Ratings of helper roles by multicultural psychologists and Asian American students: Initial support for the three-dimensional model of multicultural counseling.

Abstract

The results of 2 surveys investigating support for psychologists' roles advocated by the three-dimensional (3-D) model of multicultural counseling are reported. Eight vignettes were developed depicting an ethnic minority person with high or low acculturation experiencing or about to experience a problem with an internal or external etiology. Psychologists interested and experienced in multicultural issues (Study 1) rated 6 of the 8 helper roles recommended by the 3-D model for conditions depicted in the 8 vignettes higher on average than they did nonrecommended helper roles. Asian American university students (Study 2) also gave higher mean ratings to 3 of the recommended roles than they did the nonrecommended roles. Examination of the Asian American students' helpfulness ratings revealed a consistent preference for 2 roles: facilitator of indigenous support systems and consultation. Implications for the 3-D model, direct service, future research, and training of counseling psychologists are discussed. Ever since the formal recognition of counseling as a specialty in psychology in 1952, there has been an ongoing debate about the professional roles that counseling psychologists should fulfill (Bordin, 1955; Super, 1955; Yamamoto, 1963). From the beginning, much of this debate, and the research bearing on it, has focused on the roles that counselors and psychologists conventionally perform in elementary (Miller, 1989), secondary (Atkinson, Froman, Romo, & Mayton, 1977), and higher (Heppner & Neal, 1983; Kiracofe et al, 1994; Robbins, May, & Corazzini, 1985) education. Many of the studies examining counselor roles in educational settings have used surveys of counseling providers and the various consumer groups they served (students, parents, teachers, administrators) to determine actual and ideal counselor roles. Some of the conventional roles identified as appropriate for counselors and psychologists in educational settings include personal counseling; career planning; academic advising; consulting; assessment; referral; evaluation and research; program development; placement; and, in higher education or other direct service settings, psychotherapy. Debate over the role of counselors in educational settings can still be found in contemporary professional literature (Murray, 1995; Saba, 1991; Studer & Allton, 1996; Thomas, 1990; Welch &McCarroll, 1993).