CURRENT STUDENT INSIGHTS

Gender-Specific Treatment Modalities- Females

This proposal grew out of a needs-assessment based on the loss of female participants at the Griffin Day Reporting Center, a community-based program for mandated felony probationers with substance abuse disorders.  Shortly after beginning the program, we noticed that the few females we had in the program were dropping out at a much higher rate than male offenders, either by absconding from supervision or becoming incarcerated.

In order to provide better services for the females we had, we began to attempt to develop a program that would meet the unique needs of the females we were counseling so that they could have a better opportunity to complete the programming and return to the community.  We began to see these females within a culturally-specific model, realizing that their needs were different than male offenders, specifically in the areas of education, family support, and employability.  However, in the past some treatment modalties have failed to account for the huge disparity of these needs within the female population and for the fact that females respond differently to treatment than males.  We have seen that it is essential to develop a gender-specific counseling model that targets these areas of need from the perspective of the female.  Several key needs must be addressed for the females in treatment and recovery:  transitional housing assistance, job readiness and reentry, education assistance, substance abuse treatment, financial solvency, mental and physical health assessment, family violence training, family support assistance, and connection with community resources and social services.

Determining if a multiculturally competent, gender-specific model of counseling will serve to increase success rates of females in treatment has become the target for our upcoming dissertation projects. 

Gail Perry-Ryder

Tau Chapter

Lehman College/CUNY

            In this field of crime victim services, I encounter very black-and-white, narrowly-defined characterizations of who ?victims? and ?criminals? are, particularly from other victim service professionals and colleagues in the legal services and law enforcement arenas. Victims of crime are often characterized very one-dimensionally and perpetrators of crime even more so, and this has direct implications for what they are seen to need or deserve by way of treatment and/or restitution. The nuances of the human experience of both are simply lost. For example, many perpetrators of street level crime have been victims of the same themselves, which does not excuse the crime, but immediately throws into question the good person-bad person dichotomy. Another example is that prison rape is a crime that merits legal action and follow-up trauma services?logic which acknowledges that prisoners, too, are human beings that can be victimized?but many people continue to think of this as a contradiction in terms. Oversimplification of human nature serves a specific purpose in the criminal justice system and certainly helps the news media to influence public perception. But, it does little to promote healing or restoration. As counselors, we must to be the professionals that maintain a middle ground given that our goal is to promote healing. I am interested in seeing more research that deals with these issues.

Angie Pate
Chi Theta
Jacksonville State University

The topic of spirituality is the area of research that most captures my interest. In previous years, spirituality has not been a technique counselors have utilized. Counselors delve into all aspects of clients? lives, but the area of spirituality has often been ignored. Counselors have been hesitant to use spirituality in their practice because of the threat it might violate ethical codes. Many counselors were also unsure how to incorporate this concept into their practice. The counseling field has now begun exploring how spirituality can actually be a powerful tool to use with clients because so many individuals believe in a higher power. It profoundly influences how people think, feel, and act.  It also provides them with a sense of meaning and purpose in their lives. Spirituality is even beginning to be incorporated into counseling theories.

            The research on spirituality helps determine how to use it appropriately with clients who are spiritual. It helps provide a more holistic view of individuals. Since spirituality is a new concept being brought into the counseling field, it is important that counselors? conduct research because many students and counselors have had little training and understanding in exactly how to incorporate it into therapy. Research can provide more insight into what issues and clientele spirituality is best suited to aid, and how counselors can resourcefully and creatively use it. Spirituality captures my interest the most because it is such a new and unique technique in counseling. This is an important resource for counselors to use so they are able to fully support clients. It also provides more information so counseling students can better be trained. Spirituality affects so many facets of individuals? lives, and counselors must continue researching how to properly utilize this valuable tool so clients are able to become productive members of society.   

 
Ana Tindall

Pi Omega Chapter
Eastern Michigan University

The area of research which captures my interest the most is attachment theory. Learning about the four different attachment styles; avoidant, secure, ambivalent, and disorganized fascinate me. However, disorganized attachment is the most interesting because infants and young children who are categorized as having this style of attachment have unmet emotional and physical needs and their parents behavior is a source of fear and disorientation. The baby biologically wants to have closeness to the mother, especially if the baby is still breast feeding, however, the mother is someone feared by the baby. 

Currently I am involved in a longitudinal research study where we have been following a cohort of women from their third trimester of pregnancy through the child?s second birthday. At the moment, the majority of the infants are about one-year-old. During this interview with the mothers and their child we observe the dyad using the HOME Inventory as well as observe the interaction of the mothers with their children during a ten-minute video taped Play Interaction. During this 2 1/2 to 3 hour interview we have observed multiple incidences of disorganized attachment behaviors as well as text-book examples of other types of attachment.