methods study examined social justice commitments of counseling psychology graduate trainees. In the quantitative portion of the study, a national sample of trainees (n = 260) completed a web-based survey assessing their commitments to social justice and related personal and training variables. Results suggested that students desired greater social justice training than what they experienced in their programs. In the qualitative portion, we used a phenomenological approach to expand and elaborate upon quantitative results. A subsample (n = 7) of trainees who identified as strong social justice activists were interviewed regarding their personal, professional, and training experiences. Eleven themes related to participants' meanings of and experiences with social justice emerged within 4 broad categories: nature of social justice, motivation for activism, role of training, and personal and professional integration. Thematic findings as well as descriptive statistics informed the selection and ordering of variables in a hierarchical regression analysis that examined predictors of social justice commitment. Results indicated that trainees' perceptions of training environment significantly predicted their social justice commitment over and above their general activist orientation and spirituality. Findings are discussed collectively, and implications for training and future research are provided.