A critique of pertinent literature reveals that the majority of theoretical understandings and modes of intervention in the arena of spouse abuse are limited by their adherence to a linear epistemology. It is contended that when intervention efforts are framed solely in linear terms, the abusive couple is perceived within a dichotomous logic of attribution, thereby engendering solutions of dismemberment. It is suggested that an ecosystemic perspective, which is grounded in cybernetics, ecology and systems theory, can offer a means of overcoming the limitations that currently plague helping institutions. Such a perspective expands intervention options as the helper, the helping system(s), the client and the context of the client's problems are viewed as interrelated rather than distinct systems. Some of the interlinked variables which need to be considered when planning an ecosystemic programme for spouse abuse are also presented. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

The purpose of this study was to determine whether adult students enrolled in credit courses in a public adult night school assigned the same degree of importance to various functions of an adult education counsellor. A Q-sort of fifty items representing four categories of functions--educational counselling, occupational counselling, personal counselling, and the counselor-adult relationships-- was administered to a volunteer panel of one hundred adult students in the Surrey School District of British Columbia. The hypothesis postulated no signifi cant difference in the importance which adult students enrolled in credit courses in a public adult night school assign to various functions of an adult education counsellor. It was tested with regard to the total population and to a number of sub-groups established by sex, age, previous counselling, education, and occupation. In all instances the hypothesis was rejected at the .05 level, thus indicating that more importance was assigned to certain functions than to others. By multiple comparisons designed to examine the relative importance assigned to the different functions, it was found that in the total population and almost all sub-groups educational counselling was considered significantly more important at the .05 level than either personal counselling or the counselior-adult relationship, and that the combination of educational and occupational counselling was considered significantly more important than the combination of personal counselling and the counsellor-adult relationship. In addition, the unemployed female group viewed occupational counselling as significantly more important than either personal counselling or the counselor-adult relationship. Comparisons were made between pairs of sub-groups by sex, age, previous counselling, education, and occupation to investigate possible differences in the importance which they assigned to the counselling functions. The following results were significant at the .05 level: the female group regarded occupational counselling as more important than did the male group; the employed female group viewed occupational counselling as more important than did the unemployed female group; the unemployed female group considered the counselor-adult relationship as more important than did the employed female group. In the total population studied, the nine items considered most important reflected the adult student's desire for practical assistance in selecting courses, in establishing goals, and in better preparing himself for learning. The nine items considered least important indicated that the adult rejected the need for assistance in matters which he felt capable of handling on his own, and that he had little desire for counselling of a personal nature. In addition to pointing out the specific counselling needs felt by the adults involved, this study demonstrated the particular concerns of women and the necessity for more research in this area. The usefulness of the Q-sort technique in such a study was shown. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

This study was conducted to research any increase in empathic discrimination resulting from an empathy training program for paraprofessional Christian counsellors entitled, The Skilled Helper for Christians. There were 13 male and 23 female subjects with a mean age of 38.9 years in the Experimental Group. The two control groups used were similar to the Experimental Group in mean age, gender and Christian faith. The first Control Group, those students enrolled in a course entitled Building Strong Marriages in the Local Church, was made up of 8 male and 8 female students, with a mean age of 38.9 years. The second Control Group consisted of graduate theological students who attended Introduction to Christian Counselling. There were 22 male and 11 female subjects with a mean age of 33.4 years. A pretest-posttest design was used, adapting two instruments based on the Truax Accurate Empathy Scale. The dependent variable was the empathy score attained on each measure. Four null hyotheses were advanced. Both instruments, the Questionnaire in Helpful Responding and the Exercises in Caring and Understanding, were initially analyzed using dependent t-tests. An analysis of covariance and a Tukey multiple comparison were also used. The findings indicated that a significant increase in empathic discrimination resulted from the Skilled Helper for Christians, as measured by the Questionnaire in Helpful Responding. Each Control Group also indicated an increase as measured by the Questionnaire in Helpful Responding, however at a less significant level. The second measure, the Exercises in Caring and Understanding, resulted in no significant increase for any of the groups. Thus, the Skilled Helper for Christians produced a significant gain in empathic discrimination. Other findings suggested that modeling empathy may have had a positive effect on all of the groups. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

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