Teaching Preventive Counseling: Bringing the Real World into the Classroom to Promote Social Justice
Robert K. Conyne, Ph.D. Mark D. Newmeyer, Ed.D. Bree Kitchens, M.A. University of Cincinnati Presentation at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco , California , August 17, 2007 . Preventive Counseling (Conyne, 2004): “Helping People to Become Empowered in Systems and Settings.”
Social Justice: “Fair and equitable access to societal resources that allows all groups to participate in society without threat to their physical and psychological safety? (Kenny & Hage, in development).
Preventive Counseling and other preventive services are central methods for reducing the incidence of human suffering, promoting human development, and fostering social justice.
PREVENTION EXERCISE TO ASSESS AND PLAN PREVENTION PROGRAMMING: “Incidence Reduction of Social Injustice through Empowering People-In-Systems” Robert K. Conyne, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Counseling University of Cincinnati
ORIGINAL ALBEE INCIDENCE FORMULA EXERCISE:
Prevention Exercise: Incidence Reduction
(Decreasing) Organic factors + Stress + Exploitation Incidence reduction= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- (Increasing) Coping skills + Self-Esteem + Support Groups
* ADAPTED and EXPANDED ALBEE INCIDENCE FORMULA EXERCISE :
DECREASE : ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES (Individual-Macro): Social and Environmental Stressors x Exploitation x Oppression ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INCREASE : PERSONAL, INTERPERSONAL, and GROUP STRENGTHS (Individual-Macro): Coping skills x Self-Efficacy x Collective Efficacy x Support Systems x Cultural Competency x Advocacy
Step 1 : Describe the population and setting to whom you wish to plan and deliver a prevention program.
(a) Specify the identified population and setting
(b) What are characteristics of each?
(c) What are the relevant contextual variables, including cultural, socio-political, economic?
(c) Why is prevention necessary or desirable?
(d) What problems could be averted and/or health could be promoted?
A. Contributions to Challenges (Numerator Factors)
[SKIP?]: Step 2: What organic factors (hereditary, biochemical, genetic predisposition, physical vulnerabilities) contribute to the situation?
(a) What physical, mental, or emotional behaviors are demonstrated? (e.g., downs syndrome, lead poisoning, depression, obesity, attention deficit, alcoholism) (b) How do they inhibit functioning and what is their strength?
[SKIP?]: How (if possible) could these organic factors be reduced?
Step 3: What social and environmental stressors (events, circumstances, situations) affect the lives of people in this population?
(a) What social, interpersonal stressors are present?
(b) What physical, procedural, organizational stressors are present?
(c) What cultural insensitivities or threats exist?
(d) How do population members typically engage with these situations?
How could these social and environmental stressors be reduced by population members and/or by preventive intervention?
How could physical, procedural, organizational stressors be reduced by population members and/or by preventive intervention?
Step 4: What sources and kinds of exploitation affect the lives of people in this population?
(a) Identify any abuse: Exploitation? Marginalization? Violence?
(b) Identify any unjust expression of power?
• Describe how any oppression expressed in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, religious orientation, spiritual affiliation, socioeconomic status, physical/mental ability may be manifested.
(d) Identify how these factors may be expressed at the personal level, institutional level, both?
• How do population members typically engage with these challenges?
How could this oppression and exploitation be reduced by population members and/or by preventive intervention?
B. Contributions to Strengths (Denominator factors)
Step 5. What coping skills do members of this population use to manage their life situation?
(a) What knowledge?
(b) What skills?
(c) What attitudes?
(d) How do population members typically engage with others and their environment?
What could be done by population members and/or by preventive intervention, to enhance their coping skills?
Step 6. What evidence of perceived self-efficacy is present in individual members of this population?
(a) Through individual actions?
(b) Through apparent individual confidence and competence?
(c) Through personal capacity to master goals?
What could be done by population individuals and/or by preventive intervention, to enhance their sense of personal self efficacy?
Step 7. What evidence of perceived collective efficacy is present in groups of this population?
a) Through their group actions?
(b) Through group's apparent confidence and competence?
(c) Through group's capacity to master goals?
What could be done by population group members and/or by preventive intervention, to enhance their sense of collective efficacy?
Step 8. What existing support systems (friends, groups, families, communities, organizations, mentors...) exist for members of this population?
(a) Who provides support?
(b) How is this support provided?
(c) How is this support used?
How could support systems, and their use, be enhanced?
Step 9. Advocacy. What can population members do and/or what can preventive intervention do, to exert positive proactive involvement?
• client advocacy
• systems change
(c) socio-political influencing
How could advocacy be used by population members and/or through preventive intervention to enhance setting competency?
Step 10. Summation & Integration: Based on your above assessment, what possibilities exist for prevention of social injustice in the identified population by empowering people-in-systems?
Use the adapted formula from Albee (reprinted below) to guide your thinking. Reduction of the Incidence of Social Injustice is Accomplished by Empowering People-In-Systems to:
DECREASE: ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES (Individual-Macro): Social and Environmental Stressors x Exploitation x Oppression
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ INCREASE: PERSONAL, INTERPERSONAL and GROUP STRENGTHS (Individual-Macro): Coping skills x Self-Efficacy x Collective Efficacy x Support Systems x Cultural Competency x Advocacy
Sources
Albee, G. (1982). Preventing psychopathology and promoting human potential. American Psychologist, 37 , 1043-1050. Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York : Freeman. Conyne, R. (2004). Preventive counseling: Helping people to become empowered in systems and settings. New York : Brunner-Routledge. Conyne, R., & Clack, R. J. (1981). Environmental assessment and design: A new tool for the applied behavioral scientist. New York : Praeger. Conyne, R., & Cook, E. (Eds.). (2004). Ecological counseling: An innovative Approach to conceptualizing person-environment interaction. Alexandria , Virginia : American Counseling Association. Kenny, M., & Hage, S. (2007). The next frontier: Prevention as an instrument of social justice. Manuscript in preparation. Lewis, J., Arnold , M., House, R., & Toporek, R. (2005). Advocacy competencies. Retrieved May 23, 2007 from http://www.counseling.org Neufeld, J., Rasmussen, H., Lopez, S., Ryder, J., Magyar-Moe, J., Ford, A., Edwards, L., & Brouwkamp, J. (2006). The engagement model of person-environment interaction. The Counseling Psychologist, 34 , 245-259. Prilleltensky, I. , & Nelson, G. (1997). Community psychology: Reclaiming social Justice. In D. Fox, & I. Prilleltensky (Eds.), Critical psychology: An introduction (pp. 166-184). Thousand Oaks , CA : Sage. Romano, J., & Hage, S. (2000). Prevention and counseling psychology: Revitalizing Commitments for the 21 st century. The Counseling Psychologist, 28 , 733-763. Seligman, M. (2002). Positive psychology, positive prevention, and positive therapy. In C. Snyder, & S. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 3-9). New York : Oxford University Press.
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